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ABOUT ST. ELIZABETH
ANN SETON
PERSONAL
St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28,
1774–January 4, 1821) was baptized and raised an
Episcopalian but converted to Roman Catholicism on March 14,
1805. Due to her conversion she lost the support of her
friends and family. Seton and her husband, shipping merchant
(and Protestant) William Magee Seton, were New York
aristocrats. The Setons went bankrupt in 1803 and William
died shortly thereafter. They had five children. Elizabeth
died from natural causes at the age of 47.
WORKS
Elizabeth Ann Seton helped with the
formation of the Society for the Relief of
Poor Widows with Small Children, New York's
first private charity organization. In 1808,
Seton established Saint Joseph's Academy and
Free School, a school dedicated to the
education of Catholic girls, in Emmitsburg,
Maryland, at the invitation of the president
of St. Mary's Seminary. St. Joseph's would
later merge with St. Mary's to become Mount
Saint Mary's College, now Mount Saint Mary's
University. She founded the first religious
community of apostolic women of the United
States, the Sisters of Charity (in the
Archdiocese of Baltimore.)
RECOGNITION
On December 18, 1959, Seton 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. She
is the first United States citizen to be
canonized. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is the
patron saint of widows, children near death,
and teachers. 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." Several
schools are named for Seton, including Seton
Hall University, in South Orange, New
Jersey, Seton Hill University, in
Greensburg, Pennsylvania, and Elizabeth
Seton High School in Maryland.
WRITINGS
"What was the first rule of our dear
Savior's life? You know it was to do His
Father's will. Well, then, the first purpose
of our daily work is to do the will of God;
secondly, to do it in the manner He wills;
and thirdly, to do it because it is His
will. We know certainly that our God calls
us to a holy life. We know that He gives us
every grace, every abundant grace; and
though we are so weak of ourselves, this
grace is able to carry us through every
obstacle and difficulty." - Elizabeth Ann
SetonVisit
Wikipedia
for access to more information on St. Elizabeth
Ann Seton
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