Who Are We?
Our Mission
Animated by our charism
of love, creative hope, and fidelity,
and in imitation of Mary, we, the
Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary
of Immaculata, Pennsylvania,
proclaim the Gospel message
in the spirit of Jesus the Redeemer.
Strengthened by a life of vowed consecration,
nurtured by prayer and the Eucharist, and
sustained by community living,
we radiate joyful service and promote Gospel values,
offering compassion to all God’s people
though our mission
to evangelize, to catechize, and to teach.
Our History and Founders
The origins of our Congregation can be traced back to a log cabin in Monroe, Michigan. It was there that Reverend Louis Florent Gillet, a Redemptorist missionary, having searched in vain for religious to teach the spiritually and educationally abandoned immigrants on the Michigan frontier, resolved to found a community of sisters of his own. On November 10, 1845, Father Gillet welcomed three women, Mary Theresa Maxis, who became Mother M. Theresa, Charlotte Ann Schaaf, and Therese Renauld, to begin a community based on the spirit of St. Alphonsus Liguori. After several years, the original community of sisters grew and was called to serve the people of God in many new geographic locations. Mother Maria Alma, wrote: “The tiny seed planted in 1845, in the unpromising soil of pioneer Michigan, had become a great tree whose branches spread within three separate sections of our country, sheltered within their shadow, thousands of souls under the care of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.”
In 1858, in response to an invitation from Saint John Neumann, then Bishop of Philadelphia, the Sisters traveled east to Pennsylvania. After a short time, a new Motherhouse was established at St. Peter’s Parish in Reading. Thus began the history of the Immaculata branch of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Today, numbering over 500 sisters, Immaculata IHMs are missioned in Pennsylvania, New Jersey, Virginia, Georgia, Florida, New Hampshire, Texas and Peru. The Sisters minister in the Congregation’s corporate apostolate of Catholic education as well as in catechetical, pastoral, hospital and prison ministries, parenting programs, adult spirituality programs, counseling, literacy instruction, care of the infirm, retreat work and campus ministry. In their lives and in their work, the Sisters strive to be “Joyful bearers of God’s Redeeming Love.”
“Acquire the habit of speaking to God as if to the dearest and most loving of friends.”
– St. Alphonsus Liguori, Founder of the Redemptorists
Our Prayer and Spirituality
For an IHM Sister, prayer is the heartbeat of consecrated life—a vital dialogue with God in union with Jesus Christ, our Redeemer. Through her life of prayer, she gives witness to the primacy of a personal relationship with God.
Her prayer life flows in three dimensions: personal, communal, and liturgical. She prays as an individual seeking intimacy with God, as a member of a religious community united in shared prayer, and as a daughter of the Church rooted in the sacramental life.
Shaped by Alphonsian spirituality, IHM Sisters follow Christ with a deep love for His passion and cross, a tender devotion to Mary, and a profound reverence for the Eucharist. This life of prayer sustains her mission and grounds her in joy, gratitude, and fidelity.
The four pillars of Redemptorist-IHM spirituality are devotion to:
- The Incarnation
- The Passion
- The Eucharist
- The Blessed Virgin Mary
In communal and personal ways, these four pillars shape the prayer lives and spirituality of IHM Sisters to this day.
Communal prayer: Liturgy of the Hours, daily Mass, monthly retreat days, and annual silent retreat
Personal prayer: Daily holy hour, meditation on scripture, spiritual reading, the rosary, and stations of the cross.
Our Charism
The charism of our founder, Father Louis Florent Gillet, as passed to Mother Theresa and the founding community in Monroe, Michigan in 1845, is the spirit of the Father in the Son through the Holy Spirit. This charism is:
Love, which continues to manifest itself today in the sisters’ joyful service of God and his people. It becomes real in kindness and compassion, availability, approachability, and accessibility It responds with acute sensitivity and large-heartedness to human need. In a special way, our Charism of love directs our love and concern to God’s poor among us.
Creative Hope, which puts all its confidence in God’s loving Providence. It seeks to make a way where there seems to be no way. It engenders hope in the young and the most vulnerable and seeks to find alternatives to negativity and despair, looking to the future with fresh eyes. It never gives up on anyone.
Fidelity, which inspires fervor in one’s vocation in Christ and in one’s mission in the Church. Our Charism of Fidelity calls for perseverance, for courage, for faithful commitment over the long haul. It fosters integrity in words and deeds and challenges us to remain steadfast in the mission entrusted to us. It calls forth an enduring love.
“[An IHM] sister manifests her presence toward her sisters in the local community
through her warmth and gentleness, her joy and respect, her concern and love…”
– Faithful Witness #24.2
Our Common Life
Rooted in the love of Christ and the spirit of the early Church, our common life as IHM Sisters is a joyful expression of unity, support, and shared mission. We live, pray, and serve together—encouraging one another to grow in holiness and to witness the Gospel with one heart and mind. In community, we find strength for our apostolic work, space for prayerful reflection, and the joy of belonging to something greater than ourselves: a communion of sisters bound by faith, love, and the desire to make God known and loved.
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