Saint Mother Theodore Guerin

So impressed with the holiness of the bishop’s death, she reminds the sisters, “Especially let us never forget that if we wish to die like the Saints, we must live like them.”

“The future is yours.” Such a new chance for hope.

The cross did await Mother Theodore and her sisters “at every turn.” The conflict with the bishop took many more twists and turns before the rule was approved and the land deeded over. Yet she persisted.

Her statement at that time is one we must take to heart still today: “These Americans, so proud of their liberty, thus make game of the liberty of others.” No slave markets today, no. Yet that legacy is still so evident in the systemic racism that tells a lie about “liberty and justice for all.”

Yet, no matter how frightening the weather or terrifying an incident, Mother Theodore could and did pray.

From her sickbed Mother Theodore still had to keep watch over what was going on back at the Woods. While she was away Bishop de la Hailandière had created havoc for the community, demanding that he be obeyed despite legitimate objections to his requests.