| SECTION
3
Contents
Community
& Prayer Basis for Mission
To bring
Good News
Good
God, spare the Dying
To a World
in need
Associates
in Mission
Back to Section 1 |
|
Section Three: Mission and Ministry
Community and Prayer -The basis for Mission
When Mary Potter began her small institute, the vision that she held within her
heart was of a "community of people, forming one united body, in which the
members would unite the active to the contemplative life, and hence have
various offices to perform" (Conf. "M" p.1)
This united body, through its solidarity and commitment to the call it had
received, would participate in the mission of the Church, of which it was a
part. It would be a means of spreading the good news of Jesus Christ, and the
salvation he had brought to the world through his Passion and death. How the
community would do this- the manner of its evangelisation - had been determined
by the working words which had impressed themselves on the heart and soul of
the founder. The members of the Little Company would assist in the mission of
the Church by leading people to understand the wonder of the Incarnation and by
leading them into the Path of Mary:
Oh most tender brother, Jesus....infuse into my memory what is needful for thy
Mother's work. Guard my mind from useless, hurtful thoughts. Live in my heart
and soul. I will love for thee. I will take to my heart those whom you send to
me - their wants, I lay before thee: and my own children, do you guard them in
all wanderings. Keep them in thy name sweet Jesus, who bear the name of
Mary...who are covered by her mantle, _who are bound to spread knowledge, and
make thee known, through her. May they be earnest in gathering to her heart,
the wanderers of earth, leading them in her path.(O.N. 1A, p.37)
If the community was called to work for the sake of the kingdom, it was first
necessary that they had been formed within the path they were called to, so
that the community was itself united in its spirit and spirituality. Mission
could not be accomplished if the members were divided amongst themselves - if
divisionor disunity marred the witness that was proper to the community. Hence,
it was important that the members gained strength and support for mission, by
experiencing the Kingdom within the group. It was the community which would
bear witness to the truth of the message they preached: It was the community,
which, by its internal life of loving unity, would demonstrate the fact that
the Kingdom had indeed come, and was living in the world. What that meant, was
that the community was the first place that the Word was to be preached and
received - or not received, as the case may be.
We are all dear Sisters, bound together to accomplish a certain work we must
all therefore
have that work at heart. We must all be anxious to further it. We should all be
very sorry if we
thought we retarded it in any way. All of us therefore, must put our shoulder
to the wheel to
assist and further what we are banded together to perform. (M.C. No.9., p. 98)
Unity of purpose and desire was essential, if the mission of the Little Company
was to be a sign of the
of the reign of God in the world. The members were not a secular institute.
They were religious, bound by poverty, chastity and obedience. The witness they
were called to give to the world was not through a secular life style, but
through a 'religious' life:
A number of kind hearted women, living together, doing acts of charity with a
very good will, anxious to please, and ever willing to do something kind, is
indeed a good work, and such a sisterhood would deserve the esteem of men, but
it would not be esteemed by God, if it had been founded by Him to be a
religious order - that is, a body of people bound. A body of people who have
given up their own will, their own way, their own ideas, to live according to
the will of another. (Conferences "I" No. 27, p.93f)
The binding of the religious was the public acceptance of vows of chastity
poverty and obedience The implication of the vows for the life of the member of
the institute, was that it was through the practice of poverty, chastity, and
obedience, that holiness would be achieved. There was no avoiding the message of
those vows: They were the sign of the Cross, freely chosen. If the member of
the Little Company lived her vows in their spirit and truth, then her life
would be an oblation for the good of all, in the same manner as Christ's life
had been just such an oblation. The challenge was to live life as one who is in
tune with the will of God. It was the act of one who hoped for, believed in,
and was prepared to work towards the coming of the fullness of Christ in her
own heart and in the heart of the world.
The task of living such a life of abnegation is difficult, and supports are
needed. For Mary Potter, one of the human supports that would give courage and
hope to the individual journey into God, lay at the heart of the community. The
community was the place of nurturance of that hope, even as it was the witness
to it. The community was to represent on earth the love life of the Trinity:
In heaven above, from all eternity, there were three divine persons, Father,
Son and Holy Spirit. The Father - love, the Son - love, the Spirit - love.
Their life? An uninterrupted, unceasing, everlasting, blissful love and
complacency in their life of infinite love......Then, this infinite ocean of
love seems to have overflowed, and creation to have resulted....Then let us
imitate, let us follow the example of heaven. Let us do on earth as they do in
heaven. Let us lead lives of love at home....(M.C. C.8, p. )
Living such a life of internal unity, the community would be the source and
wellspring for all actions. It would be a highly visible expression of the
reality of God. Living together, bound by a shared vision, spirituality, and
desire of the heart for holiness and wholeness, each member would enable the
community to grow and blossom into its own identity. Through the actions of
individuals, the community would become the 'home' that was Mary's Heart.
Uniting the individual acts into one unity, the community would develop a life
of its own, which would become the nurturing and sustaining force for the
members.
If all in the community lived united in charity and faith, then the supports
that the human heart needed would be brought into existence. The community
would become what it was meant to be:
Our Community should be to us as a Mother: Our very life. It gives to us a new
life. It gives to
us the particular being we have for all eternity: Therefore is our community
our Mother. (Conference "A", No. 25, p. 44)
As a Mother, the community - the congregation, was the place of sanctification
and grace for the members it held to itself. It was both the _heart_ of all
the actions and ministries performed, even as it to be the _hearth_ that
welcomed and gave warmth to others who needed its love and tenderness. The
internal life of unity within the community would radiate outwards to the
world, and at the same time, draw others to it.
The dynamic of community was both active and contemplative. The contemplative
heart would draw to itself those who were called to share in the life of the
Spirit those who needed the shadow of its wings those who needed a mothering,
to renew their strength or find stability in their lives. The outreaching arms,
the apostolic or ministerial dimension, would also flow from this centre , and
those who ministered to their brothers and sisters in the world, would find
their strength, support and security from it:
Let us earnestly invoke the God of love to bestow upon us the Holy Spirit of
love, that love may reign in our hearts that within Mary's homes, there may be
ever a happy halo of love that possessing it ourselves, we may pour from our
abundance upon others, and thus we may imitate the God of love. (M.C. 8., p. 95)
If love was the hallmark of the community, it had to come from a spiritual
centering. The whole concept of community was based upon the common desire for
holiness and therefore, wholeness. If the group was to grow into its fullness
of life, each individual member had to take responsibility for the life of the
whole, by her commitment to developing both the heart and the hearth.
This development was based in the life of prayer and oblation that the members
had chosen. There was no middle way - only the hard road of the Cross, the
harsh reality of obedience and poverty. Only through an intense prayer life -
both personal and communal - could the Kingdom become a reality within the
individual or within the group. Prayer was at the heart of all that was to be
said and done, because prayer was the means of union with God, the motivation
and the support of all actions: The individual had to strive for a spirit of
prayer in order that the community may have life. That required being open to
the Spirit of God who is the only inspiration for prayer:
Father Faber tells us that anyone who says he cannot pray after dinner, has no
spirit of prayer
within him. The same may be said regarding some who say they cannot pray in
bed. They too have so spirit of prayer in them. A true spirit of prayer comes
from the Spirit of God dwelling in them, dwelling in the soul. God's spirit is
not affected by time and place. We cannot pray but by the spirit of God, and
he who has God's spirit can pray at all times and in all places. It is the evil
of evils, a want of a true spirit of prayer. (Unpublished conference on Prayer.)
To gain a spirit of prayer was of primary importance for the member of the
Little Company, because the mission and ministry to which she had been called,
was dependent upon it. A life of prayer that replicated the constant
contemplation of the Heart of Mary was at the centre of life. She who had
'pondered all things in her heart' was the model for the members of the Little
Company.
Mary Potter knew well that prayer was no easy task. The human hunger for God is
subjected to all kinds of temptations and weariness, and the human heart is
fickle if love does not seem returned by love. She constantly exhorted her
followers to persevere. If God is silent - let us wait in the silence. If he
speaks, then let us praise him, but not wait around waiting for the echoes.
There was a need to learn of prayer from Mary, the Mother of Jesus:
You complain of dryness in prayer, of an apparent impossibility of applying
your mind. Still, persevere, but do not persevere in pushing yourself before God. Quietly sink
down into your own nothingness and in the place of your own selfish
dispositions, place our Lady's unselfishness before our Lord. He may not allow
you sensible devotion for fear you should rest in it and then lose the essence
of the devotion you are consecrated to, that devotion that teaches you to put
in the place of your spirit, our Lady's beautiful spirit, to remember that, as
her own, you are bound to live by her, for her, in her, that you, in some part,
are to take her place on this earth, striving to beautify this world by showing
to God some upon it who are living the beautiful life led by our Lady upon it,
and thus delight the eyes of God. (ibid)
Communion with God in prayer was the life work of the member of the institute.
It was the place of growth and the place where the soul may come to understand
the truth of its very being. It was the place where "I" realises
itself as created and bows down in the purest exhalation of "tThou" -
the adoration and praise of a creature bound in love to the Creator. For Mary
Potter, the spirituality of the Path of Mary, with its emphasis on developing
within the soul the grace of the pure abandonment of Mary, would lead the
individual to holiness:
If you come before God full of your own dispositions, even though they be good
and holy,
you do not give God the glory you would if you come with our Lady's
dispositions, and if you are full of your own dispositions, feelings, and
inclinations, you hinder God's Holy Spirit forming you at will. You might grow
into some certain character - have some certain spirituality formed within you,
some distinct spirit good in itself, but - our Lady's little Company is to have
no other character but hers no spirituality but the spirit she had, which was
in our Lord himself. This has to be attained by careful labour, by crushing
self, by subduing self, by seeking no self satisfaction in prayer and works.
