What
we know of St. Elizabeth comes from the Gospel, the
book of Luke, in particular. In Luke, Elizabeth, a
daughter of the line of Aaron, and the wife of
Zechariah, was "righteous before God" and was
"blameless" but childless. Elizabeth is also a
cousin to the Virgin Mary.
Zechariah,
desiring a child, went to pray in the temple and
was told by the angel Gabriel, "Do not be afraid,
Zechariah; your prayer has been heard. Your wife
Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you are to call
him John. He will be a joy and delight to you, and
many will rejoice because of his birth, for he will
be great in the sight of the Lord. He is never to
take wine or other fermented drink, and he will be
filled with the Holy Spirit even before he is
born." (Luke 1:13-15).
Zechariah
was skeptical because both himself and his wife
were elderly. For his skepticism, Zechariah was
rendered mute until the prophecy had been
fulfilled.
Elizabeth
became pregnant shortly thereafter and she
rejoiced.
Gabriel
then visited the Virgin Mary at Nazareth, telling
her that she would conceive of the Holy Spirit and
become the mother of Jesus.
Mary
then visited Elizabeth, and her baby leapt in her
womb. Filled with the Holy Spirit, Elizabeth
proclaimed to Mary, Blessed are you among women,
and blessed is the child you will bear! But why am
I so favored, that the mother of my Lord should
come to me? As soon as the sound of your greeting
reached my ears, the baby in my womb leaped for
joy. Blessed is she who has believed that the Lord
would fulfill his promises to her!" (Luke
1:41-45).
Mary
visited with Elizabeth for three months, both women
pregnant with child. After Mary returned home,
Elizabeth gave birth to a son and named him John.
This child was chosen by God to be John the
Baptist. John would baptize Christ as an example to
all, that all must be reborn of water and
spirit.
Although
Elizabeth's neighbors assumed the child would be
named Zechariah, her husband insisted that John be
his name. This astonished the neighbors for there
were no men named John in Elizabeth's family, but
Zechariah's insistence ended the debate. At the
moment, Zechariah insisted that they obey the will
of God, and name him John, his speech
returned.
After
this, there is no more mention in the Bible about
Elizabeth.
There
are mentions of Elizabeth in the apocryphal works,
but these are not within the cannon of the Bible.
In the Apocrypha, it mentions that her husband,
Zechariah, was murdered in the
temple.
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