4 January 2026 #sainthood

I interrupt your normally scheduled reading-reflections to write a little something different: a few words on Elizabeth Ann Bailey Seton. It’s not often her feast day falls on a Sunday, but when it does… it’s always replaced by the Solemnity of the Epiphany. Without further ado, below are some meanderings on the life and times of our patron saint and what we might learn from her.

First, she survived a very messy childhood. Last week I talked about the drama and trauma and heat of the ‘what-if’ world. Elizabeth Bayley lived in the midst of family turmoil. Her mother dies when she is but three years old leaving her physician-father Richard, grieving but in need of a wife for his three daughters. Richard soon marries Charlotte, who, as it turns out, is incompatible with Richard; they separate after having seven children together. Richard then returns to England to further his medical career while Elizabeth and her remaining sister (Mary) are rejected by Charlotte and sent to live with an uncle. So…Elizabeth is forced from her childhood home, rejected by the only ‘mother’ she knows, abandoned by her father, and sent to live with a distant uncle… by the age of 15. Elizabeth calls this period in her life, ‘the time of darkness.’ And yet her journals recount a time of great spiritual growth. We can learn from this.

Second, we can grow in holiness despite our drama. At age 19, Elizabeth marries the successful businessman William Seton and creates a domestic-church home. She and William are faith-filled Episcopalians. Elizabeth tends to the poor, sick, and needy wherever needed and has a spiritual director. She and William raise five children together. All in all, she is the happiest she has ever been. Until disaster strikes. William’s father dies suddenly – with six siblings still at home. By necessity, William and Elizabeth take them all in, moving into the Seton estate. At age 28, Elizabeth is responsible for eleven children. At the same time, France and the US enter a trade war and shipping routes are upended; William’s trading business fails and he declares bankruptcy. The financial toll is also physical - his tuberculosis flares up and he, Elizabeth, and their eldest daughter are forced to sail to the warmer Italian climate. The other children are cared for by relatives. But it is too little, too late. William dies in Italy with Elizabeth at his bedside. At age 29, Elizabeth is a grieving widow, mother to many children, financially insecure, and in a foreign country. But her spiritual life blossoms. We can learn from this too.

Third, friendships matter. The Italian business-partners and friends that William intended to stay with - Filippo and Antonio Filicchi – take Elizabeth in and introduce her to Catholicism. Elizabeth in utterly enchanted by the Eucharist and by the witness of the Filicchi family. She returns to a hostile-to-Catholics social environment in the U.S. and converts to the Catholic faith. In doing so, she loses the support of her Episcopalian family and friends… and is shunned by society. Parents pull their children from her fledgling school. She is financially destitute again. But influential Catholic friends pave the way to give her a new start. The Catholic world surrounds Elizabeth in this time of distress and offer her hope. The rest is history. This might be the most important thing we can learn: Being an authentic witness to the faith and lending a hand when needed can change a life. #sainthood