July 4, 2006 is Independence Day in USA ♦ In Church it is the feast day of St. Elizabeth of Portugal.

Elizabeth of Aragon (1271–1336) was queen consort of Portugal. She is also known as Queen Saint Elizabeth. She was named after her great-aunt Elizabeth of Hungary, but is known in Portuguese by "Isabel". The daughter of Peter III of Aragon, and Constance, Queen of Sicily, a granddaughter of Frederick II, Holy Roman Emperor, she showed an early enthusiasm for religion: she said the full Divine Office daily, fasted and did other penances, and attended twice daily choral masses.

   Elizabeth was married very early to Denis of Portugal, a poet. They had two children, a daughter Constance, who married Ferdinand IV of Castile, and a son Afonso (later Afonso IV of Portugal). The latter so greatly resented the favors shown to the king's illegitimate sons that he rebelled, and in 1323 war was declared between him and his father. Elizabeth, however, reconciled her husband and son, and is known in consequence as the "peacemaker".

   Denis died in 1325, his son succeeding him. Elizabeth then retired to a convent of the Poor Clares which she had founded at Coimbra, where she took the habit of the Franciscan Order, wishing to devote the rest of her life to the poor and sick in obscurity. But she was called forth to act once more as peacemaker. In 1336, Afonso IV marched his troops against the Alfonso XI of Castile, to whom he had married his daughter Maria, and who had neglected and ill-treated her. In spite of age and weakness, the queen dowager insisted on hurrying to Estremoz, where the two king's armies were drawn up. She again stopped the fighting and caused terms of peace to be arranged. But the exertion brought on her final illness; and as soon as her mission was fulfilled she died of a fever on July 8, 1336.

   Elizabeth was buried at Coimbra, and miracles were said to have followed her death. She was canonized by Pope Urban VIII in 1625, and we celebrate her feastday on July 4th.

Let us pray, this Independence Day, for our great Nation, by invoking the intercession of St. Elizabeth of Portugal, as Patron Saint invoked in time of war for lasting peace. That through her help, Our Father in Heaven will bring peace in Iraq, Afghanistan, and all nations at war. We also pray for safety of the troops involved in time of war.