By Barbara Fitzgerald  • Posted November 5, 2025

For Sr. Catherine Danielle, IHM, math isn’t just a subject to be taught to grade schoolers — it reflects the grandeur and harmony our Creator built into the universe and imparts Biblical wisdom of reliance on others and patience with ourselves. 

It’s the approach that Sr. Catherine, an honors math teacher at St. Charles Borromeo School in Bensalem, has used to develop intuitive ways of teaching that have proven successful for nearly 50 years. During that time, she has authored textbooks, served as a principal and sent generations of students to math competitions, better high schools and colleges, and interesting careers. 

“God never asks you to solve a quadratic equation when you get to heaven,” she said. “He’s not going to say, all right, can you solve for X in this quadratic equation? 

“But He is going to ask you, did you use all the skills and gifts that I gave you to make yourself better, to make yourself an instrument, to bring my love to the world, and to make the world a better place?” 

The fruit is seen in the former students who trek back to thank her and current students, such as seventh-grader Liam W., who placed third among his age group at last year’s Holy Ghost Prep/Nazareth Academy Middle School Math Competition. He’s fond of repeating the mantra Sr. Catherine has given her students: “Do your best, and God will take care of the rest.”  

“She helps you get better with hard stuff; if you just ask, she will help you,” he said. “She teaches us a lot of tricks to get better at solving the math problems.”  

The tricks often come with catchy phrases like “Rock Around the Clock,” which, along with repetition and a gentle way of correction, are hallmarks of Sr. Catherine’s teaching style.  

“Sister Catherine is education,” said Molly Quinn, principal at St. Charles Borromeo School. “She lives, eats, breathes, and sleeps educating students. Not just in a subject but spiritually with life lessons. She can form students in a way I have never seen.”   

‘The Beauty of Numbers’ 

Sr. Catherine grew up in Philadelphia and was taught to value education from a young age, particularly since her mother had to leave school in 8th grade to help support the family, and her father left school in the tenth grade for the same reason.  

“My mother and Dad had a great devotion to Our Lady and the sisters impacted me as a student,” Sr. Catherine recalled. Her mother often drove the nuns to school from the convent, which was at a distance. She remembered their cheerful banter and the warmth of the community.  

“The impact of their religious devotion filtered down to me — the love of Christ, the love of Mary and the way they interacted with each other in community working together as a team to form us as children,” she said. 

Following graduation from Archbishop Pendergast High School, Sr. Catherine decided to join  the Sisters, Servants of the Immaculate Heart of Mary (IHM) as her vocation. She chose the IHM so she could focus on teaching. In doing so, she wanted to emulate Christ, the Divine teacher.     

“Being a teacher is being another Christ for all those whose lives you touch,” she said.  

Her first assignment in 1968 was as a first-grade teacher at St. Matthew’s Elementary School. At the time, there were six first-grade classes, all taught by sisters. She was eventually asked to teach math, and, as is her nature, always accepted any assignment she was given with obedience. 

“I struggled a little with math but I loved the challenge of it,” she said, adding she always saw a connection with God and math. “The beauty of numbers, they are infinite and they affect every area of our life,” adding, “God impacts your everyday life if you let Him.”  

‘The Woman Who Wrote the Book’ 

Math also teaches perseverance and reliance on others. As you struggle to find a solution to a problem you may need to humble yourself and ask for help or be patient in working out the solution. “It gives you the strength to not give up and persevere,” she said.  

When others noted her success with her students, she was asked to help Sr. Rose Anita McDonnell in editing and updating the Sadlier math textbooks used by the Archdiocese of Philadelphia and Catholic schools around the country. Eventually, she commuted daily to New York to take over the editing and writing of the math textbooks full time.  

In doing so, she called upon her teaching experience in the various grades as a way of fashioning the lessons to specific age groups. She recalled kneeling at the feet of the retired Sister Rose Anita reading a page to her for guidance. “I could always hear her voice saying in my ear, ‘Are you making it as good as you can for a child of that age?’“ 

Quinn recognizes what a gift she has in Sr. Catherine. “I always tell parents you’re literally learning from the woman who wrote the book,” she said. 

 Sr. Catherine’s career also includes a stint as principal of a Catholic school upstate in Shenandoah, PA, a move that was daunting for administrative and financial challenges.  

“I’ve always believed that when we do our best, it is only because God is supporting us,” she said. “God is here as our support. He is really teaming up with us. As long as we are doing our best, He gives us the grace we need, and He does the rest.”  

‘You Hear the Birds Sing’ 

But it is not just in math, that sister exceeds as a Christ-like example. During her summers off, she works at Camilla Hall, the convent home and health center for IHM sisters, giving the regular aides there a vacation break by doing housekeeping and transporting aging sisters to and from doctor’s visits. She is known to knit baby quilts using one Hail Mary for each stitch and gives them as gifts to mothers and grandmothers. She is also fun, generous and loving, and a Phillies fan. Earlier this year, the baseball club honored her as an “All Star Teacher.” 

“She can outdance anybody at the eighth-grade dance,” Molly Quinn said. 

Most importantly Sr. Catherine is a woman of prayer. “I have a lot of trust because we are not in charge,” she said. “We shouldn’t be filled with anxiety if we have faith and trust in God. We are not meant to stay here forever. We are meant to be His instruments to serve others.  

“When the storms are over you hear the bird start to sing. They don’t worry and God takes care of them. As Catholics we are called to be people of hope and to live and to give that example of what it means to be a person of hope.” 

It’s a lesson that isn’t lost among those around her. 

As Quinn said recently, “If this woman can do this with all her life, what can I do? What did God put me here to do?”  

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Faces of Hope is a series of stories and videos highlighting the work of those who make the Catholic Church of Philadelphia the greatest force for good in the region. To learn more about a new way forward for the Church of Philadelphia, visit TrustandHope.org. If you know someone you’d like to see featured, please reach out to editor@catholicphilly.com.