Elizabeth Ann Seton

Amabilia Filicchi (1888) (link)

Feast Day January 4

Patron of Catholic Schools, Widows, In-law Problems, Loss of Parents

Situations Conversion, Education, Widowhood

Professions Educators, Teachers

Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born American citizen to be canonized. Born in New York in 1774, she was raised Episcopalian and converted to Catholicism after her husband’s death. She founded the Sisters of Charity, the first American religious community for women, and established the first free Catholic school in America, laying the foundation for the parochial school system.