Elizabeth Seton: Meeting Our Grace

"A Retreat with Elizabeth Seton" presents seven days of meditations for a retreat. The book provides spiritual material for readings and meditations for an individual to conduct their own retreat schedule. Groups could also use it for a more traditional retreat format. Meditations in the book are taken from Saint Elizabeth Ann (Bayley) Seton's life and writings. Elizabeth Seton lived from 1774 until 1821. She is the first native born American to be named a Saint by the Catholic Church. Seton accomplished much in her short life. Elizabeth was a wife, mother, widow, single parent, teacher, head of a religious community, and an author. In each of her roles she excelled. She married William Seton and had five children. William died after just nine years of marriage, and Elizabeth became a single parent and sole support to five children. A prolific writer, her writings include her journals, letters, books and translations of other books. She founded the first religious community for women in the USA and began the parochial school movement as well. Her attitude was that all we do each day is "prayer". It was not Elizabeth's accomplishments that determined her "sainthood", it was her deep love for God and her fellow humans. Elizabeth's Christian spirituality is a superior model for most people. Struggling with the challenges of life, Saint Elizabeth Ann (Bayley) Seton responded by becoming closer to God. Her efforts inspire this retreat. In the book, "A Retreat with Elizabeth Seton, " each day of reflection is based upon part of Elizabeth's Spirituality: 1 Acknowledging God as our faithful guide, friend, and supporter; 2 Discerning God's will and our struggle with difficult decisions; 3 Allowing loving relationships with others to lead us to greater relationship with God; 4 Relying on God as our father and Mary as our mother - leading to uncompromising, self forgetting love; 5 Finding the will of God in everyday events - listening and waiting for God; 6 Sensing God's presence in others - especially the least among us; 7 Being in constant communication with God through our prayer life. "A Retreat with Elizabeth Seton" is oriented toward Christians. I highly recommend this book, especially to those seeking to improve their prayerfulness.