Mother Theodore
knew as a child
she
wanted to be a nun
At age 25, Anne-Thérèse Guérin joined the
Providence order at Ruillé-sur-Loir, France
“What strength the soul draws from
prayer! In the midst of a storm, how sweet
is the calm it finds in the heart of Jesus.”
These words, written by Mother
Theodore Guérin after surviving a violent
storm at sea, perhaps best exemplify her
life and ministry. Mother Theodore drew
strength from prayer.
Mother Theodore—Anne-Thérèse
Guérin—was born Oct. 2, 1798, in the
village of Étables in France.
Her devotion to God and to the Roman
Catholic Church began when she was a
young child. She was allowed to receive
her First Communion at the age of 10
and, at that time, told the parish priest
that someday she would be a nun.
The child Anne-Thérèse was educated
by her mother, Isabelle Guérin, who centered
lessons on religion and Scripture. Anne-Thérèse’s father, Laurent, who
served in Napoleon’s navy, was away
from home for years at a time.
When Anne-Thérèse was 15 years old,
her father was murdered by bandits as he
traveled home to visit his family. The loss
of her husband nearly overwhelmed
Isabelle and, for many years, Anne-Thérèse
accepted the responsibility of caring for her
mother and her young sister, as well as the
family’s home and garden.
Anne-Thérèse was nearly 25 years old
when she entered the Sisters of
Providence of Ruillé-sur-Loir, France, a
young community of women religious
who served as teachers and cared for the
sick poor.
While teaching and caring for the sick
in France, Mother Theodore, then known
as Sister St. Theodore, was asked to lead
a small missionary band of Sisters of
Providence to the United States of
America to establish a motherhouse and
novitiate, to open schools and to share the
love of God with pioneers in the Diocese
of Vincennes in the state of Indiana.
Humble and prone to feelings of
unworthiness, Mother Theodore could not
imagine that she was suitable for such a
mission. In addition, her health was fragile,
and she was able to consume only
soft, bland foods and liquids. Her physical
condition added to her doubts about
accepting the mission to the United
States. Nevertheless, after hours of prayer
and lengthy consultations with her superiors,
she accepted the mission.
Equipped with little more than a steadfast
desire to serve God, Mother Theodore
and her five companion sisters
arrived at the site of their mission at Saint
Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., the evening of
Oct. 22, 1840, and immediately hastened
along a muddy, narrow path to the tiny
log cabin that served as the chapel and as
the dwelling place for a priest.
There they knelt in prayer before the
Blessed Sacrament to thank God for their
safe journey and to ask for God’s blessings
for the new mission.
Here, on this hilly, ravine-cut, densely
forested land, Mother Theodore would
establish a motherhouse, a school and a
legacy of love, mercy and justice that
continues to this day.
Throughout years of sorrow and years
of peace, Mother Theodore relied on
God’s Providence and her own ingenuity
and faith for counsel and guidance.
She urged Sisters of Providence: “Put
yourself gently into the hands of Providence.”
In letters to France, she stated, “But our hope is in the Providence of
God, which has protected us until the present,
and which will provide, somehow,
for our future needs.”
In the fall of 1840, the mission at Saint
Mary-of-the-Woods consisted only of the
log cabin chapel and a small frame farmhouse
where Mother Theodore, the sisters
from France and several postulants lived.
During that first winter, harsh winds
blew from the north to rattle the little
farmhouse. The sisters were often cold
and frequently hungry. But they transformed
a porch into a chapel and were
comforted by the presence of the
Blessed Sacrament in the humble motherhouse.
Mother Theodore said, “With Jesus,
what shall we have to fear?”
During the early years at Saint Maryof-
the-Woods, Mother Theodore encountered
numerous trials: prejudice against
Catholics and, especially, against
Catholic women religious; betrayals; misunderstandings;
the separation of the congregation
in Indiana from the one in
Ruillé; a devastating fire that destroyed
an entire harvest, leaving the sisters destitute
and hungry; and frequent life-threatening
illnesses.
Still she persevered, desiring only that “in all and everywhere may the will of
God be done.”
Less than a year after arriving at Saint
Mary-of-the-Woods, Mother Theodore
opened the congregation’s first academy,
which now is known as Saint Mary-of-the-
Woods College.
In 1842, she established schools at
Jasper and St. Mary-of-the-Woods Village
in Indiana and at St. Francisville, Ill.
By the time of her death on May 14,
1856, Mother Theodore had opened
schools in towns throughout Indiana, and
the Congregation of the Sisters of
Providence was strong, viable and
respected.
Mother Theodore is buried in the
Church of the Immaculate Conception at
Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. †
