St. Isabel of Portugal (1271-1336) is one of the great Catholic queens of Europe, whom the Church honors shortly after the feasts of St. Margaret of Scotland (June 10) and St. Cotilde of France (June 3).
HISTORICAL CONTEXT
St. Isabel (Elizabeth in English), of the royal race of Aragon, was born in Spain, in those lands which bordered the Moorish kingdom. It was a tumultuous in the history of the Iberian Peninsula. St. King Ferdinad III (1199-1252) had done much to further the Reconquista and drive the Muslims across the Strait of Gibraltar. He had served as King of Castille, León and Galicia and united the many lands to further a Christian purpose. Yet in less than a century, that unity had disintegrated. The Christian kingdoms turned upon each other, and even individual kingdoms were divided by wars between fathers and sons. The leaders of Aragon, Castille, Navarre and Portugal refused to heed the Pope's call for peace among themselves, and the Muslims looked on delightedly, thinking the land was ripe for another hostile takeover.
Into this politically volatile and war-torn arena, God sent St. Isabel. He used her as His chosen instruments to reconcile these warring nations and nobles. Just four years after her death, the Catholic armies of all Spain united to meet an army of 600,000 invading Muslims at The Battle of Rio Salado (1340). King Alfonso IV of Portugal and King Alfonso of Castile dealt a crushing blow to the sultan Abu al-Hasan 'Ali of Morocco and Yusuf I of Granada. Never again has a Muslim army been able to invade the Iberian Peninsula. This victory shows how this humble and saintly woman was able to initiate a brilliant crusade, even under most adverse circumstances, and win the immortal fame of her country. To this day, she is always distinguished by the title, A Rainha Santa, "the holy queen".
A SAINTLY AND ROYAL FAMILY
In the person of St. Isabel we also get a glimpse of that mysterious heirship among the saints of God. It is often said that one member of a family can "drag" the whole lot to hell or "carry" the whole lot to Heaven. Divine Providence often provides saintly families with many members raised to the Church's altars. St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231) was her great-aunt, and just as her roses graced the Thuringian lands, so Isabel's roses would grace the Iberian peninsula. Her parents in fact broke with tradition by not naming their daughter after her mother or grandmother, but rather after her maternal great-aunt, for by then St. Elizabeth of Hungary's fame of holiness had spread throughout Europe. Isabel not only inherited that great saint's name but most of her virtues as well. Interestingly, St Margaret of Hungary (1242-1271), who was another of St. Elizabeth's nieces, died in the same year that St. Isabel was born. Almost as if as soon as God was calling one saintly princess from this family to Heaven, he was granting the earth another heroic princess from the same pious stock. From her birth, Margaret had been consecrated to God in exchange for peace among the feuding nobles of Hungary. It seems Isabel also received these unique graces for she brought peace to her homelands and helped unite them all against their common Muslim enemy. One of her descendants was Queen Isabela "the Catholic," a most pious and saintly ruler, who helped drive the Moors completely from Spain and supported the discovery of the New World.
King James I of Aragon was St. Isabel's grandfather. King James was St. Ferdinand's contemporary and equal in valor and leadership. As Ferdinand furthered the Reconquista in Andalusia, so James advanced the Catholic cause in Mediterranean Spain. King James married Yolande of Hungary; she was the sister of St. Elizabeth. It was through Yolande's influence that the cult of St. Elizabeth of Hungary was popularized in Spanish lands. Their daughter, also named Elizabeth, married Philip III of France, the son and heir of King St. Louis IX. King James' eldest son was Peter III of Aragon. Peter was called "the Great" for he united Valencia, Barcelona and Sicily to his kingdom. He married Constance of Sicily and their daughter was our saint, Isabel of Portugal.
EXEMPLARY DAUGHTER, WIFE, and MOTHER
[column size="2-3" last="0"]The birth of Isabel put a happy end to the quarrels between her father and grandfather. Barely in the crib and she was already a peacemaker, foretelling the role assigned to her by Divine Providence. As she grew up, her father was so impressed with her natural virtue and supernatural grace that he asserted she would far outstrip in virtue all the women descended of the royal blood of Aragon. From an early age, Isabel had a contempt for worldly ornaments, abhorred pleasure and disdained vanities. She was instead assiduous in her prayer, fasting, and works of charity. So much did her father admire her that he claimed all the prosperity God had granted his kingdom was on account of her merits.
