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Love, mercy, justice
The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods are a community of vowed Catholic women religious. Inspired by our foundress Saint Mother Theodore Guerin, we are passionate about our lives of prayer, education, service and advocacy.
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Break boundaries, create hope
Spirituality and justice go hand-in-hand. We are committed to walking with those on the margins. Join us on our journey to make Earth better for all.
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What inspires you?
We all need a little spiritual inspiration sometimes. Let the wisdom of our Providence Community support you on your journey.
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Experience the Woods
From the moment you step onto the grounds at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, you know you're somewhere special. There's something for everyone at the Woods.
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Where do you fit in?
Reconnect or find new opportunities with the Providence Community. Volunteer in one of our many ministries, be an intern on the farm, explore job opportunities or reminisce about your alma mater.
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Join the Providence Family
Live joyfully! Single, Catholic women ages 18-42 are invited to explore a fulfilling life as a Sister of Providence. All women and men of faith are invited to join the family of Providence as Providence Associates.
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Community Living
Community: a place for sharing, love, acceptance, support. A place to be challenged, to be strengthened. For Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, living in community and being part of a larger spiritual community are integral to life. Are you seeking community? Become a Sister of Providence. Or join the larger community as a Providence Associate.

Journals and Letters week 5: The measure of the woman
Did the woman carry a yard stick? A surveyor’s measure? A folded up paper chart that converts leagues to miles, meters to inches or feet?

Journals and Letters week 4: Arrival on U.S. soil
And then, as often happens in our darkest hours, the smallest of kindnesses can lift the spirits.

A new start in the Providence Community
So, what brought these diverse women and men to seek something more with the Sisters of Providence?
Some said that as alums of former Sisters of Providence schools they were reconnecting with their roots.
One told how he had come to the Woods for a retreat and was inspired by what he saw.

“Journals and Letters” week 3: At sea in 1840
I love the many instances where she studies and describes an animal for the reader. She tells of the whale's massive head, as big as a house. The dark brown color of its back and how it spouts out water apparently by respiration as its jets are so regular.

To Mother Theodore and companions
You look on us amazed, as women will
at daughters growing generations after
them. We are all this century knows
of any value in your venturing
into a wilderness where Christ was
waiting for you …

“Journals and Letters” week 2: The voyage begins
The sea journey seems doomed from the moment they boarded. Thieves, seasickness and bad weather with the added addition of not speaking English and being on an “American” ship, all contribute to a wretched start.

Join us in reading the “Journals and Letters” of Saint Mother Theodore Guerin
To celebrate Mother Theodore's life and many accomplishments that continue even today, we will be revisiting her own words by reading Journals and Letters over the course of a year. Each week we’ll read several pages and reacquaint ourselves with the woman who started it all. Won't you join us?

Sisters of Providence teachers pass on a legacy of caring
At the time, Brian Eckstein was unaware of the impact having Sisters of Providence as teachers would have on him as he got older. But when he and his wife, Wendy, had their sons Collin and Trent, those memories all…

Butterflies, prayers and poetry: celebrating our sisters ages 90+
And so, Provident God, bless these women who have done so much, been so much, are so much. Thank you for giving them the strength and the courage to be transformed in your grace.

Celebrating our sisters 90 and over
On Sept. 23, 2020, we celebrated 35 Sisters of Providence who are age 90 or older.

Sisters of Providence who have ministered in Taiwan share their stories
"The grandmother of one of my students, a boy named K-Sing, said to me in Taiwanese one day, ‘I don’t know what it is, but the way you hold my little grandson is different from the other teachers.’ Then she reached out and touched my SP cross, and said: ‘You wear this white cross of your God. I do not know who this God is, but there is a special love in your heart!’”

Elizabeth Kuo, beloved “Grandma Kuo” of the sisters in Asia
In every stage of the sisters’ trials in China, Aunt (or Grandma as she was later called) Kuo was there, walking to the markets every day, sending meals to the sisters in house arrest, sleeping on a cot in the room where the sisters took their meals.
