Born in France in 1798, her father was in the French Navy under Napoleon Bonaparte. He and his wife, Isabelle, had four children but only two daughters survived. 

Her given name was Anne Therese and she came into the world at the end of the French Revolution and during the Reign of Terror which was particularly cruel to Catholic institutions and clergy. 

When she was ten years old and after receiving her first Holy Communion, she told a priest she intended to enter a religious community as soon as she was old enough but when she was fifteen her father was robbed and murdered. Her mother, having already lost two children, was now without her husband and fell into a deep depression. Anne Therese assumed responsibility for the household. 

When she was twenty her mother recovered and gave Anne Therese her blessings as she entered the Sisters of Providence where she was given the name, Sister Theodora. 

She became a teacher and administrator while caring for the poor and sick. 

In 1840, the Bishop of Vincennes, Indiana asked for help for his large and growing community. Sister Theodora and five other sisters were sent to help. 

Upon arriving, Sister Theodora formed a new community: The Sisters of Providence of St. Mary of The Woods, and their mission was to provide care for the sick and poor and to teach. 

She was an incredible builder, overcoming countless obstacles of every kind to build schools and orphanages in Indiana and eastern Illinois. 

She died in 1856 at the age of fifty-seven and was deeply mourned by the community she served, Catholics and non-Catholics alike. 

She was Canonized in 2006 by Pope Benedict XVI. 

St. Theodora Guerin, please pray for us.