Saint Elizabeth

This article needs additional citations for verification. Please help improve this article by adding reliable references. Unsourced material may be challenged and removed. (September 2007)

Saint Elizabeth
statue of Saint Elizabeth in the parish church of Memmelsdorf near Bamberg, Franconia in northern Bavaria (Germany)
Righteous
Born	1st century BC
Died	1st century AD
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church Eastern Orthodox Church Anglican Church Lutheran Church Islam (honoured)
Canonized	Pre-Congregation
Feast	November 5
Patronage	pregnant women diocese of Fulda, Germany

Saint Elisabeth redirects here. For other saints of this name, see Elizabeth (given name).

Saint Elizabeth, also spelled Elisabeth or Elisheva (Hebrew אֱלִישֶׁבַע / אֱלִישָׁבַע "My God is an oath", Standard Hebrew Elišévaʿ ~ Elišávaʿ, Tiberian Hebrew ʾĔlîšéḇaʿ ~ ʾĔlîšāḇaʿ) was the mother of St. John the Baptist and the wife of St. Zachary/Zacharias, according to the New Testament and the Quran. She is also known by the variants of her first name, such as Isabel, Isabella, Isabelle, etc.

Relation to Mary

No one really knows that much about St. Elizabeth. In Luke 1:36 (Kings James Version) of the Bible Elizabeth is described as a relative of Mary. The Greek word used is συγγενίς, which can refer to various forms of kinship.^[1] According to the Catholic Encyclopedia their relation is given by St. Hippolytus, according to whom they are cousins; the mother of Elizabeth, Sobe and the mother of Mary, Saint Anne are sisters ^[2]. The mother of Mary is also known from another source, the infancy Gospel of James.

Some translations of this verse states their relations as relative ^{[3] [4]} , kinswoman ^[5] or 'of your family' ^[6] , others such as the King James, states that they are cousins. ^[7]

The Islamic tradition holds that Elizabeth was sister of Anne and thus aunt of Mary.^[8]

In The Bible

According to the Gospel of Luke, Elizabeth was a descendant of Aaron the priest (Luke 1:5). She and her husband Zechariah were "righteous before God, living blamelessly" (1:6), but childless. Zechariah was visited by the angel Gabriel, who told him his wife would have a son who "will be great in the sight of the Lord" (1:15).

The pregnant Elizabeth was visited by her relative, Mary (1:36), who was pregnant with Jesus:

And it came to pass, that when Elizabeth heard the salutation of Mary, the infant leaped in her womb.

And Elizabeth was filled with the Holy Ghost and she cried out with a loud voice:

"Blessed are thou amongst women and blessed is the fruit of thy womb." (1:41-42)

When Mary heard this she recited the Magnificat.

Elizabeth is not mentioned in the New Testament outside of the Gospel of Luke. Elizabeth is also mentioned in several books of the Apocrypha, most prominently in the Protevangelion of James, in which the birth of her son and the subsequent murder of her husband are chronicled.

Sainthood

Elizabeth is revered as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church on November 5, and in the Orthodox and Anglican traditions on September 5, on the same day with her husband St. Zachary/Zechariah. She is commemorated as a matriarch in the Calendar of Saints (September 5) of the Lutheran Church - Missouri Synod and Zechariah is commemorated as a prophet.^{[citation needed]}

See also

• Visitation (Christian)

Notes and references