Sunday brunch at the Woods with "Lou Grant"

Holocaust survivor Eva Kor (pictured from left), actor/activist Edward Asner and guests enjoyed Sunday brunch today at O’Shaughnessy Dining Room at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind. Asner was the guest speaker last night at the 6th Annual CANDLES Holocaust Museum Fall Reception, “An Evening with Ed.” He’d been to Terre Haute years ago, before the museum was built. He said he enjoyed the evening and his brunch guests agreed that Asner was an entertaining speaker. Asner said he found the Woods “beautiful” and planned to tour the grounds after brunch. Asner is the only actor to win Emmys for playing the same character in both a comedy (“The Mary Tyler Moore Show”) and a drama (“Lou Grant”). He has also received the Screen Actors Guide Lifetime Achievement Award. Recently, he’s remembered for being the voice of the cranky-yet-lovable Carl Fredricksen, a widower and former balloon salesman in the 2009 animated movie adventure “Up.”

Picture of the week: October 28

The trees at Saint Joseph's Lake give bright pops of color against the cool green water. Fall is a great season to stop by and visit the grounds, or you can "virtually" visit by browsing through some photos of fall at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. (If the slideshow below does not display, it can be viewed on Flickr.)

Sister Dorothy Gartland receives Guerin Outreach Ministries Leadership and Advocacy Award

Congratulations to Sister Dorothy Gartland for receiving the third annual Guerin Outreach Ministries Leadership and Advocacy Award.

“If you live long enough and continue to work, somebody will eventually give you an award,” laughed the ever-humble Sister Dorothy upon receiving the award on Oct. 14.

For the past 14 years, the “retired” Sister Dorothy, 81, has recruited volunteers and run the after-school homework help program at Providence Family Services in Chicago. The program brings volunteer tutors, mostly area college students, to the largely Hispanic and low-income Humboldt Park neighborhood to help students whose parents are limited by their lack of fluency in the English language.

With a background in and a passion for education and justice, Sister Dorothy sees her ministry as a continuation of her lifework: from teacher to principal and religious superior to a co-founder of 8th Day Center for Justice in Chicago, Sister Dorothy chooses to carry on teaching and working for those in need.

“Students and tutors alike are happy to be there. They enjoy the organization, the serious way that their tasks are treated, the way they are respected and loved, and the good results that show up on their report cards,” said Sister Patty Fillenwarth, director of Providence Family Services and president of the Board of Directors for Guerin Outreach Ministries of the work Sister Dorothy does.

“Dedicated” and “inspirational” are words Sister Patty uses to describe Sister Dorothy.

“Very ordinary” are words Sister Dorothy uses to describe herself.

But those who know Sister Dorothy and her work, she is anything but.

Read more about how Sister Dorothy Gartland received the Guerin Outreach Ministries Leadership and Advocacy Award. 

Learn more about how Sister Dorothy's volunteerism at Providence Family Services is motivated by education and justice.

The wisdom of Saint Mother Theodore

Letter from Saint Mother Theodore to Sister Maria in Madison, Ind.
 
Nov. 24, 1854

“I am sorry, my dear Sister, that you have yielded again to your caprices. You must make another copy of the pieces of music you destroyed. We shall see later what will be done with them. Think no more about these faults, now that you have acknowledged them. If they come back to your mind, humble yourself without falling into discouragement. Do not omit your Communions. As soon as you commit a fault be sorry, rise again and go on with confidence and love. When you do the contrary your imagination works and you go on from bad to worse.

“Profit by the experiences of the past for the future. Accept the humiliation of losing your pupils in the spirit of penance. I have requested Sister Basilide to let you do the washing, without having told her that you asked to be permitted to do it. If you have time, I wish you would knit me, in your leisure moments, a woolen petticoat for winter. It should not be too wide. Do not make it too long either. You have nice yarn at Madison, and I know Sister Basilide will be willing to buy some for me. I know too that you will be pleased to work for your devoted old Mother. …” (“Journals and Letters,” pages 383-384).

Today, Saint Mother Theodore would check out the fiber at White Violet Center for Eco-Justice.

Candidates learn about Providence Associates

Rachel Renier (left) and her companion, Providence Associate Lenore Renier

More 2011-2012 Providence Candidate-Associates will be gathering this Saturday, Oct. 29, at the Woods for an orientation. The first group of candidate-associates and their companions gathered on Saturday, Oct. 15, at the Woods. Other orientations will be held in California and Texas.

The 10 candidate-associates and companions that gathered at the Woods on Oct. 15 had the opportunity to learn more about the Providence Associate Relationship as well as about the Congregation. The orientations are facilitated by Sister Diane Mason, director.

The 2010-2011 candidate-associates are gearing up for their first commitments. These commitments will be made on Saturday, Nov. 12, at 1:30 p.m. (EST) during the Eucharistic Liturgy in the Church of the Immaculate Conception. This wonderful event is open to the public.

Sister Pat Mahoney and Kyle Meadors

CNN visits Saint Mary-of-the-Woods to research Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Cable News Network (CNN) producer Jen Christensen visited Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Saturday, Oct. 22, to witness the Sisters of Providence Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Fest and to do research on the Congregation's foundress.

Jen hooked up with a video specialist, Jeff from Indianapolis, and spent most of the day Saturday witnessing the Foundation Day Eucharistic Liturgy, learning about the Sisters of Providence, meeting people and touring the grounds.

Jen, based in Atlanta, is leading a team that is researching various aspects of how to become a saint. CNN intends to produce a documentary sometime in January in anticipation of the canonization of Pope John Paul II. Mother Theodore's journey to sainthood is expected to be shared in a portion of the documentary.

The CNN crew plans to return to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods soon to continue their research and to conduct interviews to support their documentary.

"She's a classic, All-American story," Jen in an interview with the Terre Haute Tribune-Star.  

Sisters of Providence welcome Dr. Dottie King as 16th SMWC president



Sister Denise Wilkinson gives remarks at the installation
of Dr. Dottie King. Photo provided by The Woods
staff member Nancy Hernandez.  Used with
permission.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College celebrated the appointment of Dr. Dottie King as the 16th president Friday during an installation ceremony and other events.

Greetings and words of wisdom were offered during the installation ceremony by honored guests, including the student body, alumnae/i, civic leaders, national college leaders and the Archdiocese of Indianapolis.

Sisters of Providence General Superior Sister Denise Wilkinson offered her greetings on behalf of the Congregation. In her remarks, Sister Denise said, "We extend to you our friendship, our support and our enthusiasm for the mission of the College and for all its students, staff, faculty, administrators and alumnae. You can always count on our continuing prayer for you – that Providence will encourage and sustain you in this challenging ministry. You may be sure that Saint Mother Theodore will be attentive to you and loving you 'as only your old Mother Theodore can.'"


Dr. Dottie King (left) and Sister Denise Wilkinson
process into the Church of the Immaculate
Conception during a Liturgy celebrating the installation.
Photo provided by The Woods staff member
Nancy Hernandez. Used with permission.

Several Sisters of Providence participated in the events of the day, including faculty member Sister Ellen Cunningham, who gave the benediction, and former SMWC presidents Sisters Jeanne Knoerle and Barbara Doherty.

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College was founded in July 1841 by Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, less than one year after the sisters arrived from France. The school was granted the first charter for the higher education of women in Indiana in 1846. It is the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States.

The college and the Sisters of Providence motherhouse are both located at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. Until 1953, the Congregation's general superior was also the college president. The first 13 presidents of the college were Sisters of Providence. Currently, Sisters of Providence serve on the Board of Trustees, the National Alumnae Board of Directors and on the faculty at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

See more photos from the day in the SMWC Flickr collection. Read more, including Dr. King's inaugural address, on the SMWC Inaguration of Dottie L. King, Ph.D. web page.

