an object of public curiosity and interest. In 1895 she adopted the title "Mother,"[1] and instituted the Concord "pilgrimages" which later became so conspicuous. By this time the church membership had so increased that most of Mrs. Eddy's followers had never seen their leader, and as Mrs. Eddy did not attend the annual communion[2] of the general membership in the Mother Church, she telegraphed an invitation, after the June communion in 1895, to the congregation, to call upon her at Pleasant View. Accordingly, one hundred and eighty Christian Scientists boarded the train at Boston and went up to Concord. Mrs. Eddy threw her house open to them, received them in person, shook hands with each delegate, and conversed with many.
After the communion in 1897, twenty-five hundred enthusiastic pilgrims crowded into the little New Hampshire capital. Although the Scientists hired every available conveyance in Concord, there were not enough carriages to accommodate their numbers, so hundreds of the pilgrims walked out Pleasant Street to Mrs. Eddy's home. Mrs. Eddy again received her votaries, greeted them cordially, and made a long address. The Journal says that her manner
- ↑ The Title of Mother. In the year 1895 loyal Scientists had given to the author of their textbook, the Founder of Christian Science, the individual, endearing term of Mother. Therefore, if a student of Christian Science shall apply this title, either to herself or to others except as the term for kinship according to the flesh, it shall be regarded by the church as an indication of disrespect for their Pastor Emeritus, and unfitness to be a member of the Mother Church.—Church Manual, Article XXII, Section 1.
In 1903 Mrs. Eddy issued a new by-law, which stated that "owing to the public misunderstanding of this name, it is the duty of Christian Scientists to drop the word mother, and to substitute Leader." This action was taken not long after Mark Twain, in the North American Review, had called attention to the title, cleverly ridiculing it. Mrs. Eddy and other Christian Scientists replied to Twain's articles, but the shaft had touched a vulnerable point and the title was dropped.
- ↑ This communion was originally observed once each quarter and then twice a year. Since 1899 it has been observed but once a year, on the second Sun day in June. No "material" emblems, such as bread and wine, are offered, and the communion is one of silent thought. On Monday the directors meet and transact the business of the year, and on Tuesday the officers' reports are read. As most members of the branch churches are also members of the Mother Church, thousands of Christian Scientists from all over the United States visit Boston at this time.