(Ibid)
To pray with the heart of Mary - to abandon desire in prayer, or even to
abandon the desire to be holy as the "I" might itself perceive holiness
to be, would enable the Spirit to form the member of the Little Company in
full. The individual would become the blank slate on which the word of God
could be written. It would be uncluttered and constantly ready for the action
of God. As Mary had been:
We have simply and solely to strive to glorify God by remaining on earth, by
renewing the life led on it by our dear Mother. By doing what we know she
would do if now on earth. It is repeating the same thing over and over again -
but it is necessary. It is a hard lesson to learn - the lesson of fighting
with our own sins and temptations. We know we must do that we know we must
repress our evil inclinations. Ah! this is hard indeed, but to repress and
mortify our good inclinations is indeed harder. For instance, when about to
perform an action from a naturally good desire, a charitable motive, we check
ourselves and do the action from a desire to do what our Lady would do, and
what she would have us to do, at least, we bring that motive uppermost. (ibid
To have no will but the will of God: To have no desire but the desire to be
what one has been called to be! This epitomised the radical life of the member
of the Little Company: She was to be always poised to act according to the wish
of God rather than the wish of self. It was to live on a cutting edge -
constantly balanced, waiting, ready to discern the moment of God's action, and
to act accordingly. It was a radical movement away from self to the concept of
being totally 'taken over' by Love, and always willing to do what that Love
willed. That required discipline and constant awareness and practice of the
Presence of God, combined with a readiness to leave all things. It was, in
fact, the reality of living in the Spirit.It was an experience that could only
be attained by effort, by a constant putting aside of self. To this end, Mary
Potter laid some ground rules:
To return to the subject of prayer: attend more with our Lady. Receive Holy
Communion in union with her make your visits to the Blessed Sacrament in union
with her have Jesus ever before your eyes, in your heart, in union with his
holy Mother. Constantly pray to be in union with Mary. Live in an atmosphere
of prayer. The habit may at first be difficult, but the reward for your trouble
will be great. Now, commence at this very moment. Whatever you are engaged in,
make a distinct intention to do it in and for Mary, then, when next you go to
prayer, it will come easier for you to renew your intention of being in union
with our Lady, but, however, make a distinct offering, and do not think this is
a light matter, this formal act. It is a very important thing. It is a fresh
act of love of God, of love of our Lady, and we shall know only in the next
world, the value of any act of love of God. (Ibid.)
What Mary Potter realised from her own life and growth into God, was the
necessity of the action of the will. If the member of the institute, and the
institute itself, was to reflect the holiness to which it had been called, then
a constant effort of Will was required. The falls did not matter then, the
important thing was the attitude of heart and mind, which,together with the
will, would open the soul to receive the powerful act of God, transforming,
liberating and drawing the soul into intimacy and loving union. The habits
acquired from direct and stern discipline, would become interiorized, become
part of the life of the soul. Using the example of the musician, Mary Potter
wrote:
The musician we see so easily fingering his instrument and producing such
beautiful harmony, so easily, with so little trouble to himself, did not find
the art easy to acquire. He learnt to play note by note, but with practise he
gradually acquired proficiency. Thus we must acquire our gifts we must practise
note by note we must study and then gradually will come the habit of virtue,
when we shall perform it easily, almost unconsciously to ourselves, even in
this grand gift of prayer - Mary like prayer is acquired. (Ibid)
If the habit and the spirit of prayer is acquired in the soul, there follows a
natural benefit. The transformation of the individual who lives the life ofthe
Spirit, leads to a flexibility and a charity that enhances the life of the
community. The personal life of prayer of the members is the key to the witness
of the community. If all are striving to achieve harmony of mind and heart
and will to the Will of God, then the community is blessed - the individuals
reflect to one another the common desire of the human heart for holiness and
wholeness the common desire to love and be loved. Thus charity becomes the
norm. That love,which is the pre-eminent gift of the Spirit, becomes the lived
reality of community.
If actions within community are performed in the same spirit as they are in
prayer - if the same habits are
cultivated - habits of listening for the voice of God rather than the inner
voice of self, then loving unity
will prevail. Moreover, a true spirit of prayer will lead to contrition of
heart, a real understanding of our littleness before the greatness of God. Thus,
simplicity will grow alongside humility and contrition, which will enable
the individual to receive the great gift of Mercy, and then become an agent of
Mercy to the other:
I am the Vine, you are the branches, spoke our dear Lord. The sap of the Vine
spreads runs
through the branches, and our dear Lord's blood runs through his members,
uniting them together, making them have one interest, one life, one love,
Himself. Yes, this should be, dear sisters, but is it? Do we love one another
as our dear Lord would have us? Still more, do we love one another some little
as Jesus loves us? Ah, the happy soul that loves, that pours itself out upon
others, that truly feels that it is loving Jesus in loving others. Indeed,
heaven is begun on earth in the soul of the one who truly loves the souls of
others: With the selfsame love with which we love our Divine Lord, must we
love each other. The apostle tells us so. The first commandment is that we
love God with our whole heart, with our whole soul, with our whole strength,
with our whole mind - and _the second is like to it_ "thou shalt love thy
neighbour as thyself." Love one another" speaks Jesus,"as I
have loved you". (Unpublished Conference on the Precious Blood)
The reality of such a love between the members of the community would bind them
into a unity which would enable them to work together in mission. The
realisation of the wonder of God living in the heart of each individual, would
lift the life of the Little Company into being a living witness of the truth of
the kingdom. It would bring with it an openness to difference of talent and
skill an understanding of the variety of gifts, and a willingness to share and
cooperate in ministry. It would build unity of heart and unity of purpose,
strengthening the faint-hearted, encouraging the strong. It would be the means
of bringing the individual into her own wonder, and be the point of attraction
for many. The Little Company would hold each other dear, as being "Chalices
of the Precious Blood" (ibid), who together would offer themselves to the
Father that others may have life. The fruit of such an awareness would be:
...(a) love for one another, love for all around, love breathed into us by the
Spirit of Love, the
Holy Ghost, who ever works in the world by means of the Precious Blood (ibid).
If unity was brought about by the willing desire of each member of the
Institute to offer herself to be
pruned, according the will of the Father of all Mercies, it was equally true
that the mission of the Community to be one in heart, mind and will, would be
destroyed by the sins that lay in the hearts of the members.
Mary Potter knew well that the root of disunity was sin, and that evil would
make its attacks on any person or group which sought to live united with God.
If the mission of the group was to be accomplished, there had to be a unity of
purpose which was supportive and regenerative:
If a sister is tempted and the devil overcomes her, all in the community loses
by her loss...We are now united, - we must ever be so. A house divided against itself cannot
stand._ We must cling to one another, we must look for help to one another. We
must expect and receive such help. Those who row together in a boat all pull
one way. hey must do so if they would get on. So with us. We must pull
together, or we shall be upset, and I pray that any house, where charity does
not reign may be broken up, that it may be cut off from our Lady's Little
Company. May it be disconnected from its root, and cast off like a branch of a
vine separated from its parent stem. May it wither and cease to exist in God's
garden, the Church! (M.C. C.8. p.95)
If the community lived the grace it had been given, then it would have power to
act within the world in which it had been planted. Community existed not only
for the benefit of the members, but for the Church itself. Mary Potter was
convinced of the fact that the Little Company had been formed by the Word of
God. It was _his_ design. Those who had been called to it, were called to be
apostles. They had been touched by God through the vocation issued to them,
and like the disciples of Jesus, were bound together by that contact. The
specific call to bear fruit that would remain - the specific call to Mission in
the name of the Church, and under its auspices, had bound them to preach the
good news of Jesus by word and deed.
Like the members of the early Church, their life in community was a sign of the
love of God: The intimate life of the community, its gathering together for
worship, sororal charity, eucharist, and loving union, would only have meaning
if it became witness to the truth of Jesus living within each of the members.
It would only have relevance, if it challenged those who saw it and drew from
them, admiration and conversion, through its own specific preaching and teaching
of the good news of Christ dead and risen for us all.
Let Mary's homes make up to God. Let them be sanctuaries of love,
souls bound together, Mother and children true to one another, true to their
vocation, therefore true to God. Faithful, loving the word "fidelity".
Let it be engraven on the walls. Let it be engraven on the hearts of whom God
has joined together to represent to him his human life, as he intended it (to
be). Christ came to restore all things. Let us help to that restoration -
happy to be made use of by our God. (O.N. Vol. 5., P. 52)
If the Little Company was to bear communal witness to the "hope that is in
us" - if it was to be a channel of grace for all, the members had to be unafraid of sharing the gifts of grace
and goodness they had been given. They had been called to preach and teach the
good news out of hearts that had themselves known conversion and loving Mercy.
It is our Mission to tell the tale of Jesus' pity to save souls....Rise up in
power and preach the wonders of the pity of the Sacred Heart.....draw to this
source of strength, the weak, the sinful. It is our work, and how needful.