Public invited to Civil War presentation in Sullivan, Ind.

Sister Helena Burns served as a nurse during the Civil War.

“Cloistered by the majestic forest, the Convent and the Academy at St. Mary-of-the-Woods in 1860 would seem to have been too remote, too securely enclosed, to hear the rumblings of the approaching national disturbance. Echoes of trouble, however, reached even to this secluded spot,” wrote Sister Mary Theodosia Mug in her 1931 monograph of the Civil War, “Lest We Forget: The Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods in Civil War Service.”

And those rumblings would eventually lead the Sisters of Providence to serve the Union as sister-nurses in Indianapolis and Vincennes, Ind.

On Tuesday, Oct. 25, at 7 p.m. (EDT) at St. Mary’s Catholic Church, 105 E. Jackson Street, Sullivan, Ind., Connie McCammon, a communications staff member in the Office of Congregational Advancement of the Sisters of Providence, will present “Lest We Forget: The Civil War Service of the Sisters of Providence.” Connie will share the story of Mother Mary Cecilia Bailly and the courageous sisters who answered a call to service during a turbulent time in the nation’s history.

Connie will also include information about the Wabash Valley Civil War Sesquicentennial Project, a special collection of Wabash Valley Visions & Voices (WV3). Other partners include Indiana State University’s Cunningham Memorial Library, the Vigo County Public Library, the Vigo County Historical Society, the Sullivan County Public Library, the Sullivan County Historical Society and the Sullivan County Clerk’s and Recorder’s Offices.

The public is invited to attend this presentation

For more information about the service of the Sisters of Providence during the Civil War, check out our children’s website, WoodsUp.com.

Learn more about Sister Helena Burns, who is pictured above.

The wisdom of Saint Mother Theodore

Letter from Saint Mother Theodore to Sister Maria in Madison, Ind.
 
Nov. 11, 1853

“My dear Sister:

“Sister Basilide having written to let me know the number of hours that each of you was occupied in teaching, I told her I thought you had too much to do and begged her to take something from you. This is the whole mystery.

“It is an artifice of the enemy of our soul and of all good to make us think that we should perform well such and such an employment if it were given to us. He wants to turn us away from the real good that we can do at the present moment, and for this end he aids us in projecting an immense good for some future period, or under circumstances which will never be offered to us. Let us not allow ourselves to be caught by this father of lies. Give your music lessons, etc., to the best of your power, and do not think about what you might do if you were a lay Sister, or something else.

“Continue to obey in regard to your Communions. Obedience is the best preparation that you can bring to Holy Communion.” (“Journals and Letters,” pages 357-358)

See our children’s website, WoodsUp.com, to learn more about our saint.

Sisters of Providence Foundation Day is Oct. 22

Mother Theodore used to tell that when she saw the place they were coming to (Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana), her strength failed her, and it was with difficulty she was able to walk down the ravine, cross the little stream below on a log, and come up to the rude habitation to which they were conducted.

Such was that first Oct. 22, 1840, Foundation Day.

Fortunately for all who stand on the shoulders of this valiant woman, she pressed on, she did not turn back.

She would say to her sisters many years later, “Perfect abandonment of ourselves in all things for the future requires great courage and we ought to aspire to it.”

The drawing here is of the Thralls farmhouse that served as the first convent for the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1840. (Drawing by Sister Mary Emmanuel Rinke from water color picture made in 1842 by Sister St.Francis le Fer de la Motte.)

Interested in reading more? Landing on U.S. soil takes you back to that day.

