This week we another female Saint in the Church, Elizabeth Ann Seton! While the Saints that we have talked about in the past weeks have had religious Catholic parents, Seton is a convert to the faith, and she was also born in the United States.
Elizabeth was born on August 28th, 1774 in New York City, and she is actually the first native born American to be canonized. Her wealthy parents allowed her to live an upper class life as a child. When she was about 20 years old, she married William Seton, and they lived a happy life together. The good times did not last long though, as many deaths began to occur in the family, and it started with William’s father. While Elizabeth took care of William’s half brothers and sisters, he ran the family business. Then, more tragedy struck as William also died from tuberculosis. Rather than question why God would do this, Elizabeth was drawn closer to the will of God. She eventually converted to Catholicism and started the first free Catholic school in the United States. She died in 1821 at the age of 46 and had also established two orphanages and one more school.
What I like a lot about Elizabeth is that she is a Saint that was married. While being married and becoming a Saint is not extremely rare or anything, many of the Saints do belong to either the priesthood or to a religious order. Not only that, but when faced with great suffering, she does not get upset with God, but in a great act of humility has the desire to draw nearer to him in a time of need. She is a wonderful example for us in our lives, for when things get tough, let us try to become closer to the Lord and not be afraid.
For more info on St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, go to: https://www.catholic.org/saints/saint.php?saint_id=180
Alec's Saint of the Week 