Souls seem shipwrecking (sic) before our eyes...they are souls for whom Jesus
shed the last drops of his blood, the images of our God upon whose souls he
imprinted his own likeness - and they perish! Pleadingly Jesus (appealed) to
all to love one another, but his own cherished ones should not need to be
reminded of that. (Conferences "J", P.87)
Only a heart that has been touched by Mercy Incarnate can truly speak the words
of life to others. Only a group that was committed to its own inner life as the
source of its being and mission, could take upon itself the task of being
Gospel in the world. Yet this was the task for the Little Company - its first
task above all others: To evangelize - to give witness to the kingdom by
leading people to Jesus through Mary. This was the singular call. The
community had been gathered together to speak the good news in its own language
(cf. Acts 2:11), so that others might respond and come to new life in Christ by
entering the path of Mary. It would not be an easy path to follow, nor an easy
path to preach, for the very nature of the spirituality was simplicity, and the
folly of the Cross. But, it was the mission that had been established, and if
the Little Company was to be true to its origins in God, then it had to be
accomplished.
To Bring Good News
 Back
The first principle of evangelization for Mary Potter lay in the fact that
"God so loved the World that he gave his only Son, that whoever believes in him may not die, but may have
eternal life" (Jn. 3:16). From the first moments of her being drawn to
experience the immensity of that love, Mary Potter had identified the essence
of Mission as an urgent and unstoppable demand to enable others to enter into
the experience of God - to find themselves as redeemed, made holy, and
extraordinarily beautiful. Having come to understand her own origins in the
mystery of the Godhead 'before the world was' (Jer. 1:5), she saw all humanity
in that same light. All people had been, 'before the world was', in the heart
and mind of God. The sadness, the truth and pity was that they did not know it.
Evil sought to cloud the vision of the heart, and the human being - so
beautiful, so loved by the Creator, was left floundering in the darkness of
inadequacy, fear, doubt and despair. The message Jesus had come to bring was
not being shouted loudly enough from the roof tops. The truth about Calvary -
the moment of redemption and love - needed explication. God's own compassion
for his people had sent the Son. The Son's compassion for his people had led
him into death, and the final outpouring of mercy and love, was through the
wonder of a God who would die for beings he himself had created! The
absurdity, the magnificence of such a love, had to be shared. The same
compassion that had first urged God, had to be welcomed by the ones who sought
to follow him:
Show thyself dear Lord, as thou art, and then will thy spouses grow into
similarity in their degree with thee, love all with thee, suffer for all, bear
with all, be raised above the world, keep to their high state as consecrated
ones, called by thee to live a pure life, devoid of self, devoid of the things
of sense......What would any creature on earth desire, if they knew how their
creator desired them? What heart could wish greater love, if it realised but a
little of thy love my Jesus? Who would feel lonely, knowing you are near. Who
would want someone to lean on? (O.N. 1A, p. 20)
In her own pain at the sight of the suffering of those who did not know the
wonders that awaited them, Mary Potter wrote of the suffering of heart and the
love that should be the characteristic of the disciple. On the one hand, there
is the joy of personal union: on the other, the call to share it: I could
rejoice with wondrous joy, I could remain in peace, untroubled, entirely
content, overflowing with happiness - but, O God! My God! My People! my poor
people! In pain I cry out to thee: Mercy my God, Mercy! It is thy prerogative. I
do not doubt thy Mercy. My pain is with these poor people...
these souls in sin, in grievous trials, temptations, miseries untold, hearts
bleeding, pierced broken hearted at their own miserable failures - fearful for
the future, despairing at the past - (will these doubt your mercy?) My God!
Move men's minds. (O.N. 4, No. 66 p. 40).
If souls were to be saved, there had to be a consciousness that the world did
not exist for the self alone - each member of the human family was bound together by the fact of
their creation in God. . For the Little Company, there was the need to know
the world as family. There was need to know the role of being 'mother' to that
family. There was a need to be totally immersed in the world, whilst not being
distorted by its values:
Oh how can we be so supine to what goes on in the world. It would be so selfish
if we love God's Church. Whatever may affect it affects us. All that affects
the Church, God's beautiful work on earth, now given to our Lady. See our Lady
with the Church in her hands, pressed to her heart, and then love it with some
of her love, and we would then be anxious to know all that is for its good. We
watch the nations and all that is going on in various countries, whether they
are well disposed or not....How could a soul be aiming at perfection...it is
not holiness to be wrapt up in oneself - watch the history of the world, as do
the angels (O.N. Vol. 4., No 57, P.26)
To bring people to an awareness of their glory in being children of the Father,
through the saving and sanctifying presence of Christ, Mary Potter had been given the grace and the
task of evangelizing in a specific manner. The words 'honour the heart of my Mother' had been engraved
upon her heart. It was for the members to honour that heart, by living its
virtues, but why? Because Mary Potter had come to understand that Mary, the
Mother of Jesus, Mother of all mankind, not only had a role to play in the plan
of salvation she was also the sign of the intimate union the human person
could and would have with the Son and the Father, through the power of the
Spirit. The mother of the Lord was not to be venerated simply for her
motherhood of the Christ but because, as Jesus himself had explained, she had
heard the word of the Father and had acted upon it (Matt.12, 46-50), and she
had done this as a human being like ourselves! For Mary Potter, the Mother of
the Lord was the example of how a human being could respond to God, could
reflect the glory of God within her own person, if they were freed to do so.
That freedom, however, would only come from union of heart and mind and will
with the will of God. This in turn meant that the individual had to understand
clearly her place in God - her relationship to him through creation - and her
place in the wonder of the Incarnation. The Mother of Jesus reflected both
these elements in her life.
In a certain sense, the person of the Mother of the Lord reflected the humanity
of those who truly lived
the fullness of Baptism: No other human being had lived so completely for the
Father as had Mary. No other person had been prepared to permit the shadow of
the Holy Spirit to encompass him or her, to the degreethat she had. Mary was
thus an example and a guide to living the fullness of the God-life in the world:
If the life of Mary could be born in the soul of an individual, then the life
of Christ would also be born, for who could separate the life of the Mother
from the Son? More than that, however, Mary was given the responsibility by
her Son to bring his people, her children of the Passion, into their fullness
of life: It follows, if none on earth ever has or ever could give God the joy
thou gavest Him, so, if souls become like thee, in some small, even very slight reflection of thee, these can promote God's glory more than by anything
else, for to be like thee sweet mother, at all, how we should strive to save souls. (O.N. No. 19,
P.41)
To learn of Mary was to learn of one's own dignity andlove-ability. But if
such a way of coming to know, love and understand Christ was to be achieved,
then a process to enable that understanding and response had to be made
available. There was an education that was necessary for those of the community
who were called to take a direct part in this mission of the Little Company:
I want you in each house, to put by a little time for sisters who are capable
of study, to read, so as to be able to do good, and to know how to give an answer to
"the hope
that is in us", as we are told by the Holy Spirit. What does this mean? To be able to put in a pleasant
attractive manner, what we ourselves believe........By laying down what you believe simply and
almost in the manner that the one you are speaking to likewise believes, it
will carry them with you - whereas, if you oppose what they believe, their
wills will rise up that powerful agent that does all our good or bad.....Dear
Sisters, it is a great need, and we ought to pray to God to send us souls to
join, with humility and power of speech, to give the answer to the hope that is
in us:...(Some priests) have the unreasonable thought in sending us subjects,
(that) they need not be educated! (Conf. "A", No.43, p.82)
This need to have sisters 'educated' in order to spread the word of God through
all levels of society, was a thought that Mary Potter sought to bring home to the members of the institute.
If the charge given to the Little Company was to be effective, then needs had to be met. And they had to
be met - in terms of the vows the sisters themselves undertook -"to the
greatest perfection that (they) could attain". This was an obligation on
all the works that the Sisters would undertake, whether that be nursing,
teaching, caring for the poor, helping priests. There was to be no haphazard
ministry. All was to be performed with the greatest charity, the greatest
skill, the greatest capacity that each member could muster. The spreading of
the word of God demanded that. Evangelization through the direction of souls was part of the Mission to bring
to life the Christ who lived in the heart of each of his people. It was to bring to light the talents and
the gifts planted in the soul of the individual that the world may become one in in Christ:
It is not that we are supposed to do a great deal ourselves, beyond what our
rule prescribes, but we who mix so much with the world, should influence and encourage others to use
their talents and energies for God's service, instead of frittering them away
on what does not tend to the Glory of God, the sanctification or salvation of
their souls or those of others. (Conferences "K" No. 22., p.92).
To make one's home available, to bestir the self to shout the good news of
salvation from the roof top, can be challenge and is certainly commitment, but
Mary Potter was certain that it was the duty of the Little Company to enter
wholeheartedly into the work of the Kingdom - the preaching of the good news of
Jesus. It was fundamental to the call of being a religious: What had been
given to her, and through her, to those who would follow, had to be shared. The
gift was not private. There was a danger however, that passivity tothe
fundamental task of evangelization could arise:
We may have become somewhat nerveless, passively submitting and going our way
quietly, but needing a spur to remind us that "The kingdom of heaven suffereth violence" and
"the violent alone shallbear it
away." Yes, we must do violence for the sake of the others who are
threatened with losing their immortal souls. We must go out into the
battlefield, we must pick up the wounded and anoint them. We must bring to them
the treasures of the Precious Blood. The merits of the Sacred Humanity of Jesus
are at our disposal. We must bring them to all around, and we must plead with
the Eternal Father, by the Passion of Jesus, by His passion and death, to show
mercy to the world.(Conferences "J", p 15)
There was an urgency to be experienced. Time was not something to be wasted in
the tremendous task Jesus left to his disciples to carry out - the missionary
task of proclaiming the kingdom now living on the earth:
Go then my children, fulfil your mission. Go, visit the widow, the fatherless
and the afflicted,
and keep your soul unspotted from this world. But who is the widow, and who
are the fatherless you are to visit in the world? The widow is the soul bereft
of its Lord. There are many who deny their Father, through we may not call them
Fatherless, but oh, how far they have wandered from that good Father of whom
all Paternity has its name! Let us bring them back. Let us inspire hope in
hearts apparently hopeless. They have seen no power on earth capable of making
right what is as wrong as they know their own poor hearts to be, and they doubt
they can be ever righted again, disfigured, disjointed, broken to pieces, as
they know their own poor souls to be. They doubt the good Father - they trust
not his providence, they believe not in his power to restore, regenerate, to
give them back the light and the liberty of the children of the image of God
again. Ah Sisters! Let us go forth upon our works. We are children of the
Mother of Holy Hope. Our hearts have been joined by her in a wondrous way to
the Sacred Heart. There has been a fire of love lit from it, but a lamp that is
lighted burns not, unless we watch and replenish it when necessary. Have we
let that fire grow cold, that light grow dim, that was once
right and burning (Conferences "F", p8)
The fire that had been lit in the heart of Mary Potter, and one she sought to
maintain as the hearth fire of
the institute, was simply love. A love that desired nothing but the good of the
beloved. The call to be
good news in the world was part of that love. It was to bear witness to the
wonders that God had worked in the heart and soul of the individual and the
community. If the Little Company was to love the world as Jesus had done, then
they had to love it enough to die for it. That was the whole point of Calvary.
