Page:Life and life-work of Mother Theodore Guerin Foundress.djvu/9



The life of Mother Theodore Guérin is another record of the gesta Dei per Francos. The French people have received from God remarkable gifts. They have nobly used them. They have been in every age, since they received the gift of the faith, the pioneers of Christian civilization — in Europe, in America, in Asia, in Africa, and in the far-off isles of Oceanica — everywhere bringing the light and benefits of the faith.

America has seen the intrepid sons of France early on her soil and in her wilds, and given up her wonders to a Père Marquette, the explorer of the Mississippi, and other noble sons of the Church, who, not through greed of lucre but through a love of souls, gave themselves and their worldly belongings to spread the light of Christianity among the peoples that sat in the darkness of unbelief.

Mother Theodore was a Religious of the Sisters of Providence of Ruillé-sur-Loir. She entered the convent while still in early youth, and was distinguished among her companions for steadiness of purpose and firmness of character that gained for her the confidence of her Superiors.

When Mgr. de la Hailandière was seeking Religious