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A Hoosier
saint
PRAISED BE JESUS
CHRIST!
(Now and Forever)
It was an overcast day in Rome when Anne Therese Guerin (Mother
Theodore) was beatified by His Holiness Pope John Paul II. It was my
privilege to be present and to join our Holy Father at the papal altar
for the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass. That was eight years ago: Oct. 25,
1998. As the great banner of Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin was unfurled
in front of the façade of St. Peter’s, I pledged that I would promote
the cause of this newest blessed of the Church and placed our diocese
under her special patronage.
In addition to placing the new diocesan high school in Noblesville under
her patronage, since her beatification I have included her name in the
third Eucharistic Prayer and have celebrated her Mass on days not
assigned to other saints. The prayer proper to her Mass reads: “Loving
God, in Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin you have given us an example of a
woman religious who trusted deeply in providence. Through her
intercession inspire us to dedicate our lives to proclaiming the Gospel
through works of love, mercy and justice. We ask this ...”
Because the cause for her canonization languished for 89 years (it was
initiated in 1909 by Bishop Chatard of Indianapolis), I didn’t think I
would live to see her finally recognized as a saint. But, God willing, I
will be in Rome on Oct. 15 for her canonization by Benedict XVI. Rain or
shine, it will be a glorious day.
At long last the Catholics of Indiana will be able to claim a saint who,
although born in France, became a Hoosier and who is entombed in our
state. Notable also is the fact that the two miracles required in the
canonization process involve people from our diocese. The first was a
Sister of Providence who hailed from Attica. The second involved a
non-Catholic gentleman from Anderson.
The road to canonization is a meticulous one. The first step takes place
at the diocesan level and requires that the candidate for sainthood be
declared a “servant of God.” Once the “cause” is transferred to the
Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints, intensive scrutiny of
writings and the establishment of heroic virtue must be completed before
that individual is identified as “venerable.” A miracle (certified by
medical experts as beyond scientific explanation and accepted by the
Sacred Congregation for the Causes of Saints) is then needed before the
candidate for sainthood is declared “blessed.” After beatification, a
second miracle is required before canonization.
Catholics of Northcentral Indiana can claim that one of their former
bishops is a “blessed.” Francois de Laval de Montmorency, the first
Bishop of Quebec, was beatified by Pope John Paul II in 1980. When he
became bishop of Quebec in 1674, his diocese included what is now
Northcentral Indiana. But, that is a stretch. No stretch is needed in
claiming Theodore Guerin as our own. At the time of her death, the state
of Indiana was part of the Diocese of Vincennes, which later was
transferred to Indianapolis. Not only will Theodore Guerin be the first
Hoosier saint, she is only the eighth person from the United States to
be canonized.
Anne Therese Guerin entered the Sisters of Providence in France at the
age of 25. As a young sister she nearly died from smallpox. Stomach
problems plagued her until death. She subsisted on a bland diet
consisting mostly of porridge, liquids and soft foods. Never robust, at
age 42 she was chosen to lead a group of five other sisters to the
pioneer wilderness which today is known as Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Her
journal paints a picture of terrified women making passage across a
stormy Atlantic. It took 26 days. The journey from New York to Indiana,
with numerous stops, would take almost seven weeks by train, steamboat
and stagecoach.
Mother Theodore was a person of deep trust in the providence of God; a
person of profound love of God and neighbor; a woman who generously
accepted the cross; one with deep devotion to the Blessed Sacrament; a
woman with a strong sense of mission; and total abandonment to the will
of God.
“Put yourself gently into the hands of providence,” she wrote. “Let me
assure you, if you lean with all your weight upon providence you will be
well supported.
“Our hope is in the providence of God which has always protected us
until the present, and which will provide, somehow, for our future
needs.”
Theodore Guerin placed great importance on prayer. She had profound
devotion to the Blessed Sacrament and the Way of the Cross. She chose
the Blessed Mother, St. Joseph and St. Anne as her special patrons. She
once wrote: “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. But what
comfort is there for those who do not pray? Happy are those who are able
to pray.”
Since the beatification of Anne Therese Guerin, I have daily sought her
intercession, asking God to send our Local Church priests in sufficient
numbers to meet the staffing needs of our parishes.
I don’t know if that daily prayer has had anything to do with the
increase in our number of students for the priesthood. As a friend
recently observed, it clearly has not hurt. I do know that I will
continue to seek the intercession of St. Theodore Guerin, keeping in
mind that within three years after her arrival at Saint
Mary-of-the-Woods her new community had 24 novices. The Sisters of
Providence now are represented in 45 archdioceses and dioceses in the
United States, as well as in Taiwan, Singapore and Antigua, West Indies.
At one time her sisters served four parishes in our own Local Church:
St. John the Evangelist Parish in Hartford City, St. Ann and St. Mary
parishes in Lafayette, and St. Charles Parish in Peru.
I have sought Mother Theodore’s intercession for other causes as well.
Incessant prayer was offered for a friend diagnosed with colon cancer.
He went through the usual treatments, so his cure does not meet Vatican
standards for a miracle, but that is what the doctor called it.
Hers was not an easy life. She and the founding sisters were often
ridiculed, disdained and mistreated by the local population. According
to her journal, Mother Theodore expended great energy watching and
worrying through sleepless nights, afraid her community might be
attacked by robbers. Inclement weather brought illness. There were fears
that there might not be enough food to get them through the harsh
winters. On one occasion, the barn that held their supply of winter
grain burned. More often than not, the fledgling community was without
adequate funds. Much time and energy had to be given to raising money to
carry on the mission of the newly established Sisters of Providence.
Yet, she was responsible for the establishment of Indiana’s first
boarding school for girls and 10 other Catholic schools throughout
Indiana. Throughout all this she grew in holiness.
Death came to Theodore Guerin on May 14, 1856, less than 16 years after
her arrival at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. She was 57.
I very much look forward to Oct. 15 and the canonization of the first
Hoosier saint. |
