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Saint Elizabeth Ann
Seton
Feast Day
January 4
Patron Saint
of Loss of Parents and
Children, Widows
Just as
St. Elizabeth Seton prayed, our constant prayer, as we hope for the return of our
prodigal loved ones to the practice of the Catholic faith, must be that God's
Will be done. If we trust God to be active in the lives of those we love,
we can pray and be at peace with whatever happens. |
Who is Elizabeth Seton?
St Elizabeth Ann
Seton
had no extraordinary gifts,
but learned early the value of prayer and service to others. At the age of
thirty her husband died and she found herself a widow, a single mother with five
children. A year later she became a Catholic and eventually founded the first
American religious community for women, the Sisters of Charity. She opened
the first American parish school and the first American orphanage. She did all
of this by the age of 46.
She wrote that
she would prefer to exchange the world for a “cave or a desert. But God has
given me a great deal to do, and I have always, and hope always, to prefer His
Will to every wish of my own.”
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Prayer
of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton
O
Father, the first rule of Our dear Savior’s life was to do Your Will. Let His
Will of the present moment be the first rule of our daily life and work, with no
other desire but for its most full and complete accomplishment. Help us to
follow it faithfully, so that doing what You wish we will be pleasing to You.
Amen.
Elizabeth Seton told her sisters, “The first end I propose in our daily work is
to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner He wills it; and
thirdly, to do it because it is His will.”
~From
Saint of the Day
Lives, Lessons and Feast By Leonard Foley, O.F.M. |
Comment:
I read that St. Elizabeth opened
the first school to support her children. She not only was a widow at an early
age, but was also penniless. That may not have permitted her to have much paid
help. I bet she was one of those women who just refused to quit or whine or beg
for help from anyone. I’ve known a few of those women in my time. I’ve always
admired them and tried as best I could to be like them. They may not be saints
to write about, but they were and are amazing women who just did what needed to
be done. ~J. Farrell |