St. Isabel was very beautiful and very lovable. She was also very devout, and assisted at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass every day. On account of her widespread reputation for holiness and beauty, her hand in marriage was sought by many princes. When she was twelve, she was given in marriage to King Denis of Portugal (1261-1325). However, their wedding did not take place until 1288 when she was 17 and he was 26. Isabel was a very holy wife, and although her husband was fond of her at first, he soon began to cause her great suffering. Through a good ruler, he did not imitate his wife's love of prayer and other virtues. In fact, his sins of infidelity gave great scandal to the people. Isabel, for her part, dedicated herself to raising godly children and pleasing her husband, though she always pleased God more. She befriended pilgrims, strangers, the sick and poor - in a word, all those whose needs came to her notice.[/column]
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For nearly half the year she would only eat bread and water. On one occasion when she fell ill, the doctor prescribed some wine for her. Yet she refused to abandon her penance. Lo, as she drank her water it miraculously turned into wine! On another occasion she instantaneously cured a poor woman of a loathsome ulcer by kissing it! She gave sight to a virgin born blind, healed many other persons of grievous ailments with the mere Sign of the Cross, and worked numerous other miracles. She built and endowed monasteries, churches and hospitals. She frequently had to make peace between her husband and their rebellious son, Alonso, who felt he was often passed over in favor of the king's illegitimate children.
Once, she was carrying money from the royal treasury to distribute among the poor. She was accosted by her husband. The money was miraculously transformed into roses and he let her pass innocently on her way. Once she reached her impoverished subjects, the roses were transformed back into currency. This miracle echoed that of St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who was surely interceding for her before the heavenly Throne of the Almighty.
THE KING AND TWO PAGES
Later, to make matters, worse, the King believed a malicious lie about Isabel and one of her pages told by an envious page, who was in fact quite a scoundrel. In great anger, King Denis ordered the page he believed guilty to be sent to a lime-burner. The lime-burner received a secret order sealed by the King to throw into his furnace a page who would shortly be sent by the King. The good page set out obediently to the furnace to deliver a message entrusted to him by the King. He was unaware of the calumny spoken against him and was oblivious to the fact that the was walking towards his unjust execution. On his way, he heard the bells of Holy Mass. Having the habit of daily Mass attendance, he paused his errand in order to pray at Mystical Calvary. The first Mass had already begun and so he stayed to hear in full the subsequent Mass as well. In the meantime, the impatient King sent the wicked page to the lime-burner to learn if the other had in fact been killed. The lying page made all haste to the furnace. He was itching to hear of his companion's destruction. In fact, he passed by the very church where the good page was kneeling in prayer. Since the wicked page was the first page from the king to arrive at the lime-burner, it was he who was tied and and tossed into the furnace! When King Denis learned what had happened, he realized that God had saved the good page, punished the calumniator, and proved Queen Isabel to be innocent. Many believed it was Isabel's intercessory prayers which brought about such a just outcome. This amazing event helped King Denis improve his own life. He apologized to his wife before the entire court of nobility and began to have great respect and admiration for her virtue.
St. Isabel helped bring about the Treaty of Alcañices (1297), which brought peace and fixed the borders between Denis of Portugal and Sancho IV of Castille. Seven years later, she helped arbitrate a pace between Fernando IV of Castille and James II of Aragon, her brother. On one occasion, as she was unable to prevent war between her son and one of his illegitimate half-brothers, she rode a mule out to the battlefield. She cast herself between the two contending armies under a veritable hailstorm of arrows. Her Guardian Angel must have protected her for she remained unscathed. The soldiers all held her in such high esteem and genuinely loved her that they lay aside their fratricidal arms and refused to fight. Once more she had brought about peace. On several occasions she prevented her husband from killing their son by pleading for his life.
WIDOW AND POOR CLARE
In King Denis' final sickness, Isabel never left his side (except to assist at Holy Mass), and he died a holy death. After the death of King Denis, Isabel, who in her youth had been a model to virgins and in her married life to wives, now became a pattern of all virtues for widows. She immediately put on the habit of St. Clare. After the king's funeral, she made a pilgrimage to Santiago de Compostella. There she offered a great quantity of silk, silver, gold and precious stones for the eternal repose of his soul. Upon her journey home, she built the beautiful royal monastery Santa Cruz de Coimbra for Poor Clares. This monastery became the resting place of Portugal's first two kings. In the 20th century, it also served as home to Sister Lucia, the seer of Fatima.
Isabel outlived her husband by eleven years and spent those by doing ever greater works of charity and penance. She often payed the dowries of poor girls, educated the children of poor nobles, and distributed great quantities of flour during famine.
Isabela made a lasting peace between her son, King Alonso of Portugal, and his son-in-law, Alfonso the King of Castille. Alonso had given Alfonso his daughter, Maria, in marriage and now accused Alfonso of ill-treating her. Isabela hurried to the city of Estremoz where the two armies had drawn up. She had been weak and the oppressive heat of the season had led many to counsel her not to make the trip. But she had replied that there was no better way to spend her health, even her life, than in averting the miseries and destruction of war. In that town, she was seized with a terrible sickness and was cared for within Estremoz Castle. After having been visited by the Blessed Virgin, Mother of God, she died a most holy death on 4 July 1336.
After her death, God glorified her with many miracles. Her body gave off a sweet fragrance and it remained incorrupt. Her body was carried with much honor and love to the monastery at Coimbra. She was canonized by Pope Urban VIII in 1625.