
Saint Mother Theodore’s welcome: a foundation day reflection
There was no Wabash Avenue bridge. The crossing of the Wabash was made by ferry—probably a flat-bottomed open raft. Arrival on the other side was followed by a carriage ride through the river bottoms on and at times wholly submerged plank road—a soggy, wet, carriage ride during which the horses were at times literally swimming, with water up to their necks. The carriage tipped sideways twice, its wheels caught on tree roots. Later, Saint Mother Theodore Guerin would write, “When one has nothing more to lose, the heart is inaccessible to fear.”

