Agnes Stephanie Bouvier
February 7, 1908 - January 6, 2001
Stephanie Bouvier was one of the "Bayou Belles," as Sr. Mary Michael O'Shaughnessy would have said. She was second of four sisters and two brothers in a French-speaking family comfortably settled on Bayou Lafourche in Cut Off, a rural community in southwest Louisiana. She was baptized a few days after her birth. If her health was considered fragile, her determination would more than compensate.
In June 1929, she graduated first in her class at Dominican College. Two weeks earlier she had penned her letter to Mother Mary Pius: "For the past three years I have felt the inclination to become a religious and have become convinced that the religious life is my vocation. I am choosing the Order of St. Dominic because I like its mission-- to teach, to praise and to bless..."
Her health seemed precarious in the novitiate, apparently due to a serious form of anemia. She began in 1930 with Alice McSweeney (Sr. Mary Anne), Laura Lorio (Sr. M. Aquin) and others, and was professed in 1932 with Sr. M. Henry Soniat-Dufossat; they were Mother Catherine's first two novices. "Soeur Monique," as her students called her, often told how Mother de Ricci saved her from being sent home as a novice. She had a theory (Who could disprove it?) that the harder she would work in the garden, and the more she would sweat out the poisons, the stronger she would be. Her landscaping in Rosaryville (in collaboration with Mother Catherine) and at Dominican, was breathtaking in its beauty. Azalea season was a wonder to behold.
Generations of novices and postulants, even aspirants in Rosaryville were pressed into service, and have never forgotten their adventures of working for Sister Monica. Stories abound: one who inadvertently weeded out a tiny orange tree, directly descended from St. Dominic's tree at Santa Sabina, remembers being brought out with flashlight at ten p.m. (seemed like midnight) in Rosaryville to search in the weed pile. Others recall nocturnal hunting for the pesky armadillo who disturbed the azalea roots.
Monica's State Teaching Certificate, issued in 1929, valid for life, certified her to teach "anything but Art, Music, Home Economics or Agriculture." Some think she could have an earned doctorate in
agriculture. In 1982 she was featured in Louisiana Life, caught in the act of hosing her azaleas. It was one of seventy-two photos selected out of 10,000 submitted, which gave her immense pleasure.
Sister Monica had a serious professional career in teaching French, her first language; she was fully bilingual. She had a real passion for French, and everything connected with it. After teaching at Dominican High School she earned her M.A. at Western Reserve in Cleveland (1944). It launched her into teaching by a progressive method, and when Audio-Visual emerged as the most effective way, she was among the pioneers. She went to Europe several times, once (1966) to teach French as a Second Language to American students. French conversation was a treat and a social outlet for her. She was appointed advisor to the Council for the Development of French in Louisiana (CODOFIL) by the governor in 1971. After retiring from the classroom in 1983 she maintained her membership in Athenee Louisianais, and her other professional organizations. She rarely missed a banquet, where she was always recognized and often honored.
She applied her audio-visual skills to teaching English as a Second Language, in which Dominican College excelled. This experience served her well when she retired from chairing her department, and later from the classroom. She had a penchant for tutoring; the number of refugees who came to her for the empowerment of learning English is not recorded. Among the many mourners at her funeral was a grateful Vietnamese sister who was her private pupil in 1985.
Sr. Mary Monica was registrar early in her years with the college. She served as prioress, appointed and elected, in Rosaryville and at the motherhouse.
In this collection of unique individuals who have made up St. Mary's Congregation, Monica Bouvier was among the most unique. She had not much time for soft words or diplomacy, but she had great energy for creating beauty, and a heart for those in need.
