St Mary of the Mount High School - St Mary Yearbook (Pittsburgh, PA)

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SISTERS, SERVANTS OF THE IMMACULATE HEART OF MARY As with the mustard seed which indeed is the smallest of all the seeds; but when it gro vs up it is larger than any herb and becomes a tree ... so, too, with the congregation of religious teachers kno vn as Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. From the tiny seedling planted so zealously more than a century ago, the community has grown and expanded until its branches reach out to the borders of our country and beyond. The story of this fruitful activity is a story of implicit trust and confidence in God, Who, as of old, uses the weak and lowly to accomplish His work. Impelled by the dire need of providing religious instruction for the Catholic settlers in and around Monroe, Michigan, Father Louis Florent Gillet, a Belgian missionary of the Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer, made earnest efforts to procure teachers from the then-existing sisterhoods in Europe. After his unsuc- cessful attempts to transport sisters to care for the needs of the people vho vere the objects of his zealous ministry, he determined to establish a community of American origin. That the blessing of God -was on his vork is attested by the fact that from the poor log-cabin convent that housed the three original members the congregation has spread and increased until it now supports three separate Motherhouses from which more than four thousand sisters help to carry on the work for souls. A hurried glance at the ecclesiastical map of the United States of America cannot overlook three Motherhouses of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, respecti cly located in Monroe, Michigan, West Chester, Penn- sylvania, and Scranton, Pennsylvania. From these Motherhouses, during the greater part of the past century, have gone forth thousands of educators and social workers, fashioned according to the pattern of the mind and heart of Christ and His Immaculate Mother, and dominated by one supreme motive — to win souls for Christ and to widen the frontiers of Christ ' s Kingdom on earth. Here then, in brief, is the story. The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary vas founded in November 1845, by the Reverend Lotiis Florent Gillet, C.Ss.R., in order to provide religiotis education for the chil- dren liviirg in the vicinity of Monroe, Michigan, where the first convent was founded. The object of the Congregation is twofold: the sanctification of its members, and the education of youth and preparation of childreir and adtilts for the reception of the sacraments. The educational activities of the Congregation began ' ith the establishment of the Community for almost at once the Sisters took children into their log-cabin convent to impart religious instruction. Shortly after, their first school was formally

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Reverend Mother M. Kathleen Superior General of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Scranton, Pennsylvania. Faculty — St. iMarv of the Mount Coalmuntlv 1955-1956 First row: Sister M. Catherine, Sister M. Brigid, Sister Mary Grace, Sister M. Julian, Mother M. Alma, Sister M. Ann Elizabeth, Sister Maria Patrick, Sister M. Anacletus, Sister M. Josepha, Sister Maria Margaret, Sister M. Thomasita. Back row: Sister M. Clarice, Sister M. Hyacinth, Sister Miriam Catherine, Sister M. Antonina, Sister M. Coronata, Sister Maria Benedicta, Sister M. Venard, Sister M. Ina, Sister M. Adelaide Marie, Sister M. Louise Marie, Sister Maria Edmund, Sister M. Hosina, Sister M. Anna Teresa, Sister M. Julie. Also on the faculty although not included in this picture are the three lay teachers: Mrs. Margaret J. Knouff, Miss Dorothy J. Dolan and Mr. Walter V. Borrows.

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opened. This school grew rapidly and wi h it the reputation of the sisters as com- petent teachers. During the early years the gro vth of the newly formed community was slow but steady. Originally known as Sisters of Providence (although placed under the patron- age of Our Lady of the Iminaculate Conception) the commtmity was given its pres- ent title, Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary , in 1847, the year in vhich the decree naming Mary Immaculate the Patroness of the United States was confirmed. In 1858 this small band of pioneering souls made an attempt to carry their religious and educational activities beyond the Michigan territory to the Diocese of Philadelphia. Owing to the interest and efforts of the saintly Bishop of Philadelphia, John Nepomucene Neumann, C.Ss.R., the sisters established their second foimda- tion, this one in Pennsylvania in 1859. When the diocese of Philadelphia was divided in 1868, the newly erected See of Scranton was its offshoot with Right Reverend William O ' Hara as bishop. Bishop O ' Hara wished to have a separate foimdation of the sisters in his diocese and, as a result, the branch kno vn as the Scranton foundation was formed in 1 87 1 . At that time twelve sisters elected to stay in Scranton to form the new Mother- house. Since that day, eighty five years ago, the pioneer band of twelve sisters has increased and multiplied until, at the present writing, there are approximately ten hundred and seventy sisters. These sisters are engaged in schools and institutions throughout the United States from Oregon on the west coast to New Jersey on the east and from North Carolina in the south to Rhode Island in the New England states. Besides the original work of teaching, the sisters also conduct orphanages, a day nursery, and two hospitals, including a training school for ntirses. From the Motherhouse at Scranton, teachers are supplied to Marywood College, four central high schools, twenty five combined elementary and secondary schools, sixty elementary schools, and seven kindergarten and catechetical centers. During the summer months the sisters conduct religious vacation schools, usu- ally in cotmtry places where there is but slight opportimity for religious instruction and where the children coidd not otherwise be prepared for the reception of the Sacraments or instructed in the essentials of religion. It was from this last foundation that Father Griffin requested sisters for his new school in 1910. Since then the sisters have labored zealously and devotedly in our parish in their efforts to make Christ better known, loved, and served. In return, and as a small token of gratittide, this parish has given forty-four of its daughters to the Scranton Sisters, Servants of tlie ImmactUate Heart of Mary. We confidently trust that the ntimber will grow steadily throtigh the years as our ex- pression of appreciation for those who have spent and been spent among us. Aerial View of Marywood, Scranton, Pa. ji