Impressive history made, and in the making

Sisters of Providence are women who have made history, women who have lived history, women who are making history. As the annual observation of National Women in History month begins to move toward its conclusion, Sister Maureen Abbott remains dedicated to her unique opportunity to be a partner with and observer of the Congregation’s history. She is writing volume four of the annals.

“I could walk around the cemetery now and I would feel like I know these people. One of the things I am trying to do in the book is bring forward the daily lives of sisters. Their biographies are wonderful. These people are just fascinating,” she said of her sisters in community.

“There is fabulous talent. Many sisters are brilliant, ambitious, not in the sense of being in it for themselves, but they are willing to tackle projects. It’s overwhelmingly impressive,” she added.

Are you excited yet?

Her writing is expected to be finished by the end of 2012 and the book will be published after editing and procedural details are completed. The text will focus on the years 1926 to 1966.

She mentioned how one sister helped a student become a writer and historian. She mentioned sisters who worked with groups during the grips of racial strife in the 1960s. And she talked about significant changes that came within the Congregation after the Second Vatican Council. Sisters actually lived this history, and they are continuing to make new history.

Sister Maureen will bring these fascinating stories to life in print soon. What exciting stories can you share about your relationships with sisters you have known? No doubt, you have observed some of the Congregation’s history in the making. What impresses you?

Volume four of Congregation's history heading into home stretch

Can't you just see Sister Maureen Abbott donning a deerstalker cap and doing her best imitation of Sherlock Holmes, pouring over reams of aged documents with a magnifying glass in hand?

That’s an oversimplification, of course. Sister Maureen has spent countless hours culling morsels of information for volume four of the Sisters of Providence history. Her work will fall in line behind the more than 1,800 pages of documented history already written in three volumes by Sisters Mary Borromeo Brown (RIP), Eugenia Logan (RIP) and Mary Roger Madden. This segment will cover the years 1926 to 1966.

The annual observance of Women in History Month seems like an appropriate opportunity to begin sharing Sister Maureen’s journey, even though the conclusion is several months away.

Sister Maureen accepted the challenge to write volume four while she has continued working in other ministries, most notably for the tribunal of the Archdiocese of Portland (Ore.) She has made periodic visits to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods since November, 2004, to gather information. She has exchanged phone calls and emails with the Archives staff to check and obtain detailed facts. She writes in her basement office in Portland.

The end is in sight. She intends to have her writing finished before the end of this year. “I’m hoping it will be finished by fall. I don’t know about the editing. On December 31, 2012, I’m out of here!” she said, chuckling.

“I have to say I have learned a lot. I am a good writer, but I had no experience in doing historical research. It was a real learning curve for me.”

The Sisters of Providence have definitely made their presence known as women in history (also the present for that matter) and as the annual observance continues, we’ll share a couple more postings later this month about Sister Maureen’s work. In the meantime, what are your memories about some of the Sisters of Providence you have known? Why not post some of your thoughts to share with others?

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.

Women’s History Month: It took everyone

Yes, Saint Mother Theodore was an incredible woman, but it took every sister to help make the Sisters of Providence a reality. “The Eighth American Saint” describes Mother Theodore’s gratitude for two special women — Sister Olympiade Boyer and Sister Francis Xavier Le Fer (Irma):

“One bright fact stood out for Mother Theodore: all her sisters stood loyally by her and gave her courage. She thought with special gratitude of Sister Olympiade, for whom no labor, no matter how menial, was too much, who took care of the academy laundry and the mending as well, who was baker for some forty people, who cared for the stock, acted as infirmarian and who, best of all, was always as cheerful as she was efficient.

“It was Sister Francis who was perhaps Mother Theodore’s greatest comfort and joy. The very opposite of Sister Olympiade, Sister Francis was never able to do any hard work, but her humility and her love of God were a constant inspiration to her superior as well as to the novices whom she trained. At Ruillé, Mother Mary [Lecor] had said Sister Francis was ‘good only to love God,’ but it was this love which gave her value to her congregation. As time went on she lost much of her early timidity — no doubt because of her constant work among novices and postulants. Her English was still faulty, but even so she made an excellent teacher, one who taught by example as well as by words. More and more she was put in charge of the convent when Mother Theodore was ill or away on a trip. Of herself she wrote to one of the sisters at Ruillé, ‘I am a little less disorderly in my affairs, a little more proper in my appearance — but my cap is still always a little crooked.’

“ … Mother Theodore called her the saint in the house, the angel of virtue whose example animated her, ‘I am in the chapel near her, distracted with temporalities and business, and see her there, lost in God,’ she said, ‘and I come away strong again to meet life.’” (page 141)

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, click here.

Women’s History Month: ‘remoteness did not daunt people’

Although Saint Mother Theodore had her reservations about the remoteness of the location of Congregation, “The Eighth American Saint” illustrates how this fear was soon quelled.

“It did not take Mother Theodore very long to realize that despite its inaccessibility her school was going to prosper. She was beginning to learn, in fact, that nearly everything was inaccessible in that part of the country and that remoteness did not daunt people in the least; that even Saint Mary-of-the-Woods was not too isolated.

“It was also true that the little school was very simple, its furnishings were restricted to necessities, its lighting and heating very primitive; but the pupils were girls of pioneer stock and were used to privations. They did not expect anything better. Even the clothing and supplies they were asked to bring were simple — six summer and three winter dresses, a few towels and napkins, ‘a fine and a coarse comb and a small drinking cup.’

“The simplicity of the life did not trouble their parents either; what they wanted for their daughters was an education in the basics and in the graceful arts, and these they expected the sisters to supply. They evidently felt the sisters did, for the academy was soon going so well that Mother Theodore hoped to open a day school the following year. Already more Catholics were coming to the settlement, and obviously they were the poor for whom a free school would be needed.” (pages 112-113)

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, click here.

Women’s History Month: Devotion to Our Lady

“The Eighth American Saint” describes Saint Mother Theodore’s devotions, especially her devotion to Our Lady:

“She [Saint Mother Theodore] had other devotions — to the Holy Spirit, to Our Lady, to the Holy Infancy, and she loved the tradition of guardian angels. This last she had brought with her from Ruillé, where the religious carried out the lovely custom of saluting the guardian angel of whomever they met. It was a devotion, she said, excellent for religious teachers, because their own duties to children were in so many ways like those of the guardian angels.

“St. Anne, too, she loved dearly, and the great Teresa; but the deepest and most tender of her devotions was to the Sacred Heart of Jesus, for there she saw best exemplified the providence of God — their own title, their own aim.

“Almost from the time the sisters came to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Mother Theodore had established a devotion to Our Lady. ‘We began the month of Mary as solemnly as possible.’ She wrote in her journal in May, 1841, and it was a devotion that was to spread from their convent to Terre Haute and to other towns. Later the sodality of the Children of Mary was founded at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. This organization was the first of its kind in Indiana.” (pages 99-100)

To learn more about the spirituality of the Sisters of Providence, click here.

Women’s History Month: The excitement of letters and spring

“The Eighth American Saint” describes what joy spring and letters from France brought to the nascent Congregation:

“Spring came at last, their first spring in their new home. It was heralded by a long, hoarse whistle from the banks of the river, for the ice had broken and this was the signal that announced that navigation on the Wabash had begun again. The air grew balmy; trees were green with early leaf. At the convent doors, wild flowers bloomed, and in the forest farmers were tapping the maple trees for sap. The sisters from France saw for the first time the beauty of Indiana in April, with plum and hawthorn blossoms making the air sweet and the bright plumage of birds everywhere.

“At Saint Mary’s, they rejoiced in the variety the season brought, for the winter had been a time of monotony. Their greatest excitement had been the arrival of letters from France, and these were read again and again. These letters brought about an odd custom, carried out in a spirit of sacrifice but a source of difficulty to later historians of the sisters’ early days: when they wanted a certain favor very much, they burned some of these treasured letters as an offering to God of their dearest possessions.

“Fortunately many of these letters survived. Letters from Mother Mary [Lecor], from the bishop of Le Mans, from the curé of Soulaines, were nearly all preserved.” (pages 91-92)

To learn more about the Sisters of Providence Archives, click here.

Women’s History Month: English as a Second Language

“The Eighth American Saint” describes how the French sisters learned English after arriving at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods in October of 1840:

“Sister Theodore made ready to greet the new postulants as best she could in her few words of English. One of them was a French girl, Josephine Pardeillan, from Alsace; she had arrived earlier and had been living for some time with the Picquets at Sainte-Maire [Ill.]. Two others came from Vincennes — Frances Theriac and Genevieve Dukent. The fourth, who had also been for some time in Vincennes, was Mary Doyle. She had been Sister Gabriella, a Sister of Charity of Emmitsburg [Md.], who Bishop de la Hailandière [image on this page] had persuaded to leave her own congregation and join the Sisters of Providence.

“Sister Theodore was not happy about accepting ex-members from other congregations; in fact, the rule forbade it. But in this case the bishop had acted before the sisters came, without reference to her judgment, and she was not sufficiently established to take a stand. Then, too, it seemed that in Mary Doyle they had a valuable acquisition. She was about twenty-five years old, well educated in French and English, a good musician, and reputed to be an excellent teacher. She knew the locale well, for she had taught at Vincennes for almost three years. She was what Sister Theodore needed most of all: an English teacher. To learn English was a vital need for the French sisters, and Mary Doyle was willing to teach them.” (page 84)

To learn more about the interesting twists in the life of Mary Doyle, visit The Gift Shop to purchase “The Eighth American Saint.”

