The IHM Sisters are pleased to announce a bold new initiative on the part of the Congregation. On the feast of the Birth of the Blessed Virgin Mary (2024), we placed under her special patronage the launch of our new monthly communication to the many people who, through the years, have so generously supported our mission and ministry to God’s people.
Our outreach effort is intended to be a point of light, a “bright spot” in your very busy lives connecting you in a more meaningful way with the charism and mission of the IHM Congregation. It will highlight our Alphonsian spirituality and provide helpful information on the many enrichment opportunities offered by the Congregation throughout the year. Enjoy!
April Presence Reflection
by S. Emily Vincent Rebalsky
There is a tradition of our faith, which I find so moving, that takes place on Holy Thursday evening after the Celebration of the Lord’s Supper. The faithful travel from church to church to visit the altars of repose. It was inspired from Jesus’ cry to His disciples when He found them asleep at the Garden of Gethsemane after He had asked them to keep watch for Him and pray, “. . . you could not keep watch with me for one hour?” Matthew 26:40. The faithful long to be true friends of Jesus by staying up and being with Him while they pray.
It is a beautiful way to show our friendship to others when we are there with them during hard times. This is why we want to spend that extra time with Jesus—even when we would rather sleep or rest, we sit and wait and pray. Good Friday is another opportunity to spend time honoring Jesus and taking in all He suffered for our sins as He died on the cross. People used to refrain from watching television or listening to the radio on Good Friday or at least between the hours of noon and three. As IHM Sisters, we have a quiet retreat day where we take extra time to pray, meditate on His passion, pray the Stations of the Cross, read Scripture, and attend church. Good Friday is the only day of the year when Mass is not celebrated. However, your parish will have the Liturgy of the Lord’s Passion, which includes veneration of the Holy Cross, and reception of Holy Communion which had been reserved from the Mass of the Lord’s Supper on Holy Thursday.
During Holy Week, in addition to taking the time to participate in your Church’s Triduum services, you might think of putting aside your favorite television show, game app, or social media scrolling and use technology instead to try a new prayer app or watch a movie about Jesus’s life.
Your celebration on Easter Sunday will be so much richer for having spent time with our Lord in His suffering. You will now truly rejoice in His Resurrection!
March Presence Reflection
by S. Mary Sue Carwile
St. Alphonsus and the Cross
St. Alphonsus Liguori, a theologian who taught passionately about the redemptive power of Christ’s love, saw the Passion and Death of Jesus as an overwhelming expression of divine love for each of us. For him, the mystery of Redemption was not just a theological truth, but a personal invitation to experience God’s love in our own lives, especially in the midst of suffering and how this perspective can transform our understanding of suffering and hope.
St. Alphonsus teaches us that the Passion of Christ reveals the profound humility of God. Jesus, fully divine, emptied Himself of His Godliness to take on the fullness of humanity. This is an act of ultimate love—one that we cannot fully comprehend.
As I reflected on the mystery of the Cross and how St. Alphonsus has influenced my own spiritual life as an IHM, and how, having been taught by Sisters of IHM my entire life, the influence of the Cross began from my first days of school. Below I share a short personal reflection.
Prayer Before a Crucifix
Look down upon me, good and gentle Jesus,
while before Your cross I humbly kneel
and with burning soul, pray and ask You to fix deep in my heart
the virtues of faith, hope, and charity,
true sorrow for my sins, and a firm purpose of amendment.
While I gaze upon, with great love and tender pity,
Your five most precious wounds,
I call to mind the words of David, Your prophet,
“They have pierced My hands and My feet; they have numbered all My bones.”
Amen.
This prayer has significant meaning in my life. When I started school, on first Friday, we attended Mass as a school community. At the end of every Mass, we recited the Prayer before the Crucifix. I was fascinated and dismayed that everyone but me seemed to know this prayer. Each time we attended Mass, I hoped to learn a little more of it. As a child, I was deeply touched by the first two and final two lines. By first grade, I had them mastered. As I moved from grade to grade, the middle of the prayer eluded me over and over (this was long before the days of Google!). I was also a very shy child and so asked for no help in this endeavor. Finally, I was able to learn this prayer in its entirety and imprinted it on my heart. It is a daily prayer for me.
