I’ve heard the expression that sometimes people come into our lives for a reason. I feel the same way about Saints. Sometimes, we feel drawn to certain Saints based on our circumstances or a connection we share. More often than not, I think Saints choose us. I think sometimes they feel a connection with us and want to pray for us on our path to holiness. There have been several Saints who I have developed a relationship with during my life. They’ve pointed me towards Christ and helped me to grow in my faith through their example and intercession. I consider these Saints my friends. This blog series is going to focus on particular Saints that have impacted my life. I hope it encourages you to look for inspiration + intercession from the Saints on your own path to holiness!
I’d like to begin this series with the person who really brought Saints to life for me and showed me the power of their example + intercession. I’d like introduce you to my very first Saintly friend, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton.
It all started back when I was in seventh grade and getting ready for my confirmation. We were instructed to choose a saint for our confirmation name, to be our patron. I began researching Saints—paying more attention to the names I thought were pretty than their lives and experiences. I had heard of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton before, I liked her name, and I read she was a patron saint of homemakers (#goals), so I chose her. I liked that she was married and had a big family, I always felt that would be my vocation. Basically, I thought she was a cool enough lady to take on her name for my confirmation.
There was a brief period where I thought of switching to St. Cecilia because I also loved her name and I really liked that she was the patron saint of music + singing. Looking back, this is hilarious to me because at the time (ripe old age of 12), I thought I was musical. It turns out I’m not musical at all. At the very last minute I settled on St. Elizabeth Ann Seton as my confirmation Saint for really no particular reason at all.
Fast forward to my junior year of high school. My parents and I had gone on several college tours in a very short amount of time, and I was exhausted. Seton Hall University was the very last college we were scheduled to tour. I told my parents I knew I wasn’t going to go there anyway, so maybe we should skip this one. They said that was fine, we didn’t need to go to Seton Hall. It was clear to me they were just as tired as I was of meandering through campuses with musty dorm rooms and classrooms that were empty for the summer. Oddly enough, at the last minute I told them I felt like we should go to see Seton Hall after all. I had a strong feeling that I should give it a fair shot. We toured the campus and everything seemed fine to me. We walked past similar musty dorm rooms, decently sized classrooms, an occupational therapy program I was interested in, and a nice library. The very last stop on our tour was the Chapel of the Immaculate Conception, the church on campus. Our tour guide asked if we’d like to go inside for a minute and we said yes. I walked through the large wooden door and into the chapel, which has been beautifully restored to depict the Book of Revelation. We knelt to pray, and as I did I felt an overwhelming sense that I needed to attend Seton Hall University. Something was telling me, this is where I’m supposed to be. It’s a little crazy to choose a college based solely on a feeling you had while in the school’s chapel, but that’s what I did. Luckily, God is in the details and Seton Hall also happened to be one of the only schools I applied to that had the degree in Occupational Therapy I would end up wanting to pursue.
It wasn’t until another two years later when I began my freshmen year at Seton Hall, that I finally made the connection that Seton Hall University is named for St. Elizabeth Ann Seton. I know! How could I miss that? Frankly, I don’t know how I never made the connection before, and I don’t know how I missed the statue of her in the chapel, but I was blissfully ignorant that I was attending the college inspired by my patron Saint that I had chosen all those years before.
I didn’t live on campus during college, so I didn’t make friends as quickly as everyone else freshmen year. Instead, I was saving money and living with my grandparents and great uncle who coincidentally lived down the street from Seton Hall. I loved living with them, but it didn’t exactly give me the “college experience” I saw everyone around me chasing. I figured I would use my time to study and to delve deeper into my faith, until I made friends outside of the classroom. In those first few weeks of college St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was my closest friend. I went to the chapel each morning to pray and I would ask St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to intercede for me. I asked her to intercede for my relationship with a boy from high school that I thought could really be something, but that I was nervous about making work while at separate universities. I asked her to intercede for my education and future career, that I would be on the path God had planned for me. I asked her to intercede that I make friends, real ones, soon. I asked her to intercede for me to grow in my faith, trust in the Lord, and to show my why she brought me to this school.
It didn’t take long before I felt more confident in my relationship, I was doing well in my classes, and I had joined Saint Paul’s Outreach on campus. Through this community based organization in campus ministry I made more Christ-centered friendships than I thought possible, and developed a significantly closer relationship with the Lord. All this time, I had continued to ask St. Elizabeth Ann Seton to intercede for me. During the next few months and years of college, I learned of more connections between me and my patron saint that I had half heartedly chose. St. Elizabeth Ann Seton was married, though her husband died of tuberculosis. She was a mother of 5, worked in education, and was the first American born saint. If you know me, you know that last one really thrilled me most of all! As I learned more about her, I realized just how many connections we shared. I felt that she was my friend, my sister in Christ, who was rooting for me from Heaven and interceding for me all along.
Years later, I was praying in the chapel at Seton Hall University for the last time as a student, this time a graduate student in my final year of occupational therapy school. I wholeheartedly thanked St. Elizabeth for bringing me here. I thought of all that had happened since that first time I prayed here, and I began to cry tears of joy. I thought of the beautiful Christ centered friendships that I developed here that I knew would be life long. I thought of Saint Paul’s Outreach, which really did bring my faith to life during my college years—and showed me how to live in communion with the Lord and with others. I thought of the unique experience I had of living with my elderly grandparents and uncle who lived nearby, that I knew I would be eternally grateful for. I thought about how close I was to earning my degree and beginning my career as an occupational therapist. Lastly, I thought about that same high school boyfriend I prayed about years ago. He had proposed to me in that very chapel just days before, and was now my fiancé. Tears streamed down my face as I thanked the Lord for every single one of these blessings and for answering all of my prayers.
In that moment, I thanked St. Elizabeth Ann Seton for choosing me—for being so much more than a confirmation name, and for showing me exactly why she brought me here.
