From her sister, Mildred Merrick, 1960:
Before the Christmas of 1884, at the age of sixteen, Mary gathered around her a small group of young girls ... and organized them into a sewing circle whose objective was a complete baby outfit for a mother in need in honor of the Holy Infant. ... Undaunted by her enforced recumbent position, Mary herself sewed on the infant garments while guiding and encouraging her helpers.
... Her faithful friend, Miss Delarue, in her visits among the poor, had discovered an expectant mother whose child was due at this Holy Season. ... the poverty existing in this home was extreme, the husband ill and out of work and the five small children in need of food and clothing. ... [t]he recipient of the first Christ Child layette was named after Mary, and later entered a religious order.
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... As so many of the activities of the Society grew from small beginnings, the Christmas giving followed the same pattern. ...[As] a boy named Paul .... stood by her couch one day, she asked him what he wanted for Christmas. "I want a red wagon," he promptly replied, "but we're not having any Christmas at our house, my father's got no work." ... Again she heard the call of the Holy Infant. She ... made the suggestion ... that he write a letter to the Christ Child and ask him for the red wagon. "Who's He?" asked Paul. "He's the Giver of all good gifts," she replied. ... A few days later he appeared with a handful of letters, written by his sisters and brothers and little playmates in the neighborhood.
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With trust in her small band of workers she called them together and told them of her suggestion to Paul and his prompt response. ... All the requests were carefully filled ... each well-wrapped package was marked "From the Christ Child."
Over 125 years ago, a young woman's act of love for an unborn child started what has grown to a national organization dedicated to serving children in need: the Christ Child Society.
Born on November 2, 1866, the second of eight children of Richard and Nannie Merrick, Mary Virginia Merrick could have been expected to follow the usual path of a female child of a well-to-do Washington family. Mary's father was a prominent attorney who was descended from the Calverts of Maryland and other prominent Maryland families and the family lived comfortably at a home in Washington, DC.
Life for this child of privilege changed forever when she was a young teenager. A fall led to lifelong paralysis. Unable to sit without support, Mary spent the rest of her life in a reclining position or in a wheel chair.
Despite her constant pain, and the loss of her parents at age 17, she dedicated her life to service for others. Mary's sincere and simple love of God inspired her to answer the desperate social needs she recognized in Washington.
Mary wrote in her autobiography:
"I was always in bed or on the sofa, but I learned to sew and write in this recumbent position ... I suffered constantly ... I made a resolution never to speak of my health ... (then) the blow fell—I learned that I would never run with my sisters—and there stretched before me long years of helplessness that had always been harder to bear than suffering ... I never doubted the love of the Father, but my spirit rebelled at the thought that I would be useless in His vineyard ... I strove to serve as best I could... I resolved to do something every day for the Christ Child."
The needs of children in the region were many. Mary overcame the challenge of sparse resources by forming alliances. Her leadership and collaborative efforts served as an inspiration to those around her and
led to the creation of the Christ Child Society in 1887. Over the years, the work of the Society broadened and evolved. The Society was a charter member of the Catholic Charities and of the Community Chest, later known as the United Way.Over the decades, Mary and those who joined her were to touch the lives of countless children and their families. As the world around them changed, their work changed to meet the needs of the times.
In Washington they established camps; a convalescent home for children, later to become an institute for emotionally disturbed children; and many neighborhood centers. Some of these led to the later establishment of parishes in the District.
Layettes, toys, shoes and clothes, but most of all love, caring and respect, brought a personal element to the mission of the Society.
Today's Christ Child Society Chapters, with over 6,000 members throughout the United States, come from a rich heritage of women and men striving to meet the needs of children in each generation. As the Society faces the challenges of the years ahead, its members can look back to this unassuming woman for insight and inspiration.