Since the elder of my daughters is named "Elizabeth," I sometimes invoke saints of that name for her. Today's saint is one of them. She is now of more general interest than ever, when many faithful Christians belonging to The Episcopal Church (TEC) find themselves unable to be reconciled to the changes that have occurred in that denomination.Child of a wealthy, socially prominent New York Episcopalian family, St. Elizabeth paid a huge price for her conversion to Catholicism after her husband's death while the family was in Pisa, Italy. A bill was even introduced into the New York State Legislature to have her expelled from the state. While anti-Catholicism is not as virulent today, it is no accident that far more Episcopalians who reject what TEC has become are forming schismatic churches than crossing the Tiber. Protestantism has a mental DNA all its own, which is very hard to shed—especially for Protestants who think they're really Catholic anyhow, or at least more Catholic than the "Roman" Church. But as Elizabeth's example showed, and as the examples of a few readers of this blog show even today, for God all things are possible.
St. Elizabeth, pray for us.
