Little Company of Mary
LITTLE COMPANY OF MARY
(LCM, Official Catholic Directory #2270); a papal institute of nursing sisters familiarly known as Blue Nuns, in many parts of the English-speaking world, because of their distinctive blue habit. The sisters have adopted their official title from the small group who stood at the foot of the cross on Calvary in the company of Mary. In union with the maternal heart of Mary, the sisters devote themselves to nurse the sick and the dying with maternal care. The foundress, Mother Mary potter, was born in London. In 1877 she and five companions founded the first convent of the Little Company of Mary in an abandoned factory in Hyson-Green, Nottingham, England. From this humble beginning in home nursing, the institute has spread throughout the world and now maintains many modern hospitals in North and South America, Australia, New Zealand, Korea, Scotland, England, Malta, Ireland, South Africa, and Italy, including one at the motherhouse in Rome.
In 1893 the sisters accepted a foundation in Chicago, Ill., where they opened their first U.S. mission. For many years the house in Chicago was the center of busy home nursing activities. In 1930 the sisters transferred to the suburban area of Evergreen Park, where they staffed their first hospital in the U.S., and where the U.S. provincialate is located. The generalate is in London, England.
[m. j. schlax/eds.]