Mary Potter

Mary Potter, LCM (22 November 1847 – 9 April 1913) was an English Catholic religious sister known for founding the Little Company of Mary in 1877.

Her cause for beatification was opened in the 20th century and on 8 February 1988, Pope John Paul II proclaimed her venerable.

Early life

Mary Potter was born in a rented house in Bermondsey, South London. She was the fifth child, and the only girl, born to William and Mary Anne (Martin) Potter. One of her brothers was the chess master William Norwood Potter. Mary Potter had a congenital heart and lung disease which left her in frail health, and with a permanent cough, for the rest of her life. Her father left the family home in 1848, went to Australia, and never returned, leaving his wife to raise the children by herself.

When Potter was 19, she was introduced to her brother's friend, Godfrey King and became engaged. King, who had tried a vocation as a Trappist monk, gave Potter pious books. After about four months, she wrote to Godfrey to terminate the engagement, after the bishop of Southwark, Thomas Grant, suggested she seek her calling as a religious sister. Because of her delicate health, her mother suggested that Brighton would be a healthy place for her to go.

Sisterhood Potter resolved to go to Brighton by train with her mother and her brother, and investigate life as a religious. They arrived on 7 December 1868 and met the sisters. After some discussion it was suggested to Potter that the next day, the Feast of the Immaculate Conception, would be a good day to receive her as a postulant. That was a hasty decision and Potter was ill-prepared to enter into religious life so suddenly. However, she decided to stay, receiving the name Mary Angela. It became evident that life in the convent was too demanding physically for Potter and she was advised to leave after eighteen months. It was there, in 1908, that the first Catholic Training School for nurses commenced in Italy.

Through contacts with many bishops and laity, the Little Company of Mary became well known, and there were invitations to go to other countries. In 1885, six sisters sailed from Naples to Sydney, Australia. The Little Company of Mary then spread to the southern hemisphere and flourished, attending the sick, the poor and the dying where they were needed.

Death and beatification process

Potter died in Rome on Wednesday 9 April 1913. Her spiritual writings were approved by theologians on 25 July 1952. In 1997, her body was returned to England and she now rests in the Nottingham Cathedral. after she was nominated in a BBC poll. In addition, one of the conference rooms in the Newton building of Nottingham Trent University was named in her honour in January 2010, following its refurbishment.

Works The Brides of Christ (Our Lady's little library series) Hardcover, 1920 Devotion for the Dying and the Holy Souls in Purgatory: Mary's Call to Her Loving Children (TAN Books)