Women’s History Month: Such speed!

“The Eighth American Saint” describes the railroad experience of Mother Theodore and her traveling companions:

“They rode to Philadelphia on the South Amboy and Camden Railroad, opened only a few years before, the first rail route between New York and Philadelphia. The locomotive, the John Bull by name, was imported from England and was the first the sisters had ever seen. It was amazingly large and the coaches were too, seating a least forty people. The train went like lightning, past fields and villages with white houses and green blinds, along a canal where they saw boats pulled jerkily by a horse that walked along one bank. They were glad they did not have to travel so slowly. The train, they were told, went twenty miles in a single hour. The sisters were not at all alarmed by going so fast and greatly enjoyed the new experience.” (page 65)

To learn more about the transportation of the mid-1800s, click here.

(Image credit: The Library of Congress)

Women’s History Month: France disappears over the horizon

“The Eighth American Saint” describes the feelings of Saint Mother Theodore as her ship leaves France:

“At last, on July 27, the hour they had both hoped for and dreaded arrived. The sails extended, one after the other, as the wind swelled them. The land grew dim to the little group at the rail, until first Port Francis disappeared, and then the last bit of land faded.

“Sister Theodore, learning against the cordage, watched the shore of her country flying away from her until it was only a line on the far horizon. She stood there thinking of all she was leaving — her convent home, her sisters, Soulaines, her own sister Marie. Then she turned and saw her sisters in tears, for their thoughts were like her own. She forgot her own grief in comforting them. (page 57)

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore, click here.

Women’s History Month: China or Russia? Yes. New World? No.

“The Eighth American Saint” describes some of the feelings Mother Theodore had about leaving her beloved France for the New World:

“Sister Theodore, on a short trip to Soulaines to settle certain matters there, went to say goodbye to the doctor who had given her medical training when she first came there. He was very troubled to hear she was going so far away. ‘It is like hearing that a friend has been condemned to death,’ he said. ‘And you are far from well, Sister. Think of the hardships of the journey and then of the rough life in that wild country.’

“‘Well, I had never thought of going to America myself,’ said Sister Theodore, ‘and I am still surprised to know that I am actually going. I did want to work for souls in other lands, but I always thought of going to China or Russia — and instead it is to be the New World.’

“Later, when she wrote to say goodbye to her sister Marie, she had to repeat these words, for Marie had wept at the thought of her sister going away — ‘so far and to such a wild place.’

“‘I am certain it is the will of God for me to go there,’ Sister Theodore told Marie, but the latter remained unconvinced. ‘You will be unhappy so far from home, and in a place where the language is different and the customs too,’ Marie answered.

“‘I know, I know all that. I am even now torn between a desire to get to work there very soon and the knowledge that my heart will all but break when I leave. I do love you all and Ruillé and Soulaines and all my beloved France. But I am sure it is God’s will for me, Marie — of that I am certain.’” (pages 51-52)

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore, click here.

Women’s History Month: God chooses the humble

Like any human, Saint Mother Theodore had her doubts about her upcoming mission to the New World. “The Eighth American Saint” describes her feelings:

“What chiefly troubled her [Saint Mother Theodore] about this new mission was that its success or failure would depend on her. She was already forty-one years old, perhaps too old for pioneering; she had never been in really good health since she was a postulant. On the other hand, there were no ties of family to hold her. Her mother had died the year before; her sister Marie was happily married.

“More than once during those last months at Soulaines, Sister Theodore’s courage failed her. She was tempted to tell Mother Mary [Lecor, image on this page] that she could not go, but she was held back by the fact that on her depended the establishment of the mission. The group could not go if she withdrew. She had all but completely made up her mind to accept when she learned she would be given the title of superior general for the new group and any other houses set up in the United States ‘until such time as the bishop of Le Mans and the bishop of Vincennes shall otherwise jointly decide.’ Again her courage failed her.

“This time she decided to write to the bishop of Le Mans for advice. He answered reassuringly that our Lord did not choose the powerful of earth for His apostles, but humble working people: ‘Let us then consider ourselves nothing, but let us be ready for anything. Since you have been chosen, think of nothing but preparing yourself in the best manner you are able; bring to it a good will and rely constantly on help from above.’” (page 48)

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore, click here.

Women’s History Month: Thank goodness she said no!

Prior to her entrance into the Sisters of Providence of Ruillé, France, Anne-Thérèse Guerin (aka Saint Mother Theodore) did have a few suitors. “The Eighth American Saint” describes an encounter between Anne-Thérèse and one young man:

“‘I feel I must do something for God,’ she said falteringly, ‘and for souls. It is the only way I can help.’

“‘What can woman do to help?’ he asked with an amused smile. ‘Anyway, leave it to others — and marry me.’

