St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born American saint, born on August 28, 1774, in New York City. She was the founder of the Sisters of Charity, the first American religious society, and is revered as the patron saint of Catholic schools, teachers, widows, orphans, and people who have been persecuted for their faith. Born to a distinguished Episcopalian physician, Seton devoted much of her time to working among the poor and founded the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children in 1797. After marrying William Magee Seton in 1794, they traveled to Italy for his health, but he died of tuberculosis in December.

Seton converted to Roman Catholicism in New York City in 1805, and she found it difficult to earn a living. She operated a small school for boys and later opened a school for Catholic girls in Baltimore, Maryland. In 1809, she and her companions took vows before Archbishop John Carroll and became the Sisters of St. Joseph, the first American-based Catholic sisterhood. They moved their home and school to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where they provided free education for the poor girls of the parish, which is considered the beginning of Catholic parochial education in the United States.

In 1812, the order became the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, and houses were opened in Philadelphia and New York City. Mother Seton continued to teach and work for the community until her death in 1821, with 20 communities. In 1856, Seton Hall College in South Orange Village, New Jersey, was named after her, and in 1885, Seton Hill Junior College in Greensburg, Pennsylvania, was founded in her honor.

Mother Seton was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI, and her remains are entombed in the basilica at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg.