Yesterday was the feast of the first American born saint to be canonized, Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton. As I have been attending the local parish of which she is the patron saint, I went to SEAS for early morning mass yesterday.
Elizabeth Ann Seton was a convert to Catholicism, having been raised Episcopalian. She was a wife and mother of 5 children. Her husband and two of her children died from tuberculosis at different times and circumstances. She became an educator and also was the foundress of the American Sisters of Charity. She was born in 1774 in New York City, and died in 1821 in Emmitsburg, Maryland, where there is a shrine in her honour. She faced many challenges, some of which are documented on this site dedicated to her.
Saint Elizabeth packed a lot of living into her 47 years on this planet.
As I thought about her life, I was reminded of one of my favourite Catholic writers, who is also an army wife and mother, and has become an educator, as she home schools her 3 daughters this year. Jennifer Hartline, is a contributing writer for Catholic Online from time to time, and the writer of My Chocolate Heart, a very good Catholic blog. I notice that Jennifer has not been doing much writing of late, and suspect that she has been embracing her role as educator of her children. As much as I miss her writing, I am sure that she has chosen the higher calling of preparing her three darling daughters for life in the world which we inhabit.
Jennifer spent many of her formative years living in Tucson Arizona, and was a parishioner at St. Elizabeth Ann Seton parish here, where I have been many mornings for Mass since my return. It is a small world, after all.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, please intercede for my sister in the faith, Jennifer, and for her family as she and they seek to serve Our Lord and Saviour each and every day.
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