A biography of the first American saint, focusing on her deeds and contributions to American Catholicism.

Biography of Elizabeth Bayley Seton, 1774-1821, who spent her childhood in New York City during the Revolutionary War and founded the first native sisterhood in America.

At seventeen, Mary Johnson saw a photo of Mother Teresa on the cover of TIME magazine, and experienced her calling. Eighteen months later she entered a convent in the South Bronx, to begin her religious training. Not without difficulty, this boisterous, independent-minded teenager eventually adapted to the sisters' austere life of poverty and devotion, but beneath the white-and-blue sari an ordinary woman faced the struggles we all share, with the desires of love and connection, meaning and identity. During her years as a Missionary of Charity, Mary Johnson rose quickly through the ranks and came to work alongside Mother Teresa. Mary grapped with her faith, her desires for intimacy, the politics of the order and her complicated relationship with Mother Teresa. Finally, she made the hard, life-changing decision to leave the order to find her own path, and eventually to leave the Church altogether. The story of this compellingly honest woman will speak to anyone who has ever grappled with the mysteries and wonders of life and faith.

“A fascinating biography” of Elizabeth Seton, who shocked high society by converting to Catholicism—a faith that was illegal in New York when she was born (Booklist). In this riveting biography of the first American saint, Joan Barthel tells the mesmerizing story of a woman whose life encompassed wealth and poverty, passion and sorrow, love and loss. Elizabeth was born into a prominent New York City family in 1774—when Catholicism was illegal and priests in the city were arrested, and sometimes hanged. Her father was the chief health officer for the Port of New York, and she lived down the block from Alexander Hamilton. She danced at George Washington’s sixty-fifth Birthday Ball in cream slippers, monogrammed. When Elizabeth and her husband sailed to Italy in a doomed attempt to cure his tuberculosis, she and her family were quarantined in a damp dungeon. And when, after she was widowed, Elizabeth became a Catholic, she was so scorned that people talked of burning down her house. American Saint is the inspiring story of a brave woman who forged the way for other women who followed and who made a name for herself in a world entirely ruled by men. Founder of the Sisters of Charity, she resisted male clerical control of her religious order—and she also started America’s first Catholic school, laying the foundation of an educational system that would help countless children thrive in a new nation. “Compelling . . . an exquisite story of Seton’s inspiring life. . . . Readers interested in Catholic history and U.S. history should not overlook this important biography.” —Publishers Weekly “Barthel is a fine and insightful observer of this larger-than-life woman who was so far ahead two hundred years ago that we’re still catching up with her.” —Gloria Steinem Includes a foreword by Maya Angelou

Mother Catherine Spalding (1793?1858) was the cofounder and first leader of one of the most significant American religious communities for women?the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth. Spalding also founded several educational institutions, Louisville's first private hospital, and the first social service agencies for children in Kentucky. In 2003, the Louisville Courier-Journal selected Spalding as the sole woman among the sixteen most important persons in Louisville's history. Pioneer Spirit is the first biography of Spalding, who, from the age of nineteen, served the citizens of the Kentucky frontier. By the time of her death, the Sisters of Charity of Nazareth extended far beyond Bardstown, Kentucky, to over one hundred sisters in sixteen convents. Spalding's legacy of service continues today with more than six hundred members worldwide.

Wirt and Greg take refuge in a mysterious woodland hospital in this brand new original graphic novel set in the world inspired by the Emmy® Award-winning Cartoon Network animated series, Over The Garden Wall. THE BEST MEDICINE IS FRIENDSHIP! Journey back to The Unknown as Wirt and Greg take refuge in a mysterious woodland hospital known as Benevolent Sisters in Charity Infirmary & Asylum while their best friend Beatrice is forced to stay outside. But just as Writ and Greg are enjoying being pampered by these a-bit-too-friendly nurses, they discover there’s no other patients in the hospital - and they might never get to leave! It’s up to Beatrice to save the day - but what is the horrible secret of the Benevolent Sisters? Discover a new story set in the world inspired by the Emmy® Award-winning Cartoon Network animated series, Over The Garden Wall from writer Sam Johns and series storyboard artist Jim Campbell.

Uncovers the history of challenges faced and overcome as the hospital moved from being a 100-bed facility, run single-handedly by three women, to a modern hospital facility with 600 beds.