Charity & Hospitality: Praying through Advent with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton

St. Elizabeth Ann Seton wrote, “Mary always everywhere, at every moment, day and night, conscious she was His mother.” What a portrait of love that never lets go—Mary’s heart silently keeping pace with every step of her Son’s life. She knew His hopes—that people would catch the grace of the Spirit that moved His voice and animated His gestures. When the prophet Isaiah promises that we shall see our Teacher and hear a voice behind us saying, “This is the way; walk in it,” it reveals the maternal nearness of God—His immanence—in the loving instruction that forms our hearts to recognize God in His Son and be drawn to Their Spirit of Love in truth.

I’ve often thought of my own parents when I pray with that line. I know I inherited my intellect from my father, but my heart—from my mother. She taught me to consider the emotional context of the person in front of me, to relate to them with warmth, to notice when they were uneasy, and to help them relax. All my life, we spoke on the phone every day, no matter where I was. Those conversations were like a hearth-fire of encouragement. She rejoiced in every detail of my life, not out of pride, but because I was always growing through my trials and ultimately flourishing. When she died four years ago, that daily exchange ended, and the absence was profound—a silence that echoed through each evening. Yet slowly, her voice began to return—not through the phone, but within my prayer. The lessons of her tenderness had taken root in me. Like the voice Isaiah describes, from behind I could still hear: “This is the way to reach this particular person… walk in it.”

The Teacher Isaiah speaks of is the Holy Spirit. Advent calls us to listen for that divine Teacher within, who speaks through love remembered and love renewed. Charity and hospitality begin there, in hearts prepared to host the Holy Ghost—the illuminating Divine Guest—God’s gift to us all in Jesus Christ. As Mary and Mother Seton show us, to welcome Christ is to let the Spirit form in us that same maternal warmth which teaches others, quietly and faithfully, how to walk in the light of His gracious intuitions.

Come, Holy Spirit, illuminate our hearts with Your committed love and gracious intuitions.

Charity and Hospitality: Praying through Advent with St. Elizabeth Ann Seton