That was the place where Love had its way with the world and conquered death.
If the work of Love Incarnate was to be continued amongst his people, and the
little ones of the kingdom fed the food of the just, then an inner and outer
life of commitment had to be led.
Dear Children, our whole lives are devoted to saving souls, and our
consecration to this, the
grandest work that can be done, gives to our acts a great grace. We may seek
here or there to do
this or that. What can there be greater than serving God and saving souls. Let
this be our
principal object in life. To go about this beautiful world, to draw God's
creatures to love
him, (by this) we have fulfilled the end of our creation! (Conferences "E", No.7, p.16)
The work of evangelization would not happen unless the head and the heart of
the congregation worked together with the hands and the feet. There were tasks
to be done if the kingdom was to flourish works that would be performed in
order that people might understand the reality of that kingdom, and be led into
it. No work would exist for its own sake. It came into being from the
complementary call given Mary Potter to Honour the heart of her Mother, and to
save sinners dying.
Good God - Spare the Dying! Back
From the first concept of the congregation, and from the experience of her own
spiritual journey, Mary Potter had been drawn to pray for the dying. With the
gradual revelation of the pattern of the congregation, this work became central
to all the other ministries which would be performed. Prayer for the dying was
the primary call issued to the congregation:
We have to pray and work for the sick and the dying, that is the greatest and
primary work of
the Little Company of Mary. But, as well, there are many other ways in which we
can help others to do good, and use the treasures of grace which God has given
to all. (Conferences "K", No. 22. p.92)
There would be many 'other ways' of helping others which would be answered by
the members of the Little Company, but prayer for the dying was part of them
all. Such prayer contained the moment of Calvary. The constant prayer of the
Little Company would echo Mary's cry on Calvary. It would echo the cry of
Christ. It would be a never ceasing cry for Mercy for those who were dying in
sin, therefore risking their eternal happiness. This was the natural follow
through for the member of the society, for did not the rule demand that each
sister offer herself as a Victim -"in union with the Holy Sacrifice"?
Was not this oblation offered so that if her life would enable another to live,
it should be taken? Mary Potter saw that such prayer for the whole of the
world was part of the vocation of the Little Company - even as it was part of
the total Christian call to 'lay down one's life for one's friend'. But, the
special ministry of prayer for the dying was in response to a defined call - it
had been a 'working word' given to Mary Potter:
"I have chosen you, that you should go and bring forth fruit, and that your
fruit should remain".
Yes, the fruit, the grace to the dying remains. It is forever. The work most
needed of all works,
the dying. (O.N. 1A, p.14)
Why was this work important? Because the moment of death was the moment of
birth into God - the moment when the soul is re-united with its Creator. For
Mary Potter, the dying - and in particular the dying sinner, had most need of
that mothering care and love that was at the heart of the congregation. How
could anyone stand aside and run the risk of one soul being lost - one soul
losing its end and purpose for being? What Mary Potter had experienced in a
moment of grace, was the agony of the soul condemned to an eternity of
separation from its beloved: The experience, which was written down and
entrusted to the care of Mother Cecilia, is given in full:
Devotion to the dying was a distinct inspiration. I had never seen anyone
dying, or been mixed up with death in any way, but I believe God has made me
experience since, what those "agonies" are what the word "agonies" means. It is
certainly not given to those moments when the
soul has to be severed from the body without meaning. Some years ago, on the
Feast of St. Gertrude, these agonies apparently commenced. Those around me
thought I was dying, though they knew not what I was going through. How
describe? Suppose a member of the body - only out of place: This is agony
until replaced. Now, if this can be imagined all over the body. A powerful,
strong wave sweeping over the shrinking body and withdrawing the life partly
There is a vacuum --the sufferer is breathless and gasps, - the life seeks to
return, but another
powerful wave sweeps again with resistless force, withdrawing still more of
that life. Again and again comes that mighty wave. Ah! Pray! The sufferer may
be silent, and show nothing - too weak to give any sign of what is going on.
The children of Faith, know that their God is love - and that they must bow to
him at this moment when his instituted penance for sin - is being executed.
They have a special Sacrament instituted to support this penance. But imagine
a soul without faith feeling this mighty power, knowing that an omnipotent being
alone could withdraw from the tenement it has held so long. What might happen?
May God avert it. May God strengthen the prayer that emanates from Mary's
Heart. Jesus, pity!
(Written by Mary Potter l883, given to Mother Cecilia 1902, Recollections M. M.
Cecilia Smith, p.43)
Such a powerful experience of the suffering of death could not help but draw
Mary Potter to serve the dying. There was little that could be done for them
materially, but the genuine warmth of love could stand with them, sharing the
agony and praying for its ease. From her own experience, however, the terror of
dying unreconciled to God, the boundless loss the soul would feel for eternity
if it did die unreconciled, could not be born. Calvary had been the place of
Mercy. The members of the Little Company would stand at that place of Mercy and
plead that not one of the children of God die without knowing its benediction.
Such a prayer, based on such an experience, cannot be heartless or automatic.
It has to be filled with passion and longing - just as the heart of Mary was
filled with passion and longing for those for whom her Son died, that they
might know their truth in him, and thus win heaven:
The love of our Lady for the dying is the favourite thought of those who love
her and are
beloved by her, of those who have penetrated most deeply into the recesses of
her loving heart. The hour of death may be, and is, in the offices of the
saints, called the hour of birth. Mothers
look forward to the birth of the children, and then remember no more the
anguish, for joy that a
child is born into the world. So it is with our Lady: She is full of loving
solicitude when their
moment of death draws near, the precious moment in which her children will be
born to a new and immortal life. She looks for us to help her in their
extremity she looks for us to assist her to
bring her child to birth.(L.H.M. P.101)
In this context, the place of the member of the Little Company is almost that
of midwife to the soul. She is called to bring it to birth in Christ, to mother
it forth to its new life in God. Constant prayer, constant
vigilance would ensure that no one died alone. Over all the reaches of the
earth, there would be a continual, pleading cry coming before the throne of
God: A cry that would beg Mercy for the most Piteous - the dying sinner. That
was the fundamental ministry that was to be performed for God's people. As
mothers to the world, the members of the Little Company would sit in spirit,
beside each dying member of the human family, that none might be lost. And this
watch for the dying of the world would take place twenty four hours a day,
before Christ present in the Eucharist (O.N. No. 5,P49ff).
Nothing should deter the member of the Institute from that work of Mercy. Some
of the Sisters will remain ever watching and pleading before Jesus in the
Blessed Sacrament others will go forth in the same spirit of Calvary, to tend
him in his dying members to tend also, those who are in danger of the eternal
loss of God - for these, they hope to obtain a grace, such as was accorded the
good thief on Calvary. (Conferences "M", Compendium of the Rule. p.31)
Where possible, the vigil for the dying would be extended to nurturing care
of those who were dying in their own homes. There were those within the
congregation who would be called to do the works of the hands and the feet:
These had been called to a ministry of physical caring. In their presence,
they would pray and watch over their brothers and sisters, as they walked the
awesome and lonely journey into newness of life. Opportunity to care for the
dying would come, the Mother of Jesus would ensure that:
If we love the dying, she will give us the opportunities to assist them. She
will send her
angels to call those she knows will help her, whose love will give them power,
whose faith and hope will enable them to work with her. (L.H.M. p.101)
And it was only love that would empower the members of the Little Company to
serve the dying through prayer and action. A love that was not restricted by
self interest or human respect. If the members were truly of Mary's heart and
mind and will, then they would understand the depth of the sorrow of the Heart
of Mary at the sight of the lost children of the earth - lost because they were
unloved and uncared for by those who professed to be sisters and brothers to
her Son. The task of the Little Company was to love enough to care, and to care
without counting the cost:
We will, as loving children, come to solace that Heart, come to draw from it
the grace to love
others, grace to feel a little as Mary feels, grace to daily, hourly, pray for
the dying, to
help them as much as we can, and personally to visit them when we can. ......By
doing this, we do an undying work - for if we obtain for a sinner a happy death,
there can be no relapse, the work is done for eternity. (L.H.M. p.102)
But it was not only to the dying _sinner_ that the Little Company was called.
