Saint Elizabeth of Schönau

Elisabeth of Schönau (c. 1129 – 18 June 1164) was a German Benedictine visionary. She was an abbess at the Schönau Abbey in the Duchy of Nassau, and reportedly experienced numerous religious visions, for which she became widely sought after by many powerful men as far away as France and England. Elisabeth was born about 1129, of family named Hartwig of the Middle Rhine. She was educated at the double monastery of Schönau in Nassau and made her profession as a Benedictine in 1147. In 1157 she became abbess of the nuns under the supervision of Abbot Hildelin. F.W.E. Roth points out that in the 12th century only women of noble birth were promoted to spiritual offices in the Benedictine order; it seems probable that Elisabeth was of noble birth. Her hagiography describes her as given to works of piety from her youth, much afflicted with bodily and mental suffering, a zealous observer of the Rule of Saint Benedict and of the regulation of her convent, and devoted to practices of mortification. In the years 1147 to 1152 Elisabeth suffered recurrent disease, anxiety and depression as a result of her strict asceticism. Hildegard of Bingen admonished Elisabeth in letters to be prudent in the ascetic life. In 1152, Elisabeth began to experience ecstatic visions of various kinds. This was "a year after Hildegard of Bingen published her first book of visions, the Scivias, a work which seems to have influenced Elisabeth." These visions generally occurred on Sundays and Holy Days at Mass or Divine Office or after hearing or reading the lives of saints. Christ, the Virgin Mary, an angel, or the special saint of the day would appear to her and instruct her; or she would see quite realistic representations of the Passion, Resurrection, and Ascension, or other scenes of the Old and New Testaments. She died on 18 June 1164 and was buried in the abbey church of St. Florin. What Elisabeth saw and heard she put down on wax tablets.