Sister Janet Gilligan

Sister Janet Gilligan

Sister Janet Gilligan is a volunteer in the Sisters of Providence Archives. A retired English professor, she enjoys her role as an archivist — answering queries, writing grants, and learning how to digitize collections.

An unbreakable promise

True to her word, after her safe arrival at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Mother Theodore had a small log chapel built on a little hill in the forest east of the convent

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A lifetime of meeting needs around the world and in our own backyard: Sister Patty Fillenwarth

She heard their stories of abuse, of problems with their children, of anxiety about their immigration status. Many of them needed professional counseling, but this was almost impossible for poor families who had no insurance and were struggling with English. Sister Patty came to see that her greatest missionary opportunity now was not in Africa, Peru or Taiwan, but in her own backyard.

Digitizing the letters and journals of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

The original manuscripts of all the existing letters and journals, mostly in French, have been carefully preserved in the Sisters of Providence Archives. But these fragile pages have never been available to the public. Now, thanks to a Library Services and Technology Act (LSTA) grant from the Indiana State Library, digital representations of the personal letters of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, along with transcriptions and translations, will be available sometime after July.