Oct. 15 fifth anniversary of Saint Mother Theodore's canonization

Five years ago, more than a thousand of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin's closest contemporary sisters, friends, companions and other guests were gathered at Saint Peter's Square at the Vatican where Pope Benedict XVI canonized the foundress of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
Since then, visitors from all 50 states and from dozens of foreign nations have visited her Shrine in the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.
The canonization's anniversary falls during the busy month of October which also recognizes Saint Mother Theodore's birthday and feast day (Oct. 2 and Oct. 3) and Foundation Day on Oct. 22. Also, the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Fest is Oct. 21-23. With respect to the energy required to bring those other celebrations to life, the Congregation made a conscious decision to bring attention to the anniversary in a quiet, but respectful way.
In addition to the daily Eucharistic Liturgy, a video is available in the Providence Center lobby that recalls events and celebrations around the canonization. Pam Lynch, an SP staff graphic artist, created the video with music, using a collection of photographs.
“We just want to offer a gentle reminder that our Mother Theodore is still with us. Her legacy and spirituality are alive today. She is such a treasure to so many people," said Sister Denise Wilkinson, the Congregation's general superior.

So many people still look to Saint Mother Theodore for intervention with our Provident God, and the love, comfort and energy she still provides through her spiritual presence. Take the time to reflect, if you so choose, on what her canonization means to you. What role does she have in your life today?

The wisdom of Saint Mother Theodore

Letter from Saint Mother Theodore to Sister Gabriella in Fort Wayne, Ind.
 
Jan. 3, 1853

“My dear Sister:

“I have received with true pleasure your good and affectionate wishes. The heart understands the heart. As yours was speaking in your letter, mine understood its language. Be sure, my dear Sister Gabriella, that I wish and ask from God for you at least as much as you do for me. Oh, what a season for love, for fervor, for prayer! How often have you been, dear Sister, in the Stable of Bethlehem? Without doubt you have paid many visits there to adore our Divine Saviour. Have you considered, my dear Sister, with what rigor He treats His innocent Body, so tender and so young? What an example of mortification and self-denial! He gives us the graces which have cost him so much and which are so sweet to us! Oh, let us love Him! Let us, after His example, mortify our bodies of sin and corruption, in order that they may be glorified with Him one day in heaven. We have, both of us, a good opportunity for this, being not very well; and this is truly the time for mortification. Let us bear all we must suffer without complaint, without murmur, and also without taking unnecessary care of this dreadful carcass, which is today the object of our worship, and tomorrow will be the food of worms, maggots, etc.

“I desire to see you very perfect in every way, and I do not like to know that you often have those miserable chills and fever. I hope by this time you are rid of them, but I fear they will come back again in your cold North.

“I wish you could see the beautiful ornament we have received from our good Bishop [Saint-Palais] and also a pretty little Infant Jesus upon some straw. On pulling a string it opens both its arms and eyes and appears ready to speak. Sister Agatha seeing it for the first time exclaimed aloud. She thought it was a wonderful miracle. …”

(“Letters and Journals,” pages 348-349)

Read a personal prayer to Saint Mother Theodore.

Sisters of Providence Fall Discernment Retreat

Did you know that everyone has a vocation? Each person baptized is called to be of service to the Gospel. A person can do this through one of three ways: as a single person, a married person or a member of a vowed religious community, like the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

Are you longing to grow more deeply in your Catholic faith? If you are a woman ages 18-42 who is considering religious life, or you know someone who is, check out our Fall Discernment Retreat in conjunction with the Saint Mother Theodore Guerin FEST, Oct. 21-23 at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind.

Your weekend with the sisters will consist of personal and group prayer and reflection, meals and time spent getting to know the sisters and attending Eucharistic Liturgies. There is no cost to attend the Fall Discernment Retreat and the FEST so register today.

Sister Bernice Kuper, vocation minister, said, “The human process of answering the question ‘How do I know what God wants me to do with my life?’ will be much more like being given a map of the United States and told to plot a route which will take you from Indianapolis to San Francisco. You know you will get there but it will involve some effort on your part. You know you will meet some unexpected detours, some challenges and perhaps some delightful surprises on the way, but to reach your destination you have to stay engaged and keep moving ahead!”

