Don't miss the latest faith drama at the Shrine - Door to Bethlehem!
Join Mary and Joseph as they search for shelter on the way to Bethlehem. We welcome everyone to join us, including groups. LEARN MORE
The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
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Emmitsburg Community Chorus Concert
Welcome back to the Emmitsburg Community Chorus as they return to the Shrine for their annual holiday concert. We welcome everyone to join us for this festive performance.
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Candlelight Tours
Step back in time to the Christmas season in the 1800s and discover Elizabeth Ann Seton’s inspirational story from those who knew her best. A guide will lead you by lantern to the historic homes decorated for the Christmas season. You’ll encounter beloved friends of Elizabeth Ann Seton who will share stories of her life,…
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St. John the Baptist: Tough Love For A Needy World Advent Retreat
St. John the Baptist: Tough Love For A Needy World: Led by Fr. Jack Lombardi, this full day retreat will help you prepare the way of the Lord by following in St. John the Baptist’s footsteps. The day includes lunch, Mass and an opportunity for confession. Cost: $40
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Door to Bethlehem
On the first Christmas Eve, Joseph and Mary wandered through the streets of Bethlehem, looking for shelter. All doors, however, were shut to them. No one would welcome them into their home. In our busy lives today, we too may shut the door to our hearts on Jesus and His family. Open your heart and…
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December Film Series
Featuring – The Star. We welcome everyone to join us for the Shrine’s Film Series in December, which features a free showing of The Star on December 7. A small but brave donkey and his friends follow the Star and become accidental heroes in the greatest story ever told – the first Christmas. Rated PG.…
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Morning With Mary Advent Retreat
Join us Saturday morning, December 14 for this Marian retreat with reflections led by renowned mariologist and author Dr. Mark Miravalle and his son, Dr. John-Mark Miravalle, who is himself an author, speaker, and professor at Mount St. Mary’s Seminary. Take a moment to pause from the busyness of the season to reflect on expectation and…
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Museums by Candlelight
We welcome everyone to join us for Museums by Candlelight and see the candlelit historic homes and Basilica decorated for the Christmas season. The grounds will be illuminated with 1,000 luminaries. Enjoy living history activities related to the Christmas holiday within the historic homes. Museums by Candlelight is held in partnership with Visit Frederick and…
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December Film Series
Featuring – It’s A Wonderful Life. We welcome everyone to join us for the Shrine’s December Film Series, which features a free showing of It’s A Wonderful Life on December 14. An angel is sent from Heaven to help a suicidal man by showing him what life would have been like if he had never…
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Seasons: A Celtic Christmas Concert
We welcome everyone to join us for a holiday concert called Seasons: A Celtic Christmas, featuring the regional Celtic band, Seasons. This award-winning Celtic family band is made up of five siblings who play a variety of traditional instruments including the harp, hammered dulcimer, fiddle, pennywhistle, Irish drum, and more. They will be performing a…
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A Season for Hope Advent Retreat
Join Shrine Chaplains Fr. Daniel Mentesana and Fr. Ted Trinko for a day of reflection on the virtue of hope during this Christmas season. The day includes lunch, Mass and an opportunity for confession. Cost: $40
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December Film Series
Featuring – Classic Christmas Specials We welcome everyone to join us for the Shrine’s December Film Series. On December 21, we’re featuring animated Christmas Classics, including A Charlie Brown Christmas (1965), How the Grinch Stole Christmas (1966), and Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964). The free showing of these classic Christmas specials takes place in the…
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December Film Series
Featuring – The Muppet Christmas Carol. We welcome everyone to join us for the Shrine Film Series in December, which features a free showing of The Muppet Christmas Carol on December 28. Characters from the Muppet universe re-tell Charles Dicken’s immortal classic “A Christmas Carol,” the story of an old and bitter miser’s redemption on…
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Feast Day of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
We welcome everyone to celebrate Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s Feast Day with us! Learn about her life, and see where she lived and worked on our Historic Homes Tour, which takes place at 10:30am, 11:30am, 12:30pm, 2:30pm and 3:30pm.The tours are available for free on this day. Mass for Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s Feast Day…
Latest News and Reflections View All →
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Through Life’s Ups and Downs With Mother Cabrini and Mother Seton
| Like Mother Seton, Mother Cabrini is a saint whose life helps us to remember God’s perspective when we’re in the middle of setbacks and frustrations. No apparent failure is so devastating that He can’t bring good from it.
