FINANCIAL DISTRICT — In the same spot where Elizabeth Ann Seton was a young mother raising her five children, the Sisters of Life dedicate themselves to helping mothers-to-be.
The St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Shrine, located in the Church of Our Lady of the Holy Rosary in the Financial District, is now home to the Sisters of Life Visitation Pregnancy Mission. It is a place where women who need emotional support during their pregnancies are counseled by sisters and where they can receive diapers, clothing, baby bottles, and supplies for their babies.
The shrine is located at the site where the home of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton and her husband, William Seton Jr., once stood. The Sisters of Life are the custodians of the shrine and the church.
“We’ve been here about two and a half years,” said Sister Gianna Maria Solomon, the local superior of the Visitation Pregnancy Mission, estimating that the Visitation Pregnancy Mission helps 400 women a year. “We are blessed to accompany women who find themselves pregnant and might be thinking about abortion.
“We seek to receive the woman and love her.”
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While the shrine is open only on a limited basis, Sister Gianna offered The Tablet a private tour of the facility, which comprises two adjoining buildings, the church — which contains the shrine — and the rectory.
The shrine was dedicated by Cardinal Francis Spellman in 1965.
There are signs of the saint who was canonized in 1975 everywhere. Stained-glass windows behind the altar depict scenes from the saint’s life, including her marriage to William Jr., her years as a young mother, and her entrance into the Catholic Church.
In the back of the church, a small room serves as a museum. Its walls are adorned with drawings of the saint at various points in her life. The room also contains display cases with illustrations of the saint, her husband, and their family.
The centerpiece of the room is a statue that depicts her as a teacher with a book in her hand and looking down lovingly at a child who is also holding a book.
St. Elizabeth Ann Seton is credited with creating the Catholic school system in the United States. She founded St. Joseph Academy and Free School, a school for girls, in Emmitsburg, Maryland in 1810.
Sister Gianna said the fact that the Sisters of Life work in a shrine located on the site of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton’s home is not a coincidence.
“It’s providential. Her love for her students and supporting moms and children when she was in New York … that just fits so tremendously with our mission to see the woman before us an another icon of Mary and to love her and care for her so she can care for her child,” she explained.
