Hundreds gathered Oct. 6 at the National Shrine of St. Elizabeth Ann Seton in Emmitsburg, Md., for the annual pilgrimage and Mass for the Sea Services celebrated by Bishop Emeritus Paul S. Loverde.
Members and veterans of the U.S. Navy, Marine Corps, Coast Guard, Merchant Marine and Public Health Services, their families, and others, prayed to Mother Seton in gratitude for her past protection and to ask for her continued intercession for all seafaring personnel.
In his homily, Bishop Loverde spoke of the saint’s “motherly concern and steadfast and faithful love” for her sons, William and Richard, who served with the Navy at sea. “It is this steadfast motherly love and faithful concern for her sons that makes her the patroness of those serving on the sea at this time,” he said.
A large contingent of midshipmen from the U.S. Naval Academy Catholic Choir, led by longtime director Monte Maxwell, provided sacred music. Father Steven Walker, a diocesan priest serving as a U.S. Navy chaplain, concelebrated.
Congregants also prayed for more Catholic priests to serve as chaplains. Catholic chaplains in the military numbered in the thousands during World War II. Today, the Navy has less than 50 active Catholic priests to serve hundreds of thousands of Catholic personnel across the various services.
As the patroness of the sea services, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton has a deep connection with those who spend their lives at sea and those devoted to public health. Her son, William, served in the Navy on the U.S.S. Macedonian, and several other ships. Another son, Richard, died off the coast of Africa while in service on the U.S.S. Cyane. Her father, Richard Bayley, was a prominent New York City physician in the 18th century and the city’s first Chief Health Officer.