Mary Potter knew well that each soul can be made more beautiful - more
reflective of the glory it had been created to be. In her, there was an
understanding of the need to deepen the love of God in the hearts of all the
faithful. To evangelize meant to bring the good news of Jesus, not simply to
those who did not know, but also to those who know, but who may be limited in
their understanding, or capable of growing further into union with their God:
Here again the spirituality of the Path of Mary was seen by Mary Potter as
blessing to those who were sick and dying. It was a means of growing into
intimacy with their Lord:
Do all that lies in your power to render that moment what it should be to God,
most pleasing and precious in his sight do all that you can to make that
death-bed a place where God blessed his child with unutterable love, and
proclaimed it his very own, and in folding it to himself, imprinted upon it the
kiss of everlasting peace. God grant this to us when we come to die, and God
grant our mother may be there to help us at that momentous moment upon which our
eternity depends. (op.cit. p.104)
Again and again Mary Potter returns to the theme, that the fundamental mission
of the Little Company was to extend the Kingdom of God. It was a charge given
by the nature of the gift and by the nature of the life that the members had
chosen to lead. The works that the sisters might perform, whilst good in themselves, were transitory, compared with the work of making the Kingdom happen
in the hearts and minds of all they came in contact with.
Exterior works are so attractive, we seem to be doing so much when we are
engaged in them for God's glory, that we do not realise that inward work which
is to be accomplished: "Thy kingdom come"! What is it we ask for?
That God may reign in all hearts. He will do so by means of Mary. If we extend
her kingdom, we extend Christ's. Make Mary loved, her devotion practised and
Jesus will be adored and worshipped wherever that sweet work, that lovely
conception of his is known. Do you inculcate True Devotion? Do you teach it to
your patients? Do your bring your Dying into the Little Company of Mary before
they die? ....
(Conferences "A" P.75 - 77, No. 4)
If the Little Company was to fulfil its mission, the questions had to be asked.
The physical caring, whilst
important, was not of the essence of the call:
You know dear children, the first object of our foundation is not to nurse, as
so many suppose,
and it is not right, too many of our sisters allow them to suppose. Our first
object is to model
Calvary, and form a united Body, representative to Heaven, mirroring that grand
work of the Holy Ghost: The Mystery of Grace, Calvary. So on Calvary, we see
the figures of our Institute. We see Jesus Crucified, shedding his precious
Blood. Our Lady's Maternal Heart, pleading by that Blood to save souls. We see
those three deaths. We watch the Happy Dismas, and long to co-operate with our
Mother in thus saving souls at the last hour. To do this, we go out to attend
the death bed of Christ's large family. He died for us all, we pray for all,
and visit in spirit the death which we cannot attend in person. We are placed
as sentinels, as witnesses at the portals of Christ's Church, that no soul may
go forth for whom we have not prayed. (Conferences "A"., p.33)
Whilst nursing was a part of the work of the Institute, a natural and
complementary work, the actual care of the sick had developed alongside the
nursing of the dying. It was not a foundational concept:
We attended in person as many deaths that we could, and thus, having to be at
the death,
necessitated attending the sickness, and then all sickness naturally came to
us, and we had to study to know what to do how to solace the sufferers and as
we are bound to aim at perfection, we have to know our duty in nursing the
sick, and not disgrace our Mother who is Saedes Sapientiae. (ibid).
What Mary Potter feared above all, was that the Little Company would betray its
origins, the primary reasons for its being. Writing to her Sisters she said:
It is well it should be known what spirit you are, why you are founded. I tell
you candidly my
children, a simple nursing order would have no attraction for me. The greater
part of our
friends, much less the world at large, think of you only as Nursing Sisters,
and we lose many
useful and good subjects through this. How it is, I do not know, that the
sisters who see
people much more than I do, are with their patients long hours in the sick
room, and yet seem
not to attract them to our Lady's heart, to lead them into her path, to show
them the way to
Calvary, by thus anchoring them to the Maternal heart, to sanctify their souls,
and give so much
more glory to God, so much more joy to our dear and Immaculate Mother.
We were not founded simply to tend the body. It is an outcome of our devotion
to the dying. It is our Lady's maternal love made her lead her children to the
dying bed, that they might take her place of Mother, where a Mother shows so
beautifully - the dying place of her child. It is a devotion that all rise to.
(O.N. Vol.4, P34)
Nursing the sick and the dying was a part of the vocation of the Little
Company, but it - like all other
ministries which were to be undertaken, - were for the primary purpose of
enabling the work of the Spirit in the hearts and souls of all men and women.
Beyond everything else there was a call to enter into life at all levels to
lead people into their path of holiness:
Let this be our principal object in life - to go about this beautiful world to
draw God's creatures
to love him. We have fulfilled then the end of our creation. ..dear children,
our whole lives are
devoted to saving souls, and our consecration to this - the grandest work that
can be done - gives
to our acts a great grace. We may seek here orthere to do this or that. What
can be greater than
serving God and saving souls. By God's helping grace, we seek to bring (him)
souls.
(Conferences "E", No. 7. p.16)
If souls were to be saved, there was room enough to work for them in the world,
and Mary Potter had a vision and a heart that would seek out the lost and the
stray wherever they would be, her emphasis always on the spiritual nature of
the mission and ministry. If prayer and care for the dying had led to
participation in the health care ministry, following the gospel injunction "I was sick and you visited me" - to
what other areas had the Little
Company been called?
To a world in need
Back
In a conference written to the members of the Little Company of Mary
(Conference "F", P. 11-13), Mary Potter wrote down the fundamental
characteristics she saw as being essential to the Mission and ministry of the
congregation.
Firstly, if an individual sought to live her life within the parameters of the
Little Company then,
according to the insights of the founder, they would have to have a total
commitment - a zeal for souls, for "we are an entire oblation of ourselves
for the good of others." There was no reason for the effort of becoming
holy if it was pure self interest. God would call the member of the institute
to union, in order that they might be motivated to help others.
Secondly, there was the characteristic of maternal care. That 'mother love'
which was so important to
Mary Potter, and a grace that she had received, was essential to determining
the manner in which ministry would be carried out: "What mother love have
we? Why, the brute creation might reproach us: a poor hen with its chicks
might teach us how to love!" This 'mother love' would dare all things,
attempt all things, for the sake of the children of God. It was a love that was
not selective or demanding, but rather a love that would stand with the
outcast, the lonely, the sinner and the rejected, always open and ready to
assist. It was not intrusive or controlling, but rather a presence of 'being
with', in order to support and sustain, comfort and nurture those who needed
such care.
The third characteristic for ministry and mission, was the ability to see
Christ in the hearts of his people -
even when that image was blurred or disfigured by frustration, pain, poverty or
sin. The member of the Little Company had to look beyond the surface, to see
into the heart of the individual, and to understandthat Christ was present in
all. Sin did not alter the fact that God lived in his creation, his people. His
love was not altered by sin, it was merely hidden, rusted over, by ignorance,
doubt, fear, confusion, and all the other forces that the sins and violence of
the world placed upon it. The question each member of the Institute had to
answer was: "Do we see our dear Lordin the persons of our sister, the poor,
the sick whom we serve? " This capacity to see the person, not the sin, was
to truly know the blessedness of being, which in turn would lead the sister to
the final point for mission and ministry: "The spouse of Jesus, the child
of Mary, fashioned after her heart - those who have bound themselves to be
Mothers to Christ's neglected children (does) not forget those confided to her
care, never ceases to have pity on them, but throws her whole heart and soul
into showing her love of God, by loving his".
This willingness to embrace 'Christ's neglected children', pointed to the
direction of ministry. Whilst
the care of the dying and the sick transcended economic barriers, there was a
call to the heart of Mary Potter, to minister to those who were 'neglected'.
And that neglect was most clearly seen in the face of the poor, who were
neglected on all levels.
When Mary Potter began her ministry in Nottingham, the full direction of her
ministry began with the urban poor. Within their midst, she began processes to
educate, to feed, to clothe, to share with the poor, from the comparative
'wealth' of her presence and person. As she ministered, she came to understand,
on the one hand, the genuine fraternal love that poverty bred in those it held
- and on the other, the sinfulness it was - the way in which poverty of
position could lead to bitterness and evil within families, amongst different
groups. The love she discovered led her on, the evil she confronted challenged
her to love more: The evil of poverty would be overcome by loving, and the
sharing of the hope that rested in Christ:
Let us bring them back. Let us inspire hope in hearts apparently hopeless.
They have seen not power on earth capable of making right what is as wrong as they know their own
poor souls to be, and they doubt they can be ever righted again, disfigured,
disjointed, broken to pieces, as they know their own poor souls. They doubt
the good Father - they trust not his providence, they believe not in his power
to restore, regenerate, to give them back the light and the liberty of the
children of God. They doubt that their souls can ever bear the image of God
again. (Conf. "F", p. 8)
Love for the little ones of the kingdom would cause Mary Potter to repeat over
and over, that the work of the Little Company was to be as varied as the needs
of the people of God. In her writings to the first sisters, she states:
See Mary with the young catechumens, l see her at the bed of death, see her
working with the apostles in her quiet, simple, hidden way. In what ways may we
not imitate her if we choose....In our Little Company there is the work of instructing and catechising, as
well as that which
must always look upon as our chief work - the assistance of the dying. We
would not be like
Mary if we were confined to one special devotion... (M.C.10., 115)
This vision of the Little Company as being involved with a variety of works in
the Church is heightened through her other conferences. There she states:
Our Lady's children would lose entirely her spirit if they preferred grand
hospitals to the little
houses over which she presides, the Sweet Mater Hominum, Mother of the whole
human family, which God had given her. We strove, when they came, to make them
feel welcome. They came fearlessly, and we looked upon them as the favourites
of God, his poor, whom he so loved on earth. They were sacred trusts to us.
