By Mary Beth Bracy, Catholic Exchange - St. Elizabeth Ann Seton (1774-1821), whose feast day we celebrate on January 4, is truly a saint for everyone. She was a devoted wife, mother of five children, convert, and religious. The foundress of the Sisters of Charity of St. Joseph–the first congregation of women religious in the United States, Mother Seton also started the first parochial school in the United States, started the first American Catholic orphanage, and was the first native born citizen to be canonized.