Lourdes: A Gateway to Heaven

"Enter through the narrow gate; for

the gate is wide and the road broad that

leads to destruction, and those who enter

through it are many.  How narrow the

gate and constricted the road that leads

to life.  And those who find it are few."

- Matthew 7:13-14

Lourdes is a holy place ... and an ongoing miracle.  I understood it when I first read about this Marian apparition site decades ago and I felt it when I went there on pilgrimage in October 2024.  I got to experience Lourdes - in-person - and discovered just how saturated it is with the very PRESENCE OF GOD AND THE BLESSED VIRGIN MARY; it exudes SANCTITY, PEACE, and LOVE.

In particular, I found the Holy Grotto of Apparitions to be where the spiritual power of Lourdes is the most concentrated (my personal opinion).  As such, since returning from my pilgrimage, I now view the Lourdes Sanctuary live webcam daily in YouTube when praying the Rosary.  It helps me "relive" Lourdes over and over ... and sometimes one can even catch glimpses of unusual "luminosities" in and around the cave, which brings us to this blog.

"Enter into His gates with thanksgiving,

and into His courts with praise: be thankful

unto Him, and bless His name."

- Psalm 100:4

Just a couple of days ago, while praying my Rosary with the webcam streaming on my TV, I was surprised to see a faint golden light flickering inside of the Grotto - it grew brighter  and  solidified into the clear form of a doorway or gate.  It wasn't a bug on the camera lense, but it may also just be a natural trick of sunlight.  However, in all the past years that I've been frequenting the webcam, I've never seen a light formation like it before in that cave so I snapped pics of the screen.  Besides, it really looked like a door or gate, and its location above the altar and its timing being coincidental with the start of the Sanctuary's daily evening Rosary at the Grotto were both significant.

An unusual light in the Lourdes Grotto - a

passageway between Heaven and Earth?

I'd like to suppose that I maybe inadvertently witnessed the Gate of Heaven opening up in the Grotto for Our Lady to come through to be with the pilgrims.  It's completely plausible.  Plus, I've captured other extraordinary light phenomena in the past, via the Grotto's webcam, and have a friend who has seen luminosities, too - see here and here.

Irregardless whether the light is a genuine sign or not, no doubt about it - Lourdes is holy.  I can gratefully testify along with countless other pilgrims who've been there that it's a rare, miraculous place where Heaven and Earth unite; Lourdes is a Gateway to Heaven.  And let's not forget - one of Our Lady's glorious Titles in the Litany of Loreto is: "Gate of Heaven" ... and recorded in Sacred Scriptures are the words below, spoken by our Lord about Himself.  Indeed, both Mother Mary and Jesus are present in Lourdes.

"I AM the DOOR.  By me, if any

man enter in, he shall be saved."

- John 10:9

Is this what two great Saints looked like?

I was researching something on the net the other day when I came upon a pleasant surprise - more forensic reconstruction of the faces of Saints! Those familiar with this blog are likely aware that this author is a big fan of such things (click here to see other forensic "faces of holiness" that I've shared about in the past).  This time around I add two famous Saints who are both Doctors of the Church:

St. Teresa of Avila

   

Compare this Spanish Saint's forensic reconstruction (Above-Left) with the most famous portrait done of her when she was 61 (I personally don't see a similarity and prefer the painting).  To read about St. Teresa's prodigious life, click here.

St. Thomas Aquinas

   

Above, the forensic reconstruction (Left) with a typical representation of the Saint painted shortly after he was canonized in July 1323 (there appears to be a slight resemblance).

So what do viewers think?  I personally find it highly fascinating to see these scientifically reconstructed faces ... then find it amusing when I compare them to statues and paintings to see how they measure up to each other.  The artistic depictions usually don't come close to reality - almost all look too perfect with their tall, slim bodies and their perfect complexion, especially devotional statues I see on sale.

I prefer to see true likenesses of our Saints and Blesseds with their not-so-perfect features.  I think it brings them down to earth, which makes them relatable; mostly ordinary people but who lived their Catholic Faith in an extraordinary manner!

Saint of the Month - April 2025: Blessed Pauline von Mallinckrodt

 

Bl. Pauline von Mallinckrodt

A Light to the Blind

Memorial: April 30th

This month this ministry features Bl. Pauline von Mallinckrodt, a little-known German foundress of a Catholic Congregation. She was born on June 3, 1817 in the town of Minden and baptized with the name Maria Bernardine Sophia Pauline.  Her family was well-to-do being that her father, Detmar, was a government official.  He was a Lutheran but Pauline’s mother Marianna was a highly devout Catholic who raised her children in the Faith.

