Christian Scientists who were close to Mrs. Eddy loved her dearly. It was understandable. She expressed so much love toward them and was so mindful of their progress and welfare that it was natural for them to feel special affection for her. It was perhaps not surprising, therefore, that in that period when friends so often called each other brother and sister, many developed the habit of affectionately referring to Mrs. Eddy as Mother.
At first there seemed as little harm in it as there was special significance, but in 1903 Mrs. Eddy added a By-Law to the Manual of The Mother Church as follows: "In the year eighteen hundred and ninety-five, loyal Christian Scientists had given to the author of their textbook, the Founder of Christian Science, the individual, endearing term of Mother. At first Mrs. Eddy objected to being called thus, but afterward consented on the ground that this appellative in the Church meant nothing more than a tender term such as sister or brother. In the year nineteen hundred and three and after, owing to the public misunderstanding of this name, it is the duty of Christian Scientists to drop the word mother and to substitute Leader, already used in our periodicals." Man., Art. XXII, Sect. 1;
After this Christian Scientists came to refer to her as their "beloved Leader" or "revered Leader." They felt they owed so much to her loving self-sacrifice and unremitting work on their behalf that they often publicly acknowledged her in these ways, showing the deep respect and gratitude they had for her, as well as their affection.
