Elizabeth Ann Seton

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St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Elizabeth Ann Seton
Foundress and Educator
Born August 28, 1774(1774-08-28), New York City
Died January 4, 1821 (aged 46), Emmitsburg, Maryland
Venerated in Roman Catholic Church
Beatified March 17, 1963 by Pope John XXIII
Canonized September 14, 1975 by Pope Paul VI
Feast January 4
Patronage Catholic Schools; Shreveport, Louisiana; and the State of Maryland
Saints Portal

St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized.

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[edit] Biography

Site where she once lived in New York City (building at right with columns, 7 State Street) is now a shrine in her honor.
Site where she once lived in New York City (building at right with columns, 7 State Street) is now a shrine in her honor.

She was born to the prominent Bayley family of New York City, and raised in the Episcopal Church. At the age of nineteen, she married William Magee Seton, a wealthy businessman. Five children were born to the marriage, Anna Maria, William, Richard, Catherine (also known as "Kit") and Rebecca. Her marriage ended with her husband's death in 1803, shortly after becoming bankrupt. Two years later she converted to Roman Catholicism, on March 14, 1805. One of her half-nephews, James Roosevelt Bayley, would later become Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Owing to her conversion she lost the support of her friends and family. To support her children, she started a school in Baltimore, however it failed due to the anti-catholic bigotry of the day. After some trying and difficult years, Elizabeth was able to establish a community in Emmitsburg, Maryland dedicated to the care for the children of the poor. This was the first religious community of apostolic women founded in the United States. The remainder of her life was spent in leading and developing the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's which she had founded, along with the Sulpician priests of Baltimore. Today six independent religious communities trace their roots to the humble beginnings of the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

She was described as a charming and cultured lady. Her connections to New York society and the accompanying social pressures to leave the life she had created for herself did not deter her from embracing her religious vocation and charitable mission. She established St. Joseph's Academy and Free School in order to educate young girls to live by religious values. The greatest difficulties she faced were actually internal, stemming from misunderstandings, interpersonal conflicts, and the deaths of two daughters, her loved ones, and young sisters in community. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 46 in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

[edit] Legacy of Charity

Elizabeth Seton helped found the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, New York City's first private charity organization. In 1810, Seton established Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School in Emmitsburg, Maryland, a school dedicated to the education of Catholic girls, at the invitation of Samuel Sutherland Cooper. Cooper was a wealthy convert and seminarian who knew of the Catholic settlement near Emmitsburg and the newly established Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary, being begun by Father John Dubois and the Sulpicians. Dubois would later become Bishop of New York. St. Joseph's Academy developed into Saint Joseph College which closed in 1973.

Elizabeth founded the first religious community of apostolic women of the United States, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's, in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Dedicated to following the will of God, Elizabeth Ann had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture, and the Virgin Mary. The 23rd Psalm was her favorite prayer throughout her life. She was a woman of prayer and service who embraced the apostolic spirituality of Saint Louise de Marillac and Saint Vincent de Paul.

"We must pray literally without ceasing—without ceasing—in every occurrence and employment of our lives . . . that prayer of the heart which is independent of place or situation, or which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him." Elizabeth Ann Seton.

[edit] Recognition

1 On December 18, 1959, Elizabeth was declared Venerable by the Sacred Congregation of the Catholic Church. She was beatified by Pope John XXIII on March 17, 1963, and canonized by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975, making her the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is popularly considered a patron saint of Catholic schools. Her feast day is January 4. Her name appears on the front doors to St. Patrick's Cathedral, New York, describing her as a "Daughter of New York". Her legacy of charity lives on in her spiritual daughters who collaborate through the Sisters of Charity Federation. The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, is open to the public.

[edit] Namesakes

Mother Seton School, a Catholic elementary school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, traces its roots directly to St. Joseph's Academy and Free School, founded by St. Elizabeth Ann in 1810. There is also a Catholic homeschooling program called Seton Home Study School. A Catholic home-school support center called Living Saints Tutorial Program in New Manila, Quezon City, specializes in assisting students in the Philippines who are using the Seton Home School Study curriculum.

Several schools have been named for Seton:

[edit] External links