The morning news. [volume] (Savannah, Ga.) 1887-1900, 1892-02-11
,zaRA MErfA.s woRsHIPERs.
nav With the Followers of the Swiss
Sewing Spinster.
From the Philadelphia Press.

From the Philadelphia Press.
Tia followers Of J. Elinor Merra Meta,
in her life was and since her death is
,.-shired as a divine parsonage. still keep
,bair religious observancss in this city.
=. the house Of worship. lips South Eley-
u street, the congregation holds regular
Sn,dav services The congregation,
puu-.o-,Jh death Of old members, has dWindled
- -, 70 but ighteeE, and at yesterdays
lSo-gice but seven persons were present.
siTbs services are held on the second floor
.be tho house. A Press reporter entered
p chUch yesterday. He was conducted
csily furnished room, in which he
,ad re worshipers, three men and four
Que In the center Of the room on a
vail deis stood pulpit, on which lay an
ooarBible.
oFTa services were similar to those one
Id witness in any German church. The
.nbers opened the service by singing from
u German Evangelical Hymnal. PhiIip
ecker, one Of the members, then lifted up
,e voice of prayer. He prayed earnestly
.hattruth might be sent to the members of
The congregation, thanking the Lord for the
plsntitude Of goodness he had bestowed on
them.
The only peculiar part Of the worship is
che reading from a book the writings of
Merra Meta. The selections read yester-
aey took the place of a sermon, comment
beipR made upon them by the members.
The exercises were marked throughout by
soirit of deep sincerity. The lessons as
read. touched upon the unity of God, of his
revelations, and of recital of Biblical
stories, the fall of Lucifer and of man prin-
cinally. These were read by Mrs. Munzert
Nothing could be more simple and un-
affected than the service of the cOngrega-
ton The spirit of simplicity the Worship
ery carry out in their lives
Mrs. Eliza MunzeFt. a widow, and the
most devout Of MerFa Meta followers.
gave Press reporter an extended account
Of her whom they worshiped. In the
story, tradition and biblical account yyere
most striklngly intertwlned, Merra Meta
being, according to their belief, the third
person in the Holy Trinity. MIRA. Munzert
at first talked in low, earnest tone. care
fully guarding every stetsment that might
appear iucredulous. As she progressed,
however, she 0ece.me animated, particu-
larry so when sf.e told of most wonderful
scJs performed by Merra Meta
YES, de began, 81 have devoted my
whole lie 20 the surface of Merra Meta. OF
coursJ have been abused. The disciples Of
cur Lord was stoned and beaten But |
t0luk of this, that the eternal life to come
is Of more moment than this transient
earthly existence. In Merra Metals service
I shall always labor When my mother
died she clasped my arm, told me that l
should never leave her service, and babe me
promise at her dying moment that would
always work in the cause. / promised.
When my husband died, he said, i see all.
IeTa Meta is divine. Stay by her. /
confirmed my previous promise, being re-
Quested TO do so with his dying breath
"Merra Metta was born in q Swiss farm
house She was not well learned in book
knowledge, SO. you see, what she professed
was true. and not the invention OF brill
liant mind. She was well versed in spiritual
things, however. She came to this country
aad obtained employment as a dreSsmaker.
That was @ good many years ago. Yes,
should say it WAS more than forty years ago.
You know dressmakers received poor pay
then, and Anna MeiSter, as she was then
known, was worked almost TO death to gain
livelihood. Still. she always found time
for prayer and for the study Of the Bible.
"Ono day friend Of my mother, who was
alsoa oreSsmaker, called to see Anna at her
lodgings. She lived with a family named
Burke near Ninth and Callowhill or Race
streets. really forgot which of the two
sire is it was. She vent to Anna's room
and, finding the door open, was about to
enter. She beard Anna communicating
with some one alb 1ut religion. She didn't
want to Obtrude, so she peeped in. She saw
Anna sitting with her back to the door.
Her sewing lay confused before her. Anna's
hands were rgidly extended from her; the
palms were turned outward. Anna still
kept on mumbling, but now and then the
listener could catch some words from which
she learned that the talking was on religion.
The caller coughed to attract attention, but
did net get it, and Merra Meta still kept on
talking.
After a while the visitor entered. Then
Anna broke out into tears and related
Story about her angelic visitors who told
her never to work any more but to preach
what was told ner. You know in the book
Of John, chapters 10 and 16, it is said that
the Holy Ghost should recount what was
revealed from above. The visitor became
convinced of Anna Meister's divine calling.
She said, Yes, | see it all. | believe in YOU.
But come, will take you to a friend of
mine who is versed in such matters The
friend to whom Anna was then taken was
my mother
when mother saw her she closed her
eyes and said; 1 see q train of golden
angels of marvellous beauty streaming be-
hlnd you. But in front stand three of most
Uanscending beauty, beautiful beyond
compare. q! have never seen such beauti-
Iul angels. And on their fair brows see
written, on the one Raphael" on the
other Michael and on the third Gabriel"
MlcuaeI bears an opened book, printed in
golden letters. On his brow are written
characters of gold, J. Elmo Merra Meta,
which means: Sent by God" and on your
orows my dear Anna. L see the same
words, u. Ellnor Merra Metta.n You shall
eIterward be called ~ Elinor Merra
Mettam
Nora Metals divine attributes were
often shown. She cured the lame, the sick,
anu the plind. When alamo person came
sue would pass her hand over the manned
part and say, 'Walkr When a peculiar
nero would be required for the sick she
"oud tell me to go down certain street,
up another, and through third aud fourth
anu more. Then she would describe a
particular spot and tell me, There you will
mud an herb Idon't know its name; but it
:, "il cure this sick person. always found
ana 1t always cured.
her revelations would be made in this
way She would pass her hand over table.
mere would be revealed to my mother
soLuel characters, unintelligible to anybody
oSG mus she told US always to take care
VI uef' IL was ordained that she should
a aHFeF work more, and we supplied her with
OIL LEI needs. We soon gathered immense
e , to our house. Spiritualists came and
s "auIeg TO show how they could move tables
t es.ouuu with their fingers. In her presence
S 5aey were dumb. She would say: Your
s IN IS are with the bad spirits. Mine are
't ,Ir Tue good. | will make you powerless ,
~. we were prosecuted by many who did
Ivy UeileVe In us. So we moved downtown
se lle-hrst to Twelfth and Ellsworth streets,
ad next here
a wonderful revelation was made in the
Netth and Ellsworth streets house. A