This past weekend I was home in Monroe at our IHM Motherhouse for a gathering of sisters from the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the 3 Immaculate Heart of Mary communities (Immaculata, Scranton, and my community of Monroe). This is the fourth year that I have been part of this group. I’ve written in the past about what the group is like (see posts from 2006 and 2007) so today on Nunday I thought I’d share some photos of our weekend gathering in Monroe, Michigan, at our IHM Motherhouse. Many thanks to Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM (Scranton) for the beautiful photos.

Sister Mary Anne Bolger, IHM (Immaculata) enjoying desert in the Ice Cream Room. Independent Dairy ice cream is a big-time local favorite!

The OSP IHM Sisters of the Round Table

Sister Jill Kress, IHM (Monroe) Novice, Sister Clarice Proctor, OSP, Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM (Scranton) visiting "the Barn", the IHM House of Prayer

OSP IHM Board of Directors 2009 at the IHM Motherhouse, Monroe, Michigan

Be sure to check out our new OSP IHM Website created by Sister Fran Fasolka, IHM (Scranton), and Sister Kathy Burns, IHM (Scranton).

And don’t forget to join Sister Maxine and I today — and every weekday — at anunslife.org/live for a live podcast. There’s a link in the top menu labeled LIVE SHOWS.

Recently I was asked what the difference is between the IHM Sisters of Monroe, Michigan, and the IHM Sisters of Immaculata, Pennsylvania. There’s no easy answer to this, especially since there’s also a third IHM community, the IHM Sisters of Scranton, Pennsylvania, plus the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the original community of one of our IHM founders. So I’m throwing them all into the mix here too!

A little historical context first though — check out an earlier post OSP IHM: Nuns Who Rock in which I wrote about how our co-Founder Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin was originally an OSP Sister and how the IHM congregation became 3 separate communities.

I find it difficult to characterize how we are different because as an IHM Sister, I am overwhelmed (in the good sense) by our shared charism and our connections to one another and to our founders. The 3 IHM communities are like three siblings who were separated when they were young — their early, foundational years were shared, but then they each were in different places and so lived and expressed their original shared experience in different ways. Some of those ways were based on the geography and the Catholic culture in the area, the needs of the people and of the Church in that area, and of course the women whom the Spirit led to be part of that particular community.

So we have both similarities and differences. Honestly, the best way to get a sense of what we are like (similarities and differences) is to be with us. The facts (e.g. this one is in Monroe, this one Philadelphia, etc.) cannot come close to telling the whole story, and ultimately (especially if one is discerning religious life) you can tell which one “fits” you when your heart leaps for joy when you are with them.

The OSP IHM Timeline, a narrative of our histories, can tell the story way better than I can. In it, each community expresses who they are through the various periods (early history, Vatican II period, tody). The OSPIHM Timeline was made back in 2005 by an inter-congregational team that I was blessed to be part of. It’s pretty cool. Just click on the link below!

OSP IHM Timeline

Today is November 10, 2008, the 163rd anniversary of the founding of the IHM Congregations — Monroe IHMs from Monroe, Michigan (my community); Scranton IHMs; and Immaculata IHMs (both of Pennsylvania). Our congregations were begun by Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin and Father Louis Florent Gillet, CSsR (Redemptorist priest). Mother Theresa was originally a member of the Oblate Sisters of Providence but she left to found a new community in Michigan with Father Gillet. Though the Oblate Sisters of Providence celebrate their founding by Mother Mary Lange and Father James Hector Nicholas Joubert, SS (Sulpician priest) on July 2, 1829, I can’t help but remember them on our Founders Day because without them, we would not be.

So today on Founders Day, which also happens to be Nunday, I want to share with you photos of my nuns, the Immaculata and Scranton IHMs and the OSPs. Though each of us lives our charism in unique ways and have different stories, we are bound together by a common heart.

First is a photo of the OSPIHM Governing Board which is made up of the Major Superior, the assistant to the Major Superior, and one member selected at large from the membership of the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the three congregations of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

The 2006 – 2010 members are (back row) Julie Vieira, IHM (M), Rose Yeager, IHM (I); Lorraine McGrew, IHM (I), Mary Persico, IHM (S), Mary Fran Gilleran, IHM (M); (middle row) Mary Ricardo Maddox, OSP, Mary Jo Gallagher, IHM (S), Mary Annette Beecham, OSP; Mary Anne Bolger, IHM (I) (front row) Fran Fasolka, IHM (S), Ana Jovita Hidalgo, OSP, Joan Mumaw, IHM (M)

Next is a photo of the OSP and IHM Major Superiors in 2005 at a gathering of our 4 communities in Immaculata.

The 2005 Major Superiors were Virginia Pfau, IHM (M), Annette Beecham, OSP, Mary Persico, IHM (S), Rose Marie DeCarlo, IHM (I)

Finally a photo of OSP and IHM Sisters whooping it up with the Mummers at our 2005 gathering of all four communities.

Previous posts on Founders Day at A Nun’s Life.

I‘ve been flying again (hence my blog silence for a few days). This time to Baltimore to visit with the Oblate Sisters of Providence (OSP) and the IHM Sisters of Scanton, Immaculata, and my own Monroe community. Our four congregations have developed separately over the last 160+ years but we are united in that we share a common origin.

In 1829 Mother Mary Lange and Sulpician Father James Hector Joubert, SS, founded the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first community of women religious of African descent. One of the first members of the community was Theresa Maxis Duchemin. While general superior of the Oblate Sisters, Theresa met Redemptorist Father Louis Florent Gillet, CSsR, who was seeking women religious for schools in the still new State of Michigan. After much discernment, Theresa agreed to help Louis Gillet found a new congregation in Monroe. Theresa’s leaving the Oblate Sisters was a source of much pain and heartbreak. Theresa and Louis founded the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Monroe, Michigan. Later, missions were extended to Pennsylvania. For a number of complex reasons (and more heartbreak) which involved the bishops in the dioceses where the sisters were, the community was divided into two — one group in Michigan and one in Pennsylvania. Eventually when the boundaries of dioceses in Pennsylvania were drawn, the Pennsylvania community was separated into two: Scanton and Immaculata. (Note: This is a very distilled story of our history … please check out any of our Web sites for a more complete history.)

The result of so much separation in the early years was four separate, unique congregations of women religious who for most of their existence did not communicate with one another (and in some cases were forbidden to even mention the existence of the other sisters). In our own ways we took the original charism which we all share and developed it and expressed it in our own ways — dependent on the charism of our founders, the place where we lived, and the needs of the times. Yet at our core, we share a common origin. Over the last 20+ years we have been more intentional about not just talking with one another but exploring our common roots, the pain of separation, and the many (many!) similarities that we share with one another. This has been no easy process. We have had to look at the sin of racism that played a major role in our early history and that is still prevalent in today’s world. We’ve had to open ourselves to sharing our stories with others who have different takes on the same cherished story (takes which may cause discomfort and grief but also joy and celebration). Together, we are learning about one another and also joining with one another to listen to the signs of the times and see how we can address today’s needs together.

And that brings me to the purpose of my trip to Baltimore this weekend: to meet with members of all four congregations, to pray together, to immerse ourselves in our common story, to share what we are each doing, and to envision a shared future together in which we deepen our awareness of and respond to the signs of the times.

Check out our OSP IHM Web site which was started when we held the OSP IHM Summer Gathering 2005. It has a lot of information about our history, our connections with one another, and our dream for the world.