Foundation Day

Foundation Day is a big deal for Sisters of Providence, at least it's always been anyplace I've lived. In all honesty, as much as I love Mother Theodore, her feast hasn't caught on with me in the same way as Foundation Day. To me Foundation Day is the celebration of Mother Theodore and all of us. Foundation Day is sort of our own private holiday. I like to share it, but most importantly, I like to celebrate it.

For those readers who have no clue what I'm talking about, on October 22, 1840, late in the afternoon, Mother Theodore and her companions arrived at St. Mary-of-the-Woods. They were soaking wet from having been dunked when the carriage turned over. They were tired (I assume) after three months of travel. Here they are. Fr. Buteux said, "Come down, Sisters, we have arrived." Only there was nothing to see but trees. No town, no village, no visible houses. At a distance, through the trees there was the Thrall's farm house the family was sharing with them until the house for the sisters was built, but it was a veritable wilderness.

Anyway, I like to celebrate Foundation Day. It's a bit tough being so far from St. Mary-of-the-Woods or even Chicago. However, yesterday morning I rode the bus back from Rubaga with a Holy Cross priest, David Burrell. Since SPs and Holy Cross are sort of distant cousins, having some shared history in France, he knows how we helped out their community when they left the Vincennes diocese after the crazy bishop expelled them. He gets that this day a big deal. He wished me Happy Foundation Day.

Later is the day my friend, Sr. Cecilia, came by to return a book. I told here it was the 168th anniversary of our foundation. She got it. She was pretty impressed. Most religious communities here in Uganda are much younger. Some still have living foundresses.

I decided to make a special dinner. I baked a chocolate cake. I had an ulterior motive. We ended up with a bunch of sour milk after Bry'Chell forget to put the milk in the refrigerator one night I was gone. I've found every recipe I could lay my hands on for sour milk. (No, Mom, unfortunately I didn't bring the cornmeal pancake recipe.) One was for a chocolate cake. I baked it last night for dessert. It was really good. It was my first cake from scratch since we've been here. We had chicken and gravy over potatoes with fresh peas. Oh yeah, we had fresh pineapple. The pineapple here is wonderful and inexpensive.

Somehow, being in a new country offers its own connection to Foundation Day and the arrival of Mother Theodore to a strange new land. I have a better sense of what it might have been like. Granted, this is no where near as rustic as Indiana in 1840. Even if the electricity goes out on a regular basis, we still have electricity. While I may not always have a hot shower, we do have running water. But I do have some sense of the frustration of making myself understood, of knowing that I'm missing cultural cues. After two months, it's much less, but it's something I will remember. It gives me a connection to Foundation Day that I haven't known in the past.

I told Bry'Chell the story of Mother Theodore's arrival at the Woods. She thought it was cool because it was a true story. I agreed.

This morning I read Denise's reflections on Foundation Day that was on the community website. Denise, I like it. It's a nice connection to the celebration with the larger community.

So, Happy Foundation Day, a day late.