At her canonization in 1975, Pope St. Paul VI declared that St. Elizabeth essentially established “the apostolate of helping the poor and the running of parochial schools in America.”
Welcome to "North American Sanctity," a series on holy men and women, boys and girls, saints and those on the road to sainthood, from Canada, the United States, and Mexico. Some will be familiar, others less so; but all are inspiring!
By Kimberly Bruce
“We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives," said St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (feast day: Jan. 4). "that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him.”
American Catholics can take special pride in this saint who has two firsts to her name: the first natural-born U.S. citizen to be canonized a saint, and the foundress of the first religious congregation of women in our country.
At her canonization in 1975, Pope St. Paul VI declared that St. Elizabeth Ann essentially established “the apostolate of helping the poor and the running of parochial schools in America.”
Years later, Pope Francis praised the saint at the 2024 “Women in the Church: Builders of Humanity” international conference at the Vatican. “In her own distinct way, [she] gave proof through initiatives of charity, education and prayer, of how the ‘feminine genius’ can uniquely reflect God’s holiness in the midst of our world,” he said.
New York native
Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born on Aug. 28, 1774, the daughter of a prominent family in New York City. Her father was a doctor, and her grandfather was the rector of St. Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Staten Island. Her mother died when Elizabeth was just 3 years of age.
In 1794, at the age of 19, Elizabeth married wealthy businessman William Magee Seton. Together the couple had five children: Anna Maria, William, Richard, Catherine, and Rebecca.
Elizabeth enjoyed her life as a devoted mother and servant of the poor in her community. She was a devout woman who grew in knowledge of her faith through the guidance of the Episcopal Rev. John Henry Hobart of Trinity Church.
Italian interlude
Not long into their marriage, William’s business began to fail, and he also developed tuberculosis. Encouraged by others to take a trip hoping it would restore his health, the couple travelled to Italy with their daughter, Anna Maria. William died, however, while they were in Italy on Dec. 27, 1803.
Awaiting their return to the U.S., Elizabeth and Anna Maria spent five months in the home of the Filicchi brothers who were business associates of her husband. Elizabeth was greatly influenced by the pious Catholics she met in Italy. She was most especially taken with her newfound knowledge of Christ’s real presence in the Eucharist.
Upon returning to New York, Elizabeth found herself in quite a quandary. She desired to become Catholic, yet she was a member of a deeply Protestant family. She chose to convert in March 1805, despite great opposition from her family. What followed for her was social discrimination on account of her conversion to Catholicism and hard times financially.
School for girls
In 1807, the superior of the Baltimore Sulpicians (an order of priests) invited her to begin a school for girls. Believing this was for the best for herself and her children, she moved her family to Maryland in 1808 and began a school.
Now under the direction of Archbishop John Carroll, the first Roman Catholic Bishop in the U.S., other women began to join Elizabeth from around the country. The women then moved to Emmitsburg and became the American Sisters of Charity on July 31, 1809, with Elizabeth as their Mother Superior.
“God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other," she said. "The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him.”
Several years later, Mother Seton suffered the next great losses of her life. Two of her daughters, Anna Maria and Rebecca, died in 1812 and 1816, respectively, after succumbing to tuberculosis. Mother also found herself in a weakened state from effects of the disease.
Schools and orphanages
It was during these years, in 1812-1813, that Archbishop Carroll approved the women’s order’s rule, the sisters received their habit, and they made their official vows as Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph’s. Those years also saw the opening of St. Joseph’s Academy, the opening of a free school, and of an orphanage.
In 1814, three of the Sisters were sent to open an orphanage in Philadelphia. Three years later, in 1817, other Sisters departed to open an orphanage in New York City.
Mother Seton spent her final years directing St. Joseph’s Academy and overseeing the growth of her community from Emmitsburg. She died at the age of 46 on Jan. 4, 1821. Two days before her death, her dying words were: “Be children of the Church.”
Fidelity
Out of everything Mother Seton suffered and accomplished in her life, her parting words, “Be children of the Church,” are significant. This charge to be faithful members of the Church Our Lord founded, contains the remedy to all things: compassion; charity; faith; hope; joy; peace; sanctity; and eternal life.
Our Lord told St. Faustina to harken to His Church, as well, saying:
Tell sinners that I am always waiting for them, that I listen intently to the beating of their heart… when will it beat for Me? Write, that I am speaking to them through their remorse of conscience, through their failures and sufferings, through thunderstorms, through the voice of the Church… (Diary of Saint Maria Faustina Kowalska, 1728).
Calling U.S. cardinals and bishops to “a ‘second spring’ in the life of the Church in the land of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton” on the day after her canonization, Pope St. Paul VI exhorted them to “proclaim the message and, welcome or unwelcome, insist on it. Refute falsehood, correct error, call to obedience but do all with patience and the intention of teaching … Make the preaching of the Good News your life’s work in thoroughgoing service (2 Tim 4: 2,5).”
This is a message to all of us as members of the body of the Church, as we care for our own children, and in our ministry to those around us. We thank Mother Seton for her selfless examples of giving and for her great faith, and we ask for her prayerful intercession in our walk of service.
Those seeking Mother Seton’s intercession can visit The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Seton in Emmitsburg, a place of pilgrimage and learning, and where her body is entombed.
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us!
Next in the series: St. John Neumann, January 5.
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