October 13, 2006

Portion of U.S. 150 to be named in honor of Indiana’s first saint

Staff report

The Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods have received word from Indiana Gov. Mitch Daniels and Indiana Department of Transportation officials that a section of U.S. 150 adjacent to the motherhouse grounds will be known as St. Mother Theodore Guérin Memorial Highway.

As The Criterion went to press, Daniels was expected to make the formal announcement during a ceremony on Oct. 10 at the Church of the Immaculate Conception at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods.

Blessed Mother Theodore Guérin will be canonized as a saint on Oct. 15 at the Vatican in Rome. Pope Benedict XVI will preside at the Mass at St. Peter’s Square.

Blessed Mother Theodore came to the United States in 1840 and founded the Sisters of Providence west of

Terre Haute.

“We are very excited that Gov. Daniels and the State of Indiana have chosen to honor Mother Theodore in this special way,” said Sister Denise Wilkinson, the congregation’s general superior.

“By naming a section of the highway in her honor, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods will be even more recognizable to those who travel by,” Sister Denise said. “We also hope this honor calls attention to the historical contributions that Mother Theodore and the generations of sisters who have followed in her footsteps have made to the education and well-being of countless Indiana citizens for 166 years.”

Sister Denise noted that Mother Theodore likely traveled a path through the woods similar to that of U.S. 150 on her way to Saint Mary-of-the-Woods by stagecoach in 1840. †

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