Convent cemetery at

Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, often called St. Mary's, is an unincorporated community in Sugar Creek Township in northwestern Vigo County, in the U.S. state of Indiana. The community is part of the Terre Haute Metropolitan Statistical Area. A large p ...

is the cemetery for the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, a congregation of

Roman Catholic Roman or Romans most often refers to: *Rome, the capital city of Italy *Ancient Rome, Roman civilization from 8th century BC to 5th century AD *Roman people, the people of ancient Rome *'' Epistle to the Romans'', shortened to ''Romans'', a lette ...

religious women founded in 1840 by

Saint Mother Theodore Guerin In religious belief, a saint is a person who is recognized as having an exceptional degree of holiness, likeness, or closeness to God. However, the use of the term ''saint'' depends on the context and denomination. In Catholic, Eastern Ortho ...

. The original location for the sisters' cemetery was a small hill near Saint Anne Shell Chapel on the motherhouse grounds in Saint Mary-of-the-Woods. The earliest deaths in the community were buried here, including Saint Mother Theodore. It soon became clear that more land would be necessary to accommodate the growing congregation. On October 13, 1857, Mother Mary Cecilia Bailly, general superior of the Congregation, purchased just east of the Shell Chapel, but nothing was done to prepare the ground until 1860. That year, a stump puller was hired, cemetery limits were set, and work on the cemetery began. The first grave in the new cemetery was filled on April 10, 1861, with the burial of Sister Seraphine Jennings. Later, the graves from the earlier cemetery were exhumed and the bodies were moved to the new cemetery, including that of Saint Mother Theodore. A portion of Saint Mother Theodore's remains still rest in the cemetery, along with several thousand Sisters of Providence and several priests who have served the community. Several tombstones in the cemetery are government-issue military headstones, honoring several Sisters of Providence who served in military hospitals during the

Civil War A civil war or intrastate war is a war between organized groups within the same state (or country). The aim of one side may be to take control of the country or a region, to achieve independence for a region, or to change government policies ...

. These stones were installed with a

Requiem Mass A Requiem or Requiem Mass, also known as Mass for the dead ( la, Missa pro defunctis) or Mass of the dead ( la, Missa defunctorum), is a Mass of the Catholic Church offered for the repose of the soul or souls of one or more deceased persons, ...

and ceremony on July 31, 1923.

References

{{Authority control Cemeteries in Indiana Roman Catholic cemeteries in the United States Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods Protected areas of Vigo County, Indiana 1861 establishments in Indiana