Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) was the first American-born  US citizen to be canonized as a Roman Catholic saint. She is a noted educationist, and the founder of the Sisters of Charity, a religious order of women dedicated to helping children, the poor, and the sick. Her life was marked by tragedy. Both her mother and her husband died young, and she herself  passed at 46 after a long struggle with tuberculosis. We read from her journal entries, as they tell of how God demonstrates great love through one enduring great sorrow.

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Transcript

 God is glorious in his saints!
 
 Welcome to the Christian Saints Podcast. My name is Darren Ong, recording from Sepang in Malaysia. In this podcast, we explore the lives of the Christian saints, from the Anglican, Roman Catholic and Eastern Orthodox traditions. Today, we celebrate Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, who lived from 1774 to 1821, the first native-born citizen of the United States of America to be made a Roman Catholic saint. The US Episcopalian church also venerates her in their calendar of saints. She is known as a dedicated educationist, and was a driving force in the development of the Catholic parochial school system in the United States. The sisters of charity, the religious community she started, founded schools, orphanages, and hospitals all over the country.
 
 Saint Elizabeth is thus distinguished by her care for children, and in this concern for Children she reflects the love of Jesus christ. From Luke 18:15-17
 
 People were also bringing babies to Jesus for him to place his hands on them. When the disciples saw this, they rebuked them. But Jesus called the children to him and said, “Let the little children come to me, and do not hinder them, for the kingdom of God belongs to such as these. Truly I tell you, anyone who will not receive the kingdom of God like a little child will never enter it.”

***

St Elizabeth was born Elizabeth Ann Bayley, and her life was marked by tragedy. Her mother passed when she was three years old, and when her father remarried she had to endure a tumultuous family life. After this second marriage fell apart, Elizabeth’s father left for London, leaving Elizabeth under the care of her uncle.

At the age of 19, she married wealthy businessman William Magee Seton, and by all accounts had a happy marriage, with a house on New York’s Wall Street and five children. The family were devout episcopalians, and Elizabeth was actively helping the poor and disadvanted. She was a founder and charter member of The Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, and served as its treasurer. This association was the first charitable organization in the United States

managed by women. The current child welfare agency, The Graham-Windham Agency, traces its

roots to this society.

In a 1798 letter Isabella Graham another one of the founders, described the work of the society: " ...
 
 .. 1 mentioned in my last that

we had planned a society for the relief of poor widows with small children, the success has been

beyond our most sanguine expectations. We have now a hundred and ninety subscribers. at three

dollars a year, and nearly a thousand dollars in donations. We have spent three hundred dollars this

winter, and nearly all upon worthy objects. The poor increase fast: emigrants from all quarters flock

to us, and when they come they must not be allowed to die for want. There are eight hundred in the

almshouse, and our society have helped along many, with their own industry, that must otherwise

have been there. The French, poor things, are also starving among us: it would need a stout heart to

lay up in these times .... "
 
 ***
 
 Unfortunately, tragedy would strike the Setons again. The family business relied on trade between the United States and Europe, which was frequently disrupted in the late 18th and early 19th centuries. The quasi-war between the US and France and British blockades of French ports caused the Setons to lose many of their ships. William Seton suffered from tubercerlosis, and the stress worsened his health considerably. The Setons planned to move to Italy, hoping the warmer weather would help William Seton’s health. Unfortunately, William Seton passed away almost immediately at their arrival in Italy.
 
 Her journal entires during these times were heartbreaking and yet speak to her trust in God and love for her family. The Anna she mentions in these entries is her daughter.
 
 Willy and Anna are sound asleep, and I trust that God who has given him strength to go thro' a day of such exertion will carry us on-He is our all indeed-my eyes smart so much with crying, wind and fatigue that I must close them and lift up my heart-sleep wont come very easily-If you had seen little Ann's arms clasped round my neck at her prayers while the tears rolled a stream how you would love her-I read her to sleep---little pieces of trust in God-she said "Mamma if Papa should die here-but God will be with US" --God is with us-and if sufferings abound in us, his Consolations also greatly abound, and far exceed all utterance'…
 
 at four the hard struggle ceased, Nature sunk into a settled sob, "My dear Wife and little ones" and "My Christ Jesus have mercy and recieve me," was all I could distinguish and again repeated "my Christ Jesus" until a quarter past seven when the dear Soul took its flight to the blessed exchange it so much longed for- I often asked him when he could not speak, You feel my love that you are going to your Redeemer and he motioned yes with a look up of Peace at a quarter past 7 on Tuesday morning 27th December-his Soul was released-and mine from a struggle next to death- and how will my dear Sister understand except you could concieve the scene of suffering my W m passed thro' that I took my little Ann in my arms and made her kneel with me again by the dear Body, and thank our Heavenly Father for relieving him from his misery, for the Joyful assurance that thro' our Blessed Redeemer he had entered into Life Eternal and implored his Protecting care and pity for us who have yet to finish our course-
 

