St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Today is the feast of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. She was the 1st native born American to be declared a saint. Originally an Episcopalian, she was exposed to Catholicism during the time she spent in Italy. The deep devotion of Catholics to the Real Presence inthe Eucharist was 1 of the factors leading to her conversion.

Among the many things God accomplished through her, 1 was the founding of what was to become the American branch of the Daughters of Charity. At the time she started the order she was unable to actually join the order due to political conditions in France. So she began the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. Yes, she had a deep devotion to St. Joseph. The school she founded was named in his honor as well at Emmitsburg, MD. Eventually the school became a woman's college that merged with Mount St. Mary's University in 1973. But from the start she had a connection with that school as well. In 1809 the seminary that was the start of the university opened. St. Elizabeth invited the seminarians to dinner for Thanksgiving. That tradition continues to this day under the auspices of the Daughters of Charity.

& while it is a bit tenuous, she does have a connection to DBQ as well. In 1980, native DBQer & future Captain Janeway played the saint in the TV movie A Time for Miracles. (To this day, I still connect the 2 because of that movie. The movie also had John Forsythe, Lorne Greene, Dominic Chianese & Rossano Brazzi.)

The following is from a conference she gave to her spiritual daughters that is used in the Office of Readings for her feast:

I will tell you what is my own great help. I once read or heard that an interior life means but the continuation of our Saviour’s life in us; that the great object of all his mysteries is to merit for us the grace of his interior life and communicate it to us, it being the end of his mission to lead us into the sweet land of promise, a life of constant union with himself. And what was the first rule of our dear Saviour’s life? You know it was to do his Father’s will. Well, then, the first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.
I know what his will is by those who direct me; whatever they bid me do, if it is ever so small in itself, is the will of God for me. Then do it in the manner he wills it, not sewing an old thing as if it were new, or a new thing as if it were old; not fretting because the oven is too hot, or in a fuss because it is too cold. You understand – not flying and driving because you are hurried, not creeping like a snail because no one pushes you. Our dear Saviour was never in extremes. The third object is to do his will because God wills it, that is, to be ready to quit at any moment and to do anything else to which you may be called....
You think it very hard to lead a life of such restraint unless you keep your eye of faith always open. Perseverance is a great grace. To go on gaining and advancing every day, we must be resolute, and bear and suffer as our blessed forerunners did. Which of them gained heaven without a struggle?...
What are our real trials? By what name shall we call them? One cuts herself out a cross of pride; another, one of causeless discontent; another, one of restless impatience or peevish fretfulness. But is the whole any better than children’s play if looked at with the common eye of faith? Yet we know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life, that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty.
But we lack courage to keep a continual watch over nature, and therefore, year after year, with our thousand graces, multiplied resolutions, and fair promises, we run around in a circle of misery and imperfections. After a long time in the service of God, we come nearly to the point from whence we set out, and perhaps with even less ardour for penance and mortification than when we began our consecration to him.
You are now in your first setout. Be above the vain fears of nature and efforts of your enemy. You are children of eternity. Your immortal crown awaits you, and the best of Fathers waits there to reward your duty and love. You may indeed sow here in tears, but you may be sure there to reap in joy.