It has been five years since Clark accepted a commission to sculpt a likeness of Mother Theodore Guerin, founder of St. Mary-of-the-Woods, for the Sisters of Providence. Then, Clark was living in Fort Wayne and the statue was to be in bronze for a mausoleum there.
Today, many things have changed, from her address and the medium for her art to the inner-workings of her soul.
Guerin is just months from becoming “Saint Mother Theodore” in a canonization ceremony in Rome. Bronze has given way to clay to serve as a limestone carver’s meticulous cast for a statue that will stand, not in Fort Wayne, but in the national Catholic basilica in Washington, D.C.
And in 13 days, on Holy Saturday of Easter week, Clark, who is 50, will be baptized, confirmed and receive her first Communion as a Roman Catholic at St. Margaret Mary Church in Terre Haute.
“My father was a strict Mennonite, my mother was a sort of a Methodist,” said Clark. “I was born on St. Teresa’s birthday, but we didn’t know that. My mother named me for Teresa Brewer, the singer. Now, she’s thinking I’ve been geared for this my whole life.”
Links to articles about Blessed Mother Theodore from the Indy Archdiocesan paper.
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