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Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Virtues of Veterans
| Veterans Day honors those who have served in the military, and is also the feast day of the soldier St. Martin of Tours. The virtues of obedience, humility and sacrifice, which are shared by soldiers and saints, were evident in the life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, who left hearth and home to do spiritual battle for the Kingdom of Christ.
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St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Humble Nobility of All Souls Day
| Before she became a foundress and a saint, Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife, a mother, a teacher. On All Souls Day, her example reminds us of the dignity of the ordinary faithful who keep things going, bearing everyday witness to the power and value of a life in Christ.
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The Zeal of the Saints: Simon, Jude, and Elizabeth Ann Seton
| What binds Saints Simon and Jude together, aside from their common feast day, is the zealous abandonment embraced by every saint, including Elizabeth Ann Seton, who recognized that each of us is an “impossible cause” searching for God’s mercy.
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Finding Interior Peace with St. Teresa of Avila and Mother Seton
| Feelings change, emotions rise and fall, but God remains our anchor. It’s that truth, as St. Teresa of Avila and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton knew, that brings us peace, no matter the storms that rage around us.
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St. John Henry Newman and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Apostles of Friendship
| Both St. John Henry Newman and Mother Seton were generous in their affection for many friends. In their lives we see how holiness and the natural virtue of friendship go hand-in-hand.
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The Hallmarks of a Saint: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Francis of Assisi
| At Mother Seton’s canonization, Pope Paul VI said “A Saint is a human creature fully conformed to the will of God.” Consider these four ways that St. Francis and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton embodied this standard in their own lives.
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St. Vincent de Paul and Mother Seton: A Match Made in Heaven
| St. Vincent de Paul and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton weren’t holy card or fairy-tale figures, but flesh and blood human beings who struggled with earthly dreams. Their lives suggest a way forward for all of us who suffer the tension between a comfortable life in the world and a life thrown open to Christ.
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St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s Exaltation of the Holy Cross
| Mother Seton suffered much during her life, from poverty and social hostility, to the deaths of many loved ones. She persevered and carried on her work, thanks to her faith and courage. But through it all, she always accepted her own weakness, knowing that the true source of her strength was the Crucified Christ.
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Mother Seton Embraced the Gift of Mary
| St. Elizabeth Ann Seton grew up longing for a mother’s love. Her own mother died when she was just three-years-old. So when Elizabeth entered the Catholic Church, God gave her his own mother, Mary. For the rest of her life, she clung to the Blessed Mother. And just as she urged her Sisters to sing Mary’s praises, she urges us to do the same.
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5 Things St. Gregory the Great and Mother Seton Had in Common
| The wisdom of the Saints transcends time and place, as we see in the lives of St. Gregory the Great and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Separated by 1,200 years, each Saint lived in tumultuous times, balancing action and contemplation in ways that are relevant in any age.
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St. Augustine and Mother Seton Dared to Ask—“Lord, Who Are You to Me?”
| St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was a woman of great works, but she was also a mystic. Like Saint Augustine, her restlessness led her to open her heart fully to God, to ask the most essential questions about her very being, knowing that she could fully trust in His answers.
Home of the First American-Born Saint
Discover the inspirational life and legacy of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.
Seton Shrine Museum
Begin your visit with a brief film about Elizabeth Ann Seton and browsing our exhibits. including our latest, Sisters Today: A World of Difference.
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The Basilica
Awe-inspiring and amazing are a few words people have used to describe the Basilica.
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Civil War Sisters
Discover how the Daughters and Sisters of Charity continued Elizabeth Ann Seton’s ministry of charity, helping those who were in need or wounded during the Civil War.
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The Stone House
Step back in time while you tour the Stone House, which was originally built in the mid-1700s.
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The White House
This historic home was built in 1810 when Elizabeth Ann Seton realized one home wasn’t enough for all that she had in mind.
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St. Joseph's Cemetery
In 1809, Mother Seton and her companions took a walk through the dense woods on their property to select a site for a cemetery.
Read MoreElizabeth Ann Seton
The First American-Born Saint
Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife and mother, and then found herself a widow at just 29 years old in 1803. Despite the hardships that she faced, she went on to do amazing work, and eventually became the first American-born saint in 1975. Visit this historic site and Shrine and see the museum, her historic homes, and the Basilica dedicated to her.
Elizabeth Ann Seton
The First American-Born Saint
Elizabeth Ann Seton was a wife and mother, and then found herself a widow at just 29 years old in 1803. Despite the hardships that she faced, she went on to do amazing work, and eventually became the first American-born saint in 1975. Visit this historic site and Shrine and see the museum, her historic homes, and the Basilica dedicated to her.