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