Our History
It is hard to pin-point the exact beginning of Children of Mary - for we know that the Lord works in mysterious ways and that He uses all of the intimate details of our lives to bring us to the present moment and, ultimately, to fulfill His Divine Plan. But, one date that stands out as an important "beginning" is August 25, 1989 - when our Mother Foundress moved to the land in Newark, OH, responding to the call of the Lord to "go, sell all you have and come follow Me."
She lived the next eleven years in silence and solitude in a primitive hermitage with neither electricity nor running water. Her days consisted of prayer and hard manual labor. Her spiritual director at the time suggested that she may have the vocation of a hermit, so she began meeting with the Bishop of Columbus, who, at that time, was Bishop Griffin, and his delegate to discern this way of life. Bishop Griffin visited the hermitage and believed that Mother had an authentic calling.
However, after a of couple of years, he sent a request for her to be open to women coming to share her life of prayer. She then spent 1 year with the Visitation Nuns and during that time, on October 16, the Feast of St. Margaret Mary Alacoque (whom Jesus revealed the Thirst of His Sacred Heart for love in the Most Blessed Sacrament), Mother experienced in prayer before Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament a confirmation for the founding and charism of our Community. We consider this date to be our "birthday". She spent the rest of the year trying to put this experience into words and images and presented it to Bishop Griffin, who then gave her the name Mother Margaret Mary.
On January 3, 2002 Mother had an audience with His Holiness, St. John Paul II and presented him the booklet of our charism. Later, he communicated to her through the Chancery Office that he was praying for her and her intentions.
On January 17, 2002 Mother was consecrated by Bishop Griffin in our Chapel in Newark, OH.
Msgr. Frank Lane
(Mother's spiritual director),
Msgr. Paul Enke, Msgr. Ed Trenor, Fr. Benedict Joseph, O.P., Fr. Tim Hayes, and Fr. Don Franks were present.