Benedictine Sister of Perpetual Adoration Mary Regina Arnold, OSB died on April 20.
She was born Mary Aline Arnold in Braddock, Pennsylvania, on Sept. 9, 1932. She was the second child of Emmons and Mary Kinsel Arnold. When Mary Aline was young, the family moved to Homewood, another section of Pittsburgh. Memories of the family’s annual visit to her maternal grandparents in Marysville, Kansas, were happy ones. On one of the visits, Mary Aline’s mother became interested in the Catholic faith and began to take instruction. She was received into the Church in 1937. Both parents received their communion at midnight mass that year, and Mary Aline and her brother were baptized too.
Mary Aline attended Holy Rosary School in Homewood where she was taught by the Sisters of Saint Joseph. She was a good pupil and enjoyed school. On Easter weekend when she was in fourth grade, her brother sustained a concussion from a fall, Mary Aline was rushed to the hospital with acute appendicitis and her father was ill. Her mother, who suffered greatly from arthritis, was a bulwark of strength during this time. Mary Aline learned to prepare meals and to do a good portion of the housework. She was a quiet girl and yet had many friends. She loved reading, doing needlework and listening to classical music.
During Mary Aline’s sixth year in school, the family moved to Wilkinsburg, another suburb of Pittsburgh. There she entered Saint James School, which was staffed by the Sisters of Charity from Seton Hill. The family moved to Buckhannon, West Virginia, in the summer of 1947. Mary Aline and her brother attended public high school, where they were the only Catholics.
The call to give herself to Christ grew stronger, and she wrote to various active and contemplative orders. While waiting for information, she began a 54-day rosary novena. At the end of the novena, she knew the Benedictine Sisters and Clyde was the place for her.
Mary Aline and her mother spent the summer of 1948 with her grandmother in Kansas. At the end of August, they took the train to Clyde. At the time of entrance, Mary Aline was 16 years old and had completed her sophomore year in high school. Because of her youth, Mary Aline remained a postulant for nearly a year. She was invested as a novice on Aug. 11, 1949. She made her first profession of vows on Sept. 8, 1950, receiving the name Sister Mary Regina. She made her final vows on Sept. 8, 1955. In 2000 she was in the last group to celebrate their golden jubilees at the St. Louis monastery.
During her years in community, Sister Regina served at the monasteries in Clyde; Mundelein, Illinois; St. Louis; San Diego; Sand Springs, Oklahoma; and Dayton, Wyoming. As an organist, she moved from monastery to monastery, usually every three years or so. She worked as portress, in sewing, maintenance, main and infirmary kitchens, in the finance office and as pastoral minister in the infirmary. She was in charge of redistributing altar breads at the Dayton community. She served as oblate director in St. Louis and Dayton and as postulant director in St. Louis. She served two terms as subprioress in Mundelein and a three-year term as prioress of the Clyde monastery. She was an organist and liturgist for over 50 years. Once she moved to Our Lady of Rickenbach, she continued to stitch exquisite cards and bookmarks that were sold in the monastery gift shop.
Sister Regina is survived by her nephew, nieces, a cousin and her monastic community. Her funeral liturgy was at the Benedictine Sisters’ Adoration Chapel on April 24, 2024, with burial following in Mount Calvary Cemetery in Clyde.
Sister Regina expressed confidence in God’s love for her and gratitude for her monastic community. She had planned her funeral liturgy on the theme “God, With All My Heart, I Thank You.” |
