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Happy St. Elizabeth’s Day!

Submitted by Mark Van Steenwyk on July 4, 2008 – 7:00 amView Comments
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The problem with summers is that there are precious few holidays–especially in the United States. You’d think that we’d be able to think of a reason to celebrate during the summer. Especially in July. June is a time of spring weddings and a time when students get out of school. August is filled with anticipation–a time when folks go on vacation before autumn busyness crowds the calendar.

What we need is a holiday in July. A day of celebration to give us pause during the height of summer. Today, July 4th would be an excellent day for that holiday!

Thanks to Michael Iafrate at catholicanarchy.org, I now know that today is a day worth celebrating. You see, the 4th of July is the Feast Day of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, the Patroness of Peace.

Now, I’m not a Catholic. But I do appreciate the stories of the saints. And I can’t think of a better thing to do with the 4th of July than remember the story of St. Elizabeth. According to CatholicPeaceFellowship.org, here is her story:

St. Elizabeth of Portugal was a wise woman who knew how to broker peace. She was born in 1271 and married Denis, King of Portugal, at the age of twelve. Known for her piety, Elizabeth was close to the poor and ardent in calls for redistribution of land.

Elizabeth prevented war between Portugal and Castille at least four times by mediating with the kings. In 1320, Elizabeth’s son, Alfonso, at 20 years of age, organized and led a revolution against his father’s tyranny. Torn between the love and loyalty of the two, Elizabeth tried to negotiate a truce; however, because her husband, King Denis, no longer trusted her motives, he banished her from the kingdom. Five years later, Denis fell ill. Despite the years of infidelity, Elizabeth forgave her husband and nursed him until his death.

Elizabeth died seeking peace and reconciliation amongst the fierce monarchs of her age. Her son was now King Alfonso IV, and in 1336, he set out to do battle with his son-in-law, the King of Castile. Elizabeth, though sick, set off to bring peace between them. She succeeded in her mission, but the exertions and heat were too much for her ailing body and she died before she could return to her beloved nuns at Coimbra. Nevertheless, Elizabeth was buried in the magnificent convent she founded in Coimbra, where she had often humbly served the other nuns at table.

Elizabeth was popularly known as “the peacemaker.” She is among the patron saints of peacemakers to whom we can turn in times of war.

From now on, the 4th of July will be a day when I reflect upon peace. It will be a day of summer celebration. The alternative is to sit around and do nothing all day, since there is nothing else notable about this day-in-the-middle-of-the-summer.

And so, on this day, let us remember the peacemakers. Let us pray too that we can be peacemakers in the midst of violence of war.

How will you honor the peacemakers on this, the 4th of July?

How will we seek the Kingdom of God?

How will we honor those who have died in the cause of Christ?

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About Mark Van Steenwyk

Mark Van Steenwyk is a member of Missio Dei. He is a speaker, writer, educator, and grassroots organizer. With the support of the Central Plains Mennonite Conference, he travels to radical and intentional communities around the country to help network and offer support.

  • Joel
    I feel that we should continue to celebrate the holiday. It really doesn't matter if you want to call it July 4th or St. Elizabeth's Day. The important thing is that we are thankful during our celebrations. There are a number of celebrations in the bible and they all revolve around being thankful for our blessings and acknowledging God as the One who provides those blessings. I think it is important to continue those types of celebrations to show our gratitude to God. Even if those blessing have come to us by way of an imperialistic nation. But the blessings that we are given come with responsibilities. We need to stop over-consuming and we need to use our blessings to help others who may not be as fortunate as ourselves. We need to simplify our lives so that we have the time and resources available to do God's work
  • mountainguy
    I think there are things that need to be explained:

    1. When I criticize patriotism (or, more exactly, jingoism) I do it for patriotism-jingoism everywhere, not just Northamerican one (peraps this is one of the most dangerous).

    2. Despite the "hard words" I just wrote, all this was supposed to be a criticism of a concept (patriotism-jingoism) rather than a critic over a particular person (Well... it is almost imposible to not hate G.W. Bush).

    3. I acnowledeged the good things that might be brought up by a "light patriotism".

    4. I don't condone "kicking anglosaxon butts". But, if someone there in USA thinks of patriotism as imperialism, then it shouldn't criticize Anti-USA sentiment as long as it could be considered a way of patriotism for people in the "third world".

