Books by IHM Authors

Over our 180 year history, many of our sisters haven written and published books on the topics of education, spirituality, as well as church and congregational history. While some books are no longer available, many can still be purchased through the links provided. We encourage you to read about our history, spirituality and how our sisters have provided for the educational needs of teachers and students.

STREAM Curriculum Guide

Sister Elizabeth DeMerchant authored a STREAM curriculum guide to engage children in religious education. STREAM is a form of project-based learning that incorporates science, technology, religion, engineering, art, and math. The book has more than 100 ready-to-reproduce project pages for students in grades 4 through 12. Projects include prayer, song, and information about a saint related to the project topic. Students research the Scripture related to the project topic, retell the Scripture in their own words and write a personal reflection. Each project includes researching the specific topic as well as a map and a piece of art related to the topic. Students learn to write an MLA formatted paper. After the students complete the paper with a peer and teacher edit, then they complete a hands-on project related to the topic. LEGO and K’nex are often used in hands-on projects. However, other materials may include paper origami, clay, a cereal box, a coat hanger, etc. Ten topics are included in the book: astronomy, biology, sports, forensic science, chemistry, famous people, math, music, images of God, and the saints. The book includes coloring pages related to each topic for special needs children. The book was illustrated by Sister Donna Korba, IHM.

Sister Elizabeth currently teaches grades 5 to 8 at All Saints Academy in Scranton, PA. She moderates LEGO, K’nex, and Chess Clubs for grades 4 to 8.

The book is available in paperback and Kindle. Purchase STREAM Curriculum Guide on Amazon or Google STREAM + “Elizabeth DeMerchant”

Longing for the Endless Immensity

Within our hearts is a profound longing to live a life of significance, to make meaning out of our inner experience in ways that will enrich and influence our world. Longing for the Endless Immensity speaks to this collective desire and invites us to enter every moment of our lives as an arena for living contemplatively, for doing justice, for moving forward with intention. This book underscores the wisdom that no aspect of our everyday living is without impact on our evolving universe.

Each section begins and closes with breathprayer, offers a thought-provoking reflection, invites time for stillness and personal prayer, and suggests questions for journaling or group conversation and sharing. Longing for the Endless Immensity is recommended for parish groups, religious communities, adult faith formation, faith-based gatherings, peace and justice groups, and anyone hoping to leave a graced footprint on this earth by living a life that matters.

Purchase Longing for the Endless Immensity on Amazon

Pilgrim

This study of the life of Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin, is a revision of one that was written in 1978. At the time the notion of the Pilgrim Church was new to us all. That led to a recognition that Theresa Maxis Duchemin, one of the two founders of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary, could be understood as the embodiment of the pilgrim in search of God and God’s Will for her.

In response to several requests for me to revise the study, I have set out to do so. In the intervening years several helpful studies have been published which add important information and insights into Theresa’s life and experiences. These works supplement and enhance the earlier research pursued by previous writers who, in the style of their own times, training and perspectives provided basic information about Theresa. These include Grace H. Sherwood, Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, Marie Alma Ryan, IHM, and Rosalita Kelly, IHM. It is a pleasure to acknowledge the contribution of all these to our understanding of Theresa.

Purchase Pilgrim on Amazon

God Claims Our Hearts

Kathleen Toner was the founder, inspiration, and leader of Samaritan House, a residence for homeless mothers and their children, located in Brooklyn, New York. She was also a twenty-five-year survivor of fourth stage Hodgkin’s disease. These two experiences shaped her life; she was gifted with the ability to describe and interpret her experiences for others. This volume records two realities: the wisdom she shared on her personal journey through pain and weakness and her reflections on what drove her dedication to homeless families in New York City.

Kathy lived from 1944 to 2003; most of those years were spent in New York City. She became a Scranton Sister, Servant of the Immaculate Heart of Mary in 1965 and in 1977 she earned a S.T.D. in theology and ethics, the first woman to earn that degree at The Catholic University of America.

During her first year of teaching at Marywood University, Kathy was diagnosed with Hodgkin’s disease. She moved back to New York for treatment at Sloan Kettering Hospital. She suffered extremely difficult effects, including permanent weakening of her lungs and heart, but her treatments won Kathy twenty-five additional years of life. She dedicated them to her life-long ambition: securing a home for homeless families, not an institution, but a home–safe, supportive, and empowering. Mothers pursued employment, training, or education, while their children attended a nearby school. Beginning with little experience and even less money, she persuaded funders to support her project. In 1999 burglars broke into Samaritan House and attacked Kathy. Her injuries ended her presence there. After four months of hospitalization she moved to the IHM residence in Scranton, where she lived until her death in 2003.

Purchase God Claims Our Hearts on Amazon

Paths of Daring Deeds of Hope: Letters by and about Theresa Maxis Duchemin, IHM

“It has been a privilege and a pleasure to work on this compilation of letters by and about Mother Theresa Maxis Duchemin, the first US-born African-American woman to become a woman religious, and pioneer in the founding of two religious congregations: the Oblate Sisters of Providence and the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

It is my hope that Theresa’s letters will supply some informative insights into the personality of this intense, resourceful, and sometimes impetuous woman and reveal her warmth and sensitivity and gentle humor. They will also indicate the challenges she faced in pursuing her personal life mission: the well-being and growth of the IHM Congregation, particularly by the preservation and intensification of its Redemptorist spirituality.” – Margaret Gannon, IHM

Purchase Paths of Daring Deeds of Hope on Amazon