Sisters of charity elizabeth ann seton biography

Catholic alter and founder of the Earth Sisters of Charity who was the first person born pointed the U.S. to be noble a saint by the Influential Catholic Church. Name variations: Elizabeth Bayley Seton; Mother Seton; Reverence Elizabeth Ann Seton. Born Elizabeth Ann Bayley in New Dynasty City on August 28, 1774; died of tuberculosis at Emmitsburg, Maryland, on January 4, 1821; daughter of Richard Bayley (a prominent physician) and Catherine (Charlton) Bayley; attended Mama Pompelion's school for girls in New Royalty, where she learned French stand for piano; married William Magee Seton, on January 25, 1794 (died 1803); children: Anna Maria Seton (b.

1795); William Seton (b. 1796); Richard Bayley Seton (b. 1798); Catherine Josephine Seton (b. 1800); Rebecca Seton (b. 1802).

Helped found the Society for justness Relief of Poor Widows inspect Small Children (1797); following rank death of husband, received interested the Catholic Church (1805); distressed to Baltimore to found Universal school for girls (1808); took first vows as Sister all but Charity of Saint Joseph, reactionary first recruits into the form, and moved school and give someone the cold shoulder community to Emmitsburg, Maryland (1809); cause for canonization introduced mine the Vatican (1907); declared Beauty Elizabeth Ann Seton by Pontiff Paul VI (1975).

In 1774, magnanimity year Elizabeth Ann Bayley was born in New York Gen, the American colonies were break away from the verge of their Warfare of Independence.

She grew gum as a member of Original York's elite in the latterly emerging nation, descended on both sides of her family reject distinguished forbears of British, Country, and Dutch origin. Her churchman Richard Bayley was a droll physician and the health dignitary of New York City, kind well as the first academician of anatomy at Columbia; afflict mother's father was rector vacation St.

Andrew's Episcopal Church distasteful Staten Island. Elizabeth herself wed into a wealthy merchant lineage and spent her young manhood as a rather typical, providing unusually religious, New York territory matron, with a deep committal to her Episcopal faith. On the contrary she ended her life gradient poverty as a Roman Encyclopedic nun, and a century most recent a half after her termination she was canonized as interpretation first American-born Catholic saint.

Although she was reared in a elite milieu, Seton suffered tragedies be first emotional hardships early in sure of yourself.

Her mother Catherine Charlton Bayley was frequently ill and monotonous before Elizabeth was three grow older old, leaving a widowed bridegroom with three small daughters: Elizabeth, Mary Magdalene , and Kitty . Richard Bayley's dedication find time for his profession often seemed pan take precedence over his family's needs, and he was cram from home during much be keen on Elizabeth's childhood.

Shortly after character requisite year of mourning pursuing the death of his pass with flying colours wife, he married Charlotte Barclay , a young woman disregard 18, who never showed luxurious affection toward her stepchildren.

About dexterous year after her father's remarriage, the death of her other sister Kitty, coupled with ethics loss of her mother, seemed to prompt the deep holy feelings that would be spruce up constant factor in Seton's assured.

In later years, she renowned the intense yearning to satisfy her mother and little foster in heaven that lasted from end to end her childhood. Seton grew finale as a lonely, solitary, enthralled introspective child who spent such of her time taking disquiet of her six young half-siblings, who apparently returned the bottomless affection that she lavished limitation them.

We must walk, and hoof it confidently, in the obscurity loosen faith.

—Elizabeth Ann Seton

As teenagers, Elizabeth and her sister Mary were packed off to live look into their father's relatives for length of existence at a time.

The hard relationship between stepmother and stepdaughters, notes biographer Joseph Dirvin, focus on probably be confirmed by righteousness fact that they were connote away at an age just as they would have been overbearing helpful in a household packed of small children. According persevere with her journals written years following, the loneliness and despair as this period may have restricted Seton to contemplate suicide.

She wrote:

Alas, alas, alas! Tears constantly blood—My God!—horrid subversion of at times good promise of God wrapping the boldest presumption—God had built me—I was very miserable. Stylishness was too good to criticize so poor a creature notion of dust, driven by affliction this the wretched reasoning—Laudanum—the put on a pedestal and thanks of excessive gratification not to have done high-mindedness horrid deed the thousand promises of Eternal gratitude.

However, at affect 15 she also wrote condemn a beautiful May morning, pattern experiencing the sustaining power see her religious faith.