    5. Well said hewhocutsdown: love is borderless. Maria: I apologize if my words were offensive for you.
  • No offense. I understand.

    You might like Bush if you met him in person rather than as president. I can think of a lot worse people to have as president.

    I really wish our politics, any politics, were run by the golden rule. It's a principle that transcends any particular religion or belief system. Politics seems to be so much about various special interests -so many people worried about getting what's theirs, that it seems it has forgotten about "us", about the fact that we all live on this planet together.
  • Ted
    Lest anyone get the wrong impression, we spent the day eating barbecue with our friend Dave, a gulf war veteran who suffers from PTSD. Dave is divorced, depressed, and a red-blooded, patriotic American Christian who listens to right-wing talk radio. We disagree about a lot, but we can usually find common ground around a piece of rhubarb pie. We even topped the night off with some fireworks, because Dave wouldn't have it any other way.

    We celebrated, not independence, but Dave -- who did not need lectures on the contradictions of American freedom so much as he needed food, friendship, and the chance to get beat at cards.

    Dave will probably never agree with my politics, but he knows he will always have a place at our table.
  • mountainguy
    This is for patriots (like this guy "constantine" - is he the roman emperor?) :)
    Well, I dan't care if you love your nation. Moreover, if we talk of "nation" as mainly cultural concept, I think it could be good to some extent. It is good if you want to be thankful with the people in your country that has helped you in some way. But I don't buy this "Thanks God for the asshole-bully we have as president, and all those Haliburton-like thieves who provide us with some nice Iraqi petroleum, so we can still driving our 250000 CC Jeeps just to go next street to buy some food."

    And remember: a lot of things that USA government does are offensive for other countries. So, if you love your northamerican jingoism, don't be surprised if a guy from the thirld world (like me) would consider kicking some anglosaxon butts as "something patriotic". (Not a personal threat, so don't you worry about this of "kicking butts".
  • "Thanks God for the asshole-bully we have as president, and all those Haliburton-like thieves who provide us with some nice Iraqi petroleum, so we can still driving our 250000 CC Jeeps just to go next street to buy some food." was not the kind of gratitude I had in mind either. But if I said something like that would illustrate how much I need to repent. That my actions (of buying lots of gas) and my inactions (lack of advocating for different foreign policy) have contributed to the sins of my nation. Just living in this country makes me culpable for the sins of my country. There isn't any way to avoid this. If I am repentant, maybe God will help us to change and have mercy on me/us when third world guys like you want to take some patriotic revenge.

    At funerals we remember the good things about a person. In repentant grief, I think we can remember the benefits we received without condoning the sin that acquired those benefits.
  • There's a difference between your 'thanks god for...' and genuine prayer for the leaders in the country you're in, be they democratic, socialist, fascist, etc. I would be greatly concerned for myself if I could not speak peaceably and pray honestly for George W. Bush now that I live in the U.S.

    But yeah, there is a huge chasm between what is being prayed. Back in 2004, in Australia at Hillsong's college in Sydney, there was a prayer meeting for students to pray for the upcoming U.S. election - because it would affect the entire world. Only a small handful of Americans even showed up, which I think was simply due to a lack of understanding of how far the ripple effect extends. But the prayers were not mere jingo, they were empassioned outcries for peace and a hope to see some of God's kingdom enacted on earth, despite the world's track record.

    I don't know. I can come off as arrogant sometimes myself, and it's hard to live the change and far easier to spout rhetoric. But like Ted below, if I need to shut up sometimes because it gives me a chance to love people that would otherwise disappear, then I'll shut up.

    By the way mountainguy; I don't know about you, but for me, I have all but torn up my Canadian passport. I would be a hypocrite to challenge Americanism here if I tolerated Canadianism in myself. Love is borderless, and I would rather be identified with someone like Christ, who can transcend our walls that separate, than a sparcely populated country that gets ragged on for it's small military and reneging on agreements with it's natives. :)
  • I sympathize with having difficulties with the American system, particularly the greed and imperialism. When holidays such as 4th of July come around, I find myself with two options: putting on sack cloth and ashes and repenting of my country's sins, or being grateful to God, my leaders, and my ancestors for the benefits I enjoy. I don't want to cast stones because I have too many areas I need improvement that I'm only vaguely conscious of. And I worry that not being grateful will make me arrogant.
  • Ted
    I know I'm ornery, but I don't accept the polarity. I did not spend last Friday wearing black armbands and spouting jeremiads about American imperialism. I'm just uncomfortable with the insistence that the proper reaction to injustice that happens to work in my favor is gratitude. There's an old Pharasaical prayer:

    "Thank You, God, that You did not make me a Gentile, a slave, or a woman."

