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Image one: ELIZABETH ANN SETON - (1774-1821). American catholic saint.. [Fine Art]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.
https://quest.eb.com/search/140_1657731/1/140_1657731/cite

Image Two: ELIZABETH ANN SETON - (1774-1821). American catholic saint. Oil on canvas, c1804, by an unknown artist.. [Fine Art]. Retrieved from Encyclopædia Britannica ImageQuest.
https://quest.eb.com/search/140_1644501/1/140_1644501/cite

Images 3,4,5,6,7 and 8:
Prototypes, C., & Llc. (n.d.). St Elizabeth Ann Seton Photos - FREE Creative Commons Photos of St Elizabeth Ann Seton. Retrieved from http://www.photosforclass.com/search?text=St Elizabeth Ann seton

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The Rerum Novarum, The Churches response

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The Rerum Novarum, The Churches response

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The message of the Rerum Novarum is simple: People should be treated fairly, justly and with dignity in the workplace. Men, women and children have the right to a fair pay, reasonable working hours, and safe working conditions. No one should be exploited or treated as slaves, as this is degrading and a removal of human dignity.

Written by Pope Leo XIII in 1891, Ann never got to read this document, but it conveys many of the messages that she tries to teach to others. The document is Relevant to Ann Seton, as she treated all she met with respect, mercy and dignity. In teaching underprivileged women and children, she gave them knowledge and human dignity, as well as the tools to achieve in later life. Ann often asked God to show her and others mercy, in her version of the prayer “The Anima Christi” she says “Mercy of Jesus, Pity Me” She often put these words into action and in turn gave mercy and pity to others, and finally, the churches response to her and many other reformers work was to create this document embodying her and others values.

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Today, the main followers of St Elizabeth Ann Seton are the Sisters of charity. They continue her work by participating in charity/fundraising drives and continuing her works of mercy in schools that she founded. Today they Continue to teach underprivileged children, set up educational programs, run charity events/donations,  The schools they continue to work at are: Saint Euphemia's School, Saint Joseph's High School, Saint Joseph College, Saint Joseph College High School, The Seton Centre Outreach Program. They contiue Ann work of mercy buy running community Thrift Shops, Saint Catherine's Nursing Centre, Mother Seton School, and they maintain the National Shrine of Saint Elizabeth Ann Seton.

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What was her main influence for her mission?

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What was her main influence for her mission?

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Ann's main focus for her work was mercy. Injustice was very prevalent at this time, many were get were getting sick, overworked and exploited. This often led to children being orphaned and women being widowed and left out in the street with no money. As a widow herself, she could relate to the women and children left to starve without support from others. This would have been one of the main driving factors in her work, as she felt pity and remorse for those who had to go through the same experience. As a younger woman, her Father taught her about being a humanitarian and looking after those who couldn't help themselves. Her father's influence could also be a reason why she loved her work so passionately. But her fathers influence couldn't have been the only driving force in her work. Ann's stepmother was also a humanitarian, and often took Ann to charity functions and events. This first hand experience was what would shape her into a woman of charity and mercy.

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What were Ann's actions and achievements? What was her Mission?

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What were Ann's actions and achievements? What was her Mission?

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Even before Ann joined the catholic church, she helped run small charities in her community. In 1797, she and a friend of hers called Isabella M. Graham made the first charitable institution in New York city, the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children. This was a great success and inspired Ann to go further with her Mission. She joined the Catholic church in 1805, and began her mission of charity and mercy. As a result of her charity work, she had gained a small following of other religious women looking to help with her cause. In 1808, she and a small group of 16 other women opened up a School for girls in Baltimore, where she also began other educational programs for girls and boys who were under privileged. Finally, in 1809, she founded the Sisters of Charity, and on March the 25 that year she took her vows of poverty, chastity and obedience. Now that she had a small group of sisters, they could begin to expand that group and reach out to more of those in need. In 1810 she and her sisters adopted rules written by St. Vincent de Paul for the Daughters of Charity in France, and they began their missionary work. Besides starting multiple schools, Ann Seton and her sisters started up charities and funding for widowed women, a vast religious community for American women, housing for her order in Philadelphia, and helped tend to the sick in hospitals around New York City. Because of her healing work in the hospitals, she then became the first American Saint in 1975. Ann Seton's mission was one of charity and Mercy, she continued to lead her sisters in their work until her death from tuberculosis in 1821

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St Elizabeth Ann Seton showed her capabilities to follow god’s word many times during her life. With regards to priestly, she often prayed to ask for help, insight and peace. Before marriage, the priestly role she took on was embodied by the love for the bible and its teachings. She often witnessed to those in front of her, with her miracles of curing the sick and her teachings at her schools. She shared the word of God with children, orphans and widows in their time of need, leading her to a prophetic role as well. She taught many under privileged children and women the values and roles within Christianity, and set up a religious order, The Sisters of Charity, which spread the word of god to many other people across America. Her kingly role was to lead her sisters in the way of charity, putting forward a good example to others, so that they might follow her. In teaching, she gave children an opportunity to learn and in turn, lead a life of charity, giving to the poor, helping the sick and giving mercy to those who had been previously forgotten.

