Mother Theodore Guerin's life, sainthood seen as summons to holiness

Published: 2006-10-06

WASHINGTON (CNS) -- The vice postulator of the sainthood cause of Mother Theodore Guerin, foundress of the Sisters of Providence of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, Ind., sees her life and Oct. 15 canonization in Rome as a summons to holiness. Providence Sister Marie Kevin Tighe, who was promoter and vice postulator for the completed cause, said she hoped that for each Sister of Providence the canonization "would deepen her own understanding of the call to holiness in her life in imitation of St. Mother Theodore." Beyond that, she told Catholic News Service in a phone interview Oct. 5, "I would hope that every person would understand the fact that God does not create just some persons to become saints." Everyone is called to holiness, she said, citing a chapter with that theme in the Second Vatican Council's Dogmatic Constitution on the Church. Sister Marie Kevin also hoped "Catholics and others would realize that the most important aspect of sainthood is the way the person lived life according to the Gospels, and that the miracles are secondary to that."

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