{"id":202458,"date":"2025-05-14T13:14:43","date_gmt":"2025-05-14T17:14:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/setonshrine.org\/?p=202458"},"modified":"2025-07-25T09:05:30","modified_gmt":"2025-07-25T13:05:30","slug":"mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/setonshrine.org\/es\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\/","title":{"rendered":"Mother Seton Canonization Mass Memory"},"content":{"rendered":"

(serie 50 por 50)<\/em>\u00a0 Although it was fifty years ago, I can clearly remember that special Sunday of September 14th, 1975.\u00a0 It was a sunny and clear morning \u2013 a perfect day.\u00a0 That beautiful morning, I traveled with my family from our Baltimore City home to Emmitsburg, Maryland for a very special occasion which I would remember for the rest of my life.<\/p>\n

That was the day of the canonization of Mother Elizabeth Ann Seton \u2014 America\u2019s first-born saint and foundress of the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph\u2019s. \u00a0Born almost two hundred years before, she was finally receiving recognition by the Church for her tireless dedication to Jesus.<\/p>\n

My father, Joseph O. Danko, Jr., always had a special devotion to Mother Seton.\u00a0 It started when Dad enlisted in the Navy right after graduating from high school at the end of WWII.\u00a0 He was stationed at Mount Saint Mary\u2019s College in the Navy\u2019s college officer candidate school, then known as the Navy\u2019s V-12 Program.\u00a0\u00a0 No doubt, at the Mount and over at Mother Seton\u2019s hallowed grounds, he fervently prayed to keep safe and out of harm\u2019s way. At that time, thousands of US marines and sailors were being killed in the South Pacific as the war was drawing to a close. \u00a0Mother Seton was familiar with the dangers of military service, particularly as her first son, William, joined the U. S. Navy as a Midshipman, and like my dad, later became a lieutenant serving his country.\u00a0 Her younger son, Richard, also enlisted in the U.S. Navy and tragically died of a fever while on active duty.<\/p>\n

I am sure that Dad\u2019s mom, my grandma, Margueritte (Peg) Danko also entrusted her son, and only child, to be protected with countless novenas, prayers, and special blessings. \u00a0\u00a0The year before the canonization, my grandma had just lost her husband, Joseph O. Danko, Sr., after fifty years of marriage. She was still in mourning. \u00a0Joining us for this special holy celebration was certainly a big deal for her and her healing process.<\/p>\n

Yes, it was only fitting that my dad included his mom and his young family on that special September road-trip to Emmitsburg.\u00a0\u00a0 We all piled into our army green Ford station wagon.\u00a0 Dad and Grandma in the front; mom, my brother Paul (13) and I (11) in the middle; and my sister, Claire (9), squished in the back-back (without a seat belt) along with our folding chairs, blanket, and Styrofoam coolers packed with a delicious lunch for a picnic after Mass.<\/p>\n

After an hour\u2019s drive up the same road, which coincidentally Mother Seton travelled from Baltimore to Emmitsburg with her new religious congregation of sisters, we reached the church where we met up with my great Aunt and Uncle, Josephine and Dan Moylan, grandma\u2019s brother and sister-in-law, from Timonium, MD to attend the special Mass which coincided with the High Mass celebrated by Pope Paul VI earlier that same day in Rome.<\/p>\n

Not surprisingly, as an eleven-year-old, I did not remember the highlights of the Mass, nor the remarks made by then New York\u2019s City\u2019s Cardinal O\u2019Connor summarizing Mother Seton\u2019s life. I only remember finding a very friendly wild turtle.<\/p>\n

You see, after our family joined in that special Eucharistic celebration in honor of Mother Seton, we too took to the hills for a family outing \u2014 much like Mother Seton did with her family and students.\u00a0 The neighboring Catoctin Mountains are beautiful, peaceful, and filled with wildlife, especially along the many streams, dense trees, and wildflowers.\u00a0 It was near one of those streams where we sat on the ground, ate lunch, and much to our surprise, discovered a small yellow and black box-turtle that aimlessly crawled across our checkered picnic blanket.<\/p>\n

Unlike the official University of Maryland mascot, the Terrapin, we did not \u2018fear\u2019 this particular local turtle, because it was not an aggressive snapper, but a slow, gentle, and docile herbivore. \u00a0After a lot of begging, Dad and Mom let us keep the turtle which we took home and carefully placed in our back yard sand box.\u00a0 We kids cared for that turtle and fed it lettuce every day.\u00a0 We really loved that little turtle!\u00a0 Then suddenly, one day, much to our great surprise, the turtle was gone.\u00a0 Just vanished. \u00a0We could not figure out how this could happen as our sandbox was deep with high wooden sides. The turtle could never have escaped! What happened?\u00a0 This was a mystery indeed.<\/p>\n

