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Unsung Heroines Continuing our series of special people who serve the Lord behind the scenes
A Tribute to Mary Worrell, who remained a vibrant and enthusiastic disciple of the Lord until her death at the age of 92
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Some people never get old. I remember the first thing I noticed about Mary Worrell was the twinkle in her eyes. Although she was already in her late 70s, her enthusiasm for life and the Lord remained undimmed. She almost chuckled as she spoke, as if she couldn't contain the joy that was almost bubbling out of her. It was thus a surprise for me to learn that she suffered from bouts of depression and that she was the long term carer of her sister who suffered from mental illness. The Lord, however, was obviously her strength and it was her relationship with Him that was the power house of her life. She may have looked like a sweet, frail old lady but she was very bold and courageous, particularly when it came to spreading the gospel. A regular at the Friday night prayer group at Westminster Cathedral for 20 years, she always insisted, even when she was past 90 years old, on taking the tube home after the meetings. When others protested that it was dangerous, she retorted that she trusted in Divine Providence and anyway it was a great opportunity to evangelise. She would delight in engaging in conversation with complete strangers, smiling broadly and asking them if they knew Jesus. Somehow she got away with it. She was a real prayer warrior spending hours in prayer, particularly for her beloved friend, Benedictine priest Dom Benedict Heron, for whom she felt called to be a particular intercessor. A Sacred Heart sister, from a good Catholic family, she was initially very suspicious of Charismatic Renewal, when she came across it in the 70's through her friend Lady Bronwyn Astor. But gradually it transformed her life, bringing her such freedom and joy that she wanted everyone to experience this wonderful working of the Holy Spirit. Not only did she give her time to Catholic Charismatic Renewal but also her financial resources. She was personally responsible for enabling Dom Benedict's spiritual writings to be published more cheaply so as many people as possible could hear about the work of the Holy Spirit, which she had discovered so late in life. "She trusted in Divine Providence for everything" She also was very generous to many other Catholic Charismatic initiatives, including the work of CREW Trust, which funds Goodnews and Catholic Evangelisation Services. Her generosity troubled her accountant and her friends who kept telling her to keep something aside for the future. But she was adamant. "I want the money to be used for the kingdom. The Lord will look after me." And he did. For her the primary task in life was preaching the Gospel. It wasn't just money she gave, however, but herself too. After 40 years as a nun, when it became apparent that her sister Helen could no longer look after herself, Mary decided to leave the security of the convent to care for her. This caused a bit of a scandal at the time and many wondered how she would cope after so long in the order. But Mary wasn't afraid, as she said simply. "The Lord told me to do it." The two eventually settled in Wimbledon in South London where Mary nursed her sister, almost until the latter's death. The pair were so inseparable that the two sisters ended their life in the same nursing home near Banbury, Mary dying only months after Helen. Despite her personal resources, Mary always lived a very simple life. Even in this, she could be extreme, refusing to spend any money on herself, even on a taxi when her health was quite bad, for her monthly trips to see Dom Benedict, who was her spiritual director. The two were real soul friends. She spent hours praying for him and his work and he encouraged and prayed for her when she was down. When she was in the nursing home, and he was too frail to travel, he would ring her every week to speak and especially to pray together on the phone. She confided in a friend once that her desire was that they might enter heaven together, but that she would probably go first. And she did, her work on earth done, but her heavenly work of intercession, only just begun. KC
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