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"In Holy Communion our hearts are the tabernacles of the Divinity. We should carefully guard the casket containing so precious a jewel."

"The gate of heaven is very low; only the humble can enter it."

"What was the first rule of our dear Savior's life? You know if was to do his Father's will. Well, then, the first purpose of our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will. We know certainly that our God calls us to a holy life. We know that he gives us every grace, every abundant grace; and though we are so weak of ourselves, this grace is able to carry us through every obstacle and difficulty."

"The accidents of life separate us from our dearest friends, but let us not despair. God is like a looking glass in which souls see each other. The more we are united to Him by love, the nearer we are to those who belong to Him."

"The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly to do it because it is his will."

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The Good Samaritan and How that may have influenced Ann Seton  

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The Good Samaritan and How that may have influenced Ann Seton  

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The Good Samaritan is a parable about showing mercy to those who are in need. The basic story line is about a man, or more specifically a Jew walking down the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. He was attacked by robbers who stripped him of his cloths, beat him and left him for dead.  A priest comes across the man, but walks over to the other side of the road. A Levite walks past also on the other side of the road. A Samaritan walks up to the man, helps him and takes him to the nearest inn, where he pays the innkeeper to look after him for the remainder of the time he is healing.

World of the Text
This story would have occurred somewhere within 70 CE, as we know the purity laws where in place, and we also know that there was a conflict between the Levites and the Samaritans. The author wrote this story to explain mercy, who our “neighbour” is, and how we can be merciful to those in need, by doing the same.

World Behind the Text
This story was set on the road from Jerusalem to Jericho. The road that man was travelling on is represented by drawings as rocky, desolate and quite a harsh landscape, with a wide expanse of shrubby plants and no large trees for shade. In the time that it was written, there were purity laws in place, which prevented a religious man from entering a temple if he had been know to touch "unclean" items/people. At the same time, due to being conquered, the Samaritans had intercultural marriages, and therefore became Gentiles, half Jews. The main characters, by appearance are: The man walking down the road, A priest, a Levite and a Samaritan. The man who was walking down the road is know to be a jew, within the same religion to the priest and the Levite. A Levite is like a Priest at that time, but less important and the Purity Laws were less strict. The Priest had a very important religious role, and was a key person in Jewish communities. The Purity laws were extremely strict and prevented any contact with impure objects. Priests were also trained in religious matters, Jewish Law, Literature and Tradition. The good Samaritan would have been despised by the other characters because of the religious feud regarding intercultural marriages and worshipping Pagan gods, both of which had become practices for the Samaritans. Other cultural laws and rules were  the Jewish Purity Laws, for example, If a priest or Levite touched a dead man, they were unclean and unable to enter a temple. This stopped them from carrying out their daily duties and could be problematic for their reputation. Most Jews followed teachings from a Torah, or the five books of Moses. Prayer, cleanliness and fasting were an important part of their lifestyle. Rabbis taught people the laws of god and Judaism and were extremely important to the community, as they helped govern and rule the people.  With this background information, it allows us to see why the Levite and the priest walked by, without helping, because of the purity laws that prevented the men from entering a church if they touched something considered to be unclean or unholy in the eyes of god. The background information also helps us to understand the cultural significance of a Samaritan helping a Jew, despite the feud between the different beliefs.

World In front of the Text
The author wrote the story to teach us about enacting mercy despite the feuds and hatred between groups. If you help your neighbour, you are gifted with eternal life. The main message was to be merciful and show compassion to those in need to truly be at peace with god. This story was written to challenge the ideas of the society at that time. It tells us we are to be merciful in everything that we do, as helping other will guarantee a healthy relationship with our spiritual side, and god. Even when a person isn’t half dead, they can still be beaten on the inside, and they may need mercy and pity to help heal their wounds. Helping others doesn’t have to be a great act of saving a life, it can be small and still have great value. Examples of people who are like the Samaritan are Mischelle Obama, Malala Yousafzai, Ms Stone and Pope Francis, as they all work for mercy of the people, the planet and those who are underprivileged or without rights. One target audience of this story would  be small children, as it teaches a basic message that can be understood from a young age, and it gives children values to live by every day. It is a simple story that a child could follow and has a message that give them an easy moral to learn, mercy.