Moving forward in my life, I answered the call to become a member of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, whose spirituality is founded on the spirituality of St. Alphonsus Liguori. St. Alphonsus believed and taught that God is “crazy in love with us,” His creation. He explored the Incarnation, our Redemption, the Blessed Sacrament and his beloved Mother of God as the avenues through which we, through contemplation, would lead us to the practice of the love of Jesus Christ. Contemplation on the Cross, the Crucifixion, leads us deep into the awareness of God’s unending love for each of us and our neighbors.
God is crazy in love with us. As a small child, I had little understanding of the words I was trying to learn and pray, yet they touched my heart and somehow, I held them there. My understanding grew with age and my immersion into IHM Spirituality has deepened, not only my appreciation for the Sacrifice of Jesus on the Cross, but also the love with which He holds for each of us as life presents us with concerns, some small and some painful and life changing. As we enter the season of Lent on March 5, the Cross takes on an intimate significance in our spiritual life. It is not only a sign of our hope and redemption, but also an invitation to enter into the heart of God as we accept the infinite love he holds for each of us and our neighbors everywhere. We are His and we are held in His heart and arms.
February Presence Reflection
by S. Marie Gipprich, IHM
Patron Saints and Virtues
It is a common practice among Catholics to honor their patron saint, the particular saint whose name we were given at Baptism and/or Confirmation. Celebrating that saint is a way to give thanks for his or her intercession in our lives. It’s like having our own special “guardian.” Also, it is a reminder of the saint’s life and virtues that we should try to emulate.
Celebrating a saint’s virtues is to intentionally focus on developing a particular positive character trait of that saint in order to build our own strong moral character. The practice of virtues can help us take charge of our own growth in holiness.
Research studies indicate that virtues like kindness, forgiveness, love of God, purity, and mortification can actually protect us from the negative practices so prevalent in society today. One act of honesty doesn’t make a person honest, but continued determination to be honest by practicing honest acts makes you and me honest persons.
St. Alphonsus, one of the patron saints of the IHM Congregation, encouraged each sister to adopt the practice of listing the monthly saints and virtues, “matching the twelve apostles with the twelve months of the year.” Each month, a designated patron saint and virtue are paired with a corresponding scripture passage. Our Congregation continues this tradition today, striving to emulate the patron saint and embody their virtue throughout the month.
February Patron Saint and Virtue
During the month of February, we honor St. Peter as our patron saint along with the virtue of hope. The accompanying scripture is from Psalm 91:14 – Those who cling to me, I will deliver; I will set those on high, who acknowledge my name.
St. Peter the Apostle is a powerful example of walking in hope, even in moments of doubt and weakness. Though he faltered when walking on water and denied Jesus three times, he remained steadfast in his faith, ultimately becoming the rock upon which Christ built his Church. His journey reminds us that true hope is found in trusting God’s mercy and rising each time we fall.
When I reflect on the virtue of hope, I think back to many years ago, when I was studying Theology in Vermont. I met an amazing woman whose husband had been a popular and well-known radio personality in Chicago for many years. He had died recently, and she was struggling with the loss of his companionship. During one of our conversations, she asked what I thought hope was and how we should live in hope. Her question made me pause. After a moment or two, I remarked that hope, for me, was never giving up. It meant that no matter how discouraged, sad, angry, or confused I might be, I remember that what God has done for me in the past, God will do in the present and future. As long as I am still crying out to God for help, there is hope.
I find hope whenever I see people reaching out to others who are in need. I find hope when I recall a recent conversation with a friend that encouraged me. I find hope when I see in someone else a deep love for others. I find hope when, after a good cry, I feel God’s love and presence. I find hope when I hear about scientists and medical professionals working hard to cure diseases. I find hope when I see ordinary people doing their jobs which enrich or assist us. I find hope when I meet so many who desire a deeper relationship with God — and a desire to share that with others. I find hope in music, poetry, art, laughter, inspiration, dedication. And I find hope in every prayer that reaches the all-loving heart of God.
