Nun who survived flu pandemic, both world wars and cσɾσnαvιɾυs celebrates 117th birthday with red wine
https://www.washingtonpost.com/nation/2021/02/10/nun-117-survive-covid-france/ Europe's oldest person, French nun Sister André, recovered from the cσɾσnαvιɾυs on Feb. 9, and will celebrate her 117th birthday on Feb. 11. (Reuters)
By
Jaclyn Peiser and
Jennifer HassanFeb. 11, 2021 at 9:36 a.m. CST
A French nun who survived both world wars, the 1918 flu pandemic and a
cσɾσnαvιɾυs infection is marking her 117th birthday with red wine, a Mass in her honor and dinner followed by her favorite dessert: baked Alaska.
Sister André, who is believed to be the second-oldest person in the world, is set to spend Thursday celebrating her long life at her care home in the French city of Toulon. The facility’s spokesman, David Tavella,
told the Associated Press that the nun was “in great shape” and “really happy,” ahead of a busy schedule that would feature a video call with her family, a service hosted by the bishop of Toulon and a champagne birthday feast.
“It’s a big day,” Tavella said, adding that there would be a cake for Sister André — although it wouldn’t be big enough to hold 117 candles.
“Even if we made big cakes, I’m not sure that she would have enough breath to blow them all out,” he said.
Tavella said the menu would include foie gras, capon with fragrant mushrooms and some alcohol to toast the occasion.
“All of it washed down with red wine, because she drinks red wine. It’s one of her secrets of longevity. And a bit of Champagne with dessert, because 117 years have to be toasted,” he said to the AP.
In the weeks leading up to her 117th birthday, Sister André spent her days isolated in her room at the Sainte Catherine Labouré retirement home in the southern French city of Toulon. The nun was one of dozens of residents at the home who tested positive for the cσɾσnαvιɾυs.
But on Tuesday, Sister André was declared recovered from the virus, a spokesman from her retirement home told
Reuters, allowing her to hold on to her title as the oldest living European, according to Gerontology Research Group’s “
World Supercentenarian Rankings List.”
“We consider her to be cured. She is very calm and she is looking forward to celebrating her 117th birthday on Thursday,” Tavella told Reuters earlier this week.
Ten others at the retirement home died of CÖVÌD-19,
Le Parisien reported, after 81 of the 88 residents tested positive in January. There have been more than 3.4 million cases in France and more than 80,000 deaths, according to
The Washington Post’s CÖVÌD tracker.
Sister André, originally named Lucile Randon, was born on Feb. 11, 1904, in Alès, a town in the Occitanie region of southern France. She grew up in a nonreligious Protestant family and worked at a young age as a governess in Marseille and a tutor in Paris, according to
Le Parisien.
She converted to Catholicism at 19, and at 25, she began working at a hospital. For 28 years she took care of elderly people and orphaned children. In 1944, she joined the Daughters of Charity to become a nun at the age of 40. She took on the name Sister André in honor of her deceased brother, and in 2009, she moved to the retirement home, Le Parisien reported.
When Sister André turned 115, Pope Francis sent her a personal letter and a blessed rosary, according to
FAMVIN, a religious news service.
After her diagnosis with the cσɾσnαvιɾυs in mid-January, Sister André was asymptomatic. Blind and in a wheelchair, the retired nun who lived through the 1918 flu pandemic and both world wars told France’s BFM TV that she wasn’t scared when she tested positive because she is not afraid to die.
“I’m happy to be with you, but I would wish to be somewhere else — join my big brother and my grandfather and my grandmother,” she said, according to a Reuters translation of that TV interview.
Tavella told
Var-Matin newspaper that the nun was more upset about a disruption in her routine than in her health.
“She wanted to know, for example, if the meal and bed times were going to change,” Tavella said. “She showed no fear of the illness. In fact, she was more worried about the other residents.”
While in isolation, Sister André spent most of her time praying, she told
Le Parisien, and longing for the days when she could have meals with friends and go on walks in the garden.
Tavella told the newspaper that the nun is very sociable and enjoys listening to music.
As for her 117th birthday on Thursday, Tavella told Reuters the gathering will be small given the risks of the cσɾσnαvιɾυs.
“She’s been very lucky,” Tavella said.
This report has been updated.
Topic: French Nun Turns 117 Years-Old (Read 843 times)