By Amanda Zurface, JCL
What can Sister Annella’s story do for you and your relationship with Jesus?
Here are the top twenty-five quotes from Servant of God Annella Zervas, OSB, to inspire your daily life. They come from her official biography, “Ticket for Eternity,” written by James Kritzeck.
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1. “Words cannot come near expressing the happiness of belonging to Jesus.”
Written shortly after her temporary vows in 1919, Sister Annella expressed deep joy in giving herself completely to Christ and longing for her final consecration.
2. “All for Jesus. All for Jesus.”
This quote comes from the later period of Sister Annella’s illness, when her body was severely emaciated and afflicted with constant pain. She repeated this prayer through the night, offering everything to Jesus with love and trust.
3. “With the grace of God, I am determined to become a saint.”
Here we see Sister Annella’s sincere longing to grow in holiness. She often took extra time before confession to prepare her heart and reflect on her soul. Her handwritten spiritual notes show her steady progress in virtue and her deep desire to please God.
4. “What could we do without Holy Communion? How dreadfully lonely and miserable would we be without Jesus…Here I need only take a few steps…to visit Him and lay my troubles at His feet, and then gather new courage to begin again.”
This quote comes from a letter that Sister Annella wrote to her parents on Christmas Day in 1919. Her spiritual director, Rev. John Slag, often found her in the chapel, quietly visiting Jesus in the Blessed Sacrament, and said her behavior showed a living faith in His Real Presence.
5. “I don’t know what we would do without Holy Communion every day…Jesus is the only One who really understands us and can help us.”
Sister Annella wrote these words a few years after her first reflections on the Eucharist. By this time, her love for Jesus in Holy Communion had only deepened. She marveled at how people in the past received the Eucharist so rarely, saying she could not imagine such a “gloomy” time without daily Communion.
6. “The time when I feel most confidence in prayer is after Holy Communion, when Jesus is so close that He hears the gentlest whisper…”
Sister Annella wrote to her family shortly after Christmas, during a time of deep prayer and reflection. Her words express her intimate closeness with Jesus in the Eucharist and her firm trust that prayers offered at that moment are heard and answered according to God’s will.
7. “When I don’t get my donut, I don’t feel good.”
One morning, after being forgotten at breakfast, Anna (Sister Annella’s birth name) sat quietly on the stairs until her mother noticed and asked why she wasn’t playing. Anna simply said, “When I don’t get my donut, I don’t feel good.” The story captures her sweetness and quiet patience—even when overlooked, she spoke with simple honesty and without complaint.
8. “I kind of forgot.”
Forgetfulness was one of Sister Annella’s little faults. Her sister Emma once gave her a pencil on a chain so she would always have one, only to find Sister Annella later staring at the empty chain in quiet amusement. Even in these small imperfections, her goodness and lighthearted spirit shone through—reminding us that holiness is often found in the simple, human moments of everyday life.
9. “See, I am playing a ukulele!”
In May 1924, during a painful itching spell due to her illness, she turned to her parents with a smile and said, “See, I am playing a ukulele!” Her small joke lifted the heaviness in the room, showing the kind of joy and peace that could only come from deep trust in God.
10. “Thank God it is over; I hope I have the strength to bear the next one.”
Even though her illness caused her extreme pain, Sr. Annella never lost her peace or asked to be cured. Those who cared for her were amazed by how clear-minded and trusting she remained. She was grateful for the strength to endure one attack, and already offered herself for whatever might come next.
11. “It is a blessing that I can suffer this; I could not do so myself if God did not give me the strength.”
Sister Annella recognized that her ability to endure pain was not from her own strength: It was a gift from God. Even her suffering had purpose and meaning when united with Christ. Rather than seeing her illness as a curse, she saw it as an opportunity to share in Christ’s suffering and to rely completely on God’s strength.
12. “I feared that the pain might become so great that I might forget to make an offering of it, so I gave it all to the Blessed Virgin Mary to take care of me, so that nothing of it would be lost.”
These words reveal a deep trust in God and Mary. Sister Annella offered all her suffering to the Blessed Virgin because she wanted to be sure that none of her suffering would go to waste, but instead be used by God for good.
