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National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Elizabeth Ann Seton is
the first and only American born saint. She was born in
1774, and led a privileged life as a wealthy socialite
in New York City. At that time she socialized with
leaders such as George Washington, Alexander Hamilton
and other famous colonists. Widowed in 1803, with five
children to care for, she descended into a life of
poverty. In 1805 she converted to Catholicism and came
to Emmitsburg in 1809, tasked to start a school to
educate the poor and lead a sisterhood in a new
religious community.
Initially
living in a primitive stone house, she endured
incredible hardships, but never wavered in her faith and
devotion to her five children. By the end of that year a
large two-story building, called the White House was completed and housed the sisters. Here, they
opened a free school for the children of the area. The
school grew and flourished, becoming the center of the
Catholic Parochial School System in the United States.
The original school continues today as the Mother Seton
Elementary School, which holds the original charter that
began in 1809. The sisterhood also grew, and Mother
Seton sent her Sisters of Charity as far away as
Philadelphia and New York City to establish orphanages
and schools.
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