Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774–1821) was born to parents who belonged to powerful non-Catholic families in the then British colony of New York. Her mother was the daughter of the rector of an Episcopal church, and her father was a renowned physician and professor of anatomy.
Because her mother died when she was only three, Elizabeth’s father assumed the responsibility of rearing her. He stressed education, sending Elizabeth to private school in New York as well as teaching her at home. Elizabeth’s goal as she matured was to devote herself to nursing the sick, particularly those who were poor. At age 20 she married a wealthy young shipping merchant, and the couple raised a family of five children.
Elizabeth’s good deeds earned her the name Protestant Sister of Charity, as she visited and cared for many who were poor and sick in New York City. Her transformation toward Catholicism began to take shape when she and her husband traveled to Italy in hopes of finding a cure for tuberculosis, with which he had become stricken. He soon died, and she returned with the children to the United States, became a Catholic, and formed a community of sisters whose mission was to open schools and teach children in orphanages.
Mother Seton, as she became known, was declared a saint by Pope Paul VI on September 14, 1975. Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton’s feast day is January 4.