Elizabeth (nee Elizabeth Bayley) widow and foundress was the first native
saint of the USA.
She was born into a devout and wealthy Episcopalian family; her father was a
famous physician and the first health officer of the city of New York.
At the age of nineteen she married a wealthy merchant, William Magee Seton,
with whom she had five children, but at the age of twenty-eight she was left
a widow.
She then joined the RC Church on her return from Tuscany to Emmitsburg, near
Baltimore. There she took vows and founded a sisterhood, the American
Sisters of Charity, which was devoted to the relief of the poor and to
teaching in parish schools.
The order increased very considerable until today it is one of the most
numerous and influential of its kind.
Elizabeth Seton was beatified by John XXIII and canonized by Paul VI in
1975.
Her feast day is the 4th January.
Written and contributed by Phillip Lloyd.
