Bishop of Nottingham: Pray for the intercession of Mother Mary Potter

Ven Mary Potter

The Bishop of Nottingham has renewed his call for Catholics to pray for the intercession of Mother Mary Potter, who founded the Little Company of Mary and whose tomb resides in St Barnabas Cathedral.

During a Mass dedicated to the Little Company of Mary, which was celebrated and live streamed on Monday at Bishop's House, Nottingham, Bishop Patrick McKinney prayed for the beatification of Mary Potter who dedicated her life to serving the sick and who was declared Venerable by Saint John Paul II on February 8th, 1988.

During his homily, Bishop McKinney said: "When the Covid situation improves I would encourage people to pray at her tomb in the Cathedral and to seek her prayerful intercession. A miracle that could be attributed to Mother Mary's intercession would certainly speed up the Church's careful process of canonisation. She has certainly left her mark on the hearts of the people of Nottingham with a Health Centre named after her, as well as a tram."

He continued: "How good it would be if we could also prefix the word 'Saint' to her name and her legacy here in Nottingham and in many parts of the world! I end by inviting you to join me in praying the prayer for her beatification."

Bishop McKinney explained that Mary Potter's ministry first began in 1877, from a derelict stocking factory in the then deprived area of Hyson Green, Nottingham. With the support of two other companions and the blessing of the local bishop, it was here that the Little Company of Mary was eventually established with a focus on feeding the poor, educating local children and visiting the sick and dying.

In 1822, despite the fact she was battling poor health, Sister Mary and two sisters travelled to Rome in order to seek the Pope's blessing for her congregation.

Pope Leo XIII signed the Decree approving the Little Company of Mary and asked Mary to open a house in Rome and extend her ministry to its sick and dying inhabitants. It was from here that the order expanded further throughout the world across five separate continents. By 1913 the congregation had spread as far as New Zealand.

Mother Mary Potter died on April 9 1913, after serving the congregation for 36 years and was buried in Rome. In 1997, her remains were taken to St Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham, where they remain today.

You can pray for the beatification of Mother Mary Potter by reciting the prayer below:

O God, to whose glory the Little Company of Mary was founded by Venerable Mary Potter, grant that she may be beatified soon, so that her work and spirit may benefit still more the suffering members of Jesus Christ. Amen. Mary, Mother of the Church, may this ardent apostle of your Maternal Heart be more widely known by special favours granted through her intercession. (Here make your petition) Our Father, Hail Mary, Glory Be.

Read the full text of Bishop Patrick's homliy:

Last Tuesday official figures revealed that an additional 104,520 people had died of COVID in the UK since last March and sadly, because of the strict hygiene requirements in both hospitals and care homes, many of these people died alone, without the comfort of family and friends around them. This situation brings sharply into focus Venerable Mary Potter's profound sense of being called by God, and inspired by her devotion to the maternal heart of Our Lady at the foot of the Cross, to pray for and to care for the dying. It was against the harsh social and economic living conditions for many of the poor in the Hyson Green area of Nottingham, that in 1877 the 29 year-old Mary Potter and two companions come to rent and live in a derelict stocking factory. It was blessed as a convent and became the first foundation of what would gradually come to be known as the worldwide Order of the Little Company of Mary. It was also against a background of poor personal health and opposition from her family, particularly her mother, and her Spiritual Director, that Mary Potter came to Nottingham.

She was also to find herself battling with the local Bishop whom I will gently call, over-enthusiastic and very controlling, but well-meaning with a big heart for social outreach to the poor. To his credit, Bishop Bagshawe did finally recognise and acknowledge Mother Mary's vision to develop a strong spiritual foundation for the work she and her sisters would do, so as to ensure that it was founded on a disciplined life of prayer and formation and so that they wouldn't end up burning themselves out, because the need for their care in the area, and elsewhere, was so great. Because of this need, Mother Mary wanted to ensure that her sisters were professionally trained as nurses so that they could offer the sick and the dying among the poor the best of nursing care and the best of spiritual support. Frail in health herself from her earliest days, suffering with heart problems and, later in life, with cancer and tuberculosis, Mother Mary had a strong personal empathy for the sick and for the dying, and those high standards of nursing work and palliative and spiritual care continues now in many countries across the world where the Little Company of Mary sisters have their foundations.

It was Pope Leo XIII who signed the Decree approving the Little Company of Mary and who also invited her to open a house in Rome which would become the Mother House and Mother Mary's home as Mother General until her death at the age of 65 in 1913. On 3 December 1997 her remains were transferred to St Barnabas Cathedral here in Nottingham, the birthplace of the Little Company of Mary. Mother Mary Potter was declared 'Venerable' by Pope St John Paul II on this day 1988 and we try to gather each year in Mass to for pray for her cause, that she may progress further along the path towards being formally recognised by the Church as a saint. When the Covid situation improves I would encourage people to pray at her tomb in the Cathedral and to seek her prayerful intercession. A miracle that could be attributed to Mother Mary's intercession would certainly speed up the Church's careful process of canonisation. She has certainly left her mark on the hearts of the people of Nottingham with a Health Centre named after her, as well as a tram. How good it would be if we could also prefix the word 'Saint' to her name and her legacy here in Nottingham and in many parts of the world! I end by inviting you to join me in praying the prayer for her beatification. You'll find the prayer printed on the Youtube channel just below the video.

LINK

St Barnabas Cathedral, Nottingham - www.stbarnabascathedral.org.uk/00_site/Home.html