(50 for 50 series) The parallels between Sister Anne Marie Lamoureux’s mother, Mrs. Anne Marie Eisele Lamoureux, and Elizabeth Ann Seton are striking. Elizabeth was widowed at an early age with 5 children to care for and Mrs. Lamoureux was widowed at an early age with 5 children and one on the way. They both faced financial hardship. They both maintained tremendous faith in times of peril and instilled that faith in their children.
“It was my mother’s faith and her care for people that kept her going and kept all the family together,” said Sister Anne Marie Lamoureux, DC. “She very much related to Mother Seton.”
When her husband, died, Mrs. Lamoureux figured out how to provide a safe and stable home for her children. The family finances were tied up in court, but she received some financial help from a priest and a relative. Because she was a nurse, she was able to work in the health care industry and eventually opened a convalescent home and named it ELM, an acronym for Eugene Lamoureux Memorial, a tribute to her late husband. Dr. Eugene Lamoureux was a public health physician, just like Elizabeth Ann Seton’s father.
The nursing home was a successful business and Mrs. Lamoureux often extended charitable support to those in need, even if beds were not available at ELM.
“My mother had my uncle bring a hospital bed to her own bedroom in her house for a very ill woman. She cared for her there. It was just her way,” said Sister Anne Marie.
Years later, Mrs. Lamoureux became very ill. She dealt with arthritis for many years, but the doctors were not sure what else was making her so sick. They told Sister Anne Marie and her siblings that their mother was dying. Mrs. Lamoureux made a novena to Mother Seton and on the last day she received a proper diagnosis and treatment plan. She was treated for Lupus and other complications and survived that health care crisis and lived for several more years. The family regards it as a miracle.
Sister Ann Marie credits her parents faithful caring for others and an experience with a Sister with calling her to the Daughters of Charity.
“When I was in kindergarten a Sister gave me a hug. What I remember was just feeling loved and special. I wanted to do that for other children — make them feel special. That was the beginning,” she said.
Sister Anne Marie has worked with children and teens ever since she was a postulant and worked in a home for children experiencing emotional challenges. She became a chemistry teacher and eventually studied theology in an international program and ran retreats at schools. She also taught a course called A Matter of Life and Death where she engaged teens in dialogs about these sensitive topics. She eventually came to Emmitsburg and worked in the Seton Shrine’s Seeds of Hope program
“God uses everything,” she said. “He put me in touch with teens that I still keep in touch with. They are parents and grandparents now. Nothing is wasted. God has strange and amazing ways.”
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.