The Epiphany of the Lord

Elizabeth Ann Bayley Seton was born on August 28, 1774, in New York City, and was raised in the Episcopal faith amid privilege and early sorrow, losing her mother as a child. Gifted and deeply prayerful, she married the merchant William Magee Seton in 1794 and became the devoted mother of five. In the midst of generous service to the poor, her family’s fortunes collapsed and her husband’s long illness with tuberculosis worsened. Hoping for healing, she accompanied him to Italy, where he died in 1803, leaving her a young widow. Received with kindness by Catholic friends in Livorno, Elizabeth encountered the Eucharistic faith of the Church and, back in New York, entered the Catholic Church in 1805. Her conversion brought hardship and misunderstanding, yet she persevered, dedicating herself to the education of children and the care of the vulnerable. In Emmitsburg, Maryland, she founded the first Catholic girls’ school in the nation and the first American congregation of religious sisters, the Sisters of Charity, helping lay foundations for Catholic education in the United States. She is honored as a patron of widows and of the Archdiocese of Halifax–Yarmouth. Her feast day is January 4.

Saint Pharaildis (also known as Pharailde or Veerle) was born in Ghent in what is now Belgium, the daughter of Witger, Duke of Lorraine, and Amalberga of Maubeuge. Raised in the care of Saint Gertrude of Nivelles, she grew in faith and made a private vow of virginity. Yet while still young she was forced into marriage with a nobleman. When she refused to break her vow, insisting her fidelity belonged first to God, she endured harsh treatment and even abuse, and she was mocked for her late-night visits to the churches where she sought refuge in prayer. After her husband’s death, Pharaildis was found to have remained a virgin, and she devoted her life to works of charity. Venerated from the early eighth century and honored as a patron saint of Ghent, she is also invoked as a patron of widows. Tradition remembers miracles worked through her intercession, and she is often shown with a goose as her sign. Her feast day is January 4.