St. Mother Théodore Guérin was a bold missionary who, despite her reluctance, established schools in Indiana at the same time that Father Sorin founded Notre Dame.

She was born as Anne Therese in 1798 in France in the thick of the French Revolution. Her father was an officer in the French navy under Napoleon and when Anne was fifteen, he was murdered by bandits. Her mother fell into a deep depression and so Anne devoted herself to caring for her mother and sister and their household for ten years. Throughout all these years, Anne’s childhood desire to enter religious life only grew stronger. Finally, when she was twenty-five years old, her mother allowed Anne to enter the Sisters of Providence in Ruillé sur-Loir.

As a nun, Anne took the name Théodore and became a teacher. For a dozen years, she taught in Rennes, in central France and cared for the local poor there. During this time of ministry, Théodore fell ill from smallpox. Although she escaped death, the disease ravaged her digestive system, and for the rest of her life, she was limited to a simple, bland diet. Théodore quickly won over the local children with her charismatic teaching style and she established a thriving school in what was once the sisters’ most difficult mission.

The Sisters of Providence quickly recognized Théodore’s leadership skills. Thus, when the bishop of Vincennes, Indiana, requested more sisters to come help serve the rapid influx of Catholic immigrants, her community believed Théodore was the only possible woman who could lead such a trying mission. Théodore was reluctant, but nevertheless, left with five other sisters to the unknown diocese of Vincennes, Indiana on July 12, 1840—just a few short years before Father Sorin and seven Holy Cross brothers would make a similar journey before founding the University of Notre Dame in 1842.

When Father Sorin arrived at the site where the University was to grow, he found a simple log cabin that served as a center for missionary activity in the area. Mother Théodore had a similar experience—she and her sisters traveled by steamboat and stagecoach until they arrived in the middle of the Indiana forest to find a simple frame farmhouse that some American postulants had begun to turn into a convent.

On that very site, in 1841, Mother Théodore and her sisters opened St. Mary-of-the-Woods, the first liberal arts Catholic college for women in the United States. Under her leadership, the community went on to establish more schools and orphanages throughout Indiana. Mother Théodore also drew upon the medical training she received in France by adding pharmacies that dispensed free medicine to those in poverty in their school communities.

Mother Théodore was fearless in her ministry to those in need and committed to the sisters’ mission of education. Her strong leadership was not always welcomed by the local hierarchy. She stood up many times to Bishop de la Hailandière, who closed one of the sisters’ schools and overstepped his authority within the congregation, once even imprisoning Mother Théodore for a full day.

One of the miracles in her canonization cause was the healing of Phil McCord, of Terre Haute, Indiana. He had long worked at Sisters of Providence facilities in Terre Haute and was now losing his eyesight. He was legally blind and scheduled to have an operation. He prayed to Mother Guerin for strength and when he woke up the next day his eyesight was fully restored. Besides a small laser procedure to remove old tissue, he no longer needed surgery.

St. Mother Théodore Guérin, missionary who boldly built up the Indiana frontier—pray for us!

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Image Credit: Our featured image of St. Mother Théodore Guérin is an illustration by Julie Lonneman, who holds exclusive rights to the further distribution and publication of her art. Used with permission.