Saint Who?
Saints Who Established Schools
Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
Widow and foundress († 1821)Feast: January 4
“My life would not be worth a thought if it could not contribute by its sacrifice to the happiness and desire of those I love.” Elizabeth Ann Bayley was raised Episcopalian. Pretty, intelligent, a musician, and an excellent horsewoman, at nineteen she married William Seton. They had five children, a number that nearly doubled when William and Elizabeth adopted William’s younger siblings. With the help of her sister-in-law, whom she called her “soul sister,” she cared for the children tenderly and educated them at home.
Then William’s health and business failed, and Elizabeth took him and their oldest child to Italy in hopes of a cure that did not come. She returned to America as a widow, and not long afterward she and her children entered the Catholic Church. She continued to teach her children at home and eventually opened a school for boys. But many friends and family rejected her because of her new faith.
At the invitation of a priest, Elizabeth relocated to Maryland, where she opened a girls’ school, and then began a teaching order, the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph. Many challenges faced her. It was difficult to pay for adequate heating in the cold Maryland winter, and several sisters died of illness. Yet by the time Elizabeth died in 1821, her community had twenty houses. She is the patroness of Catholic schools.
Merciful Father, help all who suffer for the work of education to see how valuable their crosses are.
