Sisters Sarah Holmes & Marilyn Muro, IHM

“Christmas doesn’t start until your Christmas show.” -a parent, Domiano Center, Marywood

After Vatican II, the Formation Program was going through a major transition. My canonical year included what was called “Formative Activity” – each Novice spent a month observing at what would be their expected ministry and two weeks in three other ministries. I spent two of those weeks at Our Lady of Grace Montessori Pre-School. This is where I first met Sisters Sarah Holmes and Marilyn Muro. I sat in the observation room and watched in amazement the self-directed 3-5-year-olds implementing the Montessori method. Self-directed tasks were modeled and then the children departed to explore the multiple options that were around the room. They found their own space; set out their materials and worked independently. Finishing the task, they went on to the next. While I rarely came into the classroom, I noticed that when I did, the children paid me no attention!

Though Sarah and Marilyn operated in a remarkable partnership, they come from different backgrounds. Sarah is from South Scranton and went to Nativity and South Catholic HS (where she met the IHMs). She’s the fifth of six children and her mother was a homemaker and her father an insurance agent. Marilyn was from Port Washington, NY, and went to St. Peter’s GS and St. Mary’s HS in Manhasset, NY. Marilyn is an only child. Her father was a policeman and served in WWI and her mother was a homemaker who died when Marilyn was young. Her step-mother came from France. She worked at home and sold her creations in a NYC boutique.

Sarah’s link to an IHM vocation was her time cleaning the convent and getting to know the sisters outside of the classroom. Marilyn had Sister Susan McMenamin for HS music and she helped clean the music room in the convent. From that location, she could hear the sisters laughing and having a good time. This music background also found Marilyn having some teaching assignments as a music teacher.

While they each brought to their Montessori teaching what they learned in their previous assignments, Marilyn’s experience teaching in the “black school” in NC deserves special mention. In school, the children weren’t treated differently, but, when the sisters from the black school went to visit the Nativity Scene at the “white school,” they experienced the same racism their students experienced outside of the classroom. Marilyn brought to Montessori an extraordinary amount of compassion.

The IHM Montessori schools were the vision of Sister Felicitas, an IHM education supervisor. Sisters Joanne Madden and Sarah began the program in Manhasset in what was a garage and horse stable on the property. They were joined by Marilyn. As the school expanded and other IHMs joined the faculty, Joanne moved on to bring Montessori to Marywood College. While Marilyn joined her at Marywood with Sister Regina Barrett, Sarah first opened other IHM Montessori schools with faculty who had been at Manhasset before she came to Marywood.

Maria Montessori realized that children learn easily, especially in their young, sensitive period. The Montessori method is based on OCCI – order, concentration, coordination, and independence.

As the years went by, being an only child, Marilyn was soon adopted in to the Holmes family. As Marilyn had family in France, that allowed them to travel in Europe. The secret to their ability to live and work together for so long is that when they disagree, they apologize. They’ve been energized to continue their ministry because the gift they have received from their students is joy.