Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the foundress and first superior of the Sisters of Charity in the United States and is remembered as a pioneer of Catholic religious life and education in the country.
Saint Elizabeth was born on August 28, 1774, into a prominent Episcopalian family in New York City. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley, was the first professor of anatomy at Columbia College and served with distinction as the health officer of the Port of New York. Her mother, Catherine Charlton, the daughter of an Anglican minister from Staten Island, died when Elizabeth was only three years old, leaving her and her two sisters motherless at a young age.
On January 25, 1794, Elizabeth married William Magee Seton at St. Paul’s Episcopalian Church in New York. After the death of William’s father, the couple assumed responsibility for his seven half siblings and took over the family’s importing business. Financial difficulties soon followed, and William’s health declined. Hoping to recover with the help of friends, he traveled to Italy, but he died of tuberculosis in Pisa in December 1803.
During her stay in Italy, Elizabeth came into close contact with the Catholic faith. Through prayer, fasting, and reflection, she felt drawn to the Church. After much inner struggle, she was received into the Catholic Church on Ash Wednesday, March 14, 1805.
Her conversion brought severe hardship. Many Protestant relatives and friends turned against her, and her already fragile financial situation worsened. In early 1806, her young sister in law, Cecilia Seton, fell gravely ill and asked to see Elizabeth, who had been shunned because of her faith. Cecilia expressed her own desire to become Catholic. When this became known, threats were made to have Elizabeth expelled from the state. After recovering, Cecilia fled to Elizabeth for safety and was also received into the Church.
In 1808, Saint Elizabeth moved to Baltimore. With the help of another Catholic convert, a small farm was purchased near Mount St. Mary’s College in Emmitsburg, Maryland. There, Elizabeth privately took religious vows before Archbishop John Carroll, together with her daughter Anna.
In 1810, Bishop Benedict Flaget traveled to France to obtain the rule of the Sisters of Charity of St. Vincent de Paul. With some adaptations, the rule was approved by Archbishop Carroll in January 1812 and adopted in the new American foundation. Despite her reluctance and the burden of caring for her children, Elizabeth was elected superior. Many women joined the community, including her daughter Anna, who died during her novitiate on March 12, 1812, after being permitted to pronounce her vows on her deathbed. Saint Elizabeth and eighteen sisters formally made their vows on July 19, 1813.
Elected superior for the third time in 1819, Saint Elizabeth remarked humbly that it was the “election of the dead,” as her health was failing. She lived for two more years, suffering from a pulmonary infection. She died peacefully in Emmitsburg on January 4, 1821.
In 1880, Cardinal James Gibbons urged that steps be taken toward her canonization. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was beatified in 1963 and canonized on September 14, 1975, becoming the first native born citizen of the United States to be declared a saint.