Little Mother’ embraced cultural diversity

By Neila Todd, Tertiary of Carmel

Servant of God, Mother Mary Ellerker of the Blessed Sacrament, Foundress of the Corpus Christi Carmelites made her transition from this life to her heavenly reward at the Carmelite Convent, Circular Road, Port-of-Spain, Trinidad on January 11, 1949.

The phenomenon which defines the sanctity of the departed at their moment of death was witnessed by persons who were present. ‘Queenie’, as she was called in her brief secular life, had given her strength to the glory of the Blessed Sacrament. Her motivation for action had been the command given in Psalm 100, “Serve the Lord with gladness.”

Reviewing the work of ‘Little Mother’ as she was also called, the observer immediately recognises the transformative progression of the Corpus Christi charism echoing and reverberating in the deliberations of the recently concluded Synod on Synodality last October when the Church traditionally links old and new traditions. Moreover, the Congregation which she founded feels refreshed and reinvigorated by her prescient actions.

In the spirit of Pope Francis’ encyclical Evangelii Gaudium, she let God take her to where He would lead her. As a practitioner of one of the new ecclesial movements of the last century, she had embarked on a future that was hitherto unimaginable. She became a tireless worker in the vineyard of the Lord. She had pursued the necessary academic knowledge to complement her innate talents and abilities for the ensuing tasks and disciplines. She deliberately committed her Congregation to minister to the poor, the sick, the prisoner and those who had strayed from the Church.

By God’s grace, as the work begun in England evolved, even their hospitality became an act of veneration for both the giver and the receiver.

The subjects of her copious letters ranged from inspiration, comfort, instruction, personal, confidential domestic matters to commitment to the Sacraments.

Her speech reflected optimism for success particularly for welfare work among girls; girls’ hostels; childcare centres, and homes for the aged. Whether she was treating with governors, bishops, her novices, or the man in the street, her approach was the same.

Jesus’ oft-quoted assurance of “Fear not” echoed by heavenly messengers in Scripture is demonstrated in the pursuits of the Servant of God. She was never afraid because her abiding faith was the motivation for her action.

The group’s reformative work gained permanence through the disciplines of poverty, abstinence and mortification, mental prayer, charitable thoughts and deeds, the fundamental Rule of St Albert, and the mandate of the Patriarch Elias.

As this work spanned greater geographical distances on both sides of the Atlantic, it would include people of the wider range of occupations with increased responsibilities.

The Servant of God had no illusions about the awesome task, “Nobody who knows what burden means desires authority”. Instead, she advised that one should accept office with “peace and great simplicity, in a spirit of obedience as being in manifestation of the Will of God’s counsel”.

Her attitude conveyed the idea that while worldly conditions changed, God’s Nature and Will remained constant. She embraced differing cultural norms from that of her British background.

In Trinidad, she interacted with mulattoes, African descendants, East Indians of the Hindu persuasion, Chinese, First Peoples’ descendants and Europeans of various nationalities.

The call would also come from ‘down under’ Australia, not unsurprisingly so because of the Catechumenal Way to Catholicism there.

In America, the Sisters lived among several types of immigrant people from all over Europe who had gone to start new lives. There were the American First Peoples, descendants of African slaves, Mexicans, and the white supremacists Klu Klux Klan.

As a brilliant communicator, her letters, newsletters, and books reminded all of their calling, giving encouragement to continue despite hardship. Her writings also had a deeper purpose of widening the horizons of her beneficiaries through letters full of wisdom, skills in conflict resolution and evidence of her business acumen. She was privileged to visit the worldwide foundation travelling by boat and train even while in severe pain from an arthritic condition: a palpable model of cardinal and heroic virtues.

As the present needs of this world arise, they have to be met in new Corpus Christi Carmelite ways. Her philosophy informs the mission reminding participants and onlookers that “Joy is the Grace we say to God” and that “we must love one another”. Lay Carmelites are therefore called to embrace who we are, to befriend persons of every class/race through institutional creativity since bonds of friendship in turn cause fraternity and inclusion.

Lay Carmelites respond to this call through Ecclesiastes’ Virtue of Friendship because the work is needed and is more relevant than ever.

Begun by three women of faith in a rented house at 134 West Walk, Leicester, England, it now fuses into the exciting Digital Ministry. Amor vincit omnia.