THREAD; Elizabeth Ann Seton, Widow & founder - Patron Saint of Catholic schools, seafarers, widows, loss of a child or parent, Shreveport; Louisiana and the State of Maryland.
How many of American #Catholic Twitter know about Elizabeth Ann Seton?
How many of American #Catholic Twitter know about Elizabeth Ann Seton?
1/ Elizabeth Ann Seton, regarded as creator of the US Catholic parochial school system, Elizabeth Ann Seton is the earliest born of the American saints. Elizabeth was raised in a wealthy Episcopalian family, and married a merchant when she was 20, raising five children.
2/ She became involved in charitable social work and set up the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows and Children in 1797 but her husband suddenly became bankrupt and then she herself was widowed.
3/ She converted to Catholicism in 1805 and was invited to establish a girls' school in Baltimore. In 1809, she founded the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph, the first homegrown American religious society and another school for poor children in Emmitsburg, Maryland.
4/ She was elected superior and with 18 companions, took her vows in 1810. By 1830, the Sisters were running orphanages and schools as far west as Cincinnati and New Orleans and had established the first hospital west of the Mississippi in St. Louis.
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