Elizabeth Ann Seton: First American-Born Saint
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.
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The National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
What's Coming Up View Full Calendar →
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Ash Wednesday
Ash Wednesday Mass will be held at 1:30pm. Confession and Adoration available prior from 12:15-1:15pm.
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Stations of the Cross
Stations of the Cross will be prayed every Friday during Lent following the 1:30pm Mass.
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“The Disturbing Demands of Charity” Retreat
Join Fr. Aidan Rooney, CM at the upcoming half day retreat.
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Wednesday Evening Extended Hours
The Shrine is open until 7:30pm on Wednesday evenings!
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Living History
Engage Living History Interpreters (many of whom are students) portraying real people from Mother Seton’s world. Rain or shine.
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Daily Mass & Adoration
Join us for Adoration and Confession Sun-Fri at 12:15pm-1:15pm. Mass is at 1:30pm.
News View All →
Seton Shrine’s Book Club Fosters Friendships in Heaven and on Earth
A moving story from the Seton Shrine about a mother, a sister, a child, and a book club
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Mother Seton Brings Miracles, Hope, & Help to Those on the Sea
Mother Seton, Patroness of the Sea Services, intercedes for a dying soldier…
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Press Release: Seton Shrine Celebrates Mother Seton's Feast Day
A new year; a new museum
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Couple Credits Intercession of ‘Spiritual Friends’ Seton and McGivney with Healing
A life threatening situation with a happy ending
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Latest Reflections View All →
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St. Josephine Bakhita and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Women of Great Fortitude
| In giving their lives, strength, and sufferings for their daughters and sisters, sons and brothers, St. Josephine Bakhita and Mother Seton are eternally united in the life, strength, and suffering of their Beloved Lord.
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Learning to Trust God Through Suffering, with St. Agatha and Mother Seton
| Following Christ is not without challenges. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Agatha are examples of leaning into God’s grace to persevere and triumph in times of challenge.
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St. Blaise, Mother Seton, and Meeting Jesus in Our Physical Ailments
| Mother Seton was no stranger to illness and suffering within her family. By her example and through St. Blaise’s intercession, we can place our family’s health in the Lord’s hands, confident that He will bind up our wounds.
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Embracing the Tears and Joys of Motherhood with Mary of Nazareth and Elizabeth Ann Seton
| When the Holy Family presented the infant Jesus at the temple, Mary learned that her soul would one day be pierced by a sword. Like the Blessed Mother, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s faith-filled devotion helped carry her through the pains and trials of motherhood, and can inspire us today.
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Don Bosco and Mother Seton: The Great Christian Educators
| St. John Bosco and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton presented lessons of love and gentleness to the most vulnerable of children. Their gentle instruction inspired their respective countries through the many thousands of pupils who would be taught by the communities they founded.
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The Ever-Burning Center: Mary Ward and Mother Seton
| Venerable Mary Ward and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton forged new communities of women religious devoted to apostolic action that drew their strength from prayer and the divine love of Jesus.
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What Aquinas the Student Taught Elizabeth Ann Seton the Teacher
| Even though St. Elizabeth Ann Seton spent much of her adult life educating and instructing others in the Catholic faith, she never stopped being a student herself. Her own education in the faith can be traced back to the iconic saint and student, St. Thomas Aquinas.
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Christ, Healer of Wounds: The Witness of St. Angela Merici and Mother Seton
| Angela Merici and Elizabeth Ann Seton both suffered deeply. But because these saints allowed Christ into the deepest, darkest places of their hearts, their losses and pain became for them and for us almost unthinkable graces.
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Mother Seton and St. Paul Show Us a 4-Fold Path to Change
| The conversions of Paul and Elizabeth Ann Seton may seem exceptional, but each of us, in our own life, can experience the same grace by opening our heart when Christ calls.
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For Mother Seton and St. Francis de Sales, There Are No Ordinary Virtues
| Often the greatest saints practice the smallest and most simple virtues. Inspired by the spiritual writings of Francis de Sales, the saint of everyday holiness, Mother Seton put his teachings into practice as she treaded forward on her own path to sainthood.
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St. Marianne Cope and Mother Seton Teach Us To See and Love
| With St. Marianne Cope and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton as our guides and intercessors, let us ask ourselves: Who does God want me to see and love today?
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The Ecstasy of the Saints: Mother Seton and Saint Vincent of Saragossa
| Saints aren’t people who are in control. When faced with suffering, St. Vincent of Saragossa and Mother Seton responded by letting themselves be loved. They gave everything over to the One who loves us, who wants us unconditionally. And the fruit of such love is Ecstasy.
Seton & Culture View All →
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Translators of the Holy Spirit: Elizabeth Seton and Les Murray
| The saint and the poet lived and wrote to communicate God’s glory and intimacy with humankind.
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Children of the Church: Elizabeth Seton, Sofia Cavalletti and Gianna Gobbi
| Their boundless capacity for love, friendship and wonder deepened our understanding of the spirituality of children forever.
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In Praise of Holy Women
| 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.
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Caring for the Poor: Frank Capra and Elizabeth Seton
| 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.
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Georges Bernanos, Elizabeth Seton, and the Revelation of Hell
| The French Catholic writer and the American saint each knew that God’s light shines brightest in the deepest darkness.
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Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz and Elizabeth Seton and Their Devotion to Mary
| 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.
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The Vocation of Women According to Elizabeth Seton and Sigrid Undset
| Elizabeth Seton and Sigrid Undset were feminist icons without officially becoming feminists because they drew their strength from their Catholicism.
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Reimagining Robert Lowell
| 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.
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Gravitas: Good Friday, 2022
| 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.
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The Eucharist at the Core: Flannery O’Connor and Elizabeth Ann Seton
| The Catholic writer and the Catholic saint each grounded their lives and their works in the astonishing power of grace.
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Companionship in Christ: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Fr. Luigi Giussani
| 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.
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Dolores Hart and Elizabeth Seton: Threading the Eye of a Needle
| These two immensely talented women gave up everything that stood in the way of their love of God and neighbor.
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 Farmhouse
Step back in time while you tour the Stone House, which was originally built in the mid-1700s.
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Historic St. Joseph's 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.