    Sounds kind of arrogant, doesn't it?
  • It does. That's not the kind of gratitude I had in mind. I really like the way you spent the fourth -giving grace to those who promote the kinds of ideals that make America so offensive.
  • Ted
    Thanks, Maria. I wasn't trying to paint you with the Pharisee brush, by the way, but to point out that the danger of arrogance runs both directions -- probably all directions at once.

    I don't really want to cast aspersions on the gratefulness of others, or deny the appropriateness of greeting the good things that come our way with some kind of thankfulness. Nor is my consternation directed at persons -- I'll poke fun at the American founders, in a kind of counter-hagiography, but it is simply part of the human tragedy that gross injustices were and are perpetuated by agents who, for the most part, are well-meaning, earnest folks -- most of them God-fearing in some fashion and many of them earnest believers.

    But they were -- and we still are -- acting out a destructive and even demonic script, one that continues to have grim consequences. I'm really more of a brats-and-beer than a sackcloth-and-ashes kind of guy, but that script bothers me.
  • It's easy to be arrogant. and hard to be humble.

    I'm sure our grandchildren and great- grandchildren will criticize us for our blind sidedness, particularly for the way we treat our planet. Every time I want to pat myself on the back, God shows me more ways to improve.

    It's important to celebrate St. Elizabeth's day, Independence day, freedom, peace, good food, waking up in the morning. Celebrating is a form of gratitude. It's easier to appreciate the good things when we come face to face with their cost in sweat, blood, and tears. When we share in the pain, then we can more fully experience the joy.
  • Constatine
    "American freedom and prosperity came at the expense of the oppressed."

    You are guilty, my friend, of self-rightousness that exceeds the most exuberant mega-church pastor with a 40-foot American flag in his sancturary. Ah, yes, even though you take advanage of all the blessings of living in a free and prosperous nation (by world and historical), you get the cheapest of cheap grace by hating your own country and thinking oh-so-much-more Christian than those who acknowledge what the nation has brought. As for your contention that freedom was won on the backs of the oppressed, some was and some wasn't. Your contempt for history and the actual glories and tragedies of real human history make you seem more gnostic than Christian.

    "Any gratitude I have for my abundance should be towards God, and never to the US Government." Did God build the canals and roads and dams that make your life possible? "If this is the case, then how is participation in 4th of July celebrations an accurate way of giving thanks to God?" Please grow up one of these days and set aside your childish posturings.
  • Ted
    I think "hating America" is a bit of a red herring. The US is the political context in which many of us are living out our allegiance to Christ, and in the face of a widespread patriotism that borders on idolatry, I don't think a corrective is inappropriate. The contradictions of human rule are not unique to America, and the U.S. is not the most heinous example of imperialism (though some would argue that point). Similar criticisms could be leveled at Canada, or Spain, or South Africa, or anywhere else. Just about any government you can think of is based, somewhere in its history, on brutal conquest or bloody rebellion. Not to be outdone, I suppose, America is founded on a bit of both. To point this out is not to "hate America" and certainly not to hate Americans, who on the whole are fairly nice people.

    I have trouble with the idea that I must express gratitude, explicable in terms of American civil religion, for the relative creature comforts I enjoy by the accident of having been born in Indiana. I am also white, and male, and I am not blind to the advantages afforded me -- but to express gratitude for it seems, at the very least, a little misplaced. Meanwhile, a teenage girl, by accident of her birth in Cambodia, is eking out a meager existence in a sweatshop, presumably because her forebears did not have the pluck to stumble upon an unfamiliar landmass, displace or slaughter its inhabitants, and then fight their own government for political control over it.

    The comfort and safety secured for us by the US government are not the same as, and are sometimes at odds with, the freedom we have in Christ. Joel is correct to point out that freedom always comes at the expense of others. True freedom came at the expense of one who willingly suffered crucifixion, and it is an expense that we cannot duplicate but are nevertheless called to participate in. There is also a false and fleeting freedom extracted at the expense not only of the unwilling victims of conquest, but also the unwitting victims of a false value system that seeks valor in battle. I'm really not sure I can celebrate this.
  • That's the problem I had with going to church this past weekend. The service went roughly, America-America-God. When talking with the senior pastor, the rationale given was that it was a culturally appropriate segue into a discussion on the freedom that is given in Christ.