And we felt honoured to have it so. Morning noon and night they came, and the
soup-pot was always ready on the stove for them, so that those who needed it
could have it at any hour, when tea or coffee would have been no use to them.
We begged and worked for them. We visited them in their cottages, and how many
little infants would have died without baptism, if it had not been for the
sisters. (Conferences "R", p. 61)
Living and working among the poor, there were works to be done which were works
of practical assistance, such as can be seen from the above extract. The
members of the early Company, begged for the poor, supplied them with food and
clothing, gave an education to the young and the old and cared for them when
ill or dying. But, wherever the work was done, it was done as part of Church.
It was a work that was ecclesial by its nature - sharing in the full
responsibility of evangelization as well as philanthropic assistance. For Mary
Potter, the work among the poor, on what she called the "Mission", was
an essential part of the spirit of the Institute.
Mission work is one of the works of the Little Company of Mary. It is very
evident that God wishes us to be occupied with his vast family, since he has so blessed this
work wherever the Little Company have engaged themselves in helping the priest with his Mission
work. What blessings have been attached, what souls saved. Conversions,
instructions, united with our interior life, help to our own sanctification, as
well as to the expansion of Christ's kingdom. (AN p.44)
From a participation in the corporal works of mercy, in a variety of ways,
grace would be given, and the Little Company would represent more truly the
universality of its mission to save souls.
Poverty exists on all levels, however, and Mary Potter knew the struggle of
women in her own time. From her own commitment to Motherhood as a
participation in God - an image of God, she saw the women of her own society
oppressed and neglected - and that, particularly among the poor. There were
problems of incest due to poor housing (cf. Annals: Historical Material,
Nottingham), teenagers who were "more sinned against than
sinning" (Conferences "R" P.6), who were orphans or runaways, or the
victims of exploitation (M.C. P.264).
For these, Mary Potter had enormous compassion. She initiated the "Guardian
Angels Home" in London, drew up a programme to provide them with skills to
enable them to run a home, get into 'service', or, in some cases, to enter the
Convent (Conferences "R"). For such as these, some of the members were
to take responsibility - they were to be Mothers to these motherless ones, and
to be available to them for advice, counsel, and support. What was most
necessary was compassion and non-judgemental love. In a letter to a to a woman
who was in some kind of personal trouble, the example is given of the tender
compassion of a 'wise guide': Mary Potter wrote:
There is danger, in a case like yours, of doubting God's mercy and forgetting
that it is infinite, and that the more we need it, the more we shall receive, and increase God's
glory, in a way that we could not, if we had not so much need of it. God always draws good out of
evil in a marvellous manner. From the fall of this world came the Incarnation -
a greater good than the primeval innocence. A pure soul, lately writing, brings
out the greatness of God's power - which is not greater than his will: "The Immaculate Conception of the Virgin, and the purity of penance of the
Magdalen, are the works of God, and as such are equally admirable in our
eyes". You say you made a mistake from the commencement. Nothing is
irretrievable in this world of Mercy, where we can so glorify God by hope,
especially at times when we are tempted to despair and to think that all is lost
through one wrong step." (Letters "D" No. 45)
Compassion for Mary Potter, meant being an agent of mercy and the task that had
been given was to search out the lost and the stray, and to bring them home.
Over and over again, the members of the Institute are encouraged to be for all
- no matter how hard, how tiresome, or how terrible. Thus, in the early years
of foundation, there would be work for the sisters in seeking to reclaim the
alcoholics through participation in the Temperance league (Nottingham,
Historical Material), homes for the poor, homes for the deprived women and
girls, and always hospitality within the convents for those who needed it.
Hospitality was not a matter of politeness - it was a demand from the very
vocation to which the members had been called. Again, taking the point from
the requirements needed to be truly evangelical, and loving in service, Mary
Potter would storm against the thoughtlessness of those who would turn people
away from the convent 'homes of our Lady', saying they were too busy to attend.
In a sad account of a woman who had come to the convent in Rome for support,
and who had been turned away for just that reason, Mary wrote:
Perhaps God had permitted this to happen to teach us a lesson and make us
examine our consciences as to how we keep our Rule of "Imitation of the
Maternal Heart of Mary". Are we Mothers? Not in heart, but in deed and in
truth - bringing certain souls into our midst. Those we take to ourselves, God
has sent them. We cannot be too busy to do our duty, and God's family must not
be neglected for anything.....Ah, think, have you ever sent our Lord away from
the door saying: "I have looked for one who would comfort me, and I have
found none." If we have not looked at matters in this pure spiritual light, let us sorrow
over the past, and commence anew." (Conferences "F", No. 31, p. 71)
The particular grief for Mary Potter, and the occasion that prompted the
conference to the Congregation, was that the woman - who was known to Mary Potter, having been
turned away, committed suicide! If the Little Company was to prevent just such
despair and hopelessness in the world, then hospitality, and a constant welcome
was important. The community that failed to embrace the task, was failing to
live up to the spirit, the vocation, of the Little Company:
If repugnance rises within, to seeing and advising those who come to you for
counsel and comfort, treat this repugnance as a temptation. Be ashamed of it.
Say: "Can I be weary of the image of Christ?" Without this spiritual
and true view of visitors, even general visitors (not bound to the Little
Company especially), even ordinary visitors, receive as guests of Christ. But
those who are affiliated - they are entitled to the greatest attention. It
must be coming home to them, whenever they visit or return from some work. It
must be "home". Here again, we can makeup for a glory that is dimmed -
for a good home is a glory to God. Let Mary's "homes" make up to God.
Let them be sanctuaries of Love, souls bound together, Mother and children,
true to one another, true to their vocation. Therefore, true also to God. (O.N.
5, p.52)
Whatever the nature of the apostolic ministry, the work to evangelise through
the Path of Mary, and the prayer and care for the dying of the world, was the
melody line that played beneath the harmonies the works created. This was the
fundamental option. The external activities, no matter how good in themselves,
were not the end. There could be no personal ambition, no personal motives in
the ministries performed. They were to serve the people of God, and to be seen
as secondary to the prime motive of winning souls to the Father, and to their
own individual beauty in him. In all the ministry, there was a danger of
becoming too invested in the task, and not in the spiritual dimension of the
mission. If the Little Company were to truly live the spiritual reality of
being Eucharist to the world, of being Mothers to all those in need, it would
be necessary for the Little Company to embrace the life of poor pilgrims, who
were ready to move on when and if the occasion demanded.
We had no personal motives, but only the glory of God and the good of souls,
the spirit in which I hope, we may always work. For religious to cloak
ambition under the appearance of zeal is a fatal error, and we certainly have
seen there is plenty of work to do in God's Church, and if we give up a good
work we are doing in one place, we can go to another. (A.N.p.42)
This willingness to move according to the needs of the world was an important
concept to Mary Potter. There was to be no conflict between the Little Company
and other religious congregations. No squabbling over tasks or territory. The
one thing necessary was to work for the kingdom:
The Little Company has never come into collision with other orders, for this is
most dis-edifying in any Christians, but much more so in those who are bound to
aim at perfection. May God avert this evil from his Mother's Little Company,
and let them ever work in the spirit of their Mother, only anxious that good
should be done - that God's kingdom should be extended on earth by all whom
they can influence, avoiding self in what they do, never mind(ing) giving up to
others where they see it can be done. The world is large, and everywhere the
Little Company can do good work. (ibid)
There _was_ work to be done. The world _was_ large, and the numbers needed to
work in the vineyard were small. From the commencement of her vision of the
Little Company, there had existed another dimension of the group. A dimension
that would come into existence from the sharing of the life and spirituality of
the institute. This group of people would form the lay arm of the Company. They
would be the "Family" of the Little Company, and some of them would be
called, Mary Potter had no doubt, to share the life of the Little Company, not
as religious, not as a third order, but as associates - associates in mission
and ministry, that the kingdom may become a reality upon the earth.
Associates in Mission
Back
From the first moments of the dream becoming a reality in the mind and heart of
Mary Potter, there was a realisation that the Little Company of Mary was to be
the 'heart' of a wider community. Whilst God had inspired her with the form and
structure of the institute she was to found, it was also true that the plan for
the wider 'Company' - or, as she herself called it, the 'Family' of Mary was
directed by God.
This Family was built upon the spirituality of the Path of Mary. If one of the
tasks of the Little Company was to introduce men and women to the 'good news'
of Jesus, it was necessary that they be formed in a gospel spirituality, that
would sustain them and their ministry in the world. Mary Potter knew that each
individual Christian had a job to do, if the world was to be won for Christ,
and that in order to do that work, support and encouragement was necessary.
The Little Company would be the place of such nurturing. It would take upon
itself the responsibility of those souls, who were drawn to the spirituality of
the Institute, but who saw their place of action in the world in which they
lived:
Influence then, my dear Sisters, all - by word, still more by example, by love.
Love souls! They will then feel this love and love Jesus through you... they will be willing to
suffer some little for Jesus' love. They will be glad to belong to those who are lovable, who have
taught them to love God. They will glad to join the ranks of those who are banded together in
one grand company, to ensure their salvation, to have a part in God's Church etc.
