St. Elizabeth of Hungary
Patron Saint of Hospitals and Nurses
St. Elizabeth of Hungary was a princess in the Kingdom of Hungary in the thirteenth century. She used her wealth to start a hospital where she spent her life caring for the sick until she died at the early age of 24. She is a patroness of hospitals and nurses because of the great charity work she did with her hospital. She also was an early member of the Third Order of St. Francis and today is remembered as one of their patronesses. Elizabeth was canonized only 4 years after her death for her great holiness, and thus there are many churches dedicated to her throughout Europe, as well as many works of art and local traditions.