Sr Anna Maria of the Sacred Heart, an Italian nun, turned 106 on March 14 at her monastery near Milan, where she continues to serve her sick sisters and share reflections on the Gospel on YouTube. Source: EWTN News.
Still lucid “in thought and word,” and with 36 years of life in cloister, the nun belongs to the Adorers of the Blessed Sacrament, the Italian newspaper Il Giorno reported.
Despite her advanced age, she continues to participate daily in Eucharistic adoration even during the night and assists in the monastery’s infirmary, caring for elderly or ailing nuns.
Her birthday celebration took place with a Mass of Thanksgiving and a gathering with family members, experienced through the grilles of the cloister where Sr Anna Maria remains dedicated to prayer.
“I do this like so many other things, out of love for Jesus who continually asks me to love my neighbour,” the religious, whose name before entering the convent was Anna Perfumo, said in a video shared by her community.
According to Il Giorno, the nun’s life was marked by hardships from the very beginning. At four months old, she contracted bronchopneumonia – a condition that was practically fatal in 1920 – and at age four she came down with scurvy, a disease that was incurable at that time.
“The doctor told my mother: ‘I won’t be coming back tomorrow, because the child will be dead.’ Yet I was miraculously healed,” she said.
Before entering the monastery, she worked for years as a governess and schoolteacher in addition to caring for elderly and infirm priests. Nevertheless, she always desired to consecrate herself to God in the contemplative life.
That longing was finally realised at the age of 70, following the death of her mother. After several attempts, she was admitted to the Adorers’ monastery in Genoa, from where she would be transferred years later to Seregno, where she now lives.
“It’s true; I had to wait quite a long time before fulfilling God’s will,” Sr Anna Maria said.
“But when it is God who desires something, it will always come to pass. That’s why one must have great confidence, great faith, great hope, and great patience.”
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106-year-old nun continues serving in the cloister and sharing the Gospel on YouTube (By Diego López Marina, EWTN News)