(Conference "S", P.14)
To 'influence souls' was to share with them the spiritual wealth of the
Institute. Because Mary Potter
saw the wealth of the Institute lying it in the transformatory power of 'True
Devotion' - in its radical abandonment to anything other than God, she longed
for the members of the Institute to give it to others. Mary herself had come
to realise that God is far less something to be sought after - a goal to achieve - than a wonderfully waiting presence. A presence that seeks to enter
into the heart of the one who is brave enough to let go mature wisdom, and enter into the way of a child
- dependent upon its parent. The God who "shows himself to us with a
mother's undying, unchanging love" (O.N. 5., p. 24), seeks to draw all to
himself. The Little Company, which was to be an sign of that unchanging love to
the world, was to provide a means of people entering into such Love, and of
living it, within the state of life to which they had been called:
There are various kinds of flowers and fruits upon the earth, so also, there are
various kinds of
beauty in the human soul. We must each bring forth according to our own kind,
not according to another kind, or disorder would ensue. What would be good in
a contemplative nun, and be part of her perfection, might be positively bad in
a domestic servant, and more than an imperfection in a wife and a mother.
Grant dear Lord, to your sweet Mother's children, a special grace from your
Holy Spirit. Enlighten them that they may know your holy will, and ever perform
it in a perfect spirit, seeking not their own will, but Yours, and having no
other wish or desire but to perform perfectly the duties of the state of life
in which you have placed them. (M.C. 24, P. 255)
To lead people into holiness was part of the mission and ministry of the Little
Company. This was to be done through witness, but also through an active
participation in spiritual development. Mary Potter had developed, in
accordance with the half-spelled out design of De Montfort, a retreat, to
prepare the soul to embrace the Christian life through the ratification of
Baptismal vows, and the consecration to Mary. These 'Spiritual Exercises' had
been formed:-
to reform, regenerate, renew the soul: that is, apply to the soul the Precious
Blood, as Jesus desires it should be applied. All who have entered on the
narrow way of perfection, all who are desirous of living true holy Christian
lives, have need of many helps...they have much to overcome, they have many
hindrances in the way of perfection .....These spiritual exercises are intended
to remove from the soul all impediment to grace they are intended to purify it,
to renew within it its baptismal innocence, and render it an object of love and
delight to God...(Spiritual Exercises, Introduction.)
Those who had been attracted to the spirituality of the Path of Mary, were to
be assisted in their formation init through the practise of these Exercises:
The Sanctuary of the heart of Mary must be a place of refuge a place of retreat
for members in the world, who will come and be consecrated to Mary, after
having passed through the preparatory exercises...Those who come to make a
retreat in the convent, or who make it in their own homes, must also learn to
clothe themselves with Mary. ...those who wish to make a retreat must be
received with joy by Mary's own, as they receive the little wayfarer from the
world as Mary would.(M.C. Conference 24)
The members of the Little Company would take the role of spiritual guides,
assisting others through prayer and direction. There would be a sister assigned
to them to be 'Mother'- not in a sense of over maternal protectiveness, but in
the sense of watchful care. The role of such a member of the institute was to
encourage and support the endeavours of the retreatant: They were to "
Pray earnestly for it, as a mother would pray for her child. Make its sojourn
as peaceful and as
happy as is possible, and then send it back again into the world to be a little
apostle of Mary, to
make known true devotion to her, and to endeavour that numbers may follow its
example and enter one of Mary's homes, to be born again in her. (ibid)
Mary Potter understood that the world was the place of holiness for the
majority of God's people. There was no barrier to the soul achieving its union
with God in the world. If a person could be opened out to the ever waiting
presence of God, and if they could learn to live lives of trustful abandonment
to the will of God, and live it in the spirit of Mary, then holiness would
follow:
There is a mistaken idea in many who desire perfection, that it is not to be
found in the
world. In this they are wrong. People may attain as high a perfection (and
certainly, since
perfection consists in doing the will of God), a higher perfection, in the
world as in the
cloister. There can be no doubt that if it is God's will they should remain in
the world, he
will give them grace to perfect themselves there, for perfection is to be
attained by our
corresponding with whatever it is that God wills for us. (ibid)
Once a person had begun to live 'in the spirit of Mary', however, it was
necessary for them to be encouraged along the way. Here again, the Little Company would have a part to
play, for there would be, among those who entered the path, some who would wish
to deepen their spirituality - to enter it more fully, but who did not feel
that they were called to take upon themselves the life of a religious. Mary
Potter realised that there would be such individuals, and her own understanding
of the different ways of living the God-life, led to her welcome those who
wanted to live a life of dedicated witness and labour without the necessary
binding of religious life: These women were the fulfilment of part of the
vision Mary Potter had had, of the total 'Company of Mary' as representativeof
Calvary. The women who desired to become 'affiliated' to the Little Company,
represented the holy women, who stood in attendance on the dying at Calvary.
They would be those, who by prayer and service, sought to enter into the works
of the congregation, as well as its spirit. These affiliated would join in the
spiritual and temporal works of the congregation: Writing of the plan for the
affiliated, Mary wrote:
For a quarter of a century, the Little Company of Mary has had affiliated in
various ways, young girls and others in the world, who were especially
consecrated to our Lady, and are known as Mary's Own. The affiliated form
various ranks and degrees: The first give themselves to our Lady in an special
manner and on the day of their admission, recite aloud the Act of Consecration
of Blessed De Montfort, thus imitating the Novices of the Little Company of
Mary, who when they receive the holy habit, consecrate themselves entirely to
our Lady in union with the infant Jesus.
The second degree are still more intimately united with the Little Company, by
being enrolled in the Confraternity of the dying, and thus assisting the sisters
in their work for the dying, principally with their prayers, but also when
possible, by their attendance. This degree of the affiliated, imitating more
especially those sisters of the Little Company, who, having passed through the
hidden life of the noviciate, make the Triennial vows, and walk with Jesus the
way of the Cross.
Those of the third degree, have made a still more complete oblation of
themselves, offering
themselves to God as victims for the Church and the Pope, and they receive a
ring, which betokens they are wedded to Rome. .....These rings used to be
blessed by the late Pope Leo XIII....and it was at his wish that the sisters of
the Little Company of Mary extended their own special spirit to those, who,
living in the world, wished generously to devote themselves to God's honour and
glory in these troublesome times, accepting with a voluntary 'ecce' that, to
which they were only obliged to say a compulsory 'fiat'. This last degree
mirrors those sisters who have made their final vows and have thus become
spouses of Jesus Christ. (Conf: "S": Our Lady's Guild: Rules for the
affiliated)
In answer to criticism what she was simply founding a Third Order, Mary wrote
to sisters, that there "was but one order - one Company of Mary - we in the
Convent are the 'Little' Company of Mary, the other the 'Greater'. We, as we
have said, the heart, animating the whole..."(Conf: "S" P. 18).
This concept of being the hub of a wheel was important for the manner in which
the Sisters would treat those who sought to be affiliated with them.
We do not give the Association the name of Third Order, this would scarcely
give the idea that is embodied in the Spouse of Jesus taking to herself the
great company, his family - "thy family shall be my family". The
feeling of the sisters is maternal, and the affiliated are not to them as
outsiders, but part of the family, of the household, and, as we have said
before, the friendless must find a friend, the homeless a home. We trust that those who
claim our protection, will ever receive from us that truest and most faithful of all
loves - a mother's. (Conference "S", p.44)
From the beginning, Mary realised that some of those who sought affiliation
would by those who the members of the Little Company had lifted to wholeness -
the girls of the Guardian Angels home - the 'reclaimed sinners' etc. What she
always sought to impress upon the Sisters was that whilst some of the
affiliated might have come from less than salubrious circumstances, their
entrance into the Path of Mary, their acceptance and commitment to living a new
life in Christ, was the one thing necessary. The Sisters who had charge of
those affiliated had to love and love totally those given into their care:
The sanctuaries of the Maternal Heart must be their home. They must feel and
know that the sisters who have the duty of looking to the affiliated, must be Mary like. Though naturally many (of the affiliated ) may be unfortunate, still
there is the model - A Mother with her children: A good mother may be weary,
but still her children know her love, and that their affairs ever interest her,
especially those (affiliated) who live in the house. (Ibid)
Those who would become affiliated, whether as interns or as external
associates, would know the love of their sisters. They would be united in
spirit and in fact with the works and the prayer life of the Little
Company. There would be a unity of mind and heart and will between the 'little'
and the 'greater' company. The lay associates would:
..help in the general works of the Little Company. They belong to it they must
never be
ordered about as though they were domestics, but the greatest consideration
must be shown, as they wear not the habit, but it must be remembered always,
they are part of the Company of Mary - and a most important part. (ibid)
If this part of the congregation was 'a most important part', then it was up to
each sister to involve herself
in making it a reality. It was part of the evangelising mission of the Little
Company, even as it was a part of the ministry. This area of work could not be ignored or betrayed
by silence:
I give the blessing of Obedience both of the written rule and the living rule, to
those who strive to affiliate young girls who are not drawn to a vocation, and do not
feel that God calls them to make perpetual vows, and yet wish to seek the shelter of the sanctuary - not
bound by vows, but by a simple bond of charity, retaining their money, if they
have any if not, striving to earn their living by working for the community, animated by its spirit, and
certainly finding spiritual and temporal help, whilst they assist the sisters in their many works
which they are
called on to perform in different parts of the world.("S", Conf. 9. p.
