Even in seasons of loneliness, we were made to live with and for others. God provides the means to serve him through a community.
St. Jane Frances de Chantal and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton: Made for Communion
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Lisa Lickona
The Holocaust Before the Holocaust: St. Edith Stein and Mother Seton
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Mother Seton and St. Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (also known as Edith Stein) witnessed to a way of living and dying modeled on the ultimate sacrifice Christ accomplished on the Cross.
Following the Master’s Plan: Saint Dominic and Mother Seton
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Like many other great religious founders, St. Dominic and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton had no master plan. They simply opened their hearts to the certainty of Christ’s call, revealing itself through the signs of their times.
The Fervor of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton and the Transfiguration
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The example of Peter during the transfiguration of Jesus on Mount Tabor warns us against taking easy roads to holiness, a lesson that Mother Seton embodied in her life. She always stayed on the narrow path, walking alongside Christ, all the way to heaven.
Beyond Idolatry: Learning to Love with St. Bonaventure and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
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The great theologian St. Bonaventure understood, as Mother Seton did, that Christian faith is grounded in absolute trust in God’s love for us. And that it is the miraculous abundance of this assurance that spills over into our love of others.
The Play of the Heart: Saint Josemaría Escrivá and Mother Seton
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God does not call us to a life void of joy and light. God is found both when we pray and play. He makes His presence known in the daily tasks of ordinary life—something that both St. Josemaría Escrivá and Mother Seton understood.
Following Mother Seton’s Path Into the Sacred Heart of Jesus
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Devotion to the Sacred Heart teaches us that the way of the saints is not about an abstract ideal or rules for life, but about the unfathomable love of God, who we embrace—blood, sweat and all.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, Beloved Daughter and Woman of the Trinity
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Through the indwelling of the Holy Spirit, we can rest in the community of love that is the Triune God. Mother Seton shows us how to immerse ourselves in the life of the Blessed Trinity as God’s beloved sons and daughters.
Crying Out to God With Saint Ephrem and Mother Seton
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When we experience the anguish of violence in the world we can cry out to the Lord with Elizabeth and Ephrem, and let Him tenderly heal us.
Through the Lens of the Cross: Saint Joan of Arc and Mother Seton
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Saint Joan of Arc and Mother Seton are two fiery souls with one shared devotion to Christ. Both unwilling to back down, they each offered all “in the ambit of that one ‘everlasting’ sign, the cross.”
Embracing the Certainty of Easter with Saint Damien and Mother Seton
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When my fears threaten to overtake me, I look for courage to the lives of the saints, who embraced the certainty of new life in the risen Christ, who lives among us still in the Eucharist, and in the Church.
Out of the Darkness with Louise de Marillac and Elizabeth Ann Seton
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Meditating on the trials and struggles of St. Louise de Marillac and Mother Seton gives us hope in these uncertain times. We learn that holiness is found not in flashes of glory, but in the messy spaces where one watches, prays, and waits.
The ‘Secret’ of the Saints: Servant of God Takashi Nagai and Mother Seton
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When faced with adversity, saints don’t aim for heroism. They have only one goal: to follow and be transformed by Jesus. This is the radical way of holiness as gift that we see in the lives of Elizabeth Seton and the Nagasaki mystic Takashi Nagai.
The Eucharistic Fervor of St. Catherine of Siena and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
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From our modern perspective, how St. Catherine of Siena and Mother Seton went to extremes for the sake of the Eucharist can seem absurd. But their devotion to the real presence of Christ was as essential to their lives as breathing is to ours.
To Take Wing and Soar: Awaiting Easter with St. Benedict Joseph Labre and Mother Seton
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As the dawn of Easter approaches, let us follow Jesus, along with Benedict Joseph Labre and Elizabeth Ann Seton, as they enter into the freedom of the Resurrection.
The Empty Tomb: Seeking the Resurrected Christ with Mary Magdalene and Elizabeth Ann Seton
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With St. Mary Magdalene, let us accept Christ’s ‘Do not touch me’ with the certainty that His words give us a new mission, and a new way to be with Him, just as St. Elizabeth Ann Seton met the hardships of her life with renewed faith and strength.
Through the Darkness to Easter Light with Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
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As we journey through the darkness of the Holy Triduum, to rise into the light of Easter, the example of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton shows us how to yield our lives to Christ, the Crucified One, that we might live.
The Main Event: Palm Sunday with Mother Seton
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The lives of the saints, including Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, remind us that the sacrifices they made — and that we make — all point to the ultimate sacrifice that Jesus made for us. We are healed through the sacrifice already made by Jesus on the Cross.
