Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife and mother who was widowed at the age of 29 in 1803. Despite great hardships, she went on to do amazing work, and eventually became the first American-born saint in 1975.
LEARN MOREWe welcome you to virtually explore our site dedicated to Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint.
LEARN MOREPLEASE NOTE: The galleries will be closed Monday, March 11th, until noon as we install new artifacts. We look forward to highlighting these new relics with you next week!
Join us every Friday during Lent following 1:30pm for Stations of the Cross in the Basilica.
What's on Mother Seton's Plate? Come find out with FREE hands-on activities!
Mass of the Lord’s Supper will be celebrated at 7:30pm. Click to see the full schedule.
Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion will be held at 3pm. Click to see the full schedule.
The Easter Vigil will be celebrated at 8:30pm. Click to see the full schedule.
Join us for a Spring Retreat with Father Patrick Mary, MVFA on Saturday, April 13th.
Join us for a Spring Retreat with Father Maximilian Mary Dean on Saturday, May 11th.
On this specialty tour, discover all that the Sisters experienced around the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, and how they cared for the wounded on both sides.
Join hundreds of Catholics and walk where Mother Seton walked with Jesus in this powerful Eucharistic Procession.
On this specialty tour, discover all that the Sisters experienced around the time of the Battle of Gettysburg, and how they cared for the wounded on both sides.
The Shrine is open until 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings and The Shop is open until 7pm!
Engage Living History Interpreters (many of whom are students) portraying real people from Mother Seton’s world. Rain or shine.
Join us for Adoration and Confession Sun-Fri at 12:15pm-1:15pm. Mass is at 1:30pm.
Press: National Eucharistic Pilgrimage to include shrines
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PRESS: Mother Seton a ‘seeker, servant and saint’ more relevant than ever
PRESS: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine begins two years of celebration, marking two anniversaries
The Holy Spirit loves to surprise us. In every age He enters like a lightning bolt and transforms relationships, overturns our ways of thinking, and brings new life, as he did with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Servant of God Chiara Lubich.
Elizabeth Ann Seton and John Paul II may not have become saints without the early influence of devoted lay people who spiritually mentored them along the path to Christ.
St. Matilda of Ringelheim and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton were each widowed early. Their legacies speak to the importance of trusting in God to do great things with us and through us, regardless of our circumstances.
As we journey through Lent, we can look to St. Seraphina and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to strengthen our desire to follow God’s will for our lives. God was their all. Whatever the circumstances, they turned themselves over to Him, uniting all their sufferings to Christ.
John Ogilvie and Mother Seton were courageous saints of Scottish heritage. Each in their own way, they witnessed to Christ in their native lands in the face of hostility to the Catholic Church.
Saint John of God and Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton show us that not all sacrifices have to be big and dramatic to be holy. Extraordinary sacrifice can be found in the ordinary events of life.
St. Colette and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton were great organizers of religious communities who found peace in the presence of God, no matter the trials they suffered or the challenges they faced.
These two brave and unselfish women devoted their lives to educating poor children and ministering to the needy. We can see their legacies today in the religious communities they founded, and the thousands of Catholic schools across our nation.
We say the words “Thy will be done” countless times, but do we really mean them? St. Elizabeth Ann Seton shows us how we can grow into our prayers – even the tough ones – by opening ourselves to God’s love, and learning to trust Him completely.
Self-sacrificing women are not always recognized in their lifetimes. Blessed Rani Maria Vattalil and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton are two such women. Both dedicated their comparatively short lives to caring for children and the poor.
Servant of God Blandina Segale’s ministry in the American West as a Sister of Charity, and Mother Seton’s experiences founding her community in Emmitsburg, share much in common with classic western movies. In both their stories, Jesus is the true hero.
St. Peter is honored because despite his weaknesses he loved and followed Jesus and became the first pope. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton also chose a difficult path when she answered God’s call and entered the Catholic Church. Like St. Peter, Mother Seton’s humility became her greatest glory.
The saint and the poet lived and wrote to communicate God’s glory and intimacy with humankind.
Their boundless capacity for love, friendship and wonder deepened our understanding of the spirituality of children forever.
Elizabeth Ann Seton was twenty-years old when the Blessed Carmelite Martyrs of Compiègne were executed during the French Revolution. A century and a half later Francois Poulenc would tell the world their story in his sublime opera, Dialogues des Carmelites.
The mid-twentieth century immigrant film director and the early-nineteenth century saint born into Manhattan’s elite shared a deep concern for society’s poor and outcasts that was grounded in their Catholic faith.
The French Catholic writer and the American saint each knew that God’s light shines brightest in the deepest darkness.
There could hardly be two women who lived in such different cultures as Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, yet Mary spoke to each of them.
Elizabeth Seton and Sigrid Undset were feminist icons without officially becoming feminists because they drew their strength from their Catholicism.
The saint Elizabeth Seton and the poet Robert Lowell took divergent paths through the storm clouds of their lives, each seeking shelter under God’s immense umbrella of grace.
In a remarkable act of trust, Elizabeth Seton referred to the death dates of her daughters as their “Heavenly birthdays”—the day when they were born into eternal life after the long, hard labor of dying.
The Catholic writer and the Catholic saint each grounded their lives and their works in the astonishing power of grace.
Luigi Giussani and Elizabeth Seton never planned to found religious movements. Their mission was to love God and neighbor and proclaim that the Incarnate God lives now, in the Eucharist and in our encounters with the people we are given.
These two immensely talented women gave up everything that stood in the way of their love of God and neighbor.
Discover the inspirational life and legacy of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.
Visit the brand new Seton Shrine Museum with engaging, hands-on technology, new artifacts, and more!
Read MoreAwe-inspiring and amazing are a few words people have used to describe the Basilica.
Read MoreStep back in time to the year 1818 at St. Joseph’s Academy, and engage with our living history interpreters, including our Junior History Interpreters who portrays real students from Mother Seton’s time.
Read MoreStep back in time while you tour the Stone House, which was originally built in the mid-1700s.
Read MoreThis historic home was built in 1810 when Elizabeth Ann Seton realized one home wasn’t enough for all that she had in mind.
Read MoreIn 1809, Mother Seton and her companions took a walk through the dense woods on their property to select a site for a cemetery.
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