By Amanda Zurface, JCL
On August 8, 2026, Catholics from Minnesota and across the United States will mark a remarkable milestone: the 100th anniversary of the death of Servant of God Annella Zervas, OSB.
A century after her death, Sister Annella continues to inspire people of every vocation and state of life through her profound love for Jesus Christ, her devotion to the Eucharist, and her heroic acceptance of suffering. Her witness remains especially significant for the faithful of Minnesota, where she was born, raised, lived out her religious vocation, died, and where the faithful have preserved her story for generations.
This centennial celebration is an opportunity to thank God for the gifts He bestowed upon Sister Annella, to celebrate the opening of her cause for canonization, and to gather as a Church united in faith around the Eucharistic Lord whom she loved so deeply.
Reflecting on this anniversary, Bishop Andrew Cozzens has emphasized that the celebration is an opportunity to thank God for the witness of Servant of God Annella Zervas and to gather around the source of her strength and holiness: Jesus Christ present in the Holy Eucharist. Bishop Cozzens said, “This anniversary is a special moment to remember Sister Annella and to learn from her by gathering to pray and celebrate the Mass. Sister Annella’s life reveals the transforming power of the Eucharist when we seek to receive it and live it with faith.”
To understand why this anniversary matters, we must first understand the young Benedictine sister whose witness continues to touch lives one hundred years after her death.
A Daughter of the Church
Born Anna Cordelia Zervas on April 7, 1900, in Moorhead, Minnesota, Sister Annella felt called to belong entirely to God from a young age. At only fifteen years old, she entered the Order of Saint Benedict in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She professed her final vows in 1922.
Those who knew her remembered her cheerful spirit, generosity, kindness, musical talents, and deep love for religious life. She embraced her vocation with joy and gratitude, once writing:
“Does it not seem really too wonderful to be true that God should have chosen us to be His own for life and forever?”
The Benedictines were already woven into the fabric of her life. They had served as her teachers, pastors, and spiritual guides. When she discerned a call to religious life, entering the Benedictine community must have felt like a natural response to God’s invitation.
A Witness to Heroic Love
Among the many virtues visible in Sister Annella’s life, one is quite obvious: a heroic love that endured even amid suffering.
After entering religious life, she developed a rare skin disease and severe stomach ailments that caused immense physical pain. Her illness brought violent chills, high fevers, intense itching, and the daily loss of large amounts of skin. The stomach condition often prevented her from eating normally.
What makes Sister Annella’s story remarkable is not the suffering she endured, but the way she endured it.
Rather than allowing suffering to separate her from Christ, she united herself more closely to Him. She offered her pain as prayer and entrusted her trials to God with trust. In doing so, she transformed suffering into an act of love.
Sister Annella’s witness reminds us that while suffering is never sought for its own sake, it need not be meaningless. United to Christ, even our deepest trials can become occasions of fruitfulness.
This is one of the reasons her story continues to resonate with so many people today. In a world full of hardship, Sister Annella offers a powerful example of trust, surrender, and hope.
The story of Sister Annella’s heroic love cannot be separated from another essential part of her life: the family that first taught her to love Christ.
The Christian Family That Formed Her
The roots of Sister Annella’s virtue can be traced in part to the Christian family that nurtured her Catholic faith.
Her parents, Hubert and Emma Zervas, were devoted Catholics who encouraged her vocation and cared for her throughout her illness. Her mother, who had once considered religious life herself, helped cultivate Anna’s love for Jesus from childhood.
One story from her early years beautifully illustrates this formation. As a little girl, Anna was found standing on a table gazing at the family home’s crucifix. When her mother explained that it represented Jesus dying for her and for the salvation of the world, Anna listened attentively and then exclaimed:
“Did He do that? Well, wasn’t He a dandy!”
Even as a child, she was captivated by the love of Christ.
That love did not emerge in isolation. It was nurtured within a home where the Catholic faith was lived, taught, and cherished. The witness of her parents helped form the foundation upon which her vocation and virtue would later flourish.
During her final years, her family cared for her, ensuring she had access to the sacraments, the Eucharist, and whatever she needed. Following her death, her father became one of the earliest promoters of her story.
As part of the centennial celebration, we will give thanks for the Christian family that formed Sister Annella and offered their daughter to the service of God and His Church. One meaningful way we will honor the Zervas family during the celebration is by dedicating and blessing a newly erected monument at their tombs in Saint Joseph Catholic Cemetery in Moorhead, Minnesota. This cross will stand as a sign of the Lord’s victory and as a marker for the growing number of pilgrims who come to pray at the tombs of Sister Annella’s family, in addition to Sister Annella’s own grave, which is not with her family but with her religious community in the Benedictine Monastic Cemetery in Saint Joseph, Minnesota.
Sister Annella’s parents, siblings, and other family members’ efforts would become the first chapter in a much larger story of people preserving Sister Annella’s memory for future generations.
Related: The Fruit of the Harvest Is in the Seed
Those Who Carried Her Story Forward
For one hundred years, countless individuals have helped preserve and share Sister Annella’s story.
Family members, religious sisters, priests, friends, parishioners, historians, benefactors, and devoted supporters passed her story from one generation to the next. Their efforts ensured that her life would continue to inspire others long after her death.
Because of their dedication, people across the country and beyond continue to discover Sister Annella and seek her intercession. Many have found encouragement through her witness and have grown closer to Christ through learning about her life.
Their perseverance has made it possible for us to know Sister Annella’s story one hundred years after her death and for the Church to carefully study her life as her cause for canonization moves forward.
One of the principal ways this work continues today is through the mission of the Sister Annella Guild.
Related: Introducing My Brother, Bishop Cozzens, to Sister Annella
Celebrating the Mission of the Sister Annella Guild
The Sister Annella Guild was established with a twofold mission entrusted by Bishop Cozzens: to promote the story of Sister Annella and to support the cause of canonization.
Over the past two years, the Guild has worked to introduce more people to Sister Annella’s life, encourage devotion to her, and support the many practical needs involved in advancing her cause.
The centennial celebration offers an opportunity not only to look back with gratitude, but also to look forward with hope as this mission continues.
We also celebrate the opening of Sister Annella’s cause for canonization. What began as the faithful preservation of her memory has now become the Church’s formal study of her life and virtues. This important step invites Catholics to look more closely at her witness and to ask what God may wish to teach the Church through her example.
Related: Help Advance the Cause: Become a Member
A Time of Celebration
As we commemorate this centennial, we give thanks for all that Sister Annella’s life invites: the beauty of the Catholic faith, the grace of a vocation lived totally for God, heroic love amid suffering, the gift of a faithful Christian family, and the perseverance of all those who have carried her story forward for one hundred years. We also celebrate the mission of the Sister Annella Guild and the opening of her cause for canonization, trusting that God will continue to use her example to draw souls closer to Himself.
Above all, this anniversary is a moment to give thanks to God. Join us in Moorhead, Minnesota, on August 8, 2026, as we gather around the Eucharistic Lord whom Sister Annella loved so deeply and honor the life and witness of Servant of God Annella Zervas, OSB, a daughter of the Church whose life lived totally for God continues to shine one hundred years later.
About the Author
Amanda Zurface, JCL, is the Diocesan Postulator for the Cause of Sister Annella Zervas. Holding degrees in canon law and theology, she was introduced to Patrick Norton in 2020 and moved to assist in advancing the cause. She considers it a grace to share Sister Annella’s story, which shows us how to entrust our pain to God and live in deep friendship with Christ, our truest friend.