Sister Jenny discusses what young women today are looking for, when considering religious life and choosing a vocation, in the video below.



Don't see the video above? Click here.

Take the next step in your vocations journey and attend this special weekend.

The wisdom of Saint Mother Theodore

Letter from Saint Mother Theodore to the sisters in Madison, Ind.

March 21, 1849

“My very dear and beloved Daughters:

“Just this moment I hear that the cholera has made its entrance into your dear Madison. I cannot tell you how anxious I am about you. I beseech you to be sure to write to me at least three times a week, even if only a few lines, to let me know how you are, whether the disease spreads or whether it has disappeared, — in a word, everything. You understand that the least details are of interest in such moments of danger. I have confidence, however, that God will not permit any of you to be attacked by the epidemic. Be cheerful, kind to one another. Have nothing on your conscience that could trouble you. Do not fast. Let your food be wholesome and well prepared. Keep your house, the yard, and also your persons clean. Change your linen often, and have your children clean also, if they are still with you. Finally, my dear daughters, pray. Prepare yourselves, or rather, keep yourselves ready to answer the summons of your Divine Spouse if He calls you to Himself; but, let me repeat it, I hope He will not. At New Orleans the contagion attacked only those who were predisposed by an enfeebled constitution or by excesses.”
(“Journals and Letters,” p. 280)

To have a prayer request placed in the Book of Petitions at the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, contact Sister Jan Craven, coordinator of the Office of the Shrine of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin and interim director of Programming and Hospitality, at 812-535-2925 or email Sister Jan.

Mother Theodore & Taillard

On today's feast of St. Francis of Assisi, the great animal lover, many people around the world give a special blessing to their pets. You might not know that Mother Theodore herself had a pet, an extraordinary little dog named Taillard.

In a letter to Sister Mary Xavier in Vincennes on January 1, 1854, Mother Theodore writes, "My poor Taillard is dead. I am so sorry..."

In the Journals & Letters book, editor Sister Mary Theodosia Mug adds a note here:

"Taillard was a scrawny little yellow dog, greatly prized by the Sisters because one night he saved their home from burning by barking fiercely. The house had caught on fire from live coals dumped into an ash-barrel which stood against the frame building. In a few minutes the stairs leading to the dormitory would have been ablaze, and escape for the Sisters impossible."

We don't know much else about little Taillard, but he certainly served our Mother Theodore and the Sisters of Providence well!

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Feast Day

Today’s feast of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin also marks the 5th anniversary of her
canonization at the Vatican on Oct. 3, 2006.

I can still feel the pride and excitement of seeing her banner-portrait uncovered and that familiar painting shared with the entire world. Our saint, now everyone’s saint — the first saint in Indiana and only the 8th saint in the United States!

In my mind’s eye, I saw hundreds and hundreds of school children in the United States, in China and in Taiwan, being taught through the years about this remarkable pioneer woman
from France, who, with her five sister-companions — Sister St. Vincent Ferrer Gagé, Sister Basilide Sénéschal, Sister Olympiade Boyer, Sister Mary Xavier Lerée and Sister Mary Liguori Tiercin — established a Congregation and a school at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in 1840.

The Congregation of the Sisters of Providence continues today as does the school, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College.

People of all faith traditions and in all cultural and economic circumstances can find strength in her enduring message: “Perfect abandonment of ourselves in all things for the future requires great courage, but we ought to aspire to it.” Happy feast!

Happy birthday, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin!

How does one celebrate a birthday in heaven, especially one’s 213th?

I suspect there would be a gathering of some kind, with her founding sister companions — Basilide, Mary Xaxier, Olympiade, St. Liguori, and St. Vincent Ferrer — leading all the heavenly well-wishers and close behind the 2,174 deceased Sisters of Providence, who carried on her mission for more than 171 years.

We, her modern-day daughters and sons, ask her special intercession on her birthday, Oct. 2 — and Oct. 3, her feast day!