    What I found troubling is that these people are more than willing to challenge cultural norms in areas of morality, finances, and other arenas, but, while on the one hand not acting as a political puppet, they consistently avoid biblical challenges in politics. It's as though God's tough words on money are capable of being swallowed but God's tough words on state are not.

    So we blessed each other in our disagreement and parted ways. We'll see each other next week. :)
  • Oh yes, a good old fashion blog attack.

    Mark, seriously, grow up already. Jonas is going to need a mature dad.

    In the meantime, thanks for the blog site hit Consta(n?)tine. We love angry traffic.
  • Well then. How does one respond to that? I acknowledge the complex messiness of living in this place we call America. It isn't a place that I have 100% unadulterated hatred for. Instead, I have a melancholy awareness of its flaws (and indeed blessings). One could honestly apply your logic to any of the great Nations and Empires in history. I don't think you'd be so hard to those with my position if they wrote out of Persia, China, Rome, or WWII Germany.

    I have been called arrogant before for such musings. But I'm in good company. The humble Anabaptists were called arrogant, and I've even had good friends tell me that was why they were drowned--not for their convictions, but for their arrogance. I leave such judgments to God. He knows my heart. It is easy to call someone arrogant for their words, and less so over a meal. Before you pronounced judgment, you should come break bread with me.
  • So what's wrong with having a day where we are thankful for our freedom and prosperity? Even if the privileges we enjoy were not obtained in the most wholesome manner, the lack of gratitude would add insult to injury.
  • I am thankful for my freedom and prosperity. But I choose to define those words according to the Biblical story, not the American story. American freedom and prosperity came at the expense of the oppressed. Where should my gratitude be placed? Any gratitude I have for my abundance should be towards God, and never to the US Government. If this is the case, then how is participation in 4th of July celebrations an accurate way of giving thanks to God? I find it more honoring to remember God's faithfulness through the stories of saintly men and women (like St. Elizabeth of Portugal).
  • So let me see, a thief gives you a coat which keeps you warm on a cold winters day and you wouldn't tell the thief thank you? Yes, our freedom and prosperity come from God but through the US Government. When the US flag is raised, I am thankful to God for everything he has given me through my government. When I see the beauty of the fireworks display, I am grateful that I live at peace and can enjoy such things instead of being fearful that my home is about to be destroyed or friends and family are about to die.

    I have heard comparisons of government to citizens like parents to children. While not entirely accurate, there are some similarities. As a child, I can be critical of how my parents raised me, but most parents would say that they tried their best. It is so hard to be a good leader. It's nice when the followers or subjects give you grace. I think there are ways we can celebrate on the 4th of July that give grace to our leaders both past and present without ignoring our country's short comings. We receive grace in large measure to the grace that we give.
  • I spent today praying for America's leaders, current and future. May God grant them wisdom, grace, and a smack upside the head when necessary.
  • And yes, I realize today is not July 4th and St. Liz/Ind. Day.....but that's when I remembered, so.....there.
  • Ted
    "American freedom and prosperity came at the expense of the oppressed."

    And it still does.
  • Joel
    Everyone's freedom and prosperity come at the expense of someone, regardless of where one lives.
    And it always will.

    On a side note, I was driving behind someone the other day who had one of those bumper stickers that reads "Freedome is not free" and I thought that it needed to be modified a little bit. I prefer "Freedom may not be free, but salvation is!"
  • Ted
    Jesus might quibble a bit.
  • Joel
    I'm not so sure that Jesus is one to "quibble" much. While I don't wish to trivialize His suffering on the cross, salvation is a gift available to anyone for free. 8-)
  • This is different than the Saint Elizabeth of Hungary I take it? I googled St. Elizabeth after seeing you gmail status and got nothing but reference to St. Elizabeth of Hungary, who is celebrated sometime in November I believe. Her story is quite compelling as well and really fits nice with the passions of JM.
  • Beer, brats, and trouncing U.S. nationals in email-forwarded U.S. history quizzes.

    Seriously? I'm not sure. I don't really celebrate holidays much.
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