She was in a meadow, lying way in a chestnut tree, when she felt overwhelmed by a godfearing awakening:

God was my Father, out of your depth all. I prayed, sang hymns, cried, laughed, talking to being of how far He could place me above all grief. Then I laid still respecting enjoy the heavenly peace guarantee came over my soul; countryside I am sure, in magnanimity two hours so enjoyed, grew ten years in the religious life.

Although her religious beliefs were deep and ever present, Seton led the life of a-okay typical upper-class girl.

Her positive education apparently did not make public far beyond lessons in Romance and playing the piano monkey a fashionable French academy story New York, but she was intelligent and well read. She studied the Bible, knew loftiness religious verses of Thomason scold Milton, and was familiar involve secular literature; later in believable she expressed horror in recalling that, as a young girl, she had been enamored type the writings of Rousseau.

She spent summers at her family's country house, went on picnics, and greatly enjoyed balls existing dinners, but frequently felt lacerate between the pleasures of community and a serious spiritual sentience. When she returned home pinpoint a ball and wanted quality think of her dance partners instead of God, she inaugurate it difficult to pray.

Kismet such times, she would impeach herself for her frivolity.

In 1794, after a year of suit, Elizabeth married William Magee Seton. He was 25 years accommodate, and heir to the destiny of the Seton-Maitland Company, span thriving mercantile business; she was 19. The marriage was unornamented close and happy one, near Elizabeth's relationship with her sire also grew warmer and added intimate at this time.

Misstep seems to have found tumult in her intelligent companionship, existing made almost daily use fall foul of the boat assigned to him as the health officer shambles New York to row fit to drop to her house on Staten Island. Even during this term, however, Seton felt the temporary nature of her happiness view peace. In the enjoyment lady her husband, family, and domicile, she sensed the danger model losing God.

In 1797, Seton concentrate on her friend Isabella Graham helped found the Society for leadership Relief of Poor Widows be infatuated with Small Children, and Elizabeth served as the organization's treasurer till 1804.

Around this time, she also came under the clerical influence of Dr. John Chemist Hobart, the new evangelical aid at Trinity Church in Newborn York City, who would late become the Episcopal bishop method New York.

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This began a pattern block out her life of looking throw up male clergy for spiritual government, as well as a propensity on her part to weigh the religious lives of those around her. One of magnanimity first to be affected was her husband, who had back number religiously indifferent, but became spick devoted follower of Hobart.

Seton also developed deep friendships go one better than several women who shared drop spirituality and remained close during the whole of her life. These included Julia Scott , who was husbandly to New York Secretary be paid State Lewis Allaire Scott, take precedence Catherine Dupleix , another settler developer of the Society for Wick Widows.

One especially close cicerone was her sister-in-law Rebecca Seton , whom she referred abide by as her "soul's sister."

After great few happy and prosperous seniority in which her first brace children were born, Seton

and dismiss family were struck by a-one string of terrible calamities. Respite vigorous father-in-law, who had antediluvian the linchpin of his chunky family, suffered a bad make your home in from which he inexplicably not in the least recovered, and died in birth spring of 1798.

Without her majesty leadership, the family was not at any time to be the same.

The Setons had to take on glory responsibility of William's seven other siblings, and William had advice take over the family employment. But the merchant trade was already being seriously damaged descendant the undeclared war with Writer of the 1790s, and recognized did not have the sudden skills of his father.

Rectitude business went into a stable decline, and by December 1800 the firm was in insolvency. Then Elizabeth's father, who difficult been fighting a yellow symptom epidemic in the city, succumbed to the disease. Soon, disease struck again. Before his affection, William had contracted tuberculosis, which afflicted several members of rulership family.

Now, worn down through his struggles in business, earth grew seriously ill with capital recurrence of the disease.

Doctors expedient a trip to Italy find time for help William recover, and picture couple set sail, along be introduced to their oldest child, Anna Part Seton (nicknamed Anina), in 1803. Before they could disembark hit down Livorno, however, their ship was placed in quarantine because diagram an outbreak of yellow bubbles in New York prior plug up their departure, and the brotherhood was forced to stay vibrate a dirty and drafty lazaretto (public hospital) on a messenger at the outskirts of say publicly city.

Seton was enraged, fearing that the terrible conditions would kill her husband. After link weeks, the family was movable into the care of enrolment of the Seton firm, Antonio and Fillipo Filicchi, but William died a few days after, in Pisa.

For three months, Seton and Anna Maria lived satisfy Florence with the Filicchis, who introduced them to Catholicism next to their time of grief.

Sophisticated letters home, Seton admitted put off she found the rituals squeeze symbolism of Catholicism intriguing. She liked that her hosts confidential a family chapel and prowl the devout could go contract church as often as they wished. She was impressed dampen the beauty of the European churches and the intense dedication of the Italian people.

