Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Foundress and Educator
Born	August 28, 1774(1774-08-28) New York City
Died	January 4, 1821(1821-01-04) (aged 46) Emmitsburg, Maryland
Honored in	Roman Catholic Church, Episcopal Church (United States)
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

Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church (September 14, 1975). She established Catholic communities in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Biography

Elizabeth Ann was born on August 28, 1774 to Richard Bayley and Catherine Charlton of New York City.^[1] She was raised in the Episcopal Church. Her mother, daughter of an Episcopal priest, died when Elizabeth was 3. At age 19 she married to William Magee Seton, a wealthy businessman in the import trade. Five children were born to the marriage: Anna Maria, William, Richard, Catherine and Rebecca.

Although busy with raising a large family and the management of their home, Seton continued to show the concern for the poor of the city which her father and stepmother had taught her. She helped to organize a group of prominent ladies who would visit the sick poor in their homes to render what aid they could. This circle was informally called the "Ladies of Charity" due to their conscious inspiration by the work of St. Vincent de Paul in 17th century France.

Her home in Manhattan, New York City, was located at the site on which a church now stands in her honor, with the formerly matching building at the right (7 State Street) forming part of the shrine

By 1802, the effects of the blockade by the United Kingdom of Napoleonic France and the loss of several of her husband's ships at sea led to his bankruptcy. Soon after this, he fell ill and his doctors sent him to Italy for the warmer climate, with Elizabeth and their eldest daughter accompanying him. Landing at the port of Livorno, they were held in quarantine, during which time William died. Elizabeth and Anna Maria were taken in by the family of her late husband's Italian business partners. While staying with them, she was introduced to the actual practice of Roman Catholicism. Two years later, after her return to the United States, she converted to the Roman Church, into which she was received on March 14, 1805, by the pastor of St. Peter's Church, the only Catholic church open in the city at that time due to the recent lifting of anti-Catholic laws under the new Republic. A year later, she was confirmed by the only bishop of the new nation, the first bishop of Baltimore, the Right Reverend John Carroll.

After her return to New York, in order to support herself and her children Seton had started an academy for young ladies, as was common for widows of social standing in that period. After news of her conversion to Rome spread, however, most of the parents withdrew their daughters from her tutelage, due to the anti-Catholic sentiment of the day. By chance, around this time she met a visiting priest, the Abbé Louis Dubourg, S.S., who was a member of the French emigré community of Sulpician Fathers. The priests had taken refuge in the United States from the religious persecution of the Reign of Terror in France, and were in the process of establishing the first Catholic seminary for the United States, in keeping with the goals of their order. For several years, Dubourg had envisioned a religious school to meet the educational needs of the small Catholic community in the nation.

In 1809, after some trying and difficult years, Elizabeth accepted the invitation of support the Sulpicians had made to her and moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland. A year later she established the Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School, a school dedicated to the education of Catholic girls, due to the financial support of Samuel Sutherland Cooper. He was a wealthy convert and seminarian at the newly established Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary, begun by the Abbé (later Bishop) John Dubois, S.S., and the Sulpicians.

In July of that year, Elizabeth was able to establish a religious community in Emmitsburg, Maryland, dedicated to the care of the children of the poor. It was the first congregation of Religious Sisters to be founded in the United States, and its school was the first free Catholic school in America. The order was initially called the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. From that point on, she became known as Mother Seton.

The remainder of her life was spent in leading and developing the new congregation. Today, six separate religious communities trace their roots to the beginnings of the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland. In addition to the original community of Sisters at Emmitsburg (now part of the Vincentian order), they are based in New York City, Cincinnati, Ohio, Halifax, Nova Scotia, Convent Station, New Jersey, and Greensburg, Pennsylvania.

Mother Seton was described as a charming and cultured lady. Her connections to New York society and the accompanying social pressures to leave the new 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, other loved ones, and young Sisters in the community. She died of tuberculosis January 4, 1821, at the age of 46. Today, her remains are entombed in the Basilica that bears her name: the Basilica of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

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. It had been her original intention — as well as of the Sulpician Fathers who guided them — to join the Daughters of Charity founded by these saints, but the embargo of France due to the Napoleonic Wars prevented this connection. It was only decades later, in 1850, that the Emmitsburg community took the steps to merge with the Daughters, and become their American branch, as their foundress had envisioned.

Statue in Saint Raymond's Cemetery, Bronx

"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.

Canonization

On December 18, 1959, Elizabeth was declared Venerable by the Sacred Congregation of Rites 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. Her feast day is January 4.

