enjoyed school. As is customary in the Roman Catholic Church at that time, Mary's Confirmation was conducted with her grade school class. On 2/18/1915, she confirmed her Catholic Faith at St. Anthony's Catholic Church.

Mary graduated into high school and from 1918 to 1921, she attended Catholic Girls High School in Philadelphia, PA from where she graduated.

A devout Catholic, Mary had told me that she had decided early on that she wished to enter the religious life. So, as she was preparing to graduate from high schoool she told her parents she wanted to become part of the Sisters of the Immaculate Heart of Mary order when her graduation was official. Although both were devout Catholics, her parents were reluctant to permit her to do so at the age of 17 and not having had the opportunity to experience life before making such a serious decision about her future. At that time, the legal age was 21. In order for Mary to have entered the convent at 17, John and Rose would have had to signed a waiver, giving her permission to do so. They wouldn't do it and insisted she work for a few years, think about this choice while considering others for her future. Reluctantly, she agreed.

Unlike today, it was considered a disgrace to a family if a member (male or female) entered religious life and later resigned from their vocation. Mary told me that because of the shameful stigma that this brought to families, many young woman would not leave the religious life for the sake of family honor. They remained in a life that brought them sadness and often left them bitter from the lack of fulfillment. "It is those sisters," she said, "that are the ones who take their sorrow out on the children they teach. They shouldn't have felt they had to stay in being that unhappy. But, back then, it just wasn't done. Once a young girl entered, she stayed for life. I wanted to join the Order. I wanted to serve God and teach his children." And so she did.