CrucisSt. Elizabeth Ann Seton
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was born on 28 August 1774 into a prominent Episcopalian family in New York City, and died on 4 January 1821 at Emmitsburg, Maryland. Married young to a merchant, William Seton, she was a devoted wife and mother of five and active in works of charity. When her husband's business failed and his health broke, the family traveled to Italy, where he died; there, cared for by a Catholic family, she was drawn to the faith, and after returning home she entered the Catholic Church in 1805 — a step that cost her the support of many family and friends.
A widow with young children, she opened a school and, encouraged by clergy, founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's at Emmitsburg, the first religious community for women established in the United States. Through it she became a pioneer of the American Catholic parochial school system. Canonized in 1975 by Pope St. Paul VI, she was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be declared a saint.
Selected quotes
“God has not promised us an easy life, but He has promised us Himself — and that is more than enough.”
“A mother's first vocation is to be a saint; everything else she does for her children flows from that.”
“When the heart is fixed on God, even sorrow becomes a kind of joy.”