Elizabeth Seton in Baltimore and Catherine McAuley in Dublin:
Seeking to Know God’s Will
Walk around the corner from Northbrook Road to Baggot Street in Dublin. At first all you notice are the Georgian houses with the brightly painted doors. Then take a second look. The sign beside the yellow door on Northbrook Road says Seton House. In front of the house on Baggot Street is a statue of Mother Catherine McAuley with a young girl.
Walk down Baltimore Street in Baltimore from St. Martin’s to St. Peter’s. The sign at St. Martin’s says, “Served by the Daughters of Charity.” The sign in front of the teacup in the living room at St. Peter’s says, “The sisters are tired; be sure they have a comfortable cup of tea when I am gone.” It was a constant reminder which Catherine McAuley gave her sisters.
Walk from West Washington Place to Mott Street in New York. The first mother house of the Sisters of Mercy in the United States was a short distance from the Sisters of Charity at Old St. Patrick’s on Mott Street.
Two women, Elizabeth Seton in Baltimore, and Catherine McAuley in Dublin, seeking to know God’s will. Two communities, the Sisters of Charity and the Sisters of Mercy connected by more than physical proximity in Dublin, Baltimore, and New York. When Elizabeth Seton founded the Sisters of Charity in Emmitsburg in 1809, she opened an academy to educate young girls. At the same time she welcomed girls of the neighborhood to her school.
For the rest of the story visit http://www.emmitsburg.net/setonshrine/newsletter/summer_2002/page3.htm
