October 2, 1798, saw the birth of St. Théodore Guérin, SP, as Anne-Therese Guerin in Etables, Brittany, France.

The French government was fiercely anti-clerical when she was growing up, closing churches and seminaries and detaining priests and other religious leaders. In her parents' pious Catholic home, her cousin was a seminarian living in hiding. Even at such a young age, she demonstrated an advanced knowledge of theology thanks to his extensive instruction in religion.

At the age of 26, Anne-Thérèse joined the Sisters of Providence and committed her life to religious instruction. She possessed remarkable intellectual prowess, and the French Academy acknowledged her accomplishments.

Mother Théodore Guérin was dispatched to Indiana, USA, in 1840 to establish a Sisters of Providence convent inside the Vincennes diocese. There, she spearheaded the establishment of Indiana's first girls' boarding school, promoted Catholic education, and combated the prevailing anti-Catholicism of the day.

Her brave testimony to religion, optimism, and love for God made her well-known. During its early years, the risk of the Our Lady of the Woods monastery being destroyed by anti-Catholics was a constant source of difficulty. Persecution also came from within the Church, from her own bishop, who excommunicated her after she refused to change the order's rules. Eventually, his successor lifted the excommunication.

After a period of illness, she passed away on May 14, 1856; her feast day is observed on October 3.

On October 25, 1998, Pope John Paul II beatified her, and on October 15, 2006, Pope Benedict XVI canonized her.

Other Saints of the Day
Saint Menna
Saint Adalgott
Saint Widradus
Saint Gerard of Brogne
Saint Cyprian of Toulon