St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Patron Saint of Catholic Schools and Widows - Life, Feast Day and Prayer
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Portrait of Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton, Charles B. J. F. de Saint-Mémin, 1797. Public domain, via Wikimedia Commons.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a New York wife, mother and widow who became a Catholic, founded the first community of religious sisters in the United States and opened a school that helped begin American Catholic education. She was the first person born in the United States to be canonized, and she is the patron of Catholic schools and of widows.
Quick Facts
Feast day: January 4
Born: August 28, 1774, New York City
Died: January 4, 1821, Emmitsburg, Maryland
Beatified: March 17, 1963, by Pope St. John XXIII
Canonized: September 14, 1975, by Pope St. Paul VI
Patron of: Catholic schools, widows, grieving parents, those who have lost children or parents
Symbols: Black bonnet and cape, a book, children
Her Life
Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born in New York City just before the American Revolution, into a respected Episcopalian family. Her father was a well-known physician. Her mother died when she was three, and she grew up with a deep love for Scripture and a lively, sometimes lonely heart. At nineteen she married William Magee Seton, a wealthy merchant, and they had five children. With her sister-in-law she cared for poor widows in the city, earning the nickname "the Protestant Sister of Mercy."
Hard times came. William's business failed, and he fell ill with tuberculosis. In 1803 the couple sailed to Italy with their oldest daughter, hoping the climate would heal him, but they were held in a cold quarantine station at Livorno for weeks. William died there in December 1803. Elizabeth was taken in by the Filicchi family, Italian business friends of her husband. Their faith moved her deeply, especially their belief in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist and their love for the Blessed Mother.
Back in New York, Elizabeth struggled for months over whether to become a Catholic. Many friends and relatives turned against her when she did so, on March 14, 1805. As a poor widow with five children, she tried to support her family by running a boarding school, but anti-Catholic prejudice made it hard to succeed.
In 1808 she was invited to Baltimore to open a school for girls. A small group of women soon joined her, and in 1809 they moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland, where they formed a religious community following a rule adapted from St. Vincent de Paul. Elizabeth was named its superior and was called Mother Seton from then on. In 1810 the sisters opened St. Joseph's School, which offered free education to poor girls of the area. It became a model for Catholic parish schools across the country.
Mother Seton's last years were marked by both growth and grief. Her community spread to Philadelphia and New York, but two of her daughters died young, and she herself suffered from tuberculosis. She died at Emmitsburg on January 4, 1821, at the age of forty-six. Her final words to her sisters were to be children of the Church. Pope St. Paul VI canonized her in 1975, making her the first native-born American saint. Her body rests today at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, where pilgrims pray for teachers, families and children.
Legacy
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton shows how God can bring new life out of loss. As a wife, mother, widow, convert and foundress, she lived many vocations, and in each she trusted God's will. The schools and communities she began have taught millions of children.
Prayer to St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, you loved your family, your students and the poor with a mother's heart. Pray for all teachers and students in Catholic schools, for widows and for parents who grieve the loss of a child. Help us to accept God's will in times of sorrow and to find our strength in the Eucharist, as you did. Through Christ our Lord. Amen.
Original prayer by Daily Catholic Prayers. You may print and share it freely.
How to Celebrate Her Feast Day
Pray the prayer above for teachers and students at a Catholic school you know.
Write a note of thanks to a teacher who shaped your faith.
Visit or call a widow in your parish.
Spend time in Eucharistic adoration, which was her great joy.
Read her words, "The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God," and offer your work today to him.
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Frequently Asked Questions
When is the feast day of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton?
January 4, the day she died in 1821.
What is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton the patron saint of?
Catholic schools, widows, grieving parents and those who have lost children or parents.
Was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton the first American saint?
She was the first person born in what became the United States to be canonized. St. Frances Xavier Cabrini, an Italian immigrant, was canonized earlier.
Was St. Elizabeth Ann Seton married?
Yes. She married William Magee Seton and had five children before he died in 1803.
Where is St. Elizabeth Ann Seton buried?
At the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
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