The North American Province of the Sisters of Christian Charity celebrated 175 years since its founding in Germany with a Mass on Aug. 21 at their Motherhouse in Mendham.
Bishop Sweeney celebrated Mass at Mallinckrodt Convent chapel on the anniversary date of when Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt established the Sisters of Christian Charity with three other women on Aug. 21, 1849. Benedictine Father Jonathan Licari, abbot president of the American Cassinese Congregation, and many priests concelebrated the Mass with Bishop Sweeney.
During the Mass, Bishop Sweeney and the Sisters of Christian Charity also marked milestone anniversaries of 12 members of the order. They are Sisters Joseph Spring, Francetta Scherer, Jonathan Moyles, Sharon Hartman, Theresa Marie Yeakel, Mary Linda Szalejko, Mary Joan Smith, Mary Ann Jacobs, Ida Heinzmann, Martha Kavanagh, Verna Marie Stopper, and Maria Goretti Courtney. Sisters Mary Perpetua Rehle and Martin Haubrich were also among the jubilarians.
The Companions of Pauline also attended the Mass and festivities of the day including dinner, entertainment, and a commissioning service before departing to continue their ministries in the tri-state area.
The Sisters of Christian Charity is a congregation of vowed women religious responding to God’s call to bring the love of Christ to the world. Inspired by the life of Pauline Von Mallinckrodt, the sisters work in various ministries, including education, health care, pastoral work, retreat and spiritual centers, and social work.
Pauline von Mallinckrodt and three women founded the congregation to care for the blind and young children of Paderborn. In 1850, the Sisters made their first vows and over time the congregation’s membership grew as well as the number of missions worldwide.
Groups of sisters began arriving in the United States in 1873 due to political unrest in Germany. They constructed a motherhouse in Wilkes-Barre, Pa., in 1878, before moving it to Chicago in 1916. Continued growth necessitated the sisters to establish a second province with a motherhouse and novitiate in Mendham in 1927.
The sisters bought the Cromwell Mansion, a large 44-room Georgian house dating back to 1892, and 112 acres of property in their current location for $50,000. They moved into a larger house on the property to meet the needs of its ever-growing community in 1932. The mansion was renovated into a retreat house in 1937. Today, it is known as Villa Pauline Retreat and Spiritual Center.
In 2018, Bishop Emeritus Arthur J. Serratelli dedicated a new Mallinckrodt Convent, a 165,000 square-foot facility. It brought together sisters from the former motherhouse in Mendham and the sisters from Holy Family Convent in Danville, Pa.
The Western and Eastern provinces of the Sisters of Christian Charity merged into the North American Province last year.
Blessed Pauline died April 30, 1881, and was beatified by Pope St. John Paul II in 1985.
— MICHAEL WOJCIK
BEACON PHOTOS | JOE GIGLI
