Life of holiness

The Bismarck Diocese may have a connection to another saint—this time a Benedictine sister.
 
Benedictine Sister Annella Zervas from Minnesota was the school music teacher and organist for St. Mary’s Pro-Cathedral from 1919 to 1923. During the fall U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops meeting, her story was brought forth by Bishop Andrew Cozzens of the Crookston Diocese and they voted 206 to 7 in favor of opening a cause for beatification and canonization. It is the process necessary for the Church to declare someone is a saint. 

Sister Annella’s time in Bismarck was perhaps the happiest of her life, according to James Kritzeck, author of the now out-of-print biography titled “Ticket for Eternity.” Saint Mary’s Pastor Rev. John A.H. Slag said her, at the time, “Two things were outstanding with her, namely her great love for Jesus Christ in the Blessed Sacrament and her exact obedience. Time and again, I found her in the chapel of the convent making her private visits to the Blessed Sacrament. Her whole behavior in the presence of the Eucharistic Lord indicated her living faith in the Real Presence.”

Born Anna Cordelia Zervas on April 7, 1900, in Moorhead, Minnesota, she entered the convent of the Benedictine Sisters in St. Joseph, Minnesota, at age 15, received the habit in 1918 and made her final solemn profession in July 1922. 

While in Bismarck, she began suffering health problems including heartburn so bad it was hard to keep food down and the skin condition known as pityriasis rubra pilaris, which was undiagnosable at the time. The grotesque symptoms included raw painful skin excreting a foul-smelling substance and forming large boils.

Although, initially, Sister Annella continued teaching and playing the organ, her illnesses became so severe that it forced her to return to family for care. Yet, she accepted the suffering and asked God for strength to bear it so she could offer it up for the Church. After a three-year battle, Sister Annella died at home in Moorehead at the age of 26, weighing only 40 pounds. She was buried at the Benedictine cemetery in St. Joseph. Her reputation for holiness spread for a few decades with two short books being written and translated into multiple languages.
 
Over time, the attention of her tragic story died down and Sister Annella became widely unknown until something remarkable happened. Fourteen years ago, a man named Patrick Norton had been hired by the College of St. Benedict in St. Joseph, Minn. on Oct. 27, 2010, to do some painting. While painting light posts in front of Our Lady of Lourdes Grotto at the Saint Benedict Monastery cemetery he thought to himself, “I wonder if the Blessed Mother thinks I am doing a good job?”

“You are doing a good job,” a voice below him said. Looking down, he saw a nun in a full Benedictine habit. They made small talk—nothing Norton remembers—then he watched in amazement as she disappeared. 

Norton initially kept this astonishing encounter to himself, but in a chance conversation, he was told “there is a holy nun buried in that cemetery.” He came to learn it was Sister Annella. Eventually, he saw a picture of her and was certain that she was the one who had appeared to him.

An elderly religious sister at St. Benedict Monastery shared with Norton pictures of Zervas and a booklet about the young sister’s life called “Apostles of Suffering in Our Day” by Benedictine priest Joseph Kreuter, published in 1929. The sister was in her 80s then and explained there was only her working to promote Sister Annella’s cause for sainthood. Norton offered to help. 

Every week, Norton made 10 copies of the booklet to pass out—all he could afford. Someone who learned of Sister Annella through Norton, donated to print 20,000 books. The number of books distributed is now over 100,000. Another donor arranged for Norton to be interviewed for a short video called “The Sanctity of Two Hearts” that can be found on YouTube.

Word spread about Sister Annella and there were reports of answered prayers through her intercession. Norton and a small group gathered to pray monthly at the cemetery that her cause be opened. Given his encounter with Sister Annella, Norton felt God wanted him to let others know about her. 
 
“I’m not a doctor or a lawyer; I’m just a painter,” he said. “I told God, ‘Let me live each day for you, and I will tell people about her through my nothingness.”
Things began to progress in 2021, after Bishop Andrew Cozzens was appointed to the Diocese of Crookston. 
 
“I heard that he knew about Sister Annella since he was a boy,” Norton said of Bishop Cozzens. 
 
On October 15, 2023, the bishop had a letter read at the cemetery to the prayer group stating that initial steps were being put in place by the diocese to begin an investigation into Zervas’ life, which would make it possible for a cause to be opened.
“I was overwhelmed,” Norton recalled. “The first thing I did was to thank Our Lord and Our Lady.” 
 
He explained that he is at peace that his efforts over the years to make Zervas’ life and holiness known were worth it. 
  
“Since the diocese is taking over, I’m going to just be silent and do my best to live in humility and pray,” he said. “I will pray a lot and thank the Lord for the work he is doing.”
 
The website, SisterAnnella.org explains, “Steps are being taken to begin the canonical inquiry into the life of Sister Annella Zervas. If her cause advances, she could become the first saint from both the Diocese of Crookston and the state of Minnesota. Individuals have reported receiving favors and spiritual blessings through her intercession, both during her life and since her passing. The Postulator of her cause is collecting and documenting these testimonies to prepare for the formal inquiry if the cause is opened. We invite anyone who has experienced a favor through Sister Annella’s intercession to share their story.”