Today January 4

Today is the glorious feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774 - 1821). She was a great reader and when she was older an avid lover of dance and the theater. She read Scripture continually and was a good Protestant (society) girl. She married William Seton in 1794, with whom she was deeply in love. They had 5 children and during Will's health failure (which coincided with an unfortunate bankruptcy), she traveled with one of them to Italy, which ironically killed him, since the Tuscan authorities had all visitors from New York locked down in quarantine in a dank dungeon-like fortress. But Elizabeth Ann was strong and became ever more strong and faith-filled, turning her thoughts and feelings more and more to God's will, which she called simple "The Will." She was so generous and heroic the Italians exclaimed, "If she were not a heretic she would be a saint!"

Her preoccupation with God led her directly to the Catholic Faith, in which quest she was aided by her husband's business friends the Filicchis. They accompanied her on the perilous journey home and provided for her out of their modest means. For a year back home she read Catholic books and searched for truth, even in the face of great pressure and apologetical instruction from the Episcopalians. What finally did it for her were her desire for the Blessed Sacrament ("How happy would we be, if we believed what these dear souls believe: that they possess God in the Sacrament" [her emphasis]) and her love of the Virgin Mary, especially since she lost her mother at a young age (and was the victim of an indifferent stepmother who didn't really want to be a "mother" at all). She also noticed a difference in non-Catholic and Catholic deathbeds: the former being often fraught with "agony" (her word) and the latter being characterized by peace. Catholics were consoled by their religion and the presence of a priest, "the one you call Father of your soul." She finally joined the Church in 1805 and suddenly found herself suspected and distrusted, a true victim of anti-Catholic prejudice. She was denied any and all forms of employment in New York and found herself forced to abandon her home out of simple self-preservation. She was invited to teach in Baltimore (definitely a more friendly city to Catholics) and jumped at the chance. Two other young women joined her and became the first Daughters of Charity years later. They started the first free Catholic school in America -- even while she was still raising her own children. She took her public vows before Archbishop John Carroll in 1809 and saw her little rule (adopted from St. Vincent de Paul's Daughters of Charity) ratified in 1812.

She herself taught classes, personally overseeing all in her schools, tirelessly endeavoring to make model wives and mothers of the girls in her schools. She was a natural mother, covering them up at night, writing them encouraging little notes, nursing them, and always gently turning their minds to God. Her own children were a source of heartbreak to her: her one daughter made a terrible choice in fiances, there was suffering too when he broke it off. Her sons were wild terrors -- and not always churchgoers -- but they all made good ends, though she didn't live to see it. She endured the death of her two beloved daughters as well as her sisters-in-law, but she met each trial with serenity and grace. She was always attached to her friends and met her Lord (after 3 years of tuberculosis) with joy: "The thought of going home -- what a transport!" Mother Seton, pray for us.