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Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt
Image: Public domain · Wikimedia Commons

Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt

German sister who founded a congregation for blind children and the poor

Rank
Blessed
Kind
Founder, Religious
Life
1817 – 1881
Era
19th century
Feast
30 April
Countries
Germany
Germany

Life story

Pauline von Mallinckrodt was born on 3 June 1817 in Minden, Westphalia, Germany. She was the sister of Hermann von Mallinckrodt, a Catholic political leader. Before entering religious life she ran an institution for the blind and an infant school at Paderborn; one source says a kindergarten she oversaw from 1840 grew into a home for blind children in a former Capuchin convent.

After her father's death she went to Paris to ask Mother Barat to take over the Paderborn institution for the blind. Because the Prussian government would not allow a French congregation in Prussia, she founded the Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Charity on 21 August 1849 and became its first superior. The sisters taught poor children and cared for the blind. Pius IX approved the congregation on 21 February 1863.

During the Kulturkampf (1871–78) the congregation was severely hampered in Germany. Sisters went to the United States from 1873: the first group arrived on 1 May 1873 and took charge of a school at St Henry's parish in New Orleans, and she arrived herself on 7 June. In 1879 she visited the congregation's house in Chile and then returned to the United States.

She died in Paderborn on 30 April 1881. John Paul II beatified her on 14 April 1985 in St Peter's Square; her feast day is 30 April. She has not been canonised.

Works and witness

  • Ran an institution for the blind and an infant school at Paderborn
  • Founded the Sisters of Christian Charity on 21 August 1849
  • Won approval of the congregation from Pius IX on 21 February 1863
  • Sent sisters to the United States in 1873, during the Kulturkampf
  • Beatified on 14 April 1985

Saints from the same country

Saint Ambrose, Saint Hildegard of Bingen, Saint Teresa Benedicta of the Cross (Edith Stein), Saint Bruno of Cologne

References

  • Catholic Encyclopedia, “Pauline Mallinckrodt”, newadvent.org/cathen/09571b.htm
  • Sisters of Christian Charity (Mendham, NJ), “The Life of Blessed Pauline”, scceast.org

Written by Anawim from documented history. Some details about ancient saints rest on tradition and are marked as such.