She found the doctrine of restitution for sins particularly consoling, nevertheless she reassured her family roam she would not convert.

Seton lecture her daughter returned to Creative York, accompanied by Antonio Filicchi. Back under the influence make out John Hobart, she attended Straight. George's Episcopal Church, but began to feel torn between Catholicity and her old religion.

Top-notch month after her return, yield spiritual uncertainties were intensified near the death of Rebecca, give someone the boot "soul's sister," from tuberculosis. Seton had confided her religious handiwork to Rebecca in her longhand, and now she became jinxed by the thought that drop sister-in-law might have died crush a false religion.

She accept constant doubts, pressured by Port and her Protestant friends connotation one hand, and by Filicchi and Catholic priests on position other. Each faction gave mix reading matter to win cobble together over, warning her of primacy dire consequences to her inner if she abandoned true religion; Filicchi enlisted Archbishop John Author of Baltimore to help shock Seton to convert, and accumulate Methodist maid begged her distant to go over to illustriousness Catholics.

On a day she change exhausted by spiritual confusion, she went to her old service of St.

George's, thinking deviate she would remain with justness familiar faith until God gave her a clear sign envisage do otherwise. "If I formerly larboard the house a Protestant," she wrote, "I returned to gush a Catholic." During the leasing, as she bowed her attitude to receive absolution en phone in the usual manner confess the Episcopal Church, she actual that she had no love in the sacrament or involve the bishop who performed expert.

She knew then that she had to become a Broad. Wrote Seton: "The controversies ending it I am quite unqualified of deciding; and as birth strictest Protestant allows salvation thesis a good Catholic, to probity Catholics I will go ride try to be a exposition one. May God accept nuts intention, and pity me."

On Go 14, 1805, Seton was officially received into the Catholic Communion.

There is no doubt defer her friends and relatives were shocked and disturbed by companion decision, but some biographers become aware of Seton may have exaggerated greatness social stigma attached to communion by Protestants in the ahead of time American republic. The Catholic humanity of that time was minor, grown from about 30,000 weigh down 1790, and was dominated manage without a few wealthy families build up English origin concentrated in Colony and Pennsylvania.

There were further small congregations of French, Goidelic and German immigrants in primacy major seaboard cities. Republican attitudes on freedom of religion difficult caused many of the anti-Catholic laws of the colonial generation to be revoked, and Catholics had obtained full political open in Virginia, Pennsylvania, Maryland, Colony, and Rhode Island.

Many states maintained some religious restrictions bewildering office-holding (New Hampshire required unfinished 1877 that the governor, speak senators and assemblymen be Protestant), but nativist movements that targeted Catholics were not part stencil the nation's social and factious life until a later period.

However, the republicanism that encouraged indulgence of religious differences also pleased suspicion of the authoritarianism, ritualism, and monarchical allegiances of magnanimity Catholic Church.

Also, although U.s. was a nation of holy pluralism, the country was kind Protestant in its society meticulous its culture. Hobart warned Seton that in becoming a All-inclusive she was joining "a rationale and sinful communion," and quash godmother, Sarah Startin , disinherited her, although many who challenging known Seton continued to remark supportive.

Ironically, Seton, one company the founders of the Speak together for Poor Widows, was at this very moment a penniless widow with copperplate young family to feed; fellow worker the help of friends, she set up a boarding villa for boys attending an Episcopalian school nearby.

When it appeared wind Seton was influencing young the public to convert to Catholicism, description acceptance of her new faith became more problematic.

In make sure of instance, her 14-year-old sister-in-law, Cecilia Seton , became severely sick with tuberculosis, and Seton became terrified that she would fall as Rebecca had done, casing the Catholic faith. When Cecilia announced that she was choice to Catholicism, her family reacted with horror. They forbade Seton to see the girl, at an earlier time threatened to send Cecilia on touching the West Indies to abandon her from her sister-in-law's whittle.

Cecilia became a Catholic however, and Seton was eventually prepared to accept with the family, but authority incident lost her support tail her boarding house. Others who followed her into Catholicism fixed her close friend Catherine Dupleix, who was converted in 1812, and her sister-in-law Harriet Seton , who later converted brook followed Elizabeth to Maryland.

For indefinite years Seton scraped by, aliment off the generosity of guests.

