Celebrating Catholic motherhood in Archdiocese of New Orleans

Regina Matrum award to be presented to Anne Maurin on Monday

Published: Friday, May 11, 2012

By Eva Jacob Barkoff, The Times-Picayune The Times-Picayune

 Pride fills her voice and her eyes light up when Anne Maurin talks about her family and her faith. When the Regina Matrum Award is mentioned, she shakes her head in disbelief, her face turning the color of pink cotton candy. “I still just cannot believe it,” said Maurin, of Old Metairie. “I know there are so many others who could have received this award. So for me to be chosen is just a wonderful honor. I am elated, I am blessed — and, yes, I am overwhelmed.”

EVA JACOB BARKOFF/THE TIMES-PICAYUNEAnne Maurin, with a photo of herself; her husband, Tony; and their seven children: Anthony III, Christopher, Michael, Gregory, Angelle, Felice and Daniel.

 

The Regina Matrum Award is presented annually by the Council of Catholic Schools Cooperative Clubs in the Archdiocese of New Orleans to an outstanding Catholic mother who possesses the ideals of Catholic motherhood and family life.
Maurin will receive the award from Archbishop Gregory Aymond as part of a special Mass on Monday at 7 p.m. at St. Catherine of Siena Church in Old Metairie.
A native of Topeka, Kan., Maurin was raised in a devout Catholic home. She met her husband, Tony, in a choir at the Strategic Air Command Air Force Base outside Topeka while he was serving his country.
The Maurins, who have been married 54 years, have seven children and 15 grandchildren. They moved to New Orleans in 1959 and to Old Metairie in 1969. That same year, they joined St. Catherine of Siena Church.
“One thing that stands out in my mind about Anne is her humbleness,” said Jere Crago, a St. Catherine deacon who met the couple two decades ago. “She does (things) without expectation of anything in return.
“And while it is an honor to have a St. Catherine’s parishioner honored in such a way, it is also so important to hold Anne up as a role model for all of us. We thank her for offering herself and her services to the parish and its members.”
At St. Catherine, Maurin has served as a lector, cantor, Eucharistic minister and treasurer of the altar society. Maurin said she receives “great satisfaction” in taking Holy Communion to those who are home bound and cannot attend Mass.
“I enjoy being able to share this with them,” Maurin said. “And afterwards, I spend some time just visiting and talking with them.”
A lifelong homemaker, Maurin teaches piano in her home to children four days a week.
“I have been teaching piano for more than 30 years,” Maurin said. “I enjoy teaching the music, but I also really enjoy being with my students.”
The Maurins stayed in their home during Hurricane Katrina, keeping an eye on the homes of neighbors who left.
“Tony and I sort of became command central during Katrina,” Maurin recalled. “We had one phone, a land-line phone, that never lost power. So we were always in communication with our neighbors who left. It was really a blessing for us to be able to help those who left in some way.”
Maurin said that when she accepts her award Monday, she will be proud of the many things she has accomplished in her life and the programs in which she has been involved through the church and local Catholic schools. But most of all, she is proud of her family.
“Tony is a loving and caring husband,” Maurin said. “He was and, of course, still is a loving and caring father. He was always there for our children, no matter what it was they needed.
“And I as a mother, I am particularly proud of my seven children, all of whom are practicing Catholics. Our children went to St. Catherine, and then for high school they attended either St. Mary’s Dominican or Jesuit. Catholic education was important to us then and still is now. (They) are responsible, hardworking men and women with wonderful spouses and beautiful children of their own.
“Tony and I worked hard to raise each one of them to be kind and good people who are faithful to God and to the church. So for that, I am so proud and, of course, so very grateful.”