St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Mother, Widow, Educator, Foundress

American Catholic History

Noelle & Tom Crowe

Religion & Spirituality, History, Christianity, Education

4.8 • 969 Ratings

🗓️ 27 May 2026

⏱️ 22 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

Elizabeth Ann Seton was an Episcopalian and a wealthy socialite in New York. She married the scion of a wealthy shipping family, and they started a family. Life was wonderful. But tragedy struck: her father in law and her husband died, and the family shipping business failed. At 29 she was a widow with five children and no means of support. While seeking solace she became Catholic after being struck by the example of the Filicchi brothers, who had been business associates of her husband. Her conversion cost her her friends and brought about hardship. She moved to Baltimore to work with Father William Louis Dubourg and Bishop John Carroll to establish a school for girls. Eventually she took religious vows and became the first mother superior of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph. The new order moved to Emmitsburg, Maryland where they built a home and a school near Mount St. Mary's. The parochial school system in the United States traces its roots to her pioneering work. She died at just 46 years old, and became the first American-born person to be canonized in 1975.

Transcript

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0:00.0	Hello and welcome to American Catholic history brought to you by the support of listeners like you.
0:10.5	If you like our podcast, please become a supporter.
0:13.7	Also, be sure to give us a five-star rating and a great review wherever you get your podcasts.
0:19.6	I'm Noelle Heister Crow.
0:20.8	And I'm Tom Crow.
0:21.8	Today we're talking about the first American-born person to be canonized, Elizabeth Ann Bailey
0:28.3	Seton. And this is an opportunity to sort of split some hairs. For decades, Seton has been
0:34.5	recognized as the first American-born saint. She is the first person who was born
0:40.1	on this continent to be canonized, but she isn't the first U.S. citizen to be canonized, nor was she
0:47.2	the earliest person to die and go straight to heaven. Right. Well, the first U.S. citizen to be canonized was St. Francis Xavier Cabrini.
0:57.2	She was an amazing woman in her own right, but she was born in Italy and later became an American
1:02.3	citizen. On the other hand, St. Coteri Ticawitha was born and raised in what is now New York.
1:08.4	She died and went to heaven 94 years before St. Elizabeth and Seton was born,
1:13.6	though she was canonized 37 years after Seton. So, and not that it matters, because they're all
1:20.0	before the throne of God, but it's the sort of thing that we hear on Earth notice and talk about.
1:25.3	That means that Seaton wasn't the first American to become a saint
1:29.0	in heaven, nor was she the first U.S. citizen, but she was the earliest living native-born
1:35.4	American to be canonized. Do you follow? Well, I mean, as you say, it doesn't ultimately matter,
1:41.7	but it gives us, or well, at least you, something to talk about.
1:44.9	Yes, and I've talked about it long enough. Let's go to the life and story of that first American-born
1:49.9	saint, Elizabeth Anne Seton. Well, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has one of those riches to rags to riches
1:56.2	stories that appear in so many saints. She was born into wealth, and much of her life was filled with comfort and privilege.
	...

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