Sister M. Raymond Collins, IHM

Sister M. Raymond Collins, IHM, of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary died on Sunday, March 7, 1926 at St. Rose’s Convent in Carbondale, PA.

She was born on November 16, 1862 in Binghamton, NY, and given the name Mary. She was the daughter of the late Daniel and Elizabeth Giblin Collins. She entered the IHM Congregation on April 2, 1888, received the religious habit on July 12, 1888, and made profession of her vows on July 20, 1890.

Sister Raymond was one of the most devoted as well as one of the most popular sisters. Sister served as superior and teacher at the following schools: St. Joseph Academy in Williamsport, PA; Our Lady of Mount Carmel School in Altoona, PA; St. Mary of the Mount School in Pittsburgh, PA; St. Patrick School in Scranton, PA; St. Cecilia Academy in Scranton, PA; and Laurel Hill Academy in Susquehanna, PA.

She was preceded in death by two brothers, Jeremiah and John; and two sisters, Gertrude and Catherine.

She is survived by two brothers, Dr. Daniel of Wilkes-Barre, PA, and Joseph of Washington, DC; two sisters, Helen Powers of Binghamton, NY, and Elizabeth Gilbert of Brooklyn, NY; nieces and nephews.

The funeral will be Tuesday, March 9 at 10:00 a.m. at St. Rose’s Church in Carbondale, PA. Interment will follow at St. Rose of Lima Cemetery in Carbondale. Friends may call on Monday afternoon at St. Rose Convent.

“In 1910 the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart were called to the Pittsburg Diocese. Reverend E. P. Griffin, a zealous priest and Superior of the Pittsburgh Apostolate, with the consent of the Right Reverend J. F. Regis Canevin, D.D., applied to the motherhouse, Scranton, for Sisters to take charge of the school of Saint Mary’s of the Mount. Consent was gladly given and the mission was opened January, 1910. On January 6th, the Feast of the Epiphany, the members of the new community were summoned to Mount Saint Mary’s. They were Sister M. Berchmans, Superior, Sister M. Raymond, Sister M. Cornelia, Sister M. Delphina, Sister M. Augusta, Sister M. Maurice, Sister M. Ferdinand and Sister M. Paulinus. Mass was said that morning in the chapel of the seminary by the Right Reverend Bishop Hoban, who addressed the little band of missionaries, bidding them God-speed and giving them his blessing. That afternoon, accompanied by Mother Cyril and Sister M. Leo, they left Mount Saint Mary’s.

Excerpted from The Sisters of the I.H.M.: The Story of The Founding of The Congregation of the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary and Their Work In The Scranton Diocese by Sister M. Immaculata Gillespie, IHM, P.J. Kenedy & Sons, NY, 1921, p. 324