St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Catholic Church at 755 Hwy 49, Tennessee Ridge, TN 37178 US - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Picture of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton painted by our very own Marleen Edwards

St. Elizabeth is the first born Saint of America. She was born in New York City on August 28th 1774 to a wealthy and distinguished Episcopalian family. Elizabeth married early to a Seton of ancient Scottish lineage and from the looks of it a brilliant future. But poverty, sickness and sorrows which might have crushed a weaker soul, came to test the mettle of this valiant woman. Then death called away her best beloved, one by one, bringing almost indescribable anguish into the life of the young widow with five helpless little ones. Always deeply religious, her heart turned to God in all her sorrows, and she eventually recognized the claims of the Catholic Church, entering its fold on March 14, 1805. Then her faith and courage shone out like the starts and Elizabeth began that remarkable career which culminated in the foundation of the Sisters of Charity of America- the Community which blazed the trail of the Catholic parochial school system and practically every work of social welfare in the United States. The constantly increasing fame of her holiness, for which she was honored even during her life, and the tiny seed sown by her grew immensely afterward, so that in the United States of America, Canada, and in other countries of the world, the Sisters of Charity who owe their origin to Blessed Mother Seton, have today reached the number of 12,000 + distributed among SIX CONGREGATIONS.

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