By editor - 22 February, 2014
107-year-old Sr Candida Bellotti.
By H. Sergio Mora for Zenit.org
Sr Candida Bellotti, the oldest nun in the world, celebrated her 107th birthday on Thursday by attending Pope Francis’ Mass at the St Martha’s hostel in the Vatican.
Immediately after Mass, the Pontiff greeted Italian religious, including the Camillian Sister, who was born on 20 February 1907.
“I couldn’t have a greater joy than that of celebrating my birthday with Pope Francis,” said Sister Candida.
Sr Candida belongs to the Congregation of the Ministers of the Sick of Saint Camillus.
Speaking to the media on her birthday, she added, “In my 80 years as a religious I have never regretted having chosen this vocation.”
“Only one who feels the happiness of being close to the Lord can understand how abundant his love is for us and how much peace he gives our heart,” she added.
Sr Candida was born in northern Italy, in the city of Quinzano, in Verona. Her name before entering religious life was Alma Bellotti. She was the third of 10 siblings. Her father was a shoemaker and her mother a homemaker.
Asked what the secret of such longevity, the nun who has lived during the pontificate of 10 popes, said: “To listen to the voice of Christ and to be docile to his will. During my whole life I have thought: where the Lord takes me, that’s the right place for me.”
Her favourite prayer is the Rosary, as well as another prayer she repeats during the day: “Lord, I adore you and I thank you for your love and mercy.”
The Camillians are dedicated to the care of the sick.
Those who know Sr Candida say she has always lived her vocation exemplarily, with coherence and simplicity, giving witness of the message of charity of St Camillus to the poor and the neediest.
She made her vows in 1932, shortly before World War II. She worked primarily in Rome, Turin, Camaiore and Viareggio.
In 2000, at age 93, she was sent to the Order’s Motherhouse in the city of Lucca for a well-deserved rest.
She participates in the life of the community, attends Mass, and contributes in whatever way she can, say her fellow Sisters.
When she was 100, she travelled to Lourdes and now she has taken part in the Holy Father’s Mass.
The Order of Ministers of the Sick was founded in August of 1582, when St Camillus of Lellis (1550-1614) was inspired to create “a company of pious and good men who would serve the sick (…) voluntarily and out of love of God, with the same love that a mother has for her only sick child.”
Courtesy: Zenit.org