Given Detmar’s work, Pauline and her three siblings received an excellent education and afforded luxuries reserved only for the privileged: abundant food, fine clothing, social status, servants, extensive travels, etc.  Despite her family’s affluent lifestyle, the Beata developed a deep piety from her early youth, which was expressed via a deepening devotion towards the Blessed Sacrament and a compassionate heart for the less fortunate.

Biographies relate how young Maria affectionately cared for her father and siblings after her mother passed away from typhus when she was 17-years-old … and her loving concern extended to the hired help, who Maria treated with solicitude and nursed when they were ill.  This kindness she strove to live by extended outside of the Mallinckrodt home reaching out to the poor with whom she shared her monetary allowances and whatever other alms she could provide.

After Maria’s father retired from public service in 1840, the family relocated to Paderborn where she was drawn to a group of pious women who charitably assisted the sick-poor in the community.  She joined this association while entertaining the notion of becoming a Vincentian Sister of Charity, even going so far as to visit their motherhouse in Paris (where St. Catherine Laboure received her Miraculous Medal apparitions) to get an idea of what religious life would be like.

It soon became evident that Maria was the immerging leader of the charity she was a member of.  Through her initiative, their ministry opened a school to ensure children and orphans were not only educated, but also protected from neglect in the wake of the chaotic Industrial Revolution of the early 1800s.  In addition, an opportunity arose to establish a special school for blind children, which Maria also took on.  Both projects prospered and the work quickly grew beyond what was easily manageable for her and her companions.  Besides that, the Beata was still planning to become a nun.

Bl. Pauline in her youth

In 1846, Maria traveled to France to meet with another religious founder – Mother Madeleine Sophie Barat (now a Saint) – with the intent of turning over the administration of the school for the blind to St. Madeleine’s congregation.  Things, however, didn’t turn out the way she hoped as the German/Prussian government was unwilling to have a French organization – even a religious one – operating on German soil. Following this major setback, Maria consulted with the Archbishop of Cologne who encouraged her to start her own congregation to continue and propagate the charisms of charitable service and Christian education that she was already doing.  After prayerful consideration, she founded the Sisters of Christian Charity (SCC) in Paderborn in August 1849, along with three companions, and became its first superior under the name of Mother Pauline.

It should be mentioned that in the hustle and bustle of her daily life and work, Pauline had, for some time, been receiving Holy Communion daily with the Church’s permission (it was uncommon in her time to do so).  This was the secret to her burning charity and the drive she possessed to serve the Lord in serving others – the Eucharist and deep prayer were the fuel to her fire.  After establishing her congregation, she was able to have the Blessed Sacrament reserved in the chapels of her religious houses and made it a rule for her spiritual daughters to attend daily Mass.

Pauline spent her remaining years growing the SCC ministry.  Within the span of the next 25 years, they had over 200 members working in 20 establishments in Germany before branching out to other countries beginning in June 1873 when a group of her nuns sailed to New Orleans, USA (the first of over two dozen houses of charity/schools in the US!).  Other requests for the SCC also came in from Argentina, Chile, and Uruguay where there was an influx of German immigrants in the second half of the 1800s … so Mother Pauline sent her daughters there, too, to assist her former countrymen and the locals.

Despite chronic illnesses in her later years, the Beata traveled extensively – even going overseas to personally monitor the expansion of her congregation’s work.  Upon returning from a grueling trip to South America then up to New York in 1880, she fell ill and progressively worsened.  She succumbed to pneumonia on the morning of April 30, 1881; Mother Pauline was 63-years-old.

A bone relic from Mother Pauline gifted to this

ministry by the Sisters of Christian Charity

The founder’s reputation for sanctity earned while she was still alive survived her death, leading to the opening of her Cause for Canonization in Paderborn in 1926.  In December 1984 a miraculous cure attributed to her intercession was officially approved by the Vatican and Pauline was Beatified by Pope John Paul II the following April 1985.  A second officially recognized miracle is needed to raise her to Sainthood.  We pray for her speedy Canonization.

Bl. Pauline von Mallinckrodt,

pray for us!