 ***
 
 While in Italy, Elizabeth became friends with the families of Filippo and Antonio Filicchi, her husbands’ Italian business partners. She was introduced to Roman Catholicism, and was received into the Roman Catholic church a couple of years later, in 1805, at St Peter’s church in New York, which was at the time the only Roman Catholic parish in the city. This was a time of great anti- Roman Catholic sentiment in the United States. Up to 1784, only 20 years earlier, Roman Catholic priests were not even allowed to enter the State of New York
 
 In 1809 Elizabeth moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland to establish St Joseph’s Academy and Free school, which was a free parochial school dedicated to the education of catholic girls. That same year Elizabeth established a religious community that would later become the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's, and organization to help care for the children of the poor. This was the first congregation of religious sisters to be founded in the United States.
 
 St Elizabeth Seton was inspired by the daughters of charity, founded by St. Vincent de Paul and
 St. Louise de Marillac in 1633 in France, a community of women that helped the poor and hungry, and whose motto was the “"The charity of Christ impels us!".
 
 Saint Elizabeth’s own community was also firmly grounded on these principles of love, service and charity. Here she describes her community in her own words:
 
 We are the Daughters of Charity- from our happy solitude we look with desolation to the misery of the souls at large, we know how many do not know Thee, do not serve Thee, our name devotes us to their service in any manner that we could truly serve them-we must bring them to the knowledge of and the practice ofthy holy reli- gion- to the habits of a good life- we must display for them the ten- der compassion of thy goodness, be the ministers of thy providence for the relief of their miseries a relief which disposes so well to thy better service- we must be a shining and brightning light of edification to all-that they may say "see how pure, holy and glori- ous is religion in the souls truly sanctified by its best spirit"- O my God this is our vocation and thus we must be concerned for souls-in that goodly thought we know every one here may share even through temporal care as abundantly as any of her Sisters, since in the present state those temporal cares are the foundation and the continual support of every thing. O dearest Lord be pleased to favour the pure inten- tions, the full consecration of the daughters of thy charity-yet perfectly united to thy only will they come now only for their eamest sanctification and leave in full abandon to thy own providence the measures of that good they wish to be enabled to do abundantly for thy eternal Glory and Love-

The community she founded exists today, and many branches now exist all over the United States, either formally or informally descended from Saint Elizabeth Seton’s sisters of charity in Emmitburg, Maryland. . At her death there were more than twenty communities of Sisters of Charity, conducting free schools, orphanages, boarding-schools, and hospitals, in the states of Pennsylvania, New York, Ohio, Delaware, Massachusetts, Virginia, Missouri, and Louisiana, and in the District of Columbia. As leader of this religious order she became known as Mother Seton, and the rest of her life was devoted to the Sisters of Charity, and caring for the children and the poor.

Saint Elizabeth Seton was also concerned with internal contemplation, and closeness towards God. In her writing’s, she makes frequent references to God’s “will”, and the importance of following it, even when the following is difficult. Here is from another one of her writings:

once read, or heard, that an interior life meant but the continuation of our Savior's life in us1- That the great object of all his mysteries was to merit for us, the grace of this interior life, and communicate it to us-it being the end of his mission to lead us into that sweet land of promise, a life of constant union with himself, , , And what was the first rule of our dear Saviour's life? You know it was to do his Father's will , , well then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God-secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it- and thirdly, to do it because it is his will. I know what his will is by those who direct me, whatever they bid me do, if it is ever so small in itself is the will of God for me. -Then do it in the manner he wills it- not sewing an old thing as ifitwere new, or anew thing as ifitwere old-not fretting because the oven is too hot, or in a fuss because it is too cold etc. etc.- You un- derstand, not flying and driving because you are hurried, nor creeping like a snail because no one pushes you- Our dear Saviour was never in extremes. And the third object is, to do this will, because God wills it, that is to be ready to quit at any moment, and do any thing else we may be called to do-
 
