Sister Maria Regislind

Sister  Maria  Regislind                ND 5111                    PDF Download

Regina HAUWE

Maria Regina Province, Coesfeld, Germany

Date and Place of Birth:                  11 February 1935      Gelsenkirchen-Buer
Date and Place of Profession:        31 August 1957          Coesfeld
Date and Place of Death:                03 April 2021             Coesfeld, Kloster Annenthal
Date and Place of Funeral:             08 April 2021             Coesfeld, Convent Cemetery

On Holy Saturday, our Sister Maria Regislind, Regina Hauwe, passed away at the age of 86. The following information is based on personal experiences with Sister Maria Regislind. Some other sisters in our community may have had similar experiences.

With an elder sister and a younger brother, she grew up in a master tailor’s family in Gelsenkirchen-Buer. Sister Maria Regislind seldom talked about her childhood and youth, perhaps because they fell in the war time and the postwar period and were too difficult for her to talk about as it was the case for many other people of her generation.

She first got to know the Sisters of Notre Dame in Gelsenkirchen and Gescher, where she assisted our sisters in the kitchen, with the housework, and in the kindergarten.

After her formation as an educator, her commitment to children became a fulfilling task, as she said herself. She was a good, loving, and consistent educator and principal in several nursery schools, e. g. in Bocholt, Nottuln-Schapdetten, and Ahlen. Sister Maria Regislind kept an eye on each child and had good relationships with the other educators and with the parents. She had a large circle of acquaintances with whom she initiated or supported voluntary, social activities.

The relationships between the co-sisters and Sister Maria Regislind were sometimes contradictory and disappointing for both sides. Feeling misunderstood, she suffered silently and sometimes seemed no longer attainable. During the last years of her life, Sister Maria Regislind gradually started to speak again so that relaxed situations and pleasant encounters became possible. Like a dried up well which starts to flow again, she tried to put her behavior, her relationships, her silence, and her secrets into words.

A severe, aggressive cancer ended her life suddenly and abruptly. On Holy Saturday, the day of silence, of inner emptiness and depth, Sister Maria Regislind gave her life back into God’s hand, trusting and believing that her redeemer lives. Her deep faith during the process of dying was impressive. In the celebration of the Easter Vigil, we could include Sister in our thoughts and in our prayers.