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Pope Benedict XVI could canonize Sisters of Providence foundress as early as this fall
By Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star
Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin has passed another critical step toward sainthood, and it appears her canonization could occur in the fall.
On Tuesday, a group of church leaders in Rome — the Ordinary Congregation of the Cardinals — declared that a second miracle had occurred as the result of Mother Theodore’s intercession.
Those findings will be forwarded with the cardinals’ recommendation to Pope Benedict XVI for his final approval, and he is expected to sign a proclamation this spring.
“The way is now open for the canonization of our foundress, Mother Theodore Guerin,” said Sister Ann Margaret O’Hara, general superior of the Sisters of Providence. “We share her now with the entire world, and we are happy to do that.”
The Sisters of Providence announced the major development during a Wednesday news conference. Mother Theodore would become Indiana’s first saint and the eighth saint who spent most of her ministry life in the United States, according to the Sisters of Providence.
People who are canonized — declared to be saints — are venerated and honored by the entire Catholic Church, whose number of adherents is more than a billion.
Proof of two miracles is required before a candidate can be considered for sainthood.
In Mother Theodore’s case, evidence of that second miracle was approved in Rome last year by a panel of Church physicians and theologians.
Until this week, the individual involved in the second miracle had not been publicly identified. That person, Philip McCord, who was healed in 2000, attended Wednesday’s news conference. He is director of facilities management for the Sisters of Providence.
McCord had undergone cataract surgery and faced possible blindness in his right eye; he was told he needed a cornea transplant. After praying to Mother Theodore for her intercession with God, McCord said, his eye began to improve the next day.
A specialist later told him his condition had improved so much that he no longer needed the transplant. “I was stunned, to say the least,” he said during the news conference.
Now, McCord uses reading glasses but has nearly perfect vision.
There was no medical explanation for the cure, his doctors said.
Being the recipient of a miracle “has had a profound effect on my life,” said McCord, who is not Catholic. “I went through a long period thinking, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’”
A Sister of Providence advised him that “it was an act of love … just accept it,” he said.
Church leaders have determined that God healed McCord through the intercession, or request, of Mother Theodore.
Almost 100 years have passed since the Sisters of Providence began working on Mother Theodore’s cause for sainthood, although efforts escalated in the 1990s.
Her cause for sainthood has progressed through three rigorous phases.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared her “venerable” after a thorough study of her life and virtues.
In 1998, he granted her the title of “Blessed,” which means she led a life of heroic virtue and one miracle could be attributed to her intercession.
That miracle involved the unexpected healing of Sister Mary Theodosia Mug in 1908 after she paused at Mother Theodore’s tomb to pray for another sister who was very ill.
The morning after her prayer, Sister Mary Theodosia was cured of several major health problems, including an inoperable abdominal tumor. She also regained mobility in her left arm, which had become rigid as the result of a radical mastectomy. S She died in 1943 at age 83.
Mother Theodore’s beatification ceremony occurred in Rome, and the pope said at the time that her life “was a perfect blend of humanness and holiness.”
Mother Theodore founded the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods in 1840. The following year she also founded an academy for girls, which today is St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States.
Mother Theodore died May 14, 1856. A shrine honoring her stands at the entrance to the Church of the Immaculate Conception at St. Mary-of-the-Woods.
By Sue Loughlin
The Tribune-Star
Blessed Mother Theodore Guerin has passed another critical step toward sainthood, and it appears her canonization could occur in the fall.
On Tuesday, a group of church leaders in Rome — the Ordinary Congregation of the Cardinals — declared that a second miracle had occurred as the result of Mother Theodore’s intercession.
Those findings will be forwarded with the cardinals’ recommendation to Pope Benedict XVI for his final approval, and he is expected to sign a proclamation this spring.
“The way is now open for the canonization of our foundress, Mother Theodore Guerin,” said Sister Ann Margaret O’Hara, general superior of the Sisters of Providence. “We share her now with the entire world, and we are happy to do that.”
The Sisters of Providence announced the major development during a Wednesday news conference. Mother Theodore would become Indiana’s first saint and the eighth saint who spent most of her ministry life in the United States, according to the Sisters of Providence.
People who are canonized — declared to be saints — are venerated and honored by the entire Catholic Church, whose number of adherents is more than a billion.
Proof of two miracles is required before a candidate can be considered for sainthood.
In Mother Theodore’s case, evidence of that second miracle was approved in Rome last year by a panel of Church physicians and theologians.
Until this week, the individual involved in the second miracle had not been publicly identified. That person, Philip McCord, who was healed in 2000, attended Wednesday’s news conference. He is director of facilities management for the Sisters of Providence.
McCord had undergone cataract surgery and faced possible blindness in his right eye; he was told he needed a cornea transplant. After praying to Mother Theodore for her intercession with God, McCord said, his eye began to improve the next day.
A specialist later told him his condition had improved so much that he no longer needed the transplant. “I was stunned, to say the least,” he said during the news conference.
Now, McCord uses reading glasses but has nearly perfect vision.
There was no medical explanation for the cure, his doctors said.
Being the recipient of a miracle “has had a profound effect on my life,” said McCord, who is not Catholic. “I went through a long period thinking, ‘What did I do to deserve this?’”
A Sister of Providence advised him that “it was an act of love … just accept it,” he said.
Church leaders have determined that God healed McCord through the intercession, or request, of Mother Theodore.
Almost 100 years have passed since the Sisters of Providence began working on Mother Theodore’s cause for sainthood, although efforts escalated in the 1990s.
Her cause for sainthood has progressed through three rigorous phases.
In 1992, Pope John Paul II declared her “venerable” after a thorough study of her life and virtues.
In 1998, he granted her the title of “Blessed,” which means she led a life of heroic virtue and one miracle could be attributed to her intercession.
That miracle involved the unexpected healing of Sister Mary Theodosia Mug in 1908 after she paused at Mother Theodore’s tomb to pray for another sister who was very ill.
The morning after her prayer, Sister Mary Theodosia was cured of several major health problems, including an inoperable abdominal tumor. She also regained mobility in her left arm, which had become rigid as the result of a radical mastectomy. S She died in 1943 at age 83.
Mother Theodore’s beatification ceremony occurred in Rome, and the pope said at the time that her life “was a perfect blend of humanness and holiness.”
Mother Theodore founded the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods in 1840. The following year she also founded an academy for girls, which today is St. Mary-of-the-Woods College, the oldest Catholic liberal arts college for women in the United States.
Mother Theodore died May 14, 1856. A shrine honoring her stands at the entrance to the Church of the Immaculate Conception at St. Mary-of-the-Woods.