Today, November 17, 2022, is the feast day of St. Elizabeth of Hungary (1207-1231). She is also known as St. Elizabeth of Thuringia. As a small child she was taken to Thuringia in present day Germany to be raised and to eventually marry to form a family and political alliance. She married at 14, was widowed at 20, and died at 24. She is known for many acts of charity to the poor. The Church declared her a saint in 1235.
Recall that St. Elizabeth had given her daughter, Sophie of Thuringia, the future Duchess of Brabant, a statue of Our Lady of Consolation. Sophie gave the statue to the beguines at Vilvoorde, Belgium (in Brabant). The beguines gave the statue to the Carmelite nuns in the 15th century. (See Chapters 21 and 22 of this blog.)
The Augustinian orders were formed in the mid 13th century. St. Elizabeth died in 1231. Sophie brought the statue of Our Lady of Consolation to Vilvoorde in the mid 13th century. Therefore, it is quite possible that this statue of Our Lady of Consolation at Vilvoorde was the first in the region. Some groups who followed the Rule of St. Augustine did exist before they were formed into the current Augustinian orders, but they do not seem to have operated as friars among the lay people.
Here is a stained-glass window depicting St. Elizabeth of Hungary. She is holding roses. This is at Saint Elizabeth's Church in Grave, North Brabrant, Netherlands. (Sint-Elizabethkerk, Grave) Grave is just 30 miles from Kevelaer, Germany, where we find Our Lady of Consolation in 1641. Sint-Elizabethkerk was built in 1240, just 9 years after her death and just 5 years after she was declared a saint.
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