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Elizabeth Ann Seton
Elizabeth Ann Seton
Foundress and Educator
Born	August 28, 1774(1774-08-28), New York City
Died	January 4, 1821 (aged 46), Emmitsburg, Maryland
Venerated in	Roman Catholic Church
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
Saints Portal

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton (August 28, 1774 – January 4, 1821) was the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized.

Site where she once lived in New York City (at 7 State Street) is now a shrine in her honor.

She was born to the prominent Bayley family of New York City, and raised in the Episcopal Church. At the age of nineteen, she married William Magee Seton, a wealthy business man. Five children were born to the marriage, which ended with her husband's death in 1803, shortly after becoming bankrupt. Two years later she converted to Roman Catholicism, on March 14, 1805. One of her half-nephews, James Roosevelt Bayley, would later become Archbishop of the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Due to her conversion she lost the support of her friends and family. After some trying and difficult years, Elizabeth was able to establish a community in Emmitsburg, Maryland dedicated to the care for the children of the poor. This was the first religious community of apostolic women founded in the United States. The remainder of her life was spent in leading and developing the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's which she had founded, along with the Sulpician priests of Baltimore. Today six indpendent religious communities trace their roots to the humble beginnings of the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg, Maryland.

She was described as a charming and cultured lady. Her connections to New York society and the accompanying social pressures to leave the life she had created for herself did not deter her from embracing her religious vocaiton 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, her loved ones, and young sisters in community. She died of tuberculosis at the age of 46 in St. Joseph's House (the White House), Emmitsburg.

Seton helped found the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, New York City's first private charity organization. In 1810, Seton established Saint Joseph's Academy and Free School, a school dedicated to the education of Catholic girls, in Emmitsburg, Maryland, at the invitation Samuel Sutherland Cooper, a wealthy convert and seminarian, who knew of the Catholic settlement near Emmitsburg and the newly established[Mount St. Mary's College and Seminary]], being begun by Father John Dubois and the Sulpicians. Dubois would later become Bishop of New York. St. Joseph's Academy developed into Saint Joseph College which closed in 1973.

She founded the first religious community of apostolic women of the United States, the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph's, in the Archdiocese of Baltimore.

Dedicated to following the will of God, Saint Elizabeth Ann had a deep devotion to the Eucharist, Sacred Scripture, and the Virgin Mary. The 23rd Psalm was her favorite prayer througout 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.

"We must pray literally without ceasing--without ceasing--in every occurence 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." St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

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, making her the first native-born United States citizen to be canonized. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is popularly considered a patron saint of Catholic schools. 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". Her legacy of charity lives on in her spiritual daughters who collaborate through the Sisters of Charity Federation. The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland, is open to the public.

Mother Seton School, a Catholic elementary school in Emmitsburg, Maryland, traces its roots directly to St. Joseph's Academy and Free School, founded by St. Elizabeth Ann in 1810. Several schools are named for Seton, including Seton La Salle High School in Pittsburgh, PA,College of Saint Elizabeth and Academy of Saint Elizabeth both on the same campus in the Morris Township, New Jersey, Seton Hall University in South Orange, New Jersey, Seton Hill University in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Keller, Texas, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Grade School in Carnegie, Pennsylvania, Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Nepean, Ontario, Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, Maryland, Seton Catholic High School in Chandler, Arizona, Elizabeth Ann Seton School in Shrub Oak, New York, Seton Keough High School in Baltimore, Maryland (formerly Seton High School and Archbishop Keough High School which merged in 1988), Seton Catholic College Hilton, Western Australia (formely Saint Brendons College and Emillia De Viliar College which merged in 1990), Elizabeth Seton School - Main in Las Piñas City, Philippines and Elizabeth Seton School - South in Imus, Cavite, Philippines. There is also a Catholic homeschooling school called Seton Home Study School. A Catholic homeschool support center called Living Saints Tutorial Program in New Manila, Quezon City, specializes in assisting students in the Philippines who are using the Seton Home Study School curriculum.

• National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Emmitsburg MD
• Elizabeth Ann Seton at Catholic Online
• Elizabeth Ann Seton at Catholic Encyclopedia
• Elizabeth Ann Seton at Find A Grave
• The Seton Shrine at the New York City Church of Our Lady of the Rosary
• Full text of the homily by Pope Paul VI on the occasion of the cannonization of St. Seton
• The National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland
• Seton Hill University
• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic School in Keller, Texas
• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Salina, Kansas
• Elizabeth Seton School in Las Piñas City, Metro Manila, Philippines
• Vincentian Studies Institute
• New Advent
• Biography of Seton's life
• Sisters of Charity
• St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Parish in Shrub Oak, New York
• Elizabeth Seton High School in Bladensburg, Maryland
• Seton Home Study School (Catholic Homeschooling)
• The Catholic Community of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Plano, Texas