WHY "THE BLESSED PAULINE CENTER"?

Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt

“The Companions of Pauline [von Mallinckrodt], Associate Members of the Sisters of Christian Charity, will welcome a new member and renew memberships at a ceremony held at the Blessed Pauline Center, at the Church of St. Henry.  The ceremony will be next Sunday, April 29^th at 1:30 PM… Blessed Pauline’s Feast Day is April 30^th.”  So read the announcement in the Good Shepherd Parish Bulletin on April 22, 2012.

The Blessed Pauline Center is now the home of the Christian Brothers Volunteer Program.  We rent the second and third floors, and care for the whole building—the parish, to which we pay rent, does not use the first floor, which we maintain.

Last May we hosted a visit by Sr. Adalberta Mette, SCC, Superior General of the Sisters of Christian Charity, who wanted to visit the first foundation of the Sisters in the United States.

The Sisters of Christian Charity came to New Orleans in 1873 and during the next 100 years, 170 Sisters lived in this house; Sisters still in New Orleans remember coming here for community gatherings.   The Sisters left here in 1973, but have a special affection for the place because Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt, the Founder visited New Orleans twice and lived in the room that is now our living room.

Sr. Adalberta Mette, SCC on the right side of the portrait of Blessed Pauline with Br. Charles behind. [May 2011]

 

Pauline von Mallinckrodt was born on June 3, 1817, in Minden, Westphalia (Germany). Her family's wealth and prestige did not close her mind to the hardships of others. As a young woman, she was particularly involved with the poverty-stricken families on the outskirts of Paderborn. She nursed their sick and brought them food. To aid them still further, she opened her own day-care center for the children of working mothers - an undertaking which brought to her attention the needs of the blind children and led to her founding of a school for the blind.

When Pauline's works of charity became too vast for her to manage alone, the Bishop of Paderborn instructed her to found a religious community. The Congregation of the Sisters of Christian Charity, Daughters of the Blessed Virgin Mary of the Immaculate Conception, founded by Pauline in 1849, spread rapidly throughout Germany, then to North and South America and to several European countries.

From 1871 to 1878, in an attempt to control all religion and education in the country, the German government enacted sanctions against the Catholic Church. During this period - known as the Kulturkampf - religious teachers were expelled from schools, and some congregations were even exiled. Mother Pauline could do little but watch as houses, schools and institutions were taken from the Congregation, leaving the Sisters homeless.

Even as the Sisters' activities in Germany were being curtailed, a new field of activity was beckoning. For years requests from pastors of German-speaking parishes in the United States for Sisters to teach in their schools had been pouring in. Now, with more Sisters available for this endeavor, Mother Pauline began looking more closely at the pastors' requests. Soon a ship, bound for the United States and bearing eight Sisters of Christian Charity among its passengers, left Bremen Harbor.

In April 1873, these eight Sisters of Christian Charity arrived in New Orleans, LA, to begin work at St. Henry School.

An old photo of the convent--the wall is replaced; tree on right gone.

The pastor of the parish had just built a rectory; he immediately gave it to the Sisters for a convent and that is now the Volunteer Community residence.  Mother Pauline, as noted earlier, made two trips to New Orleans and lived in this house.

By December 1874, eighty Sisters had been sent from Germany to establish foundations in the USA: Wilkes-Barre, Danville, Williamsport, Mauch-Chunk, Honesdale, Nippenose Valley and Scranton, PA;  Melrose, NY;  Baltimore, MD;  New Ulm and Henderson, MN;  Westphalia, MI;  and St. Paul, IA.

From the Congregation's early beginnings in the USA until today, Sisters of Christian Charity have served in Arizona, Arkansas, Connecticut, Florida, Illinois, Iowa, Louisiana, Maryland, Michigan, Minnesota, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania and Texas.

Pauline von Mallinckrodt died on April 30, 1881. She was beatified by Pope John Paul II on Sunday, April 14, 1985.  

A first class relic is located in the hall leading to our small oratory; it is to be joined by a portrait of Blessed Pauline that was painted for the Center, but has remained in the Church until now.  

The reliquary is behind Sr. Adalberta and Br. John; the portrait will replace the mirror. [May 2011]

  It is interesting to note the similarities in the lives of religious founders in the late 18^th and 19^th centuries: abiding Faith in God, political repression at home, response to Christ present and appealing to them in the poor through education of the needy at home and those who emigrated to new lands, and an unfailing faith in God’s loving care and providence.  It is also noteworthy that both Blessed Pauline and Blessed Edmund were beset by lawsuits.  Some things never change?

“I place all my trust in the Lord and from his mercy I await all good.  I am eager to go wherever he wishes me to be, and in his own time he will show me the ways and means thereto.”  Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt

“Providence is our inheritance.” Blessed Edmund Rice

[Most of this information [italicized] has been taken from the website of the Western Province of the Sisters of Christian Charity.]