From: rich <
richarra@gmail.com>
October 3rd - Saint Theodore Guerin
Also known as Mother Theodore. Anne-Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se Gu=C3=A9rin
Memorial
3 October
14 May on some calendars
Today people fly from Paris to New York City on the Concorde in hours.
In 1840 Saint Mother Th=C3=A9odore Gu=C3=A9rin left France on July 27. She = and
five other Sisters of Providence traveled by ship, train, steamboat,
canal boat, and horse-drawn carriage. They arrived in Vincennes,
Indiana, on October 22. The journey across the ocean took 26 days,
going overland and by river another six weeks.
Why did the sisters make this long, difficult journey? The bishop of
Vincennes begged the superior of the Sisters of Providence in France
to send sisters to open schools and to care for poor sick people. Forty-two-year-old Sister Theodore was chosen to lead the group. When
the sisters arrived, they went directly to the log cabin chapel in the
deeply forested hills. There Mother Theodore dedicated their mission
to Mary, and named it St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
Pioneer life is very hard. The sisters struggled to survive the first
winter in a drafty little farmhouse. It was very cold, they were very
poor, and food was scarce. They worked hard at learning English. By
the following summer, they welcomed their first student. Within a year
they opened three schools. Other young women saw the good work they
were doing and joined them.
The community dealt with many difficulties. Once a fire destroyed
their barn and the harvested crops. They faced prejudice against
Catholics, especially Catholic religious women. But they persevered.
When Mother Theodore died 16 years after the community was founded,
the sisters had many schools, two orphanages, and two pharmacies to
dispense free medicines to the poor.
As a girl, Mother Theodore was named Anne-Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se. She was home schooled by her mother. Her father was an officer in the French navy.
When Anne Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se was 10 years old, she knew that she wanted to b=
e a
nun. Anne-Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se liked to go to the rocky shore near her home to pray. When she was 15, her father was killed by bandits on his way
home. After that, Anne-Th=C3=A9r=C3=A8se took charge of the house and garde=
n,
and cared for her sick mother and younger sister.
She joined the Sisters of Providence when she was 25 years old. For
years she taught and received a medal of honor for excellence in
teaching. She also studied medicine in order to care for people who
could not afford a doctor. Then she was assigned to America. She
thought there must be someone else who would be much better suited for
the job.
Mother Theodore always told her sisters, =E2=80=9CPut yourself gently into = the
hands of Providence.=E2=80=9D Mother Theodore Guerin was declared Blessed i=
n
1988 and canonized in 2006. She was the right person for this
incredible journey after all.
Saint Quote:
As a master of a family calls together his servants at the close of
the day to see how they have fulfilled their various offices, so must
the Christian summon before the tribunal of his reason, every day, the
sense of his body and all the various faculties and powers of his
soul, and ask of them a strict account of the manner in which they
have fulfilled their respective functions.
-- St. John Chrysostom
Bible Quote:
"Jesus said to her, "Did I not say to you that if you would believe
you would see the glory of God?"=C2 (John 11:40)
<><><><>
Our Lady of October
Our Lady of October!
How fitting such a name,
Now when the woods in grandeur
Put on their cloaks of flame.
It is to do you honor,
Before woods come to die;
They celebrate love's token:
Your holy Rosary.
We seem to see you standing
Down each dim, golden lane,
By the harvest moon enhaloed,
In nature's forest-fane,
While mellow earth soft raises
Its evening prayer on high,
And we repeat the Aves
Of your dear Rosary.
O Lady of October,
When death's autumn time is nigh,
May our golden key to Heaven
Be your holy Rosary.
--- NewsGate v1.0 gamma 2
* Origin: News Gate @ Net396 -Huntsville, AL - USA (1:396/4)