Let’s get Mother Theodore on the National Liturgical Calendar!

In the fall of 2024, the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, were contacted by a reporter from Our Sunday Visitor, located in Huntington, Indiana.

The reporter, a devotee of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, had been in contact with Archbishop Charles Thompson of Indianapolis in order to try to get Mother Theodore’s Feast Day placed on the United States National Liturgical Calendar, and was given permission to do so.

For Saint Mother Theodore’s name and Feast Day to be placed on the calendar, there is a requirement of proof that she has a cultus, or a following.

When someone is proclaimed a saint, public devotion to the saint, or a cultus, is authorized for Catholics worldwide upon canonization, but inclusion in the national liturgical calendar requires demonstrating an active and broad following.

In other words, we are attempting to show that Saint Mother Theodore is more than just a regional saint.

We’re asking for your help to identify all the places where some visible and tangible devotion to Mother Theodore is taking place.

For example:

• Liturgies,
• Prayer Services,
• Pilgrimages,
• Favors Received,
• Parishes and Chapels. Saint Mother Theodore Guerin Parish in the Archdiocese of Chicago and the chapels dedicated in her name at St. Joseph Church in Jasper, Indiana, and the Fort Wayne Cathedral,
• Churches with her image, such as the stained glass windows featuring Saint Mother Theodore at St. Roch Church in Indianapolis and at St. Mary’s Church in Ireland, Indiana,
• Statues honoring her legacy, including the Basilica of the National Shrine of the Immaculate Conception in Washington, D.C.; All Saints Cemetery in Des Plaines, Illinois; Immaculate Conception Church in Mattoon, Illinois; Guerin Catholic High School in Noblesville, Indiana; and the Motherhouse of the Sisters of Providence in Ruillé, France,
• Schools and organizations. Institutions that prominently display her image or embrace her well-known teaching philosophy of “Love the children first; then teach them.”

Do you know of any more examples? If so, please fill out the form below. Or, feel free to reach via email at jwoodruff@spsmw.org or ma@spsmw.org.