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Elizabeth Seton: American Saint
In 1975, two centuries after her birth, Pope Paul VI canonized Elizabeth Ann Seton, making her the first saint to be a native-born citizen of the United States in the Roman Catholic Church. Seton came of age in Manhattan as the city and her family struggled to rebuild themselves after the Revolution, explored both contemporary philosophy and Christianity, converted to Catholicism from her native Episcopalian faith, and built the St. Joseph's Academy and Free School in Emmitsburg, Maryland. Hers was an exemplary early American life of struggle, ambition, questioning, and faith, and in this flowing biography, Catherine O'Donnell has given Seton her due.
O'Donnell places Seton squarely in the context of the dynamic and risky years of the American and French Revolutions and their aftermath. Just as Seton's dramatic life was studded with hardship, achievement, and grief so were the social, economic, political, and religious scenes of the Early American Republic in which she lived. O'Donnell provides the reader with a strong sense of this remarkable woman's intelligence and compassion as she withstood her husband's financial failures and untimely death, undertook a slow conversion to Catholicism, and struggled to reconcile her single-minded faith with her respect for others' different choices. The fruit of her labors were the creation of a spirituality that embraced human connections as well as divine love and the American Sisters of Charity, part of an enduring global community with a specific apostolate for teaching.
The trove of correspondence, journals, reflections, and community records that O'Donnell weaves together throughout Elizabeth Seton provides deep insight into her life and her world. Each source enriches our understanding of women's friendships and choices, illuminates the relationships within the often-opaque world of early religious communities, and upends conventional wisdom about the ways Americans of different faiths competed and collaborated during the nation's earliest years. Through her close and sympathetic reading of Seton's letters and journals, O'Donnell reveals Seton the person and shows us how, with both pride and humility, she came to understand her own importance as Mother Seton in the years before her death in 1821.
O'Donnell places Seton squarely in the context of the dynamic and risky years of the American and French Revolutions and their aftermath. Just as Seton's dramatic life was studded with hardship, achievement, and grief so were the social, economic, political, and religious scenes of the Early American Republic in which she lived. O'Donnell provides the reader with a strong sense of this remarkable woman's intelligence and compassion as she withstood her husband's financial failures and untimely death, undertook a slow conversion to Catholicism, and struggled to reconcile her single-minded faith with her respect for others' different choices. The fruit of her labors were the creation of a spirituality that embraced human connections as well as divine love and the American Sisters of Charity, part of an enduring global community with a specific apostolate for teaching.
The trove of correspondence, journals, reflections, and community records that O'Donnell weaves together throughout Elizabeth Seton provides deep insight into her life and her world. Each source enriches our understanding of women's friendships and choices, illuminates the relationships within the often-opaque world of early religious communities, and upends conventional wisdom about the ways Americans of different faiths competed and collaborated during the nation's earliest years. Through her close and sympathetic reading of Seton's letters and journals, O'Donnell reveals Seton the person and shows us how, with both pride and humility, she came to understand her own importance as Mother Seton in the years before her death in 1821.
528 pages, Hardcover
First published September 15, 2018
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Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews
November 27, 2018
In 1975 Elizabeth Seton was canonized, making her the first native-born citizen of the United States to be proclaimed a saint. Using a wide variety of sources, including journals and letters, the author brings the flesh and blood woman behind the sainthood to life, meticulously tracing the events which made her who she was and the factors which motivated her. A scholarly biography but one written in an accessible and readable style, and one which I very much enjoyed.
September 7, 2019
I've always had a special devotion to Mother Seton, the first native-born US citizens to be declared a saint. She founded the grammar school which I attended, Old St. Patrick's School on Mott St on the Lower East Side of NY City.
This well-researched bio really describes the two worlds which Mother Seton inhabited-the married world with five children and the world of religious sisters devoted to educating the poor and immigrant classes of American society. She's quite an example for us today.
This well-researched bio really describes the two worlds which Mother Seton inhabited-the married world with five children and the world of religious sisters devoted to educating the poor and immigrant classes of American society. She's quite an example for us today.
September 11, 2018
Elizabeth Ann Seton was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized a saint in the Roman Catholic Church. She grew up in Manhattan and was a voracious reader who explored both contemporary philosophy and Christianity. She married William Seton and together they had five children before his death of tuberculosis. Upon returning to New York, she founded a school for girls but when the parents learned of her conversion to Catholicism, most withdrew their daughters.
