Spirituality
To Jesus, through Mary.
Sponsored by the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Marian seeks to be a living expression of belief in and response to the liberating mission of Jesus Christ.
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord; my spirit rejoices in God my Savior.
The Magnificat
Our IHM Founders
Two visionary and action-oriented personalities, Father Louis Gillet and Sister Theresa Maxis, responding to the need to educate young girls, took the initiative and enabled the IHM community to take root and begin to grow. Together the two established the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, Nov. 10, 1845, in Monroe. Their energy and spirit, poured out for the world, especially for the most abandoned, still pulse in IHMs today.
Louis Florent Gillet
Redemptorist priest Louis Florent Gillet was born in Antwerp in 1813. After ordination in 1838, he came to the United States and led a missionary band to Detroit, with a second foundation in Monroe, Michigan.
Louis wanted women religious to educate girls. While nurturing the new sisterhood, Gillet served missions in a 60-mile radius, rebuilt the parish church, and developed a thriving Catholic community.
Theresa Maxis
Theresa Maxis was born in Baltimore in 1810, of a Haitian mother and British father. She was well educated and spoke both French and English. She was part of the early community of the Oblate Sisters of Providence, the first congregation of women religious of color in the world.
While general superior of the Oblate Sisters, Theresa met 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 Gillet found a new congregation of educators in Monroe.
For all that has been, and for all that will be we say, 'Praise, Love, Thanksgiving our God to thee!'
IHM Prayer
Our IHM Patrons
St. Alphonsus Liguori
Founder of the Redemptorists, Bishop, and Doctor of the Church, St. Alphonsus heard the inner calling of God within himself and dedicated his life to spreading the liberating mission of Jesus Christ. It was through Fr. Louis Florent Gillet, Redemptorist priest and co-founder of the IHM Sisters, that we have been gifted with St. Alphonsus Liguori as our patron. Like Alphonsus, we have heard the cry of the abandoned poor in our society and reach out, journeying in pursuit of Jesus' mission.
St. Teresa of Avila
Mystic, reformer, and Doctor of the Church, St. Teresa of Avila called prayer an "intimate sharing between friends". St. Teresa believed that much can be done in life if one has the courage to attempt great things. St. Teresa is our patron through St. Alphonsus, who lived nearly 200 years after St. Teresa and called her his "second mother." St. Alphonsus had a great devotion to St. Teresa and modeled his prayer life after her understanding of prayer as simple and personal.
IHM Core Educational Beliefs
- A commitment to the liberating mission of Jesus with a special focus on those who are poor, abandoned, or oppressed.
- The development of a Christian community that witnesses to a profound respect for each human being and an acceptance of all persons.
- Challenging students to make decisions in the light of Gospel values and global realities.
- Encouraging students to act on behalf of justice.
- A commitment to eradicate the causes of oppression and injustice through a feminist perspective that empowers all.
- An ecological consciousness that fosters an interdependence of all nature, nurturing relationships that will enhance the well-being of the earth and all persons.
- A holistic education of persons, fostering self-motivation, flexibility, and openness to change.
A commitment to the liberating mission of Jesus with a special focus on those who are poor, abandoned, or oppressed.
The development of a Christian community that witnesses to a profound respect for each human being and an acceptance of all persons.
Challenging students to make decisions in the light of Gospel values and global realities.
Encouraging students to act on behalf of justice.
A commitment to eradicate the causes of oppression and injustice through a feminist perspective that empowers all.
An ecological consciousness that fosters an interdependence of all nature, nurturing relationships that will enhance the well-being of the earth and all persons.
A holistic education of persons, fostering self-motivation, flexibility, and openness to change.
Following the example of Mary our Mother who brought Jesus to the world, we respond to the most pressing needs of our time through spreading the liberating mission of Jesus Christ to the poor, abandoned, and oppressed.