Sr. Mary Regina’s Funeral

As our chaplain, Fr. Ian, reminded us, a death in the monastery is always bittersweet. We mourn the loss of our sister, and yet we rejoice that she has gone home to God. In the spirit of hope and expectation, we celebrated Sr. Mary Regina’s funeral on Tuesday. The bishop of our diocese of Tyler, TX, Bishop Joseph Strickland, was on hand as main celebrant and he was joined by Fr. Ian our chaplain, Fr. Tom Edelen, and Fr. Ron Foshage, M.S.

We are fortunate to have our own cemetery within our enclosure, and that is where Sister was laid to rest. After the funeral, we met briefly with Bishop Strickland in the community room. The rest of the day was spent in much-needed rest (most of us had spent time throughout the night in vigil with Sister’s body) and ended with a circle recreation at night, as we all reminisced about Sr. Mary Regina, remembering her many talents and good qualities, the things she did as part of our community, and her steadfast devotion to prayer, especially in the last years of her life. May you rest in peace, Sister Mary Regina!

Remembering Sr. Mary Regina

Sister was an amazing person! She had many talents, including cooking, playing the organ, sewing, doing various kinds of handwork, and even set design for the plays we put on! We don’t have too many pictures of Sister in her early days, since she came from another monastery, but we’d like to share a few of the ones we have.

Sister was a joy to live with and we miss her a lot!

Eternal rest grant unto her, O Lord, and let perpetual light shine upon her. May her soul, and all the souls of the faithful departed, through the mercy of God, rest in peace. Amen.

Rest in peace, Sr. Mary Regina

Our dear Sr. Mary Regina died on August 4, 2021. She was 85 years old and had been professed 63 years.

Sister entered the Dominican monastery in Cincinnati, OH in 1955 and came to Lufkin in 1989 when that monastery had to close. We were privileged to live with Sister, who gave a wonderful example of patience, abandonment to God’s will, and fortitude during her last years.

We hope to have some more about Sister here soon, and we will have more information in the Fall issue of our newsletter, “Monastery Bells”.

Visiting Friars: Fr. Marty Iott, O.P.

Our chaplain, Fr. Ian, was away recently, so Fr. Marty Iott, O.P. graciously came to celebrate Mass for us and hear our confessions.

Father Marty is currently stationed at Holy Rosary Priory in Houston, TX, just a couple of hours from Lufkin, so it’s easy for him to stop by occasionally. We had a fun recreation with Father on Friday night–his jovial ways and infectious laugh kept us all laughing, too!

We are grateful to all our Dominican brothers and sisters who are so good to stop by and see us when they are in the area (and sometimes make a detour just to see us!). There are members of the Dominican family all over Texas–in Houston as we mentioned, but also in Irving, Lubbock, El Paso, San Antonio, and many more, but we are the only monastery of cloistered Dominican nuns in Texas. It is our joy to intercede for the world from this small corner of a big state.

Thanks again, Father Marty! Come back soon!

East Texas Nuns

Recently, a crew from St. Philip Institute (Diocese of Tyler) came out to do a story on our two East Texas natives, Sr. Mary Veronica and Sr. Mary Rose, as part of a series on people in our diocese. We look forward to seeing the video, and hopefully we will post it on our website. (More on this to come!)

The crew from St. Philip Insitute
Sr. Mary Rose leads the way
Sr. Mary Veronica, our oldest sister–in her 90s and still going strong!

Who is my sister?

When a woman enters religious life, especially cloistered life, she is often called “Sister” almost immediately to indicate that she has taken a step which makes her available to the whole world. She keeps the family she had previously, and gains the family of humankind–starting with the community of nuns she lives and works with every day. This connection is incredibly rewarding most of the time, because working to fulfill God’s will for you completes you. There are days when you may wonder about your choice, but if you are where God wants you to be, the good times usually outweigh the inevitable hard times. Doing God’s will gives us a peace nothing on earth can ever provide.

Being a religious sister means never having to ask, “Who is my mother, my father, my sister or brother?” We recognize everyone as fellow children of our heavenly Father, and we always pray for them, no matter what. This isn’t as easy as it may sound when written down in a blog post! But the more we live in communion with Jesus, the more we recognize him shining out even through what Mother Teresa famously called his “distressing disguise”. Maybe you’re reading this and wondering if God might be calling you to a life like ours–even at our Monastery. Today, don’t be afraid to explore the possibility.

New Faces, Part 2: Sr. Martin Marie, O.P.

Sr. Martin Marie comes to our monastery from another Dominican monastery in Pennsylvania which, sadly, has to close. Because Sister has some health issues, she is living in our infirmary–but she is still a vital part of our community, as are all our sisters there. We are grateful that Sr. Martin Marie set out like Abraham for the “land of promise” (Texas!) and we love her independent ways and dry sense of humor.

We should note that since these pictures were taken, Sister got a new pink walker which (she says) makes her look like the Energizer Bunny! (And she walks like it, too!)