Elizabeth Ann Seton

Born in New York City in 1774 into an influential Episcopalian family, Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife and mother of five children before being widowed at the age of 29. This tribulation, along with her contacts with the Filicchi family in Italy, led her to convert to Catholicism in 1805, a decision that resulted in social ostracism. In 1808, she moved to Baltimore where she opened a school for girls. Inspired by the work of Saint Vincent de Paul, she founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph in Emmitsburg, Maryland, in 1809, the first religious congregation of women established in the United States. This community dedicated itself to the education of young girls, especially those from modest backgrounds, and to the care of the sick. Mother Seton died in 1821. She was beatified by Pope John XXIII in 1963 and canonized by Pope Paul VI in 1975, thus becoming the first native-born citizen of the United States to be elevated to sainthood.