Thea Bowman and Mother Seton: Living the Paradox of the Gospel
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In their lives, Servant of God Thea Bowman and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton were content to do their “little bit,” to plant the seeds of God’s love that would bring forth a bountiful harvest in heaven and on earth.
Living Ash Wednesday the Way Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton Did
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Mother Seton didn’t walk the Way of the Cross alone during her life, but rather she surrounded herself with a community, with whom she journeyed in mutual dependence, step by step, along the path Christ set for them. During Lent, together with the Church, we are all invited to do the same.
‘They Possess God’: Mother Seton and Blessed John of Fiesole
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It’s no wonder that Mother Seton and Fra Angelico experienced God so intensely in Italy, a land of splendid Catholic art and liturgy. They weren’t satisfied with a God who was merely transcendent, but yearned for the One who gave His life for the world and became our living bread.
A Greater Love: Facing Lent with Mother Seton and Saint Scholastica
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As Lent approaches, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Scholastica remind us to examine our hearts and prioritize and cultivate a fervent desire for God.
Don Bosco and Mother Seton: The Great Christian Educators
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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.
Christ, Healer of Wounds: The Witness of St. Angela Merici and Mother Seton
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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.
The Ecstasy of the Saints: Mother Seton and Saint Vincent of Saragossa
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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.
Being Carried: The Marian Devotion of Saint Peter Canisius and Mother Seton
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St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and St. Peter Canisius witnessed to the faith through their charitable actions and works of kindness—a strength they received from relying on the loving heart of Mary.
To Expect Nothing—and Everything: Advent with John of the Cross and Mother Seton
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St. John of the Cross and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton teach us how to empty ourselves before God as we journey towards Christmas. Elizabeth’s barren womb, John the Baptist’s desert cry, the shepherd’s confusion, and Mary and Joseph in that cold stable—all of them point to the truth of Advent: the whole, poor world is waiting for Jesus to come.
The Virgin and the Wife: St. Lucy of Syracuse and Mother Seton
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The lives of St. Lucy and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton show us how in the Church’s tradition, marriage and virginity illumine each other. Every single soul is called to an espousal with Christ, the Divine Bridegroom. And in the love of a man and a woman, Christ’s own love for the Church shines forth.
The Cry of the Heart: St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and Christ the King
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As Americans, we instinctively resist any sort of absolute authority. How fitting then that it was by letting herself be ruled by Christ, the King, that Elizabeth Ann Seton—the first American-born saint—showed her fellow Americans where liberation must begin: in Him.
Towers of Grace: Mother Seton and St. Rose Philippine Duchesne
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Our Lord, the supernatural architect of our lives, builds with blocks of grace.
The Beauty of Life: Elizabeth of Hungary and Elizabeth Ann Seton
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St. Elizabeth of Hungary and Mother Seton both looked at life with wonder and a willingness to be surprised. These saints knew that nothing happens that is not part of God’s plan, and that His plan is utterly good.
The Zeal of the Saints: Simon, Jude, and Elizabeth Ann Seton
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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.
Hitting Rock Bottom and Staying There: Jean de Brebeuf and Mother Seton
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In situations of explosive uncertainty, we need to cling to the single thread that is God.
Surrender at the Speed of Light with St. Therese of Lisieux and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
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The courage and boldness of St. Therese and Mother Seton, especially in the face of great suffering and agony, flowed from their willingness to throw themselves completely into the arms of the Father.
St. Vincent de Paul and Mother Seton: A Match Made in Heaven
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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.
Learning to Follow with Padre Pio and Mother Seton
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In Padre Pio and Elizabeth Ann Seton, we see the diversity of the saints, and how the drama of the human soul is expressed in many different ways. But what unites them is their “yes” to God, which unlocks the power of a true disciple of Christ.
In Weakness, Strength: St. Hildegard of Bingen and Mother Seton
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The lives of St. Hildegard of Bingen and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton show us the paradox of surrender—how fragile human vessels can become sudden and hopeful expressions of God’s own power.
All the Way Through the Darkness with Jesus: St. Teresa of Calcutta and Mother Seton
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In their lives, Mother Teresa and St. Elizabeth Ann Seton experienced darkness that opened up the possibility of serving others in new ways, to bring the light of heaven to those in darkness on earth.
Saint for a New Nation: The Uncommon Docility of Elizabeth Ann Seton
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God calls forth new saints in every place and in every age. He needs only what he needed at Nazareth, when Mary first said “yes”—a willing heart. For the United States, he found such a heart in Elizabeth Ann Seton.