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is popularly considered a patron saint of Catholic schools. Her name appears on the front two doors of St. Patrick's Cathedral, as a "Daughter of New York". The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, is open to the public. In addition, in New York City, the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Our Lady of the Holy Rosary's Church was built on the site of her home in Manhattan, and is accessible to the public.^[2] She had many schools named after her. The first parish and school in the world named in her honor was erected in 1963 in Shrub Oak, New York.

The Mother Seton House at Baltimore, Maryland was listed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1972.^[3] The house had been offered as an inducement to Elizabeth Seton to come to Baltimore in 1808 and there to found a school and occupy the then newly completed house.^[4] It is now operated as a museum by St. Mary’s Seminary.

In 2009, she was added to the Calendar of Saints for the Episcopal Church (United States) with a minor feast day on January 4.

St. Raphael the Archangel Catholic Church in Raleigh, North Carolina, has a relic of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton inside the main altar.^[5]

Miracles

As a pre-condition for canonization, the Catholic Church requires that for a saint who has not been martyred, at least two miracles take place at his or her intercession.^[6] The Holy See recognised that this pre-condition was met by attributing three miracles to Elizabeth's intercession^[7][8]:

• Curing Sister Gertrude Korzendorfer of cancer;
• Curing Ann Theresa O’Neill of acute lymphatic leukemia; and
• Curing Carl Kalin of encephalitis.

Namesakes

The Seton Hill neighborhood in Baltimore, Maryland, is named for Mother Seton. Mother Seton School, a Catholic elementary school in Emmitsburg, Maryland,^[9] traces its roots directly to St. Joseph's Academy and Free School, founded by St. Elizabeth Ann in 1810.

One of her half-nephews, James Roosevelt Bayley, would later also convert, and himself go on to became the first Catholic bishop of Newark and eventually Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore. In 1856 he founded the first major institution named in her honor Seton Hall College (which is now Seton Hall University).

St. Elizabeth Seton, or St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, is a popular name for Catholic parishes in the United States as well as schools, colleges, libraries and hospitals.^{[citation needed]}

She was honored by the Office of the Manhattan Borough President in March 2008 and was included in a map of historical sites related or dedicated to important women.^[10]

See also

	Biography portal
	Saints portal

• Roman Catholicism in the United States#American Catholic Servants of God, Venerables, Beatified, and Saints

References

1. ^ "Mother Seton". Catholic Online. January 6, 2009. http://www.catholic.org/national/national_story.--~~~~php?id=31387&cb300=vocations. Retrieved 2009-01-30. "... Elizabeth Ann Seton ... was born in New York City on August 28, 1774, the second daughter of the socially prominent Dr. Richard Bayley, later Health Officer for the city, and his wife Catherine Charlton, whose father was rector of St. Andrew's Episcopal Church on Staten Island for 30 years." 
2. ^ Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Church of Our Lady of the Rosary, New York, New York.
3. ^ "National Register Information System". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. 2008-04-15. http://nrhp.focus.nps.gov/natreg/docs/All_Data.html. 
4. ^ "Maryland Historical Trust". Mother Seton House natlia, Baltimore City. Maryland Historical Trust. 2008-11-21. http://www.mht.maryland.gov/nr/NRDetail.aspx?HDID=91&COUNTY=Baltimore%20City&FROM=NRCountyList.aspx?COUNTY=Baltimore%20City. 
5. ^ http://www.saintraphael.org/ChurchTour/3%20SanctuaryTour/3%20Sanctuary%20Tour.htm
6. ^ "Religion Facts". Canonization of Saints. Religion Facts. 2010-09-15. http://www.religionfacts.com/christianity/practices/honoring_saints/canonization.htm. 
7. ^ "Emmitsburg Area Historical Society". St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Emmitsburg Area Historical Society. 2010-09-14. http://www.emmitsburg.net/setonshrine/. 
8. ^ "The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton". The Seton Legacy. The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. 2010-09-15. http://www.setonshrine.org/bio/bio7.htm/. 
9. ^ Mother Seton School; Accessed November 1, 2010.
10. ^ http://www.mbpo.org/free_details.asp?ID=234

External links

• Elizabeth Ann Seton at Catholic Online

•  "Elizabeth Ann Seton". Catholic Encyclopedia. New York: Robert Appleton Company. 1913. 
• "Elizabeth Ann Seton". Find a Grave. http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GRid=943. Retrieved September 3, 2010. 
• Full text of the homily by Pope Paul VI on the occasion of the canonization of St. Seton
•  "Seton, Elizabeth Ann". Appletons' Cyclopædia of American Biography. 1900. 

Persondata
Name	Seton, Elizabeth Ann
Alternative names
Short description	first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church
Date of birth	August 28, 1774
Place of birth	New York City
Date of death	January 4, 1821
Place of death	Emmitsburg, Maryland