Sister Sharon Holland, J. H. M.

In the mid-nineteenth century, a zealous young Redemptorist missionary vowed that if he could not find sisters, he would make them. He could not find them. On November 10, 1845, Father Louis Florent Gillet officiated at a simple ceremony marking the beginnings of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in Monroe, Michigan.

The people to be served were French Canadian, German, and Irish settlers, spread over a wide territory of Michigan farmland. There were no Catholic schools, and the first task of the sisters was to prepare children for the Sacraments and instruct them in the faith.

Trials plagued the institute. Its founder, falsely accused of a scandal, left the state, and eventually the Order and the country. Many years later, providential circumstances put an aging Cistercian monk back in touch with the Community he had begun.

Delighted to know of their continued progress, he wrote to the sisters: “I began without thinking of the future of the work, leaving it to God alone to bless it and make it prosper if it were pleasing to Him and useful for the good of souls.”

God blessed the work, and continued to bring good out of apparent evil. A split of the Community seemed to threaten its very existence, but in fact, resulted in the growth of two other flourishing groups of I. H. M.’s with mother houses now located in Immaculata and Scranton, Pennsylvania.

Father Gillet had given his sisters the Redemptorist Rule upon which to pattern their lives in Community. This meant that they would take as their model, Jesus the Redeemer, whose self-sacrificing love brought men to new life.

The sisters would be characterized by devotion to the Incarnation and Passion of Jesus, to the Eucharist, and to Mary Immaculate. Their rule called them to lives which combined contemplative prayer with service, especially service to those in need.

Others came to join the first few in Monroe, and as the Community grew, I. H. M.’s were called upon to staff numerous schools in the Archdiocese of Detroit, in other parts of Michigan, and then in Ohio. Wherever they went, the catechesis of public school children was also a part of the sisters work in the parish.

Bit by bit, the community spread – to Illinois, Alabama, Florida, and Minnesota; to New Mexico, Texas and Missouri; to Puerto Rico, Brazil and Africa.

In 1967, four I. H. M.’s came to Atlanta to work at Holly Cross Parish and St. Pius X High School. The number grew, and there are now 10 Monroe sisters scattered throughout the metropolitan area in schools, parishes and St. Vincent de Paul work.

Although many changes have taken place over the years, the work of the sisters in Atlanta continues traditions: teaching in Catholic schools, the catechesis and sacramental preparation of public school children, and work among the poor.

Both the changes, and the continuity with tradition are in response to the challenge given to religious orders by the Church in Vatican II. The I. H. M. Community is consequently engaged in long range programs of self-evaluation and renewal. In the 1972 Assembly, the members of the Congregation reaffirmed their task of participation in the redemptive mission of Jesus, and pledged themselves to carry on this work wherever the current needs of the Church and mankind demanded.

A newly expanded form of government in the Congregation, the Representative Assembly, gives the “grass roots” sister a more active part in Community policy decisions such as the above statement on social justice. It also challenges each to a more personal responsibility in living these decisions out.

Although like most Communities, the Monroe I. H. M. growth rate has slowed, its concern for the Church and the world – for extending the redemption of Christ to all men – remains vital, and the invitation of the Lord continues to send dedicated young women.

Members seek to continue the life of hope which inspired their founder to leave it to the Lord to prosper the work of his hands.