Anne Faye

  September 14, 2025, marks the fiftieth anniversary of the canonization of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. Born August 28, 1774, in New York City, she grew up during the formative years of the United States. She knew many of the Founding Fathers and lived on the same street as Alexander Hamilton and Aaron Burr. She worshiped at the Episcopalian Trinity Church, which many of the influential members of the U.S. government also attended, as New York City was the capital of the country from 1785 to 1790. She and her husband helped host George Washington’s sixty-fifth birthday ball. Of course, none of those notable things are the reasons why she is a Catholic saint. She received that honor because she was a woman of deep faith who converted to Catholicism after the death of her husband, despite the social cost; helped establish the first American order of religious sisters; and contributed to the foundation of Catholic education. She was the first person born on what would be United Sta...

  According to The Sisters of St. Joseph U.S. Confederation , the community began with "six women meeting in small kitchen in Le Puy, France in 1650. These six women had a common desire to grow in their love of God and serve the unmet needs of the people around them, whom they came to call their 'dear neighbors.' These women, with the spiritual direction of a Jesuit priest, Jean Pierre Medaille, formed the first community of Sisters of St. Joseph. From their humble beginnings as widows meeting in a small kitchen, the order grew to include communities all over the world. Today, we continue to respond to the unmet and critical needs of our contemporary society and world. Our mission, informed by a deep and pervasive love of God and neighbor without distinction, moves us to respond in a spirit of unifying, reconciling love to the needs of our local communities, the people of God, and the global community in which we live. Starting on Founders’ Day October 15, 202...