About St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Early Life
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Despite being born into the wealthy and prominent Bayley family
of New York, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's story is one stalked by
tragedy and the death of her loved ones.
Both her maternal and paternal grandparents came from strongly religious backgrounds and the young Elizabeth was raised in the Episcopalian church. This combined with the loss of her mother aged 3 probably led to her quiet lifestyle of reading and contemplation.
Although Elizabeth's father remarried the year after his wife's
death, her stepmother rejected both Saint Elizabeth and her sister
so their father was forced to pack them off to live with their uncle,
they stayed with him until their father's new marriage ended in
separation. Elizabeth later identified this as one of many dark
periods in her life.
Even in the darkest life there are moments of happiness and Saint
Elizabeth's was her marriage to William Magee Seton. It was blessed
with four children but yet again tragedy struck after four years
when Will's father died.
Will was left with responsibility for the family business and his seven half brothers and sisters. Shortly afterwards the business lost several ships at sea, this loss was never recovered and bankruptcy was the only possible solution.
The stress damaged Will's health irrevocably and he succumbed to
Tuberculosis. Desperate to improve his failing health, Elizabeth
and their oldest daughter Anna Maria set sail with him to Italy
where they hoped the warm climate and company of friends (The Filicchis)
would improve Will's prospects.
This was not to be as when they arrived the Italian authorities quarantined them in a cold, dank lazaretto for a month due to fears of yellow fever. Will died a mere two weeks after they were released.
This left St Elizabeth a widow at 29 with sole charge of five young children. She remained in Italy with the Filichis for a year and in a desperate attempt to provide her with some measure of peace they introduced her to Catholicism.
Although this was to guide her steps towards her charity works and
eventual canonization, initially it created many problems due to
Elizabeth's Episcopalian background and doubts over conversion.
It infuriated her family and friends who universally turned their
backs on her leaving her reliant on the good will of her Italian
friends.
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Saint Elizabeth's conversion to Roman Catholicism
Death continued to take its toll with the loss of her daughter Anna Maria and her beloved sister in law Rebecca and there were the on-going problems of caring for young children with a minimal income.
In 1805, two years after her husband's death, Saint Elizabeth's
doubts resolved and the Reverend Matthew O’Brien received
her into the Catholic faith.
Despite this happy event Saint Elizabeth struggled for the next few years with the twin spectres of prejudice and poverty as she tried to acquire teaching work that would support her children. Despite her belief in God she remained a mother above all things.
For her unstinting faith Saint Elizabeth was rewarded in due course by her providential meeting with the Reverend Louis William Dubourg in 1806.
She accompanied him back to Baltimore where with the aid of the Sulpicians she would be a schoolmistress in a small school for children.
The Sulpicians were in the process of forming a small community based on the Daughters of Charity in Paris and Soon Saint Elizabeth joined this growing community. On March 25 1809 She swore vows of chastity and obedience to Archbishop John Carroll, he gave her the title ‘Mother Seton’ and in June she appeared with the sisters who were all dressed in black dress, cape and bonnet styled on Italian mourning dress.
The Sisters of Charity of St Josephs
A wealthy convert named Samuel Sutherland Cooper wished to begin an educational program for catholic girls and he made the wise choice of Saint Elizabeth to run it.
He purchased 269 acres near Emmitsburg in Maryland .
Tradition has it that Saint Elizabeth named the area St Joseph's
valley and opened St Joseph's free school in 1810. This was the
first Catholic free school for girls in America and with the opening
of the St Joseph's Academy which accepted boarders meaning that
the Sister's could subsidize their charitable mission the number
of girls they could educate grew and grew.
Saint Elizabeth Seton was elected Mother of the Order and continued
to fulfil that capacity until her death. In this capacity she dispatched
sisters across America to combine education with social ministries
such as St Joseph's Asylum, which was the first Catholic Orphanage
in the US.
Combined with her inspirational writings and her care of poor families, orphans and widows Mother Seton made a lasting impact on catholic education and charity not only in America but also across the world.
The Sisters of Charity continue to make Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
s ideals a reality and to improve the lives of those oppressed by
poverty to this day.
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