Ann Seton and her use of this Parable
A parable is a story used to inform or to teach others a moral or important message. Ann Seton often showed mercy to those in oppression and may have taken some inspiration from this parable. “Go and do the same” was the call to action that Jesus gave us at the end, to love our neighbour and show mercy to get into heaven. Ann Seton was in this case, the good Samaritan, as she helped those who were in need, and aided those who were lost or forgotten by society at the time. The parable puts mercy above all else, Seton will have been inspired to care for those who couldn’t care for themselves.

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Ann had many writings in which she address her superiors, her sisters and the children she looked after. She spoke of acting with mercy, and living God's will. In one of her most famous writings she said:

“The first end I propose in our daily work is to do the will of God; secondly, to do it in the manner he wills it; and thirdly, to do it because it is his will.” (St. Elizabeth Ann Seton)

Her willingness to spread the word of god had a lasting impact on those around her. Her greatest quality was mercy, and the ability to teach others about "The Will".

"0 my Sisters, let us love Him: Let us ever be ready to do His holy Will! He is our Father. Oh, when we shall be in our dear eternity, then we will know the value of sufferings here below."

She taught others the importance of helping others and working hard, to that they may go to a better place in eternity, this earned her a great many followers, and eventually a sainthood in 1975.

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While staying in Italy, Ann Seton read many different prayers, rituals and writings that shaped her as a catholic. One of the first writings she came across was the text of Saint Bernard’s Memorare. After reading these texts, she began to see the Virgin Mary as mother figure, and often prayed to her for guidance and protection.

“That night, I cried myself to sleep in her heart.”

With her newfound love of Catholicism, Ann became more focused on her spiritual side, she began to develop her own practices and religious routines. In her writings, her devotion to God and prayer became extremely  prevalent

"So our bodies, as Sisters of Charity must be neither spared or looked at, nor labours or sufferings considered for a moment but rather only asking what is this for my God!"

A prayer often said by Ann was the Anima Christi, as it embodies many of the rules she set out for herself and her sisters. As well as the Anima Christi, more traditional prayers and meditation were also an important part of Ann's religious life.

We must pray without ceasing, in every occurrence and employment of our lives - that prayer which is rather a habit of lifting up the heart to God as in a constant communication with Him

She had her own thoughts on how to worship the lord, and was often changing the way many others thought about prayer. In one of her writings she states: "In the course of the day, while you work or pray, sometimes think: “Oh, how happy I am! Jesus, my dear Jesus, is coming to me. Oh, dearest Lord, prepare me for Yourself" It was her way of thinking and praying that attracted many women to join her sisterhood, and inspired them to be instruments of "The Will", which is referring to the will and commandment of god.

Do try to prepare your heart to receive our Blessed Lord. Spend… a quarter of an hour in the chapel, to offer your heart to our Blessed Lord and beg Him to prepare it. You know you cannot do it by yourself.

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Elizabeth Ann Bailey was born in New York City on August 28, 1774. From an early age, she displayed the qualities and attitude of a reformer, and a love for the bible. Born into a strict, but well off family, she learnt to care for others and the basic rights of human dignity from her father, a respected surgeon. The bible became a very important part of Ann's life, she looked to the words of God for comfort and guidance.  By the age of 19, she had married William Seton, and they had their first child. William's business was developing slowly, but money wasn't a problem until William got sick with Tuberculosis in 1803. The business was slowly going bankrupt, and with money running out, and now five children to look after, Ann, William and their fist child went to Italy to try and Improve his health. While in Italy, Ann was inspired by the catholic church, and began to shape ideas that would change her life.

Unfortunately, William and two of her other children died, and she was left with no money, and young children to look after. She tried to start up a school in her house, but after that failed, she was seemingly left with no more options. It was then that she decided to become part of the Catholic church. In 1805, Ann joined the church and began her religious Journey. One of her first acts as a religious woman, was to create the Society for the Relief of Poor Widows with Small Children, and joining with Isabella M. Graham in 1797, they created the first charitable institution in New York. She was the organisation's treasurer for seven years.

She wanted to improve the lives of many, through education and support. To do that, she started the Sisters of Charity, and in March 25, 1809, Elizabeth Seton said her vows of poverty, chastity, and obedience. More and more women wanted to help, and so began her mission.