St. Elizabeth Ann Seton Church in Shrub Oak Celebrates 50th Anniversary

in Shrub Oak celebrated its Golden Jubilee of the parish last week and unveiled a reconditioned, bronze bas relief of Elizabeth Seton and two of her children.

Bishop Sullivan led the Mass on Sunday, June 24 to kick off the 50th anniversary celebration. The statue of St. Elizabeth and the children was blessed on June 23 by pastor, Msgr. Thomas Sandi, with a couple of dozen parishioners participating. It was part of a weekend-long kickoff of the 50th anniversary celebration.

The large parish at the very northern point of Westchester County is the first to be named in honor of the first American-born Catholic saint (1774-1821), who was a prominent New York City daughter of the American Revolution.

Parishioners said the parish was dedicated on June 22, 1963, at the Old Stone Church. It was built as a family chapel by local resident, Aimee LaFarge Heins, in 1912 and known for a half-century as "Saint Georges." That building is what's now known as  in Mohegan Lake.

To commemorate the anniversary, the Jubilee Committee has created a calendar of events including a pilgrimage to New York City to “walk in the footsteps” of the saint, who converted to Catholicism; a trip to Livorno (Leghorn) Italy, where her young husband died and was buried in 1803. A final trip will be to the mother house of the Sisters of Charity, the first community of religious women in the United States, which the saint founded at Emmitsburg, Maryland.

Other planned events include a golf outing, piano and choral concerts, anniversary dinner-dance, parish-wide picnic, and communion breakfast.

St. Elizabeth is credited with creating the Catholic school system in America and was the first American born person to become a saint in 1975. She was beatified, the first step toward sainthood in 1963, the year the Shrub Oak parish was named in her honor.

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