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Father Gillet invited Mother Theresa Maxis and Sister Anne Constance Schaaf, who belonged to the Oblate Sisters of Providence in Baltimore, Maryland, to begin a community based on the spirit of St. Alphonsus Ligouri to prepare and educate children for the reception of the Sacraments.
On the morning of November 10, 1845, the two sisters and Miss Therese Renauld from Grosse Pointe, MI, attended Mass celebrated by Father Gillet and prayed for God’s grace to conduct this new mission. Thus, the new community, known at the time as the Sisters of Providence, grew from humble beginnings.
The three sisters, Mother Theresa Maxis, Sister Mary Ann Schaaf, and Sister Marie Celestine Renauld lived in a two-room log cabin along the Raisin River in Monroe, MI. On November 30, Father Gillet gave to each woman a religious name and a distinctive habit, which was modeled on the Redemptorist habit.
In the spring of 1846, five months after its foundation, a fourth member, Josette Godfry-Smyth, was received into the Congregation and given the name Sister Mary Alphonsine. In December of 1847, at the request of the sisters, the name of the congregation was changed to “Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
Celebrating our congregational founding anticipates Thanksgiving, the celebration of our country’s founding. Gratitude for God’s many blessings, both to the IHMs and our country, fills our hearts with joy in the present and hope for the future. May we trust in Divine Providence as we move forward toward 2025.
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