She moved to Maryland and started another school and then founded a religious community dedicated to the care and education of poor children.
Catherine O’Donnell has written a detailed and inspirational biography of Elizabeth Seton’s struggles with in-law problems, the death of children, and widowhood.
O’Donnell portrays Seton’s life against the background of the American and French Revolutions and helps the reader to understand her life even more.
I grew up hearing stories about Elizabeth Seton but reading this book now as a Catholic widow who raised seven children on my own, my only wish is that I could have read the book years ago when I was widowed.
The author’s research is impressive and she provides an insight into St. Elizabeth’s thoughts and life that I had never seen before.
I highly recommend it to any woman who is dealing with ill husbands, problematic in-laws, large families and widowhood.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Cornell University Press -Three Hills through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
She moved to Maryland and started another school and then founded a religious community dedicated to the care and education of poor children.
Catherine O’Donnell has written a detailed and inspirational biography of Elizabeth Seton’s struggles with in-law problems, the death of children, and widowhood.
O’Donnell portrays Seton’s life against the background of the American and French Revolutions and helps the reader to understand her life even more.
I grew up hearing stories about Elizabeth Seton but reading this book now as a Catholic widow who raised seven children on my own, my only wish is that I could have read the book years ago when I was widowed.
The author’s research is impressive and she provides an insight into St. Elizabeth’s thoughts and life that I had never seen before.
I highly recommend it to any woman who is dealing with ill husbands, problematic in-laws, large families and widowhood.
I received a complimentary copy of this book from Cornell University Press -Three Hills through NetGalley. Opinions expressed in this review are completely my own.
July 9, 2019
Before this book was recommended to me, I knew Elizabeth Seton's name was associated with a Catholic church in my area, but I knew little else. O'Donnell crafts a wonderful account of Elizabeth's life and uses her letters and other writing to not only describe the events of her life, but the documented motivations, the doubts and considerations in her mind, and the emotions in her heart. I closed the book sensing that not only did I now know Elizabeth Seton's story, but I know her soul. I did feel that in some of the turning points in the book, O'Donnell had a tendency to downplay the emotional aspects and wrote with less passion, but this may have been a stylistic choice that Mother Seton might appreciate.
May 14, 2021
Thanks to the global pandemic, it took me me 10 months to get through this audiobook! That’s not a reflection on the quality of either the book or the narration, but rather on how little time I’ve had alone to listen to books.
I’ve long had affection for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which began with the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill’s presence in my parish and grade school. I’m now blessed to live less than an hour’s drive from the Mount, where Mother Seton lived and taught.
This biography fit nicely into other historical books I’d been reading. I loved reading about the world in which Elizabeth lived, the colonial and ecclesiastical figures she brushed shoulders with, the yellow fever epidemic she lived through, and more.
I appreciated the detail of this biography, drawing from Elizabeth’s correspondence with others. The treatment of Elizabeth’s faith was always respectful, capturing her virtue as well as her human weaknesses. It’s not a hagiography, but an honest look at the life and times of a real woman, who suffered and overcame much.
In the end, I feel closer to this saint after having a peek inside her family, her marriage, the nascent Church in America, and the convent. I appreciate that the author portrayed Elizabeth Ann Seton in such a relatable fashion.
I’ve long had affection for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, which began with the Sisters of Charity of Seton Hill’s presence in my parish and grade school. I’m now blessed to live less than an hour’s drive from the Mount, where Mother Seton lived and taught.
This biography fit nicely into other historical books I’d been reading. I loved reading about the world in which Elizabeth lived, the colonial and ecclesiastical figures she brushed shoulders with, the yellow fever epidemic she lived through, and more.
I appreciated the detail of this biography, drawing from Elizabeth’s correspondence with others. The treatment of Elizabeth’s faith was always respectful, capturing her virtue as well as her human weaknesses. It’s not a hagiography, but an honest look at the life and times of a real woman, who suffered and overcame much.
In the end, I feel closer to this saint after having a peek inside her family, her marriage, the nascent Church in America, and the convent. I appreciate that the author portrayed Elizabeth Ann Seton in such a relatable fashion.