30)
Those who would be internal associates would: "reside in the convent and
aid the sisters in such works of mercy as in these troubled times, are not easy
of permissible for religious to undertake" (Ibid). They would be part of
the total community, sharing in the prayer and recreational life of the
sisters, as well as in the ministry. They were not 'hired help', but
integrated members. The reason for their being with the sisters was twofold:
Firstly, some, as has already been stated, would join because they felt drawn
to a form of commitment, though not through vow, to a community lifestyle
secondly, there would be those who by affiliation to the Little Company would
be based upon their own need - to involve themselves in ministry and community
life for more 'human' reasons. In this, Mary Potter had a rather unique view.
She believed that the widow, the orphan, the homeless ones had a right to be
with the Little Company. That if the 'sanctuary of Mary's Heart - the convent
homes of the Little Company, were to be what they professed to be, then the
'little ones of the Kingdom' would be welcomed, and their talents, - often not
seen, or despised by the world -would be made welcome and utilized - for the
sake of that same kingdom. She wrote:
We are more than ever convinced of the importance and necessity of keeping many
wayfarers in the world from the dangers which surround them, and threaten both
soul and body, simply because they "stand idle all the day". Their
affiliation to the work of the Little Company will protect and shield them:
those for instance, without a home or object in life, can find their home in
the convent, where they may be employed to assist the sick and dying. There is
a large field of work for the Great company of Mary. Those who cannot do
active work can assist by prayer for the dying, and thus a wide and holy work
is open to those who, for various reasons, cannot become nuns. (ibid)
The mind boggles at the challenge issued here - the demand for the members of
the Little Company to be totally engaged with the world, with an unremitting
powerful and liberating love. The affiliated - far from being the pious ones
alone, would be drawn from what many would perceive to be the off-cuts of
society - the loveless, the lonely, the heart-broken. They were to be formed
into missionaries and carers, 'for the sake of the kingdom.' The problem was,
however, that the Sisters of the Little Company had to take seriously the call
to evangelise the world - to bring people to an awakening of their loveliness
and ability to do and be something in the Kingdom of God, and that required
commitment and love. But, it had to be done, if the true reality of the role
and function of the Little Company as to be realised.
Now to sum up for the future. You will strive to extend the Company of Mary,
increase our Lady in heaven, on earth, and Purgatory. You are going to
beautify souls by teaching them this devotion to our Lady. We may call it Jesus
devotion to her. We are going to bring those we can influence in the world, to
be affiliated to the Little Company, and strive for some practical way of
teaching the devotion, so that people do not simply make the act, but impress
their lives deeply, imbue their souls with sound spirituality this is devotion
after Jesus' heart, and whilst leading others, we shall progress ourselves.
(Conferences "A", p. 76)
(The organisation and development) of our Confraternities, the Calvary
Confraternity, the
Affiliated or "Pie Donne" and the Victims all needs time, but it is
time well spent, for it is
increasing and encouraging that great company of Mary in the world, by means of
the Little Company which our Mother has enclosed in her Maternal Heart, and on
which she has bestowed such graces. (Conference K., No. 22 p. 92)
Without the organisation and ongoing development of the affiliated, Mary Potter
knew well that the movement would fall short of what it was intended to be.
Furthermore, the work that the Little Company had been called to do, would
suffer. The affiliated would be true associates on Mission, taking part in all
the ministries of the Little Company:
Through the affiliated or associates, as they may be called, not being formed
into a proper body, we lose many useful members who would be of vast use to us,
enabling us to extend our Lady's domain on earth, spread her colours, grow
nearer and dearer to Jesus, by teaching others True Devotion, which means our
Lord's devotion.........There being a large field of labour in the Little
Company of Mary, no one need be idle, and those who cannot do active work, can
assist in the perpetual prayer for the dying. (Conferences "S", No. 7,
p. 24)
The affiliated members of the Little Company, whilst not being bound to rules
and regulations were bound to the same mission and ministries of the Little
Company. They were truly associates in ministry. Their contribution to the
perpetual prayer life and the works of the congregation would be immense. They
would be fired with the same desire as lit the hearts of the Sisters - but only
if the sparks of that fire were shared. The desire to make the world one, to
share the spiritual riches of the path of Mary, to comfort and stand with the
dying of the world - all this and more was opened to lay women who chose to
find a home within the sanctuary of Mary, as lay community members. But there
were those who would not choose this affiliation, yet would want to support in
some way the work of the Little Company. What was for them?
Never lost for a chance to make the mission of the Little Company available to
co-workers for the kingdom, Mary Potter initiated a Confraternity of Calvary.
This Confraternity operated on two levels. It was open to affiliated, who would
adopt it as their commitment to mission and ministry within the Little Company,
but it was also open to those who did not choose to enter the Path of Mary.
For these latter, the commitment was to join with the Company in their prayer
for the dying. This was a ministry of its own. There was no one who could not
participate in praying for the dying. What was important, was that the ministry
be spread amongst all people, so that souls who might die without the grace of
God might be saved. Again the outreach was there. If the dying of the world
were to be comforted and consoled and brought to the Father, then it was
important that they be prayed for, sustained and given hope and courage by the
prayers of others. All it required was a little less self-interest, and a
little more 'family concern' for the people of God. This too, was part of the dream,
part of the call to evangelise the world.
For Mary Potter, the one thing that was necessary to be part of the Little
Company, was a commitment to love. Her life had been one great act of love. Her
vision ranged over the whole of the earth, her heart heard the cry of the needy
of the world, and she sought to answer. She also knew, with a great clarity,
that only by co-operating with each other could the work of God be
accomplished. God was unity itself. Unity was an expression of God. From the
foundational community, through to the affiliated, the one thing necessary was
a unity of heart and mind and will with the Will of God. To live 'as the will
of God' was her one desire, and it was the desire of her heart, that those who
followed her would embrace that same desire - not for themselves, but for the
great desire of Jesus' heart, and the heart of his Mother - "Father, - Thy
kingdom come, Thy will be done, on earth, as it is in heaven."
This was at the heart of the vision, the hope that would empower, if all who
entered into the spirit and charism of the institute, were willing to embrace the Cross for the sake of the
kingdom.
CONCLUSION Back
In Rome, some time before her death, Mary Potter had a dream, a dream which
remained with her, and which speaks of the task that she and the Little Company
had. It is worth retelling:
"One All Souls morning, when we lived near St. Mary Majors, as the early
bells were ringing, I woke from a strange dream. I seemed to be sitting in a
room, bright and happy in God's presence. A knock came to the door. I got up
and opened it, and oh - such a weird, dreary place was laid to view neither
dark nor light:-it scarcely seemed like the outer walls or a building either,
but it was very desolate, without any doors or windows. There seemed to be
partitions. As I stood looking out, chilled, something made me cast my eyes
down. I saw a sweet upturned face, with golden hair streaming down. I quickly
said, as though in answer to the knock: "Come in ". The plaintive
voice that answered me ran through me the whole day long: How can I come in
unless you take me up?" Then I looked still more, and saw there were no
.... it had neither arms nor body. This I had not noticed before, for it did
not look strange until I looked down to lift it up. I stood looking, and
remember the feeling: What could I do? I could not take it by the hair, it was
like a round globe. Then came a thought. I stretched out my two arms, put
them right around, took it to my breast, and -awoke! Although I never notice
dreams, that sweet voice sounded on my soul for many a day: "How can I
come in, unless you take me up?" (O.N. Vol. 3. p.5)
How indeed! But Mary Potter found her answer: "I spread my two arms, put
them right around took it to my breast..." She was prepared to leave the
warm comfort of a loving God and move into a strange, often desolate world. She
understood that - if one seeks to live a gospel life, then there is not one
area of life that can be neglected, not one chance missed, if we are truly
desirous of bringing the living, the dying, the dead, into the fullness of
God. This was the one meaning to life. And Mary the Mother of Jesus, would lead
those who chose to follow her. She would teach them how to live and be for
others, as she lived and was for her Son and those who followed him.
The Little Company of Mary had been called to be to the world as Mothers. They
were to invest themselves in the suffering at the heart of the world, and to
seek to ease it by prayer and works. They had been called to carry out a
mission that would seek at all times to bring home to the world, the wonder of
Christ's love the outpouring of the Mercy of God on Calvary. They would provide
a means for all men and women to grow into their own unique holiness, and they
would offer a chance to lay people, to live a committed and apostolic life
which would be supported by the loving presence of the members of the Little
Company. The task was to bring Christ to birth in the world. But how?
In the words of the dream of Mary Potter, on All Souls day, the cry at the
heart of the world is: "How can I come in, unless you take me up?". The
response of those who have been called to follow the path of Mary, through the
Little Company of Mary is equally clear: To stretch out our two arms, put them
right round, and draw it to our breast. That way we live the truth of who we
have been called to be. As we move through the struggle and the pain of our
own refounding - there is much in Mary Potter - our Founder
- to give us hope and courage. She loved life, loved God, loved all things that
were of her world, and in
her own way, in her own historical circumstance brought to birth a dream of a
new way of living and loving. It was born in her heart, and of God. It has, I
believe, much to give to us, as we ask the questions that are important to us
now. One thing only is necessary, that we remain faithful to the truth of who
we are in the Church, and according to the vision of the Founder. Mary Potter
knew that the only way of preventing a 'false spirit' from entering into the
heart of the Institute was to constantly reflect upon it. She wrote to her
sisters - she writes to us:
Dear Sisters,
Who are we? Why are we? And where are we?
These are thoughts we must put to ourselves day
after day, and never weary of them, for then we
have our pivot our acts will revolve around them.
We shall not be as those taking aim carelessly,
without heed - but we will know what we are aiming
at, and we will keep to that point we will! So
help us God.
Back
Elizabeth A. West L.C.M.
Tooting Bec,
London, 1989
Back to Section 1
|
To Recapture the Dream