Celebrating an American Saint: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's canonization at 50

(OSV News) -- If St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's life was written as a Hollywood screenplay, a script doctor might say it was simply too tragic for audiences to believe -- let alone that the heroine would repeatedly persevere.

The death of her mother when she was 3. The separation of her father and step-mother, who practically shunned her and her older sister. The death of her father from contagious disease. The bankruptcy of her husband's business and the loss of their home. The death of her husband in a foreign land. The opposition of some of her family and friends when she converted to Catholicism. The deaths of two of her children during her lifetime.

If it all seems a bit too much -- truth is sometimes stranger than fiction, and as she herself declared, "Faith lifts the soul. Hope supports it. Experience says it must. And love says let it be!"

Sept. 14 marks the 50th anniversary since the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), the first American-born saint. And while it's been more than 250 years since her birth, her admirers say Mother Seton is hardly a quaint figure from an antique past -- she's instead a vibrantly relevant woman who continues to have much to share with modern believers.

"One of the things that has always amazed me is just the breadth and depth of people who relate to her," said Rob Judge, executive director of the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Maryland. The shrine is holding a three-day celebration Sept. 12-14.

Despite the distance of history, "the emotions, the struggle, the joys, and the yearnings of the heart -- all of that is very much the same," Judge told OSV News. "The first native-born American to be recognized by the universal church -- that was a big deal 50 years ago. People were used to saints being Italian, or being in far-off lands, doing massively heroic things."

"She's an example of someone who just persevered, sought God in her daily life, and found him -- and was recognized for that achievement," he said. "It gives all of us hope."

Born in 1774 to a prominent New York City Episcopalian family, Elizabeth Ann Bayley married William Magee Seton in 1794. She lived the contented life of a wealthy socialite and mother for a few brief years, until the 1799 bankruptcy of her husband's business and his 1803 death. She converted to Catholicism in 1805 -- and a courageous and pioneering life followed, as she founded the first U.S. community for religious women and planted the seeds of Catholic education in America.

On Sunday, Sept. 14, 1975, St. Paul VI canonized Mother Seton in St. Peter's Square, declaring, "Elizabeth Ann Seton is a saint!"

He said, "Elizabeth Ann Seton was wholly American! Rejoice for your glorious daughter. Be proud of her. And know how to preserve her fruitful heritage."

Explaining in part her appeal, Judge said, "I think it's that endearing American trait of perseverance -- just sticking with it. You can see God's providential hand in her life through all of that. But imagine being in the midst of it, and not knowing. And then," he added, "still having the faith that she had."

Sister Maryann Lopiccolo, a Sister of Charity and the episcopal delegate for religious in the Diocese of Brooklyn -- has her own explanation.

"She was a New Yorker -- she was a New Yorker, and she was going to get this done," Sister Lopiccolo told OSV News.

Mother Seton's practical approach still resonates, she added.

"What I think makes her effective is her vision and her works of charity -- her works of being just a regular woman next door -- which continue, through all of our congregations," she said.

Six separate congregations trace their roots to the beginnings of the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg.

The sisters still educate, too.

"We fight and we struggle to keep the Gospel message alive, and to keep Catholic schools alive. How many are on life support? Because it's such a value-rich education," reflected Sister Lopiccolo. "That was something she believed in and provided -- not just for those who could pay for it, but for those who couldn't."

Catherine O'Donnell, professor of history at Arizona State University, and author of "Elizabeth Seton: American Saint," told OSV News she regards the Sisters of Charity foundress as something of a seeker.

"She lived, like we do, at a time when there were a lot of different faiths she was aware of; that she was interested in. And she thought and prayed for a long time, before adopting Catholicism," O'Donnell explained. "I think that appeals to people in the modern world, who have choices to make."

In everyday terms, "She was a working woman, raising children and also founding the community," O'Donnell said. "So I think all of that draws people to her."

O'Donnell also pointed to Mother Seton's compassion.

"She just wanted to understand other people, very deeply. She listened to people. You can tell by the way she kept notes on her students or wrote to their parents; she was really attentive to their individual personalities," she said.

Indeed, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton's educational ideas were quite ahead of her time.

"For one thing, she thought it was important -- knew it was important -- for girls to be educated; for them to have an intellectual education, (and) not only a homemaking or a domestic education," O'Donnell emphasized.

Anticipating contemporary Catholic education -- where at least 21% and possibly as high as 39% of students are non-Catholics -- O'Donnell noted, "She did insist the school was not only for Catholic children. And this was something she had to be quite firm about, because some of the clergy involved would bring it up with her."

"Her view was that it should take in these other students -- and that she would not actively try to convert the students," O'Donnell said. "But she created this environment in which the students tended to want to convert to Catholicism on their own."

Three decades after Mother Seton's death, Archbishop Francis Patrick Kenrick of Baltimore told his fellow American prelates, "Elizabeth Seton did more for the church in America than all of us bishops together."

Mother Seton's dying words are reported as, "Be children of the church."

Despite limited international travel -- she only ever visited Italy -- Mother Seton also declared herself a "citizen of the world." It's a viewpoint rather uncommon for her era, said Sister Regina Bechtle, charism resource director for the Sisters of Charity of New York and a member of the Seton Writings Committee and Project that collected the saint's writings.

"I think her words are prophetic for us, too -- that we, as citizens of America, need to be citizens of the world," she said. "We are part of a world church. We are part of the universal church ... the mission of Jesus is the mission of the universal church."

Sister Bechtle shared that she takes comfort and encouragement from Mother Seton's words "about meeting your grace."

She feels it's still a contemporary message.

"I think she would urge us to discern, to be faithful, to be open to meeting our grace," said Sister Bechtle. "Meeting God's grace in each moment -- as it comes across our TV screen, or the phone call, or the person in need whom you meet on the street."