Joan Chittister wrote, “Hope reminds us that there is nothing in life we have faced that we did not, through God’s gifts and graces — however unrecognized at the time — survive.” This is, indeed, hope.
On December 24, 2024, Pope Francis opened the Holy Door to begin a Jubilee year for 2025. It is the tradition of the Church to celebrate such a year every 25 years, to give every generation a chance to experience a special time of grace in their lifetime. “Jubilee,” the name given to a particular year, comes from the instrument used to mark its beginning. The instrument is called the yoble, the ram’s horn that was used to proclaim the Day of Atonement (Yom Kippur) for the Jewish people. In the bible, a Jubilee year was marked every 50 years to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, one another, and all creation. Pope Paul II ordained that a Jubilee year be celebrated every 25 years.
The theme for this Jubilee year is “Pilgrims of Hope.” The logo for the Jubilee year represents this theme, showing four stylized figures which represent all humankind coming from the four corners of the earth. They are shown as embracing one another in solidarity which should unite all people. The figure in the front holds the cross. It is a sign of faith and hope. The rough waves under the figures indicate that our life journey is not always calm but often requires a greater call for hope. The significant thing about this logo is the cross itself. It is elongated and turns into an anchor, the symbol of hope. The cross seems to be dynamic, stretching out to all people so that no one is left alone.
Pope Francis, in his letter concerning the Jubilee year, states “We must fan the flame of hope that has been given us and help everyone to gain new strength and certainty by looking to the future with an open spirit, a trusting heart and far-sighted vision.” In these very difficult and unsure times, these words touch the hearts of all of us. They speak of the desire within each one to be open to God’s plan, knowing that God will be with us always on this journey. We are pilgrim people, which means we travel together toward a destination. No one walks this path alone. It is in the journey that we become one!
To view a complete listing of the patron saints and virtues for each month, click here.
January Presence Reflection
By S. Jeannine Norton, IHM
As we enter a new year, it is somewhat like driving to an unfamiliar destination. You can’t just get in the car and go; you need directions! You can ask someone, check a map or online assist, or let WAZE direct every turn, but if you are going to arrive on the best path, you need guidance from a source “who’s been there, done that.”
As IHMs, we have a New Year’s Day devotion that provides a guide for the unknown days ahead of us. We want to travel in our Charism “vehicle” of love, creative hope and faithfulness but the route is not always clear and smooth. We need guidance from saintly sources who have traveled this road before.
Therefore, the sisters gather in chapel to choose a patron, a virtue and an intention. A patron is a saint whose example and prayer can guide us on the 365-day journey. A virtue is a way to act on the journey. An intention reminds us that others on the journey, as well as ourselves, need daily prayer and guidance.
Perhaps you and your family might want to choose a saint, a virtue, and an intention that will guide you in the year ahead. You might pray as the IHM’s do: May the patron whose name we choose inspire us in our efforts to draw closer to Christ in the coming year. May the virtue we choose enable us by its practice to grow daily in our love of God. May the intention for which we pray be granted.
May 2025 find you traveling daily on the way to peace in God’s love.
January 1 – The Solemnity of Mary, the Mother of God
By S. Rose Adams, IHM
How wonderful for us to begin the first day of a brand-new year with the celebration of Mary, the Mother of God. The honoring of Mary as the Mother of God can be traced all the way back to the Council of Ephesus in 431. More than any other feast in honor of Mary, this solemnity celebrates the most important dimension of Mary’s glory, her Motherhood. From this reality flows all her other titles in the liturgy and in popular devotion. Our IHM community custom has traditionally taken this special feast day to thank God for the blessings of the past year and to ask Mary’s motherly protection during the coming year.
Many of us remember January 1st being called the Circumcision of the Lord. It was in 1974, Pope Paul VI removed the feast of the Circumcision of Christ from the liturgical calendar. He replaced it with the feast of the “Solemnity of Mary, Mother of God”, bringing Mary’s feast day back to the first day of the calendar year.
