Mary Martin (missionary) facts for kids

Mary Martin (born April 24, 1892 – died 1975) was an amazing Irish woman. She started a group of Catholic nuns called the Medical Missionaries of Mary. These nuns focus on providing medical care around the world.

Early Life and Helping Others

Mary Martin was born Marie Helena Martin in Glenageary, County Dublin, Ireland, on April 24, 1892. She was the second of twelve children in her family. When she was about 12 years old, Mary got a serious illness called rheumatic fever, which caused problems with her heart for the rest of her life.

A sad event happened in her family in 1907 when her father died. After this, her mother sent her to schools in Scotland, England, and Germany, but Mary didn't stay at any of them for long.

When First World War started, Mary wanted to help. She joined the Voluntary Aid Detachment, which was part of the Red Cross. She worked as a nurse, taking care of soldiers who were hurt in the war. Her own brother, Charles, was sent to fight in a big battle called Gallipoli.

In October 1915, Mary was sent to work in Malta, where she helped thousands of injured soldiers. She was very worried about her brother, who was reported missing in action. She tried to find out what happened to him from the soldiers returning from battle. Sadly, her family later learned that Charles had died from his injuries. Mary returned to Ireland in April 1916. While she was sailing home, the Easter Uprising happened in Dublin, which eventually led to Ireland becoming an independent country.

Just a month later, Mary was called to help again. She worked in a field hospital in France, close to the front lines of the Battle of the Somme. There, she cared for soldiers who had been hurt by gas attacks. After this, she worked briefly in England. All this time, Mary was thinking about what she wanted to do with her life. After the war ended, she also helped nurse people who were sick with the Spanish flu, a terrible illness that spread around the world.

In 1917, a new priest named Thomas Roynane came to Mary's church. She asked him for advice about her future. Father Roynane was very interested in missionary work, which means helping people in other countries. He even helped start a group of missionary priests called the Missionary Society of St. Columban. Father Roynane and some other priests thought it would be a great idea to have a group of Catholic nuns who could provide medical care in places like China.

Preparing for Missionary Work

Father Roynane's ideas inspired Mary to think about becoming a missionary. In January 1919, she went to England to get more medical training. She planned to train as a midwife (someone who helps women give birth) the next year. However, her mother became very ill, and Mary had to go home to take care of her.

Around this time, an Irish missionary priest named Joseph Shanahan was chosen to be a bishop in southern Nigeria, which was then a British colony. He was allowed to ask priests to come and work there for five years. Father Roynane got permission from his own bishop to volunteer for this work.

In April 1920, Father Roynane arranged for Mary to meet Bishop Shanahan. Mary told the bishop she wanted to volunteer as a lay missionary (a non-nun) to help with medical care in Nigeria. She also told him she was about to start her midwife training. Another woman, Agnes Ryan, who was studying medicine, also wanted to join Mary in Africa. Mary finished her midwife training in February 1921.

Serving in Africa

In April 1921, Mary left Ireland for Nigeria with Agnes Ryan. They sailed from Liverpool on May 25 and arrived in Calabar, Nigeria, on June 14. They were ready to provide medical care, but when they arrived, they learned they were expected to run a school! French nuns had run the school before, and to make the parents and children feel comfortable, the priests called Mary and Agnes "Sisters," as if they were already part of a religious group.

By October, Agnes Ryan got malaria and developed a heart problem, so she had to return to Ireland. Mary had to take over as the headmistress of the school. She decided to travel 100 miles (160 kilometers) to meet the bishop in his headquarters at Onitsha. She brought three of the oldest girls from the school with her.

When Mary met the bishop, he told her to be careful about providing medical care. He didn't want to upset other missionaries in the area. Also, before he left Ireland, the bishop had started a group of Catholic mothers to help the missions, and Mary's own mother was the president of this group. They all agreed that a new group of nuns was needed to help with the medical needs of the mission. After her meeting with the bishop, Mary returned to Calabar and spent 30 days in quiet prayer and reflection.

In April 1922, the bishop came to Calabar and spent two weeks talking with Mary, Father Roynane, and another missionary. During this time, they planned out the rules for a new group of nuns, and it was decided that Mary would be the founder. Mary didn't see the bishop again for two years. During this time, she learned that the bishop was trying to start the new group in Ireland. Mary worried this would make the group focus more on teaching than on the medical care she felt called to do.

An Irish nun named Sister Magdalen Walker joined the new work and arrived in Calabar in October 1923. The next January, the bishop told Mary to return to Ireland to begin her formal training to become a nun. In March, Mary joined Agnes Ryan, another volunteer named Elizabeth Ryan, and an American woman named Veronica Hasson. They began a special time of training before officially becoming nuns. However, after 18 months, Mary left the group. The training they received wasn't focused on medical care, which was what Mary wanted to do.

New Paths and Challenges

As Mary tried to start her new group, she faced a big problem. The Catholic Church's rules (called canon law) from 1917 said that nuns were not allowed to practice medicine. Even with this rule, Mary still felt called to a religious life. She thought about following the example of a famous Carmelite nun, Thérèse of Lisieux. In 1927, Mary applied to join a Carmelite convent in Dublin. But her application was turned down by the head nun, even though all the other nuns wanted her to join. The head nun felt Mary was meant for a different path.

Mary went through a time of confusion again. Then, she was asked to think about serving the missions once more. She formed a small group of women to help with household tasks at a school run by Benedictine monks at Glenstal Abbey.

After being sick for a long time in 1932, Mary met the new Pope's representative in Ireland, Archbishop Paschal Robinson, in 1933. The archbishop supported Mary's goals and encouraged her for many years. Finally, in February 1936, the Holy See (the Pope's main office) changed the rule! Now, Catholic nuns were allowed to be doctors or midwives.

Mary then looked for a diocese (a church area led by a bishop) that would accept her new group of nuns, but she couldn't find one. In October of that same year, Archbishop Robinson's former secretary, Antonio Riberi, became the Pope's representative in Africa, based in Kenya. He supported the idea of starting Mary's group in Calabar, Nigeria. At that time, Calabar had a new bishop, James Moynagh, whose own sister was a member of Mary's new community!

Starting the Medical Missionaries of Mary

While Mary and her small group were still trying to buy a house in Ireland to use as a base (which was hard because they weren't officially a religious group yet), they sailed for Nigeria at the end of 1936. When they arrived, Mary had a heart attack and had to go to the hospital in Port Harcourt. It was there, on April 4, 1937, that she made her religious vows (promises to God). With that, the Medical Missionaries of Mary officially began!

Her Legacy

Mary Martin's health was always a concern, but she lived until 1975. Today, the Medical Missionaries of Mary is a large group with about 400 women from 16 different countries. They serve in 14 different countries around the world, continuing Mary's mission of providing medical care to those in need.

Sources

• "Our Foundress" in the Medical Missionaries of Mary international website