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Jason Britsch, S.J.Jan 4, 2025 12:00:00 AM1 min read

4 January 2024

Memorial of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, Religious

Today we remember St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first canonized saint of the United States. She accomplished much in her lifetime: raised as an Episcopalian, she married and had five children, converted to Catholicism after her husband’s passing, founded America’s first community for religious sisters (the Sisters of Charity), and laid the groundwork for Catholic education in America by founding the nation’s first Catholic girls’ school. Those of us with a Catholic education have great reason to thank her today.

            It should be clear that she’s a saint of many “firsts.”  It must have taken great courage to be such a trailblazer in her day. Being a widowed Episcopalian mother of five kids, no one would have predicted her to become a Catholic saint and one of the founders of Catholic education in the United States. And yet her incredible achievements and lifelong witness to the Gospel testify to God’s grace, which is always moving in new ways. If at any point we wonder whether it’s too late for God to make use of our talents, we need only look to the example of Elizabeth Ann Seton, whose life took many unexpected turns at unexpected times. Today, let’s pray for the grace to be open to God’s grace, wherever it turns us.

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