ISABEL OF ARAGON

<p>Monsignor Eusébio Sintra tells us the story of Doña Isabel of Aragon the saintly queen of Portugal.</p><p>Dona Isabel was born in Zaragoza in the Kingdom of Aragon in 1271. Later in 1282 she married King Don Dinis of Burgundy thereby becoming the Queen Consort of Portugal.</p><p>From the very beginning she stood out not only for her extraordinary beauty but also for her remarkable intelligence. As a result she quickly won the hearts of her Portuguese subjects who came to see her as a profoundly pious woman always willing to share her blessings with the poor and the marginalized.</p><p>In addition she never carried out her charitable acts alone. Each day she was accompanied by her faithful attendants as she went out to care for those in need addressing not just their material hardships but also their spiritual needs.</p><p>Whenever someone questioned her unorthodox way of fulfilling her royal role she would respond with humility and conviction: God gave me a throne so that I might devote myself to charity.</p><p>Eventually her generosity drew criticism from her own husband who believed she was being overly lavish in her donations to the poor. However this moment gave rise to one of the most celebrated miracles attributed to her - the transformation of roses into bread. When the king suspicious of what she was hiding beneath her cloak demanded she reveal it he was astonished to witness the roses she had been carrying turn into bread before his very eyes.</p><p></p>