October 3, 2023
Excellent unbiased account of the life of St Elizabeth Ann Seton. I learned a lot about my confirmation state from this audiobook. I would highly recommend it to anyone wanting to know more about this amazing person at her contribution to American Catholic history
March 11, 2019
An excellent and well-deserved biography of an astounding woman. Utterly readable and academically sound, this is a go-to source for the first American-born person to be canonized by the Roman Catholic Church. Seton lived a truly remarkable life, and Catherine O'Donnell has done well to make her life accessible to contemporary researchers.
May 13, 2019
A fascinating and scholarly account of the life of Elizabeth Ann Seton, the first American-born saint to be canonized by the Catholic Church. My brother-in-law and sister-in-law married at Our Lady of the Rosary in lower Manhattan which houses the Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and it was this encounter that first piqued my interest in her. I am always intrigued by conversion stories of any faith and I was further drawn in by learning that she devoted herself to religious life and establishing a religious community and Catholic schools as a widow still in the thick of raising her own five children. I came across a glowing review of this 2018 biography (probably in America, the Jesuit magazine) and requested it from the library. Though a rigorous and detailed examination of one woman’s life, it also describes the early Republic and the evolution of American Catholicism and Catholic institutions in the United States. Despite her strongly-held beliefs and her initial zeal at the time of her conversion, Elizabeth Seton led a remarkably ecumenical life, influenced by the contemporary French philosophy she read as an adolescent and the scientific approach of her doctor father and maintaining close and affectionate ties to her Protestant family and friends. It was this openness of mind, generosity of spirit, and sense of humor as much as her religious faith and devotion to service that led so many to admire her and respect her judgment and leadership. She certainly chafed at the inequities between her and her priest colleagues, even at times declaring her desire to be a (better) priest, but she chose instead to seek her vocation within the constraints of her gender and offer that as an example of humility rather than seek a way to upend the contemporary social order. It was also gratifying to read this book so soon (relatively speaking) after reading Chernow’s biography of Alexander Hamilton. The books pair well: there are many parallels and, indeed, EAS’s connections overlap and intersect with Hamilton and his connections. They even live on the same street in Manhattan at one point early in EAS’s life. I also appreciated the author’s deliberate attempts to illuminate the American Catholic Church’s complicity with slavery and EAS’s own blasé and disappointing attitude toward it. In the competent hands of this historian/author, Elizabeth Ann Seton becomes a very real person for the reader, and one who provides stimulating and attractive company.
February 19, 2019
I was so glad to see this book come out. I have been through that area many times. I thought I knew a lot but I didn't. I never knew how many people were in their family. They packed up and traveled to New York and sailed to Europe with the whole family. I was so shocked about the famous people she know! When we get to our time my husband and I took picnics on the large lawn! One day, we came on a Special day. Now we had or daughter, ago about 3 month. We named her Katherine Elizabeth! They were getting ready and we were pushed into church with of the High people. Of course, as usual, apart started of everyone ceased in RED. We were in middle of becoming to want her breastfeed and everyone knew she was hungry! I had to walk out by she was happy!Then some of the Nuns grabbed her and they wanted to carry her. Then she was away and smiling in being with Nuns. What a day that had! I am wanting to go back Emmittsburg,MD.!
April 30, 2022
Ultimately, this book is truly a fantastic work by the author because Elizabeth Seton’s life was very boring, and she comes off as a rather difficult person to deal with. How O’Donnell kept this book readable is beyond me because it should have felt like a much bigger chore.
Saints are supposed to be the ultimate do-gooders. They somehow transcend human pettiness to become beacons of kindness and selflessness. Think Mother Theresa or Francis of Assisi. Elizabeth Seton was not one of these people it seems.
She grew up somewhat well off (O’Donnell tells an interesting story of how economics varied wildly back in those days) and when she becomes Catholic, she becomes uber-Catholic. Priests have a hard time dealing with her. She routinely ignores their guidance or fights with them. Her husband dies and she creates her own cloister and keeps fighting with people. The aforementioned consumption deaths are spread throughout. My reading of her life is that she was someone who fixated on things. First, she fixated on her husband. When he died, she fixated on Catholicism.
Then again, no one will every confuse me for a saint so what the hell (pun intended!) do I know?