Needless to say, my brother, sister and I were devastated. We were sad for a long time.\u00a0 Having that turtle was a physical remembrance of the tranquil time we spent together in the mountains after witnessing an historic moment which we could not have comprehended as kids. \u00a0In retrospect, I believe that the turtle must have been a special gift from Mother Seton \u2014 certainly a treat for witnessing her special day and being so good during that very long and crowded High Mass.\u00a0 No doubt, she as a teacher and as a mother knew what kids our age enjoyed and made us happy.<\/p>\n

It was only many years later when we were young adults that our parents sheepishly confessed that they took the turtle out of the sand box and let it go in our neighboring woods for fear that we would catch germs by handling the reptile.\u00a0 \u00a0To this day, I remember that turtle (and other turtles too) which always cause me to think about Mother Seton and her special day when she officially became a saint.<\/p>\n

Now many years later, I too have a great devotion to Mother Seton.\u00a0 Like my dad, I later spent a year at Mount St. Mary\u2019s College, not as an officer in training for the Navy, but as a pre-theology seminarian for the Archdiocese Baltimore.\u00a0 During that special year of formation, I too would spend time in the neighboring mountains, the grotto, the Daughters of Charity\u2019s campus, including the cemetery, the Basilica, and the legendary shrine of our Lady of the Fields, \u00a0praising God with Mother Seton \u2018in spirit\u2019 at my side and enjoying nature much like we did on that eventful and perfect day of September 14th<\/sup>, 1975.<\/p>\n

After a year in seminary, I returned to my career as a mechanical engineer and the third-generation business owner of our family foundry business, following in my father\u2019s and grandfather\u2019s footsteps.\u00a0 Ten years ago, the Seton Shrine contacted my company quite out-of-the-blue to quickly cast a copy of Mother Seton\u2019 Stone House skeleton key.\u00a0 I later learned that President Obama gave Pope Francis the original key during his official visit to Washington in 2015. That gifted key is now in the Vatican archives in Rome.\u00a0 Fortunately, the sisters now have a reverse-engineered Danko copy so that they do not get locked out.<\/p>\n

On January 4, 2025*, I joined in the celebration to commemorate the 50th<\/sup> Anniversary of Mother Seton\u2019s canonization. There I could not help but reflect how quickly time passes and all the wonderful memories of Emmitsburg, the Mount, and especially the Daughters of Charity, those fervent faithful women who, like Mother Seton, dedicated their lives to serving the Lord and His Church. \u00a0May they receive God\u2019s abundance blessings and eternal happiness!<\/p>\n

*January 4, 2025 was the kick-off of a year-long celebration of the 50th<\/sup> anniversary of Mother Seton\u2019s canonization. \u201cA Day of Joy\u201d and public celebration will be held at the Seton Shrine on September 14, 2025, the actual 50th anniversary date of the canonization.<\/p>\n

50 for 50 is a series of stories, quotes, clips, photos, and\/or devotional statements from ordinary people to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the canonization of Elizabeth Ann Seton as the first native-born American saint.<\/em><\/p>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Spoiler: there’s a turtle.<\/p>","protected":false},"author":79,"featured_media":202459,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"mc4wp_mailchimp_campaign":[],"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[4419],"class_list":["post-202458","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-uncategorized","tag-fifty-for-fifty"],"acf":[],"yoast_head":"\nMother Seton Canonization Mass Memory - Seton Shrine<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/setonshrine.org\/es\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\/\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:title\" content=\"Mother Seton Canonization Mass Memory - Seton Shrine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:description\" content=\"Spoiler: there's a turtle.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:image\" content=\"https:\/\/setonshrine.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/Web-Homepage-1920-\u00d7-650-px-8-6.png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@SetonShrine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@SetonShrine\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Seton Shrine Staff\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"6 minutos\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\\\/\\\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\\\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\\\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"Seton Shrine Staff\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/#\\\/schema\\\/person\\\/13073d86dbdd1d83dced77a58cf87280\"},\"headline\":\"Mother Seton Canonization Mass Memory\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-05-14T17:14:43+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-07-25T13:05:30+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\\\/\"},\"wordCount\":1288,\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\\\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/wp-content\\\/uploads\\\/Web-Homepage-1920-\u00d7-650-px-8-6.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Fifty\"],\"inLanguage\":\"es-MX\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\\\/\",\"url\":\"https:\\\/\\\/setonshrine.org\\\/mother-seton-canonization-mass-memory\\\/\",\"name\":\"Mother Seton Canonization Mass Memory - 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