Page 20 - Michael 2024 May

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Convert and founder of Catholic schools

Like Saint John Henry Newman, a bishop in Great
Britain, Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821) was born
into the Anglican faith, but later converted to Catholi-
cism, discovering it to be the only religion founded
by Jesus Christ. Like Saint Mary of the Incarnation,
a Canadian nun who founded a community of teach-
ing sisters, she also founded the Sisters of Charity
of Saint Joseph in Baltimore (which today has about
14,000 members in ninety countries), thus giving rise
to the system of Catholic parochial schools in the
United States.
It’s a great asset for a nation to have Catholic
schools, whereas the state schools have driven God
away, producing generations of little unbelievers. The
only choice left is to rely on parents to pass on the
faith to their children, but now even most parents
have received no religious training!
Canonized on September 14, 1975 by Pope Paul
VI, Elizabeth Anne Seton became the first person
born in the United States of America to be elevated
to the rank of saint in the Catholic Church. Here is a
summary of her life, as published in the August, 2021
Saint Joseph de Clairval Abbey newsletter (www.
clairval.com):
by Dom Jean-Bernard Marie Borie, Abbot
Feeding the poor
difficult times in the absence of a mother. In her diary,
Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born in New York City however, the young girl recorded her musings on the
on August 28, 1774, the second child of Dr. Richard beauty of nature and music. Her reflections also re-
Bayley, a surgeon, and Catherine Charlton. Both were vealed spiritual and religious aspirations. She enjoyed
descendants of families that were at the origin of the horse-riding and became a skilled pianist.
British settlement in the city. As the chief medical of- In 1794, Elizabeth married William Seton, a wealthy
ficer of New York Harbor, Dr. Richard cared for immi- merchant ship-owner. Aged only twenty-five, he had
grants who passed medical screening and remained traveled in Europe and had friends as far away as Italy
in quarantine on Staten Island. He also provided care because of his profession. Soon after their marriage,
to the townspeople, especially during epidemics such the young couple moved into a beautiful house on
as yellow fever.
Wall Street, in one of the wealthiest neighborhoods
Elizabeth’s maternal grandfather was rector of St. of New York.
Andrew’s Episcopal Church on Staten for thirty years. William’s family professed the Episcopalian faith,
As a young girl, she was brought up in the Episco- and Elizabeth, along with her sister-in-law Rebecca,
palian Church (the American form of Anglicanism) in continued the charitable rounds upon which she had
the years following American independence. She was embarked long ago with her stepmother, even unto
only three years old when she lost her mother in 1777. assisting the destitute at the moment of death. She
Some time later, her father married Charlotte Amelia became the treasurer of the church’s charitable organ-
Barclay as his second wife. His new spouse was in- ization.
volved in the charitable work of her church, and would
sometimes take young Elizabeth with her to give food Five children were born to the Setons, and they
and clothing to the poor. also welcomed William’s six younger brothers and sis-
After the birth of their fifth child, the couple separ- ters into their home. But the conflicts between France
and England, and later between the United States and
ated. Dr. Bayley decided to go to London to further his England, led to a bad change of fortune, and they lost
studies. Elizabeth and her sister were taken into the their home. William, who had long suffered from tu-
home of a maternal uncle where they went through

20 MICHAEL May/June/July 2024 www.michaeljournal.org