May 22, 2023
“The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to him.”
– St. Elizabeth Ann Seton
Some people suffer more loss than the rest of us, and we can only look at them in amazement and wonder where their strength came from.
Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was one of those people. When she was a young girl, she lost her mother and baby sister. At 19, she married a wealthy businessman but was widowed at 30 and left destitute with five children to support, two of whom died. She struggled to face each “holocaust,” as she called them, with determination and trust in God.
Raised in a prominent Episcopalian family, she converted to Catholicism because of her belief in the Real Presence of Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament. As a result, many family members and friends in high society ostracized her.
During the 46 years that followed, this woman, who was left on the brink of despair, founded the first Catholic schools in the United States, established the Sisters of Charity, a religious order to help the poor, and eventually became the first American-born person to be canonized a saint.
At one point, she told a friend that she would rather leave the world and retreat to “a cave or desert,” but then added, “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.”
Today, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is recognized as the patron saint of those who grieve. Her inspiration for us comes not solely from the losses she endured, but also from her power of example in building a better future for herself and countless others. The changed woman who emerged from her grief followed the path that God set her upon.
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Your journey through grief will change you. Your life will be transformed. You will be a different person than when you started. You may not be declared a saint, but you will find new strength for living and helping others. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton pray for us.