“To this first question she had no answer ready; his offer of marriage she refused. But after he had gone, she began to wonder if perhaps she had been too bold in thinking she could really do something for God. She felt vaguely distressed, but she began to draw from her store of names of women who had done things for God, and this made her feel better. First of all there was Our Lady, greatly daring, greatly obedient. There was Judith, who had freed her people, and Esther who had delivered hers by her bravery and wit. There was Catherine of Siena, unafraid of the brilliant men who opposed her; Clare holding up the monstrance before the Saracens at Assisi; the great Teresa, tramping through Spain on her errands for God; Margaret Mary who worked for God in her quiet cloister.

“Anne-Thérèse would never be among those great names; that she knew, but she felt in her heart that there was a work ahead of her that would advance the kingdom of God — a small work, but nevertheless hers. What it was or where it would take her she did not know. But she was definitely certain that it was in the religious life that her own work must be carried out.” (page 33)

To purchase “The Eighth American Saint,” click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and her new world

At the end of Mother Theodore Guerin’s first journal, she writes about her new mission:

“It is astonishing that this remote solitude has been chosen for a novitiate and especially for an academy. All appearances are against it. I have given my opinion frankly to the Bishop, to Father Buteux, and, in fine, to all who have any interest in the success of our work. All have given reasons that are not entirely satisfactory; yet I dare not disregard them. The spirit of this country is so different from ours that one ought to be acquainted with it before condemning those who know more about it than we do; so I await the issue before passing judgment in a positive manner.”

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and sabots

Mother Theodore Guerin and her sister-companions were used to wearing wooden shoes or sabots when working outside. She writes about missing her sabots:

“Just now we are suffering from the want of sabots. It seems to me that if I only had the tools I could make a pair for each one of us. We shall not be able to go outside without sinking deep in the mud, except when it freezes.”

To learn more about sabots, click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and the church

After receiving the Blessed Sacrament upon her arrival at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Mother Theodore Guerin examined the church a little more closely. This is what she writes about it:

“No tabernacle, no altar, for can the name of altar be given to three planks forming a table forty inches long, supported by two stakes driven into the ground? — that is all, for there are no altar cards, no stand for the missal, in fine, nothing but what I have mentioned. A cotton cloth is spread over these planks; there is a small altar stone; and now you have the whole altar. Except at the time of Mass, the pyx, the chalice, and the rest are covered with a dark blue calico which seems to have been used as a bedspread by the good country people.”

To view some of the early sacred vessels used by the Congregation, click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and the Blessed Sacrament

Once Mother Theodore Guerin and her sister-companions were safely on land at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., the sisters wanted to visit the Blessed Sacrament. The following is what Mother Theodore writes about this experience:

“We had agreed among ourselves that our first visit would be made to the Blessed Sacrament, and that we would not speak to anyone before having satisfied this longing of our hearts. The priest preceded us and we followed in silence to the church. The Church! I send you the picture!! Yes, dear friends, that is the dwelling of the God of the Universe, in comparison with which the stables wherein you shelter your cattle are palaces!”

To learn more about where the first Mass at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods was offered, click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and fear

The short journey from Terre Haute to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., took forever as Mother Theodore and her sister-companions were forced to wait several hours for a ferry to cross the Wabash River. Once across the Wabash, Mother Theodore and her traveling companions faced a dangerous stagecoach ride. Mother Theodore writes:

“I may say, however, that I was not at all alarmed. When one has nothing more to lose, the heart is inaccessible to fear. The water poured in on us. We thought we were surely gone this time; but the driver without losing his American coolness managed the horses so dexterously as to set the carriage up again.”

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and Terre Haute

Arriving in Terre Haute, Ind., the afternoon of Oct. 21, 1840, Mother Theodore Guerin and her sister-companions spent the night in the city. She writes about Terre Haute:

“Like all American cities it [Terre Haute] is laid out on a large scale; in some places the houses are a gunshot from each other. We passed the night there in a hotel, and the next day heard Mass in a small Catholic church [St. Joseph’s] which has just been built. It is quite good for this country.”

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, click here.

Women’s History Month: Mother Theodore and smoking

Traveling by stagecoach from Vincennes to Terre Haute, Ind., was another arduous and dangerous leg of Mother Theodore Guerin’s journey to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind. Rain made matters even worse. When the stagecoach overturned and the driver was unable to upright the vehicle, assistance was sought from a man who lived in nearby cabin. Mother Theodore and her sister-companions stayed with the woman of the house as the men turned their attention to the stagecoach. Mother Theodore writes:

“The man of the house was so kind as to go and help our driver, and we were left to groan at our ease and to warm ourselves in this narrow abode. The woman, about sixty years of age, asked us who we were. As we could not answer except in French, she continued quietly smoking her pipe. (Smoking seems customary among the women in this part of the country; even young girls smoke; this seems very strange.)”

To learn more about Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, click here.