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.