A Reflection for the 2026 Feast of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

Note: The following is the reflection General Superior Sister Jeanne Hagelskamp, SP, offered for the 2026 Feast Day of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin.

The readings for today’s Liturgy seem especially appropriate for the feast of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin … Sirach challenges us to remain steadfast in time of trial; Paul reminds us that what matters most in life is our relationship with God; and Luke invites us to give up all for the treasure of being in relationship with God. Certainly, these themes are woven through the life of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin.

I must admit that I have been fixated on the first line from Sirach:  “When you come to serve God, prepare yourself for trials.” How’s that for an attention getter? However, this is certainly not the quote we would want to use for our vocation materials! Or maybe it is!

Overcoming Trials

For trials certainly did not stop Anne-Thérèse Guerin from entering religious life!

In fact, from early in her childhood, Anne- Thérèse’s life was beset with trials, long before she became a consecrated religious woman. By the time she was 15, she had lost two brothers to fires and her father to the hands of robbers on his way home from military service.  I can hardly imagine the loss, the grief, the sadness, the questioning that may have been part of this young girl’s life. Don’t you wonder how those losses shaped her understanding of life, of suffering and of God?

And yet, from an early age, Anne- Thérèse seemed to possess a depth of spirituality that was far beyond her years. We know that due to the French Revolution, schools were closed and her mother used Scripture and the Catechism as the sources for teaching her both reading and religion.

Perhaps it was that constant immersion in Scripture that helped to form Anne-Thérèse’s deep belief and trust in a Provident God who would not fail her in times of trial.

Giving Herself to God

We also know that when she was 10 years old, on the day of her First Communion, Anne-Thérèse told the priest that she wanted to dedicate her life to God through religious profession. Even at that early age, young Anne-Thérèse knew she wanted to give up everything and to give herself completely to God.  

Some 15 years later, in 1823, after caring for her mother who was debilitated by her own grief over the loss of her husband and two children, her dream came true and Anne-Thérèse joined the Sisters of Providence of Ruillé-sur-Loir … a young congregation of women religious in France who were serving God by providing opportunities for education to children and by caring for the poor, sick and dying … and she was given the name Sister St. Theodore.

There, her trials did not end. As we know, during her novitiate, she suffered from smallpox, and although she survived that terrible malady, the medication given to her ruined her digestive system, so much so that for the rest of her life, she ate only soft foods and liquid.

Healing Wounds

And it appears that one of Sister St. Theodore’s deepest wounds was the result of a misunderstanding between herself and her superior, Mother Mary, … a misunderstanding that broke Theodore’s heart.

It was only after Mother Theodore had been in the United States for three years that she received a letter about it from Mother Mary and journaled: “The keenest of my pains was the thought that our good Mother was not pleased with me, that I had not her approbation — that was the source of my greatest misery. Her maternal letter, so full of affection, has come to heal this wound and strengthen my heart, which is better able to meet any other adversity.”

Persevering

Of course, here in the states, her trials grew even larger.  There were broken promises about what the Sisters would find upon their arrival.  There was the destruction of their barn and their newly harvested food supply by arsonists, and constant worry about where she would find funds to feed the sisters and carry out their ministries.

Of course, there were her difficulties with the Bishop …the list goes on and on.  Yet, through it all, Mother Theodore persevered.

So, what gave Mother Theodore the fortitude to endure and not lose trust in God amidst her many trials? How was she so able to courageously and persistently live the words of Sirach: “Cling to God, do not leave God … accept whatever happens to you; in periods of humiliation, be patient … Trust in God, and God will help you … For God is compassionate and merciful.” 

As I have read and re-read Mother Theodore’s Journals and Letters, one thing has struck me again and again. Mother Theodore did not pretend that suffering was easy, nor did she deny her pain. Rather, she spoke honestly about her trials and sufferings with clear expressions of pain, misery, worry, and even depression.

Trust in God

There was a real humanness in how she experienced and expressed her trials. At the same time, often she noted that she would offer her trials to God … she saw them as redemptive. And almost always, after describing her trials and concerns, she would profess her deep trust in the Providence of God and would encourage others to do the same. It is almost as though she was constantly reliving the words of Paul to the Philippians: “For Christ’s sake I have suffered the loss of all things and I consider them so much rubbish, that I may gain Christ and be found in him…depending on faith to know him and the power of his resurrection…”

For Mother Theodore, then, the goal was not to avoid suffering; rather, the goal was to remain rooted in Christ and place all her trust in Providence in the midst of it.

There is something else about Mother Theodore’s trials that I find particularly compelling: So many of them were bigger than herself.  Even her submission to Mother Mary’s request that she lead the group to America was itself a trial, for she was fearful that her poor health would be an encumbrance; besides, she loved her homeland, her family, and her Providence community and knew it would be painful to leave them. At the same time, she recognized the critical unmet needs on the frontiers of Indiana … education of young women and care of the sick poor… and so she said yes … not because it would be easy or adventuresome, but because she lived a life that was not simply for herself.  Her yes was for the life of the people halfway around the world.

And, many of us remember what happened when Mother Theodore encountered the selling of slaves in New Orleans … it devastated Mother Theodore and was a real heartache for her. And I quote: “The most painful sight I saw in New Orleans was the selling of slaves. Every day in the streets at appointed places, negroes and negresses in holiday attire are exposed for this shameful traffic, like the meanest animals at our fairs. This spectacle oppressed my heart. Lo! I said to myself, these Americans, so proud of their liberty, thus make game of the liberty of others. Poor negroes! I would have wished to buy them all that I might say to them, ‘Go! Bless Providence. You are free!’”

Embracing the Trials

In a very real way, some 186 years ago, Mother Theodore considered that the trials and sufferings of those in the New World were very different from her own; yet they were trials that she chose to embrace for the life of the world. Indeed, even then she was breathing life into our vision that we will co-create a world in which the dignity of every person is honored and the sacredness of all creation is upheld.

I suspect that today’s readings speak powerfully to many of us because we all know about trials … trials in our own lives … trials of our families and communities. And we know that the world around us continues to bear sometimes unimaginable suffering.

As we celebrate the life of our dear Mother Theodore, may we have the courage to embrace both our own trials and the suffering of the world.  And may each one of us, and all of us together, have the faith and wisdom to hold on to the words of Mother Theodore that we know so well: “Have confidence in the Providence that so far has never failed us. The way is not yet clear. Grope along slowly. Do not press matters; be patient, be trustful … And rest assured, …, if you lean with all your weight on Providence, you will find yourselves well-supported.”  

Click here to see more photos from the 2026 Feast Day Mass for Saint Mother Theodore Guerin.