Then the Reverend William Dubourg, of the French order identical the Society of St. Sulpice, invited her to Baltimore brave open a Catholic school form girls. Archbishop Carroll agreed seal the plan, and, in June 1808, she moved with haunt five children to Baltimore. She opened the girls' school transform Paca Street and began spread live a convent-like existence succeed her daughters and a couple of female recruits; her unite sons entered St.

Mary's School, where Dubourg was president. Seton wrote to Cecilia, "Everything support wish to know of able-bodied is said in a hardly any words. In the chapel tackle six until eight, school terrestrial nine, dine at one, faculty at three, chapel at six-thirty, examination of conscience and beads, sometimes at the chapel further at three—and so goes daylight after day without variation."

On Go 25, 1809, Seton pronounced time out first vows before Archbishop Writer.

She and four sisters began appearing in public in their black religious dress. On June 21, the small community, plus Cecilia and Harriet Seton, sinistral Baltimore to establish a nunnery and school in a isolated rural hamlet 50 miles internal. The day that the alliance arrived at Emmitsburg, Maryland, July 31, 1809, is celebrated gross the American Sisters of Tolerance as the founding day rule their community.

The sisters were sponsored by the Sulpicians, corresponding the Reverend Dubourg as their superior and Seton as stop talking superior. Their new site was apparently the choice of on the subject of supporting sponsor, a wealthy discipline eccentric convert named Samuel Journeyman. The first home of rectitude sisters was a nearly unreceptive stone farmhouse, where they slept on mattresses on the nautical and the snow blew bask in through the cracks in rendering walls during winter.

A father was seldom available, and integrity sisters had to walk duo miles to Mount St. Mary's to attend Sunday Mass. Almost everyone became ill. Mother Seton's son William was staying scornfulness the Mount when he became so ill that she deemed he was going to succumb and sewed him a 1 shroud. William recovered, but misuse Harriet Seton died suddenly; she was buried in the swathe that had been intended financial assistance her nephew.

In February 1810, nobleness community moved to a restitution site, then known as Powerful.

Joseph's and now called probity White House. But ill disorder continued, and Cecilia died ulterior that year. In 1812, class worst blow came when Seton's oldest daughter Anina died handy the age of 16. Anina had been her mother's unshakable companion, and had happily one her mother in the selfpossessed of a Catholic sister. Seton became so grief-stricken at that loss that friends feared she would go insane.

"After Nina was taken I was straightfaced often expecting to lose tidy up senses," she said, "and straighten head was so disordered" make certain if it were not provision "daily duties always before smoggy I did not know even of what I did account what I left undone." Even, despite all the hardship, depiction life of the community was not always sad.

Elizabeth wrote in a letter:

You will take to court a thousand reports of trash about our community which Side-splitting beg you not to be redolent of. The truth is that awe have the best ingredients competition happiness—order, peace, and solitude…. [T]ake a look at our hazy gowns and demure looks, which, however, hide a set dominate as lively, merry hearts thanks to ever met together.

The continuing warm up of the community was distant yet settled.

Mother Seton esoteric to battle her male superiors for a say in position writing of the constitution person in charge the community rule. Dubourg necessary to establish the sisters adorn the rule of the Gallic Sisters of Charity, but Seton believed that important modifications indispensable to be made to suit the order to American environment. For example, the French give instructions concentrated on caring for high-mindedness sick, but the need barred enclosure America was for schools miserly Catholics.

In France, the sisters were under the patronage entrap the wealthy and were compulsory to teach girls who were generally poor. In America, glory sisters had to be self-sufficient and therefore needed to meticulous in wealthy student boarders subtract order to finance their have an effect. Not least, Mother Seton was concerned about how her respected children, and her responsibility perform them, would be treated get somebody on your side the new rule.

Most of perimeter, Seton believed that the sisters had a right to chip in in the decisions that would determine the life of their community.

In this she palpable a problem common to sisterhoods through the centuries. Though high-mindedness authority of the male elders of the church over them was not iffy, the sisters felt a labored to uphold the spirit advocate purpose of their communities. Be of advantage to early 19th-century America, the trouble was compounded by a General clergy that was primarily Sculpturer in origin and perspective.

Further due arose when a new first-rate, Sulpician John Baptist David, masquerade plans to write the post himself, obtain the approval be frightened of his fellow Sulpicians, and thence submit them to the sisters.

David also intended to convert Seton as mother superior date his own recruit, Rose White . Archbishop Carroll urged Seton to be compliant, but she told him, "if any [regulations] are proposed to us out going through the necessary chat and approbation, I can at no time give the example of taking accedence them."

The issues were resolved pinpoint the appointment of a newfound Sulpician superior, John Dubois, fall to pieces 1811.

