West Deanery students celebrate St. Theodora

From left, Sandra Compus, a third-grader at St. Anthony School in Indianapolis, and Brandon Duke, a kindergartner at the school, sing a song and make sign language gestures during a March 12 Mass at St. Anthony Church in honor of St. Theodora.

By Sean Gallagher

During a festive eucharistic liturgy, students from schools across the Indianapolis West Deanery celebrated St. Theodora Guérin, Indiana’s first saint, on March 12 at St. Anthony Church in Indianapolis.

Archbishop Daniel M. Buechlein was the primary celebrant of the Mass. He was joined by 11 priests who serve in the deanery’s parishes.

Describing St. Theodora as a “valiant missionary,” the archbishop called upon his young listeners to become missionaries, too.

“Now, we need some of you young people to become missionaries—missionary sisters like Mother Theodore, missionary priests like St. Francis Xavier,” said the archbishop in reference to the patroness and patron of the archdiocese.

“All of us, all of us in church here today, in our own way, can be missionaries for Christ, for Jesus.”

Providence Sister Joan Frame was in the church on March 12. A member of the religious community founded by St. Theodora, she has spent the last 60 years ministering in several parishes and schools in the archdiocese.

Sister Joan taught at the former All Saints School, now St. Anthony School, from 1975-87.

Before the Mass, she said that coming back to the parish for the celebration was “a wonderful experience because it brings back a lot of good memories of St. Anthony’s and the fact that our sisters have been here for practically 100 years.”

Sister Joan was joined at the Mass by other members of her community who ministered in the Indianapolis West Deanery.

Providence Sister Mary Quinn ministered as a pastoral associate for more than a quarter century at Holy Angels Parish in the Indianapolis West Deanery, ending her tenure there last summer.

“It’s a wonderful thrill to see all the people and the children,” she said. “All of the sisters are so thrilled to be back [and] to have St. Mother Theodore better known and loved, and to have her story being told. It’s a wonderful story of a woman who did ordinary things with great courage and selflessness.”

One young student at St. Anthony School who has learned about St. Theodora is fourth-grader Jose Carlos.

“St. Mother Theodore is a nice saint,” said Jose. “I wish she was still alive so we could meet her.”

Another fourth-grader at St. Anthony School, Tyree Edmonds, was glad that the students were able to celebrate St. Theodora with members of her order.

“It’s really great for them to do that,” Tyree said. “They’re really celebrating her. She was a really great woman.” †