 -And as, to the simple rule of being ready to do any thing we are told, though it in- cludes the highest and most perfect mortification, yet you know it must be like our daily bread, we could not get on one step in a religious life without it, besides that, it makes our actions either like those of monkeys and parrots, or like those of the saints and angels-
 
 consequently, your first res- olution contains a great deal, nothing less then to establish the king- dom of our dear Saviour within you,' and prepare you for your future kingdom which he has prepared for you above
 
 ***
 
Saint Elizabeth’s life was still filled with much sadness. Two of her daughters pre-deceased her, and she herself had to endure bouts of ill health. Yet despite all her afflictions her eyes were still turned towards Christ. Here is a journal entry from March 1 1810
 
The month of February past, and my tottering frame still stands; but whence this change? With a cheerful heart I feel myself every day get weaker, and I feel happy in the idea that a few weeks must end it all. What now is all the world to me? It vanishes like smoke. 2 Night or day, sunshine or rain, 'tis all one to me. My eyes are fixed on eternal day; pain has become my rest, and my nights never more sweetly passed than when restless and uneasy. Dearest Lord! How good you are to me; you have indeed heard my prayer, always to let me suffer for you, that so I may expiate my offenses; and when the hour of death shall come I may pass immediately from this world into Thy arms of mercy. Oh, how precious now is every hour of my time! Not an instantshall be lost. Every thought, word, and action, shall tend to the one point. And how ungrateful should 1 be to my merciful Creator did 1 not devote to Him, to the utmost of my power the short remainder of my life, which most probably will be but a few weeks longer. "Since the last accounts to my dearest father, the soul has tasted more peace that it has since our darling Harriet has gone. 3 Death has no longer a frightful appearance. 1 can now meditate upon it with the greatest composure. My daily pains 1 feel hourly more precious though sometimes 1 get wearier, and even wish to be released; yet 1 find in my severest pains that 1 fervently pray our Lord to give me still more, and purify and prepare me for Himself. 1 cannot help thinking, from the nature of my complaint, that 1 am fast approaching toward the end of my exile; the pilgrimage has been wearisome, the mountain very hard to climb these few months past, which only make me long more ardently for a haven of rest. But shall 1 ever reach that port? May there not be some sins yet unexpiated? If so, 1 trust our Jesus will shed a ray of His divine light in my unworthy bosom. Before the arrival of that hour doubts and fears will arise; but Jesus speaks peace and com- fort."
 
***

Saint Elizabeth Seton died in 1821, at age 46 after a long and painful struggle with tuberculosis, the same disease that ravaged her husband and many members of her family. She was Canonized by Pope Paul VI September 14, 1975, as the first Roman Catholic Saint born in the United States. Her feast day is on January 4, the day of her death. Despite the fact that she left the Episcopal church to convert to Roman Catholicism, the Episcopal Church also celebrates her as her saint on this day. This is the Roman Catholic collect for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s feast day:
 
 O God, who crowned with the gift of true faith Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton's burning zeal to find you, grant by her intercession and example that we may always seek you with diligent love and find you in daily service with sincere faith. Through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son, who lives and reigns with you in the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever.

 
Thanks for listening to this episode of the Christian Saints podcast. Look for our page on Facebook or Instagram, or look for us on Twitter at podcast_saints. All music in this episode was composed by my good friend, James John Marks of Generative sounds. Please check out his music at https://generativesoundsjjm.bandcamp.com/

I also want to say thank you to the Library of DePaul university in Chicago, which hosts an extensive collection of writings by Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. These writings have been valuable for my research in this episode. To end this episode, I will share one of the last entries, chronologically, that Saint Elizabeth Seton wrote in this collection, a short letter to one of her sisters of charity shortly before her passing.

 
I do not suffer, I am weak, it is true; but how happy and quiet the day passes! If this be the way of death, nothing can be more peaceful and happy; and if I am to recover, still, how sweet to rest in the arms of our Lord! I never felt more sensibly the presence of our Dearest than since I have been sick; it seems as if our Lord or his blessed Mother stood continually by me, in a corporeal form, to comfort, cheer, and encourage me, in the different weary and tedious hours of pain. But you will laugh at my imaginations; still, our All has many ways of comforting his little atoms.