Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton: A day as Paul VI canonized her

On September 14, 1975, Pope Saint Paul VI canonized Saint Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton in the Vatican, recognized as the first saint of the United States, whose spiritual life was marked by fidelity to the Church and the eternity of glory. .

In the homily of the canonization MassSaint Paul VI expressed his joy because the figure of Ann Seton presents to the world and to history that America is also a land “worthy of receiving in its fertile soil the seed of evangelical holiness.”

“Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton is a saint! “She is the first daughter of the United States of America to be glorified with this incomparable attribute!” She exclaimed and called her “the first flower in the calendar of saints” in America.

In this regard, he recalled that this title was attributed “in his original prologue to the excellent work of Father Dirvin, the late Cardinal Spellman, archbishop of New York.”

For the Holy Father, one of the most valuable fruits of her canonization was that “now that we have the certainty of her participation in the exchange of heavenly life in the Mystical Body of Christ,” we will be able to know her life in more depth, in order to praise God, “who is wonderful in his saints”, imitate his example and invoke his protection.

The Pope highlighted the work of the Church in New York, where the Saint was born and raised, and attributed to her “the merit of having awakened and fostered the religious sense and Christian sentiment” of the young woman. Furthermore, he admired Ann’s courage to “adhere to religious truth and divine reality” after moving from the Episcopalian Church (Anglicans in the United States) to the Catholic Church.

In this regard, Saint Paul VI said that the American saint “experienced great peace and security, and found it natural to preserve all the good things” that she learned in the Catholic Church, especially “religious piety,” and highlighted that “she was always faithful in her esteem and affection for those who had sadly separated her from her Catholic profession.”

The day of her canonization coincided with the International Women’s Year, decreed by the United Nations three years ago.

For this reason, the Pope highlighted that Saint Elizabeth Ann “was a mother of a family and at the same time the founder of the first religious congregation of women in the United States.” He specified that although she is not the only saint with this social and ecclesial status, she is distinguished by “her complete femininity.”

“We rejoice in the link established between this program and today’s canonization, as the Church pays the greatest possible honor to Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton and exalts her personal and extraordinary contribution as a woman: wife, mother, widow and a religious ”he added.

Likewise, he expressed a special greeting to the congregation founded by the Saint and asked that its members be “faithful to its providential and holy institution” and that “their fervor and their number increase, in the constant conviction that they have chosen and followed a sublime vocation that is worthy of being served with the total gift of your heart, the total gift of your life.”

Finally, he remembered the last words of the Saint that she left as a “heavenly testament” on the day of her death on January 2, 1821.

“’Be children of the Church’. And we would add: Forever! And to all our beloved sons and daughters in the United States and throughout the Church of God we offer, in the name of Christ, the glorious inheritance of Elizabeth Ann Seton (…), of strong faith and pure love for God and others , faith and love that are nourished by the Eucharist and the Word of God. Yes, brothers, and sons and daughters: the Lord truly is wonderful in his saints. Blessed be God forever! “He concluded.

Originally published September 14, 2020. It has been updated for republication.