Mary Potter

Mary Potter's major work is the foundation of the congregation of the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary (also known as the Little Daughters of Mary or Blue Nuns because of their blue veil). In January 1877, she met Bishop Edward Bagshawe, Bishop of Nottingham, who authorized her to establish a new institute in his diocese. On July 2, 1877, Mary and her first companions moved into a disused former hosiery factory in Hyson Green, a poor district of Nottingham. There they received the religious habit, marking the birth of the Little Company of Mary. The charism of the congregation is centered on the spiritual and physical accompaniment of the sick and the dying, in the image of the Virgin Mary present at the foot of the Cross on Calvary. The young foundress soon had to face difficulties with Bishop Bagshawe, who struggled to understand the articulation between the contemplative life (perpetual prayer for the dying) and the active life (home care) of the sisters. The bishop removed her from her role as superior shortly after the foundation. Despite these tensions and serious health trials—she underwent two mastectomies in 1878 following breast cancer—Mary Potter continued her work with determination. In 1882, she went to Rome to submit the constitutions of her congregation for the approval of the Holy See. There she met Pope Leo XIII, who encouraged her to establish a community in the Eternal City. She founded the Calvary Hospital (Ospedale del Calvario) near the Basilica of St. John Lateran. It was within this establishment that the first Catholic nursing school in Italy was created in 1908. Under her leadership, the congregation developed rapidly internationally, opening houses in Australia (1885), Ireland (1888), and the United States (1893). The constitutions of the institute were definitively approved by the Holy See on May 13, 1886.

Following the death of Mary Potter in 1913, her reputation for holiness prompted the Church to open her cause for canonization. The informative process began in Rome in 1942 and concluded in 1949. Her spiritual writings were examined and approved by decrees in 1956 and 1965. The cause was officially introduced on June 11, 1977. After the examination of the Positio by the Congregation for the Causes of Saints, Pope John Paul II promulgated the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues on February 8, 1988, officially bestowing upon her the title of Venerable. In December 1997, her mortal remains were transferred from Rome to England to be interred in St. Barnabas Cathedral in Nottingham, where she rests today.

Mary Potter is currently recognized as venerable. The continuation of her cause toward beatification requires the official recognition of a miracle attributed to her intercession by the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints. To date, no miracle has been the subject of a decree of pontifical approval, and the cause remains awaiting this validation.

Mary Potter's spirituality is articulated around five main axes: 1. Marian devotion: Inspired by the spirituality of Saint Louis-Marie Grignion de Montfort and his treatise on True Devotion to the Blessed Virgin. 2. The Maternal Heart of Mary: Mary Potter exhorted her sisters to care for the sick with the tenderness of a mother, uniting themselves to the heart of Mary at the foot of the Cross. She wrote several times to the sovereign pontiffs to request that the Virgin be proclaimed "Mother of the Church" (a title proclaimed by Paul VI in 1964). 3. Prayer for the dying: Constant intercession for the salvation of souls at the hour of death constitutes the heart of the congregation's charism. 4. Devotion to the Precious Blood. 5. Devotion to the Holy Spirit. Today, the Sisters of the Little Company of Mary continue their hospital and spiritual mission throughout the world (United Kingdom, Ireland, Italy, United States, Australia, New Zealand, Tonga, South Korea, Philippines, South Africa, Zimbabwe). Numerous healthcare facilities, hospitals, and palliative care centers (such as the Mary Potter Hospice) perpetuate her legacy of compassion and accompaniment of people at the end of life.