Saint
Saint Theodore Guerin
Religious, founder of the Suore della Provvidenza of Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, 1798-1856
Early life
Theodore Guerin, registered at birth as Anne-Thérèse Guérin, was born on 2 October 1798 at Etables, in France.[1] At ten she received the eucharist for the first time and confided to her parish priest the wish to become a religious.[1] Her mother, Isabelle Guérin, taught her, basing her lessons on the scriptures.[1] Her father, Laurent, who had enlisted in the navy, was murdered by bandits on his journey home when she was fifteen; for many years afterwards she looked after her mother, her younger sister, the house and the garden.[1]
Vocation
At almost 25 she entered the Congregazione delle Sorelle della Provvidenza, taking the name Suor St. Théodore, and was charged with leading a small mission of sisters to found a motherhouse, establish schools and work among the pioneers of the diocese of Vincennes, in the state of Indiana.[1] During her novitiate she had fallen gravely ill; the treatment cured the illness but permanently damaged her digestive system, so that for the rest of her life she could take only light, bland food and liquids.[1]
Foundation
With five sisters she reached the site of the mission at Saint-Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, on the evening of 22 October 1840.[1] In the autumn of 1840 the mission consisted only of a small wooden building serving as chapel and priest's lodging and a small farmhouse; during the first winter the sisters were often sick and hungry.[1] In the early years she faced prejudice against catholics and above all against religious women, betrayals, the separation of the Indiana congregation from that of Ruillé, a fire that destroyed the whole season's harvest, and many illnesses.[1] Less than a year after her arrival she opened the congregation's first academy, and in 1842 founded schools at Jasper, Indiana, and St. Francisville, Illinois.[1]
Death and recognition
By the time of her death on 14 May 1856 she had founded schools throughout Indiana.[1] She was beatified on 25 October 1998 by Pope John Paul II.[1] She was canonised on 15 October 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI.[1]
Follow the evidence
Sources and notes
- Theodore Guérin
Dicastery for the Causes of Saints · Italian
Accessed 2026-09-05
Editorial notes
Translated and condensed from the Dicastery's official Italian profile by an automated pass on 2026-09-09; identity matched on the death date and name; editorial review pending.
This is an AI-assisted draft prepared from the sources above. Its citations identify its evidence; they do not replace a historical review.
The inherited biography
The earlier biography for this record.
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Saint Theodore Guerin (1798–1856), born Theodora Guérin in France, was a devoted religious sister whose life of service profoundly shaped Catholic education in the United
Image: Public domain via Wikimedia Commons (Saint Mother Theodore 8x10.jpg)
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