Marian Apparition Memorials near the Baldwin Park Neighborhood
Marian apparitions are alleged visions of Mary the mother of Jesus. Once you notice a memorial to one, as at the ghost signage above the door at 1903 Spring Garden Street, you start to see other memorials to Marian apparitions. Here are a few of the memorials within a short walk of the Baldwin Park neighborhood, in the reverse chronological order of the date of the apparition.
Memorial at 19th Street above Wallace Street at St. Andrew's Lithuanian Church. According to the story, Mary appeared to three children in Fatima, Portugal, in 1917. The oldest was 8-year-old Lucia dos Santos, accompanied by her two younger cousins. The apparition never self-identified as Mary during numerous appearances, but based on the iconography, believers and church officials identified her as Mary. Lucia dos Santos, who became a nun, died in 2005, and the Pope in 2017 conferred the title Servant of God upon her as a first step towards canonization (becoming a saint).
Memorial at 17th and Vine Streets on Cathedral property. There is no label on the pedestals, but I suspect, based on the lone supplicant, that this represents the appearance of Mary to 14-year-old Bernadette Soubirous (now Saint Bernadette) at Lourdes, southwest France, in 1858.
Memorial inside the Cathedral honoring the Miraculous Medal of Mary, based on the three appearances of Mary to Catherine Labouré (now Saint Catherine) in 1830. The date 1830 is engraved on the orb on which Mary stands.
Also inside the Cathedral is this shrine to Our Lady of Guadalupe, who appeared four times to 57-year-old Juan Diego (Saint Juan Diego as of 2002) in Guadalupe, Mexico, in 1531. The Basilica of Guadalupe in Mexico City is now the most visited Catholic shrine in the world, with over 20 million visitors per year.
Philadelphia had its own Marian apparition in West Philadelphia in 1953, but only the link here is provided since this was outside the Baldwin Park neighborhood.
I am going to include two more memorials that are not related to Marian apparitions, the first not even being a Catholic tradition, if only because they are so close to Baldwin Park (and I'm a sucker for shiny statues). The descriptions are with the images below.
The angel Moroni balances atop the steeple of the Church of the Latter Day Saints at 17th and Vine, just north of the Cathedral of Saints Peter and Paul. The Moroni statue is visible from Baldwin Park.
In 1823 17-year-old Joseph Smith had his first of many visions of the angel Moroni, who directed Smith to a buried book of golden plates. Smith dutifully translated the plates and published the Book of Mormon in 1830. Smith had several run-ins with the law and his neighbors before being shot to death in 1844 (photo credit).
Joan of Arc, whose gilded monument glitters north of the Philadelphia Museum of Art between Pennsylvania Avenue and Kelly Drive, did not see Mary in her visions, but I include her here because Baldwin Park neighbor Hallahan High School has her name carved on its facade. In 1429 the 17-year-old Joan saw visions of Saints Michael, Catherine, and Margaret, which inspired her to lead French troops late in the Hundred Years War. French victories resulted in the coronation of Charles VII. At age 19, Joan was captured by the English, convicted of blasphemy, and burned at the stake. The carving on Hallahan, which was built in 1911, gives the title "blessed" to Joan of Arc as a result of her beatification (a step towards full canonization) in 1909, but also anticipates her canonization in 1920.
