The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods distributed first-class relics of St. Theodore Guérin to representatives from all five of Indiana’s Catholic dioceses on October 11, 2026, marking the 20th anniversary of her canonization. The event, which included a pilgrimage and a special Eucharistic liturgy, serves to expand the public’s physical and spiritual access to the first saint canonized in the state of Indiana, as reported by OSV News.
For the faithful, these relics are more than religious artifacts; they are tangible links to a woman who arrived on the Indiana frontier in 1840 with five other sisters to educate the poor. While St. Theodore’s remains rest in a handmade walnut casket at her shrine in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, the distribution of these new relics allows her story to move beyond a single location and into cathedrals and parishes across the state.
Hundreds spent their Sunday morning celebrating Saint Mother Theodore Guerin as the Sisters of Providence held a special Mass celebrating the 20-year anniversary of her canonization.Story in bio pic.twitter.com/lznr62lNeo
Physical connections to a frontier legacy
The distribution involved first-class relics—defined by the Church as portions of a saint’s body—which were handed to representatives including Msgr. Fred Easton of the Archdiocese of Indianapolis, Mary Gen Blittschau of the Diocese of Evansville, Father Francis Chukwuma of the Diocese of Fort Wayne-South Bend, Sister Evelyn Ovalles of the Diocese of Gary, and Marcia Murphy of the Diocese of Lafayette.
In Fort Wayne-South Bend, Father Francis Chukwuma will bring the relic to the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception for future public veneration. To further cement this connection, the diocese is commissioning a statue of Mother Theodore from the same Italian company that crafted the cathedral’s statue of Blessed Solanus Casey. Once finished, the statue and relic will be positioned together at the back of the cathedral.
Beyond the newly distributed relics, the Sisters of Providence maintain a comprehensive archive of her life at the Saint Mary-of-the-Woods shrine. Visitors can view her original writing desk, prayer book, chaplet, and the shoes she wore during her journey from France to the United States.
The stakes of reliance on providence
This historical reality is why the Sisters of Providence view her life as an inspiration of faith, courage and trust in Providence.
“The hallmark of her life is just really reliance on God’s providence for everything she tried to accomplish, for everyone she tried to heal, for everyone whose needs she tried to meet. Whether or not she had the means did not stop her from accomplishing what she believed God had called her to do,” said Sister Anne Therese Falkenstein of the Sisters of Providence.
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A tension between veneration and accessibility
To manage this accessibility, the Sisters of Providence are developing a formal protocol. This will allow relics of St. Theodora to be available by request to shrines, parishes, and other ecclesiastical institutions, ensuring that the promotion of her story is handled with consistency and reverence.
From the Brittany region to the Indiana woods
St. Theodore’s journey began in France’s Brittany region in 1798. By 1823, at nearly 25 years old, she joined the Sisters of Providence. Her transition to the American Midwest was not merely a change in geography but a leap into a wilderness where she would eventually establish nearly a dozen schools and two orphanages. Her educational legacy survives today in the form of St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, which opened within a year of her arrival.
Her connection to the land was as deep as her connection to her mission. She frequently wrote about the “magnificent forests of Indiana,” noting that in the solitude of the woods, she discovered the goodness and bounty of God.
The formal recognition of her holiness culminated on October 15, 2006, when Pope Benedict XVI canonized her at the Vatican. This act made her the eighth canonized American saint and the first from Indiana, officially integrating her story into the universal Church’s history.
