Creating Access and Inclusion in Worship

Starter Story: Mary Virginia Merrick (1866 - 1955)

Mary Virginia Merrick was born to a prominent Washington, DC family on November 2, 1866. A fall when she was a teenager damaged her spine and Mary used a wheelchair for mobility the rest of her life. In 1884, learning of a mother who had no clothing for her expected child, Mary gathered a group of friends from her parish who sewed baby clothes for the new baby. With help from her friends Mary also purchased Christmas gifts "From the Christ Child" for children from families with limited resources. Thus the Christ Child Society of Washington, D.C. began. Within ten years, the scope of the Society's activities expanded to provide health care and educational services to needy families in the Washington D.C. area.

With the encouragement of Cardinal James Gibbons, Mary organized the National Christ Child Society in 1905. Today there are 38 diocesan chapters across the country with over 8,000 volunteers working to assist America's neediest families. Each chapter provides clothing for new babies and a variety of other services according to local needs.

Miss Merrick continued as president of the National Christ Child Society until 1948. She remained head of the Washington D.C. Chapter until her death. Mary Virginia Merrick died on January 10, 1955.

On April 2, 2003, the Congregation for the Cause of Saints in Rome declared Mary Virginia Merrick a Servant of God. This decree states that the Congregation has no objection to preliminary steps being taken toward her beatification and canonization. The National Christ Child Society has launched the first steps in the canonization process.