POTTER, MARY. – Foundress of the “Little Company of Mary,” born in London on 22 November 1847, died in Rome on 9 April 1913.
Having renounced marriage and after an attempt at cloistered life among the Religious of Mercy, she founded the “Little Company” in 1887, listening to a clear inner voice and amid continual and serious opposition. She began her work in Nottingham, in a neglected corner of the city, amid the most squalid misery. She wished her religious to honor in a particular manner the maternal Heart of Mary, especially in the mystery of Calvary; and to devote themselves, as their field of work, to the sick, in care homes and in their own hospitals, built beside their convents; and, moreover, to pray before the Blessed Sacrament for the dying. P., who had come to Rome in 1882 to obtain the Pope’s blessing for her work, was invited by Leo XIII to remain and found a second house in the city. Others were soon opened outside Europe as well, almost all with a hospital attached. The Institute, approved with its constitutions on 13 May 1886, received definitive approval from Leo XIII in 1893.
In addition to a great number of letters, which reflect her spirituality of distinctly Montfortian character, P. composed various writings to urge souls to the service of Jesus through Mary: The Path of Mary, The Spiritual Exercises of Mary, Mary Conferences, Mary's Call, Our Lady's Retreat, Loves in the Heart of Mary.
Another work by P. deserves mention: the