Saints are supposed to be the ultimate do-gooders. They somehow transcend human pettiness to become beacons of kindness and selflessness. Think Mother Theresa or Francis of Assisi. Elizabeth Seton was not one of these people it seems.
She grew up somewhat well off (O’Donnell tells an interesting story of how economics varied wildly back in those days) and when she becomes Catholic, she becomes uber-Catholic. Priests have a hard time dealing with her. She routinely ignores their guidance or fights with them. Her husband dies and she creates her own cloister and keeps fighting with people. The aforementioned consumption deaths are spread throughout. My reading of her life is that she was someone who fixated on things. First, she fixated on her husband. When he died, she fixated on Catholicism.
Then again, no one will every confuse me for a saint so what the hell (pun intended!) do I know?
April 13, 2024
A very good and inspiring life of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Catherine O'donnell writes her story in a n endearing way, drawing the reader close to the saintly figure that is yet so human in her journey of faith fraught with as many struggles and losses as joys. Her handling of Seton's life is respectful and fair, even as it refuses to shy away from contradictions. Yet, at times O'donnell's attempt to explain St. Elizabeth's own Catholic faith left a bit to be desired. O'donnell, it becomes clear, is not catholic, and so is not always a reliable interpreter of St. Elizabeth's own faith, or even Church doctrine or culture. But, the missteps are few and generally negligible (except perhaps a few in the epilogue where modern day sisters of charity are quoted about their thoughts on contemporary religious life. Let's just say those sister represented well the "spirit" of the Council rather than its reality). Other than that, I highly recommend this biography of a beloved American Saint to anyone, Catholic or no, that wants to learn about the history of faith in the United States.
February 24, 2021
I commend the historian who wrote this biography, particularly since she is an outsider, an interested writer, but not a Sister of Charity, who might write a hagiography. Among the surprises of this excellent work is the realization that my vision of Elizabeth Ann Seton was a creation of my own experience. My vision was wrong by decades. The saint did not found the American parochial school system! Because her Sisters later were so much part of that system in metropolitan New York, I (or we. including my bishop) concluded that she started it. She died in Maryland in 1821, and some of her children outlived her. Her life was quite different from what I imagined.
March 11, 2021
I found Elizabeth Seton by Catherine O'Donnell to be a bit slow going. For me, there was too much distance between the speaker and Elizabeth. I didn't feel close enough to Elizabeth to like or dislike her. She vacillated about her religious conviction, which may have been accurate, but it didn't help me know or like Elizabeth. No doubt Elizabeth was constrained by being a woman in a time when women had virtually no rights, but I thought we readers might still have been able to see her personality. I apologize for the review, but I had hoped for a more vigorous introduction to someone who made a solid contribution.
July 1, 2019
I enjoyed this biography of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. It walked the line between scholarship and readability perfectly. I am fairly well read in Vincentian history and spirituality and the era that St. Elizabeth lived, but somehow I have always missed diving into this saint's life. I would recommend this book to anyone who wants to better understand the role this women played in American Catholicism.
July 17, 2019
This is an incredibly detailed account of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s life (even at times overwhelmingly so). As she is my confirmation saint, I am grateful to now have learned so much more about her life, her work, and her widespread impact. For anyone interested in St. Elizabeth Ann, or even just the time period in which she lived, this is not a book to be missed.
May 20, 2022
Inspiring biography of Mother Seton
I am amazed by the amount of time and research O'Donnell put into this inspiring biography on Elizabeth Seton. I learned more about her place in both Catholic history and American history than I could have hoped. I'm in awe of both the author and the book's subject. Masterful
I am amazed by the amount of time and research O'Donnell put into this inspiring biography on Elizabeth Seton. I learned more about her place in both Catholic history and American history than I could have hoped. I'm in awe of both the author and the book's subject. Masterful
December 27, 2020
Excellent biography on St. Elizabeth Seton. Also does a great job on painting the picture what life was like in the new United States at the end of the 18th and early 17th centuries.
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October 22, 2022GREAT BOOK ABOUT ST. ELIZABETH ANNE SETON
September 24, 2021
I loved the book and learned so much about Mother Seton while reading it. I had no idea what tragedies she faced in her personal life on her road to sainthood. As a fellow convert, I enjoyed reading about her conversion experience. I am inspired to grow in my faith after learning about her life.
Displaying 1 - 19 of 19 reviews