St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

"If I succeed I bless God. If I do not succeed, I bless God, for then it will be right that I should not succeed...Let us place our whole confidence in Him who chooses to make us know His holy will and to be ready to meet with joy every contradiction or ill success that might attend our compliance.

Who can bind the soul that God sets free? Think of Him, love Him, and look at Him. Never mind anything else. All will be well."
- St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 - 1821)

Today is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton. Elizabeth was born into a well-to-do Episcopalian New York family on August 28, 1774. Her mother died in 1777, which was followed by the death of her little sister in 1778. At 19, Elizabeth married the handsome and wealthy William Magee Seton, and they had five children together. Soon after they had married, William's business and his health failed. The Setons (Elizabeth, William, and their oldest daughter) went to Italy to try and save William's health. However, William soon died of tuberculosis after they got to Italy. When staying with William's Italian friends in Italy, she discovered the Catholicism, and converted to Catholicism in 1805. After she returned to America, she started a school in Baltimore, Maryland, which was to be the first free Catholic school in America. A couple of other young women helped Elizabeth in her work, and they started a religious community. In 1809, Elizabeth pronounced her first vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. In 1812, the rule of their Sisterhood, which was the rule for the Sisters of Charity written by St. Vincent de Paul, was ratified. By 1818, the Sisters had already established two orphanages and another school. Elizabeth died in 1821 due to tuberculosis, and was canonized in 1975. 

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, pray for us!

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Picture Of And Information About St. Elizabeth Taken From:

http://www.americancatholic.org/features/saintofday/

http://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=180

http://www.rebeccapearl.com/elizabethseton.htm