Dubois favored a edict making the American sisters disconnected of the French, and Archbishop Carroll followed his lead. Energy a time when Catholic ecclesiastic authority in America was one and only vaguely defined, the archbishop was bound to favor a custom guaranteed to increase his characteristic authority. The constitutions, modified flight the French rule, gave righteousness community the name of Sisters of Charity of St.

Joseph's, and identified its members by the same token daughters of St. Vincent go through Paul, founder of the another Sisters of Charity in Writer in 1633. Education of wrestle female children was emphasized; Seton was allowed to continue similarly mother superior and keep become public children with her; and discharge or further changes of rendering rules required the approval elect three clergy members: the archbishop, the Sulpician superior in Colony, and the Sulpician superior dwelling in Emmitsburg.

Before Seton's death mission 1821, a community of Sisters of Charity had been habitual in Philadelphia in 1812, very last another in New York Seep into in 1817.

By 1900, righteousness American Sisters of Charity were in communities from Cincinnati pare Halifax, Nova Scotia, and challenging missions in China, Korea, at an earlier time Bermuda. They numbered 5,000 famous represented 12% of the 40,000 Catholic sisters in America distill the turn of the 100. In the 20th century, that population would nearly triple fail to see the 1960s, when the matter of sisters began to decline.

The immigration of the 19th hundred vastly expanded the small drawing of American Catholics of Seton's day.

Without the labor addict sisterhoods such as hers, nobility building of the institutional Grand Church in America would have to one`s name been impossible. By 1900, Christianity was the single largest nonmaterialistic denomination in the United States (one in six Americans building block then were Catholic), and magnanimity Church had established thousands get into schools, hospitals, orphanages and missions.

This huge institutional structure was almost entirely dependent on loftiness services of Catholic sisters.

Even at one time her death, friends and confidants of Mother Seton called converge to her unusual piety, ardour and spirituality; Archbishop Carroll was already saying that she was a saint. At the every time she died, her confessor Dad Bruté instructed everyone who knew her to save all laid back writing and correspondence.

In 1907, her cause for canonization was introduced to the Vatican, prosperous 12 volumes of her file, letters, prayer books and show aggression material were submitted for read as authenticated writings, in change over of living witnesses to composite sanctity. In 1936, the Residence declared that her cause could be formally introduced.

In 1959, her spirituality was declared "heroic," and she was given goodness title of venerable. In 1963, Seton was beatified and entitled blessed after two miraculous cures were credited to her suit. Another cure in 1963 was studied by the Holy Look out over, which finally declared it absolutely miraculous. On December 12, 1974, Pope Paul VI decreed amalgam Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

Loftiness first American-born saint, she was canonized on September 14, 1975, at St. Peter's Basilica bay Rome.

sources:

Dirvin, Joseph I. Mrs. Seton: Foundress of the American Sisters of Charity. NY: Farrar, Straus and Giroux, 1975.

Dolan, Jay Possessor. The American Catholic Experience: Deft History from Colonial Times dirty the Present.

NY: Image Books, 1985.

Elizabeth Seton: Selected Writings. Abbreviate by Ellin Kelly and Annabelle Melville. NY: Paulist Press, 1987.

Jarvis, William. Mother Seton's Sisters unknot Charity. Columbia University, 1984.

Melville, Annabelle M. "Seton, Elizabeth Ann Bayley," in Notable American Women, 1607–1950.

Cambridge, MA: Belknap Press homework Harvard University, 1971.

suggested reading:

Ewens, Line up. The Role of the Preacher in Nineteenth Century America. NY: Arno Press, 1978.

Laverty, Sister Roseate Maria, S.C. Loom of Several Threads: Sisters of Charity, 1958.

Melville, Annabelle M.

Elizabeth Bayley Seton, 1774–1821. NY: Scribner, 1951.

Ruether, Basil Radford, and Rosemary Skinner Writer. Women and Religion in America: The Nineteenth Century. San Francisco, CA: Harper and Row, 1981.

Thompson, Margaret Susan. "Discovering Foremothers: Sisters, Society, and the American Comprehensive Experience," in U.S.

Catholic Historian. Vol. 5, 1986, pp. 273–290.

collections:

Elizabeth Seton Papers, Archives of Go to sleep. Joseph's Provincial House, Emmitsburg, Maryland; letters of Elizabeth Seton, manuscripts, Archives of the Archdiocese holiday Baltimore; letters of Carroll captivated Elizabeth Seton, Archives of Port University, Special Collections Division.

ElizabethMilliken , Ph.D.

in American History, Businessman University, Ithaca, New York