CATHOLIC FAMILY CELEBRATIONS
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  • November
    • November 1 All Saints Day
    • November 2 All Souls Day
    • November 9 Dedication of the Lateran Basilica
    • November 11 St. Martin of Tours
    • November 13 St. Frances Cabrini
    • November 15 St. Albert the Great
    • November 17 St. Elizabeth of Hungary
    • November 21 Presentation of Mary
    • November 22 St. Cecilia
    • November 30 St. Andrew
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    • Advent Wreath
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    • December 3 St. Francis Xavier
    • December 5 St. Nicholas
    • December 7 St. Ambrose
    • December 8 Immaculate Conception
    • December 9 St. Juan Diego
    • December 12 Our Lady of Guadalupe
    • December 13 St. Lucy
    • December 14 St. John of the Cross
    • Posada
    • O Antiphons
  • Christmas
  • January
    • January 1 Mary Mother of God
    • January 4 St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
    • Epiphany
    • Baptism of Our Lord
    • January 21 St. Agnes
    • January 22 Day of Prayer for the Legal Protection of the Unborn Child
    • January 28 St. Thomas Aquinas
    • January 31 St. John Bosco
    • Superbowl Sunday
  • February
    • February 2 Presentation
    • February 3 St. Blaise
    • February 6 St. Paul Miki
    • February 10 St. Scholastica
    • February 11 Our Lady of Lourdes
    • February 14 St. Valentine
    • February 22 Chair of St. Peter
  • March
    • March 3 St. Katharine Drexel
    • March 7 Sts. Perpetua and Felicity
    • March 9 St. Frances of Rome
    • March 17 St. Patrick
    • March 19 St. Joseph
    • March 25 Annunciation
  • Mardi Gras
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  • Easter
  • Divine Mercy Sunday
  • May
    • Pentecost Novenas
    • May 1 St. Joseph the Worker
    • May 3 Sts. Philip and James
    • Mother's Day
    • May 10 St. Damien Molokai
    • May 13 Our Lady of Fatima
    • May 22 St. Rita
    • May 26 St. Philip Neri
    • May 31 Visitation
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  • June
    • Corpus Christi
    • Father's Day
    • Sacred Heart and Immaculate Heart
    • June 13 St. Anthony of Padua
    • June 24 Nativity of St. John the Baptisi
    • June 29 Sts. Peter and Paul
  • July
    • July 4th
    • July 6 St. Maria Goretti
    • July 11 St. Benedict
    • July 14 St. Kateri Tekakwitha
    • July 22 St. Mary Magdalene
    • July 25 St. James
    • July 26 Sts. Joachim and Anne
    • July 29 St. Martha
    • July 31 St. Ignatius of Loyola
  • August
    • Back to School
    • August 4 St. John Vianney
    • August 6 Transfiguration
    • August 8 St. Dominic
    • August 10 St. Lawrence
    • August 11 St. Clare
    • August 14 St. Maximillian Kolbe
    • August 15 Assumption
    • August 21 St. Pius X
    • August 22 Queenship of Mary
    • August 24 St. Bartholomew
    • August 27-August 29
  • September
    • Patrons of School and Study
    • Labor Day
    • Sept. 5 St. Mother Teresa of Calcutta
    • September 8 Mary's Birthday
    • September 15 Our Lady of Sorrows
    • September 20 St. Andrew Kim
    • September 21 St. Matthew
    • September 23 St. Padre Pio
    • September 27 St. Vincent DePaul
    • September 29 The Archangels
    • September 30 St. Jerome
  • Family Dinner
  • October
    • Oct 1 St. Therese of the Child Jesus
    • October 2 Guardian Angels
    • October 4 St. Francis
    • October 7 Our Lady of the Rosary
    • October 17 St. Ignatius of Antioch
    • October 18 St. Luke
    • October 19 Sts. Isaac Jogues and John De Brebeuf
    • October 28 Sts. Simon and Jude
    • October 29 Blessed Chiara Badano
    • Halloween or All Hallow's Eve
  • Contact

January 4th, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton

Canonized by Pope Paul VI September 14, 1975
First American Born Saint-born in New York City
Patroness of Catholic Education, Death of Children, Problem with in-laws


As a married woman, mother, educator, and convert to the Catholic faith, I have found St. Elizabeth Ann Seton a personal inspiration for my life.


Here is a short biography to read to the family at dinner quoted from American Catholic.org

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a true daughter of the American Revolution, born August 28, 1774, just two years before the Declaration of Independence. By birth and marriage, she was linked to the first families of New York and enjoyed the fruits of high society. Reared a staunch Episcopalian by her mother and stepmother, she learned the value of prayer, Scripture and a nightly examination of conscience. Her father, Dr. Richard Bayley, did not have much use for churches but was a great humanitarian, teaching his daughter to love and serve others.


The early deaths of her mother in 1777 and her baby sister in 1778 gave Elizabeth a feel for eternity and the temporariness of the pilgrim life on earth. Far from being brooding and sullen, she faced each new “holocaust,” as she put it, with hopeful cheerfulness.


At 19, Elizabeth was the belle of New York and married a handsome, wealthy businessman, William Magee Seton. They had five children before his business failed and he died of tuberculosis. At 30, Elizabeth was widowed, penniless, with five small children to support.

While in Italy with her dying husband, Elizabeth witnessed Catholicity in action through family friends. Three basic points led her to become a Catholic: belief in the Real Presence, devotion to the Blessed Mother and conviction that the Catholic Church led back to the apostles and to Christ. Many of her family and friends rejected her when she became a Catholic in March 1805. To support her children, she opened a school in Baltimore. From the beginning, her group followed the lines of a religious community, which was officially founded in 1809.


The thousand or more letters of Mother Seton reveal the development of her spiritual life from ordinary goodness to heroic sanctity. She suffered great trials of sickness, misunderstanding, the death of loved ones (her husband and two young daughters) and the heartache of a wayward son. She died January 4, 1821, and became the first American-born citizen to be beatified (1963) and then canonized (1975). She is buried in Emmitsburg, Md.

To Do: If you are within an hour of Emmitsburg, Maryland, near Gettysburg, take a trip to the shrine. 
Here is their site, http://www.setonheritage.org/.I finally made it there this fall with part of my family, and we loved it.The nearby Grotto of Lourdes at Mt. St. Mary’s is also well worth the stop. Take a container for the blessed spring water. (http://www.msmary.edu/grotto/)

Or take the 5-minute virtual tour from their site which also gives you a little history of Elizabeth Ann Seton and the sisters of Charity. (Click the bottom right “Your Visit to the Seton Shrine.)





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To Talk About:
Is it possible to be a Saint in today's modern world?  What does it take?
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