Saint of the Month - November 2019: Blessed Elizabeth Achler

Bl. Elizabeth Achler

Woman of goodness

Memorial: November 25th

“Good Betha” was the popular nickname given to this month’s featured holy person by people who knew her, which says a lot about her character while she lived on earth.  For, indeed, she was a very holy woman – a soul who was charitable and kind; sacrificial; gifted with extraordinary charism such as Ecstasies, Visions, Prophecies, and Stigmata... yet, outside of her country of Germany,  she's barely known.

Her baptismal name was Elizabeth Achler and she was born in the German town of Waldsee on November 25, 1386. Her parents were poor weavers and, like most chosen souls, she was deemed pious from her early childhood.  If I recall correctly, one biography I read described her as becoming a Franciscan Tertiary at 14 and already practicing a high degree of virtue under the guidance of a spiritual director - an Augustinian priest named, Fr. Konrad Kugelin.  At the time she lived with another, older tertiary in a small house and, together, they supported themselves through weaving.

Bl. Elizabeth received the Stigmata.

At aged 17, Elizabeth along with four other tertiaries were selected to become the founding members of a monastery in Reute established by Fr. Konrad.  They lived under the Rule of the Third Order Franciscans.  Although details about her life in the English language are scarce, what little information I was able to gather about Elizabeth speaks volumes of her sanctity.

In the new monastery, the Beata was assigned to kitchen duties and also as the community's portress, where she soon endeared herself to the poor who came to the gate for alms. At about the same time, the mystical phenomena which was so abundant in her life, began with the onset of ecstasies that left her immobile followed by the appearance of bleeding wounds in her hands, feet, side, and around her head. The other nuns were initially split about their opinion of her with some believing in her sanctity, while others viewed her with suspicion.

As her spiritual gifts escalated, Elizabeth craved more and more solitude, preferring to withdraw herself from the others to the point where she seemed like a hermit rather than a member of a community.  The voluntary isolation provided the mystic with discretion in her practice of self-mortification and strict fasting... and to meditate more keenly on the Passion of Christ, her key devotion.  Sublime visions were also added to her list of charisma while the bleeding Stigmata continued intermittently on Fridays.

Elizabeth's prolonged fasting eventually evolved into a complete and supernatural abstinence from food (Inedia) that's often mentioned in connection with her hagiography.  Her case of Inedia has the distinction of being one of the earliest examples in the history of the Church of someone who subsisted on just the Eucharist alone.  She did so for the last twelve years of her life.

It’s apparent Elizabeth's vocation was to be a full-fledged victim-soul, which also entailed another responsibility for her – assisting the Poor Souls in Purgatory.  Souls undergoing purification in the afterlife were allowed by the Lord to visit her - to ask her prayer on their behalf - to which she always acceded, making her a prolific advocate of the Holy Souls. 

Towards the end of her life, Bl. Elizabeth contracted a severe skin condition - some sources say it was leprosy - which she endured with peace and patience, as yet another cross to bear for the expiation of sin.  She died on her 34th birthday on November 25, 1420.

The tomb of Good Betha, enclosing her

bones in the parish church of Reute.

By the time she passed away, Elizabeth was already revered by her religious sisters, and by the people of Reute and the surrounding towns.  As a result, Good Betha's tomb became a popular place of pilgrimage where cures and other favors were reported.  The Church affirmed the deceased nun's cultus by beatifying Elizabeth Achler in 1766.  Today, her precious remains are still highly venerated in the parish church of Reute.

May the Lord be pleased to grant the Universal Church the speedy Canonization of his spouse, Bl. Elizabeth, known as "the Good"... for His greater glory and the edification of all souls.  Amen.