National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

Historical Sites, Historical SitesEmmitsburg, MD

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was the first native-born citizen of the United States to be canonized or made a Catholic Saint.

Mother Seton founded the Sisters of Charity of Saint Joseph's in 1809, and opened Saint Joseph's Free School and Saint Joseph's Academy, which became the nucleus of the catholic parochial school system in the United States. Mother Seton died in 1821, and the Sisters of Charity continued her mission.

During the Civil War at least 270 sisters served as nurses and were called "angels of the battlefield" by both Union and Confederate soldiers. Elizabeth Ann Seton was canonized (made a saint) in 1975, by Pope Paul VI.

The Shrine includes a Visitor Center with Museum and Gift Shop and the Basilica, adorned with mosaics, marble and bronze and multiple stained glass windows. The remains of Mother Seton are entombed under the Altar of Relics in the Basilica.

Visitors to the Shrine will also see the 1750 Stone House, the first permanent home of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton, the White House where she lived until her death and the old cemetery and Mortuary Chapel, built in 1846, Mother Seton's original burial place until she was beatified (blessed) in 1963 and her remains were moved to the Basilica.

National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

339 S Seton Ave
Emmitsburg, MD 21727

Frederick County, MD
301-447-6606

MORE ABOUT THE AREA

Emmitsburg, MD — Founded in 1785 and is just south of the Mason-Dixon line separating Maryland from Pennsylvania. Emmitsburg was the site the Union had originally fortified to stop the Confederate invasion of the North…

LOCAL TOURISM REFERENCES

Tourism Council of Frederick County, Inc.
151 S. East Church St. Frederick, MD 21701
301 228-2888 or 800 999-3613
www.fredericktourism.org