Stories from the Archives
Often, some of the most interesting pieces of history are lost in time. These inviting stories are drawn from the Sisters of Providence Archives and the memories of sisters and friends. They feature the many people and places instrumental in the Sisters of Providence history.
A ‘Happy Endings’ update on St. Joseph’s Lake
We told you the beginning and middle of the story and asked you to write a happy ending. You did!
Quietly breaking boundaries, creating hope
Few would probably imagine Sister Suzanne running for public office, supervising an adult education program or traveling through South America on her last dollar.
Journals and Letters week 12: Hardship and consolation
The reading picks up after the fire at Saint Mary’s destroyed the barns and granary, other provisions and all the farm equipment.
Ask Sister Dina: Tell me about the ‘Gibson Girls’
The “Gibson Girls” were Sister James Maureen along with Sister Alice Jean and Sister Jane (who were also twins).
Journals and Letters week 10: First letters, bishop issues
As she goes on, we get a feel for more of the distress coming the sisters’ way from the bishop. “So far there has been nothing but complaints about us,” she writes.
‘Against All Odds’ – Sister Clare Mitchell, SP
The necrology describes Sister Clare as a “gentle devoted religious, one very faithful to all her obligations. Many of the Sisters were very devoted to her, and this affection was noticeable even in their remembrance of her.”
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.
“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?