I’m old enough to remember the excitement generated when Elizabeth Ann Seton was declared a saint in 1975. (It was an especially big deal in my neck of the woods, Maryland.) Now, they’re about to mark the bicentennial of her ministry, and people are taking a closer look at the life and legacy of the Church’s first American-born saint:

It’s been 200 years since the first U.S.-born saint began a ministry in the Western Maryland mountains, but Catholics who will celebrate St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s legacy this weekend say her work still inspires today’s faithful.

Some are more familiar with the name of the saint known as Mother Seton – attached to schools, hospitals and relief organizations worldwide – than with the small figure from New York City who turned her back on high society to establish the nation’s first women’s religious community in Emmitsburg in 1809. But as they celebrate her legacy, Roman Catholic leaders say Seton’s work has modern relevance. Many people in need who may have never heard of her, including non-Catholics, get food and schooling from efforts she launched in the 19th century.

“Today we know about the success of Elizabeth Ann Seton’s efforts – the legacy of the community she founded, the seeds of the Catholic school system that she planted, and the widespread reach into health care and social services,” said Karen Harding, director of Seton’s National Shrine in Emmitsburg, where a three-day bicentennial celebration begins Friday evening.

Seton, who took vows as a nun after converting to Catholicism, moved from New York to Baltimore to launch a Catholic school for girls, then left for Emmitsburg to found what became the American province of the Daughters of Charity. She was canonized in 1975 by Pope Paul VI.

“Her followers are addressing many issues of today, which have a different face than in Elizabeth Ann Seton’s time – new forms of poverty, slavery through trafficking, injustice to migrant workers, hunger experienced by millions and minimal wages that do not provide all the necessities,” said Sister Claire Debes, Emmitsburg Daughters of Charity provincial superior.

The Rev. Kyle Ingels, chaplain of the Catholic Student Center at the University of Maryland, said that students at the school are as inspired by Seton’s life and work as he was when he visited her shrine.

“She endured some real challenges in the wilderness of Maryland and remained committed to her faith. For young people, that’s a great message,” said Ingels.

Seton will be honored with a commemoration officials say has taken years to plan and includes a re-enactment of the two-day trek she took from Baltimore to Emmitsburg. A sister from the Daughters of Charity will dress as the saint, and a horse-drawn Conestoga wagon, similar to the one Seton used 200 years ago, will follow. The re-enactment Sunday will proceed from the Grotto of Lourdes at nearby Mount Saint Mary’s University to the Seton Shrine.

Seton is known for helping lay the groundwork for American Catholic schooling. Her free school for underprivileged girls in the area was the first such school staffed by sisters in the country. She also launched a boarding school there and a mission at nearby Mount Saint Mary’s College to oversee the infirmary and domestic services for the college and seminary.

Seton’s ministry to the poor and needy quickly spread: She dispatched what were then called the Sisters of Charity to Philadelphia to manage the first Catholic orphanage in the country, as well as the first Catholic orphanage in New York.

“Her network grew and grew, and today it spreads from Emmitsburg to California,” said the Rev. Michael J. Roach, history instructor at Mount Saint Mary’s University in Emmitsburg. “She was really an outstanding woman from the old Protestant establishment, well connected in New York society, and she gave all that up to do this great work for the church.”

You can read more at the link.

You can also visit the website for the Seton Shrine for more information about her life’s work.