Mary Pius Regnier

Mother Mary Pius Regnier, S.P. (April 28, 1914 – November 27, 2005) was the Superior General of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana, from 1966 to 1976. She held office immediately following the Second Vatican Council, a time when Roman Catholic congregations underwent drastic changes. Regnier began the process for revising the Congregation's Constitutions to bring it into accordance with the Church's recommendations for the renewal of religious life.

Mother Mary Pius Regnier, S.P.
Born	Helen Marie Regnier April 28, 1914 Aurora, Illinois
Died	November 27, 2005 (aged 91) Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana
Burial place	Sisters of Providence Convent Cemetery, Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana
Alma mater	Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College, St. Louis University
Title	General Superior of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods
Predecessor	Mother Rose Angela Horan, S.P.
Successor	Sister Loretta Schafer, S.P.
Parent(s)	Fred A. Regnier and Anna McDonnell Regnier

Early life

Born Helen Marie Regnier in 1914, she was the oldest daughter of Fred A. and Anna McDonnell Regnier in Aurora, Illinois. A brother, William, later became a Roman Catholic priest in the Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockford, Illinois.

Regnier entered the Sisters of Providence on January 23, 1932. Taking the religious name of Sister Mary Pius, she professed first vows on August 15, 1934, and final vows on January 23, 1940. Her early area of ministry was education, where she showed a love of sports and a particular skill at teaching young boys. She earned a bachelor's degree in English from Saint Mary-of-the-Woods College and a master's degree in education from Saint Louis University.

In 1960, Regnier was elected to the Sisters of Providence general council, a position which she held into 1966.

As Superior General

Regnier was elected Superior General of the Congregation in 1966, earning her the name of Mother Mary Pius. In this role, she oversaw the sale of numerous Congregation-owned schools and the order's buy-in to Social Security, which became available in 1972.

Facing declining vocations, Regnier led the Congregation through its first-ever study by a secular company. Following the Second Vatican Council (ending in 1965), the Sisters of Providence along with many other congregations saw numerous departures from community. However, Regnier held the congregation together despite unrest. Under her leadership, wearing the traditional habit became optional, and the Sisters received permission to drive cars, to handle their own correspondence, and to use electric clocks.[1] Regnier also saw the Sisters through the moratorium on new members that was mandated by the Vatican from 1972-1974 for all religious orders.

After her term as Superior General, Regnier spent a period of time in the Diocese of Joliet in Illinois, spending 15 years in the Marriage Tribunal there. In her position as advocate, she gathered information regarding the marriages of persons seeking annulment.[2] After retiring from there in 1993, she served on staff at the health care services at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods and in prayer ministry, spending significant time in the Blessed Sacrament Chapel.

In 2000, along with many other Sisters of Providence, Regnier pledged to donate her brain to science in order to advance medical knowledge of brian disease, saying, "This is research. Something positive could come of it, so I gladly agreed."[3]

Regnier died at Saint Mary-of-the-Woods on November 27, 2005. Said Sister Ann Margaret O'Hara, Superior General at the time, "She had a wonderful light and happy spirit. She knew how to relate to people and how to draw the best out of them. She had the kind of wisdom that always stayed on the core values of religious life."[4]

References

1. "Sister Mary Pius' story journeys through history." The Criterion (Indianapolis, Indiana), December 3, 1999.
2. Magolan, Dawn Tiberi. "Providence sister embarked on third career." New Catholic Explorer, October 29, 1993.
3. "Nuns pledge to donate brains to science," Associated Press, Herald Times (Bloomington, Indiana), April 12, 2000.
4. qtd. in Cox, Dave. "Former General Superior Sister Mary Pius Regnier dies at 91." Tribune-Star (Terre Haute, Indiana), November 28, 2005.

• Logan, Eugenia (1978). History of the Sisters of Providence of Saint Mary-of-the-Woods: Volume II. Saint Mary-of-the-Woods, Indiana: Sisters of Providence.

• Sisters of Providence. "Mother Mary Pius Regnier". Retrieved December 22, 2009.

• "Jubilarians: Women Religious". The Catholic New World. October 27, 2002. Retrieved December 22, 2009.

• "Sister Mary Pius Regnier obituary". Terre Haute Tribune Star. November 28, 2005. Retrieved December 22, 2009.