Our History & Our Founder
Our history begins with an extraordinary woman,
Mary Virginia Merrick
Born November 2, 1866, in Washington, DC to parents who valued faith, education, and service, Mary Virginia Merrick as early as age 12 wanted to devote herself to serving children in need, inspired by her love of the Christ Child. Even when paralyzed and unable to sit without support as a result of a fall in her teens, Mary never faltered in her determination to serve the poor. She started her mission of service at just 16, with a gift of handmade clothing to an infant expected to a needy family at Christmas 1884.
When Mary was 19, her parents died within a short time of each other, leaving her with the responsibility of caring for her six siblings. Despite her responsibilities, her pain, and her physical limitations, Mary was fueled by her vision of seeing the Christ Child in every child—and treating each child accordingly. She gathered her friends to help meet the significant needs of children in the Washington area, formally establishing the Christ Child Society in 1887. She dedicated the next 68 years—until her death on January 10, 1955, at the age of 88—to the leadership and expansion of the Society.
Mary Virginia Merrick’s vision continues to inspire Christ Child Society members today to do more for more children. And her example is a powerful legacy that inspires many others to lives of service and faith as well.
In witness of this, in 2011, Cardinal Wuerl of the Washington Archdiocese officially opened the cause for Mary Virginia Merrick’s canonization as a saint in the Roman Catholic Church, which continues in the Archdiocesan Phase.
If you are interested in a detailed biography or a calendar, please order one in our Shop.
For more information, you can go to www.maryvirginiamerrick.org and her Facebook page to follow her cause for canonization.
Mary Virginia Merrick,
Servant of God
“When I read ‘She wrapped him in swaddling clothes,’ I longed to do the same, and He Himself taught me that I might still do so in the person of His poor, and a great desire was born within me to go out and find the poor that I might find Him.”
Mary Virginia Merrick, Servant of God