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Today’s missionary hero was an Irish nurse who founded a congregation of women to provide nursing, medical, and other health-related care to people in need in mission lands. Her name was Mary Martin, not to be confused with Maryknoll Sister Mary Martin.
Mary Helena Martin was born in Glenageary, County Dublin, Ireland on April 24, 1892, second of 12 children. In 1904, while preparing for her First Communion, Mary contracted rheumatic fever which affected her heart.
On St. Patrick’s Day 1907, her father was killed in what was labeled an accident. Mary’s mother sent Mary to study in a variety of schools in Scotland, England, and Germany.
Beginning with World War I, Mary gained a wide variety of clinical nursing experiences serving wounded soldiers in various European countries. After the war, she helped nurse victims of the Spanish flu.
But what Mary Martin is most famous for, is for founding of the Medical Missionaries of Mary (M.M.M.) in spite of a host of difficulties.
After being encouraged by various priests who had a missionary spirit, Mary volunteered to become a lay missionary in Nigeria with another woman. After a series of setbacks, Mary established a new community of sisters dedicated to caring for the sick called the Medical Missionaries of Mary. Mary professed her vows on April 4, 1937.
Sr. Mary Martin died on January 27, 1975 in Drogheda, Ireland at the age of 82.
Today, the Medical Missionaries of Mary (not to be confused with the Medical Mission Sisters) serve in 14 nations in nursing, medicine, and related healthcare fields.