During this yearlong celebration of jubilee 2025, may we strengthen our love and devotion to our Blessed Mother. May she intercede for each of us, our Church and our world which is so in need of her motherly care.
Reflecting on the Life of Mother Theresa Maxis on the Anniversary of her Death
By Sr. Kathleen Schipani, IHM
Mother Theresa Maxis, the co-founder of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on January 14, 1892. Many of our sisters, including myself, visit her grave often at our IHM cemetery near Camilla Hall. For me, this connection to our founding and to the spirit and sacred memory of Mother Theresa inspires me in the present day to seek her intercession for myself, our Congregation and the world. One of Mother Theresa’s biographers, Sr. Margaret Gannon (Scranton, IHM), used the title, “Paths of Daring, Deeds of Hope,” in reference to the life, words and legacy of Mother Theresa Maxis. A look at her life uncovers her remarkable love, creative hope and constant fidelity in the face of the personal, cultural, ecclesial and congregational challenges of her time.
Theresa was born in Baltimore in 1810 to the daughter of a Haitian refugee, Betsy Duchemin. Betsy’s grandfather, whose name was Maxis, (a name that Theresa used) was an African American slave in Haiti. Theresa believed that her father, Arthur Howard, a British military officer, never knew of her existence. Theresa was afforded a remarkable education through the kindness of her mother’s guardians, the Duchemin family. At age19, along with Mother Mary Lange and two other women, she became a founding member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first congregation of women religious of color in the world.
While serving as General Superior of this fledgling congregation, Theresa met Rev. Louis Gillet who was seeking women religious to teach in the new state of Michigan. Theresa agreed to help Father Gillet found a new congregation: the Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. After a decade of successful ministry and growth in Monroe, a dispute over the Congregation arose in 1859 between the bishops of Philadelphia and Detroit. This led the bishop of Detroit to depose her as General Superior and send her to a Pennsylvania foundation, which then became a separate branch of the IHM Congregation.
Theresa struggled for years to reunite the two congregations. In an effort to remove herself as an obstacle to reunion, Theresa spent 18 years in exile with the Grey Nuns of Ottawa. In 1885, Theresa was permitted to return to the IHM community in West Chester, Pennsylvania, where she lived her last seven years.
We are grateful to her for her persistent desire that our charism and rule be influenced by Alphonsian and Redemptorist spirituality. Her own life reflects the Alphonsian intersection of the crib and the cross, the centrality of the Eucharist and the patronage of Mary’s immaculate heart. Her “Paths of Daring and Deeds of Hope” continue to be a legacy for each IHM sister.
December 2024
Dear friends, blessings as we journey through this beautiful season of Advent! We pray for a spirit of gentle Peace as we anticipate Christ’s coming on Christmas day! St. Alphonsus, our community patron, had a love for Christ in the crib. It is our IHM tradition on Christmas Eve to choose what we call a “Court of the King”. This represents a person or figure present at the birth of Jesus. This custom comes from the spirituality of St. Alphonsus. Perhaps you and your family might want to choose one of the Courts of the King for yourselves. Clink on the link below. You will see on each card a person or figure at the manger, and a corresponding prayer! This is a beautiful way to be more present at the manger!
(Links for the Christmas Prayer Service and Courts of the King-Adults Version, Courts of the King-Child Version)
In this beautiful month of December we join in the celebration of the Immaculate Conception, the major feast day of our IHM congregation! The Blessed Mother is often seen as a model of simplicity in life and faith. Her life was marked by humility, obedience, and a deep trust in God’s will, even when facing difficult circumstances. She lived simply, without seeking attention or worldly wealth, focusing instead on her role as a mother and servant of God. Mary’s simple yet profound “yes” to God during the Annunciation reflects her openness to God’s plan without needing full understanding or control. Her simplicity is further shown in her quiet presence at key moments of Christ’s life, from His birth in a humble manger to his death on the cross.
May we imitate Mary’s simple, holy lifestyle and pray to her to intercede for peace in our hearts, in our families and in our world!
Christmas blessings!
Written by Sister John Evelyn DiTrolio
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