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13. “But I am happy right now!”
When others tried to comfort Sister Annella by saying she would one day be happy for having suffered so much, she quietly replied, “But I am happy right now!” Her words reveal a heart completely united to God, finding joy not after the suffering, but in the very midst of it.
14. “In God’s good time all will turn out well.”
Despite her frail health, Sister Annella focused on small blessings, such as gaining a few pounds, being able to eat again, and showing gratitude instead of discouragement. Her hope wasn’t centered on a quick recovery or returning to teaching but on the quiet conviction that God was guiding everything with love and purpose.
15. “God knows best. His holy will is mine.”
Sister Annella wrote to Sister De’ Pazzi, “I am happy to know [that] I am being given an opportunity [to fulfill] God’s holy will, and at the same time perhaps having a part of my purgatory here.”
16. “I will offer some of my suffering for you.”
Sister Annella refused to remain idle between her attacks. With light gloves on her sore hands, she continued her needle-work, which was remarkably perfect in execution. She also meditated on Sacred Scripture and the lives of the saints, or sang hymns and parts of Vespers.
17. “I offer my sufferings as a prayer. If God had wanted me to pray, He would have given me the ability.”
When asked about her inability to pray in the midst of suffering, she did not worry. Similarly, when asked for prayers, she would invariably answer, “I will offer some of my suffering for you,” indicating that she had consecrated all her sufferings to God as prayer.
18. “Send me more pain but give me the strength to bear it.”
But greater suffering followed. Huge boils formed on the back of her neck and on her cheek near the jaw. “It seems,” her mother wrote, “[that] she suffered death seven or eight times a day, only…it did not come to an end.” Her father recorded, “She never asked to be relieved from pain. She only asked for the strength to bear it. She also expressed her great joy in the consolation that she had not brought this sickness on herself.”
19. “Does it not seem really too wonderful to be true that God should have chosen us to be His own for life and forever?”
These words come from a letter Sister Annella wrote to her parents. She also wrote, “The more I think of this, the more perplexed I become. God’s infinite love and unsearchable ways are all the reason for this unspeakable grace.”
20. “I only hope our dear Lord has not been disappointed in me… I trust He will bring all to the end He wishes.”
Sister Annella went on to write, “He has no doubt had some very special reason for all this, and I hope and trust He will bring all to the end He wishes it to come to.”
21. “I am buying my ticket for eternity, and it is well worth the price.”
This beautiful expression reveals Sister Annella’s longing for — and happiness meditating on — eternal union with God. But she resigned herself to God’s timing, saying, “I said that I wished to die. I don’t wish it. I have no wish but to live as long as God wants me to live.”
22. “My God, have mercy on me. My Jesus, mercy.”
One day, Annella took hold of her mother’s wrist and gave such a loud, piercing, and unearthly scream that it caused Sister Annella’s mother to shrink under its effect. Mrs. Zervas rushed downstairs to call her husband, who was working late at his market. Mr. Zervas could hear his daughter’s screams clearly over the telephone. Afterwards, her mother thought she recalled Sister Annella pleading, “My God, have mercy on me…My Jesus, mercy.”
23. “Oh, it seems so good to see St. Benedict’s again!”
On a trip to St. Joseph for Sister De’ Pazzi’s profession, Sister Annella clasped her hands over her chest and exclaimed, “Oh, it seems so good to see St. Benedict’s again!” Her mother looked at her in astonishment, but realized immediately how inexpressively dear this chapel was to her daughter — it was the place where she had consecrated herself forever to Christ.
24. “I’ll teach you to love the Sacred Heart.”
Sister Annella promised a novice that she would teach her to love Mary. The novice replied, “I’ll teach you to love the Sacred Heart.” When they later drew their religious titles, Sister Annella drew “of the Sweet Heart of Jesus,” and her companion, “of the Pure Heart of Mary.” They looked at each other and exclaimed, “I told you so!”
25. “Wasn’t He a dandy!”
One day, little Anna’s mother found her standing on a bedroom table, looking at a crucifix. Upon being told that she must not play with the holy item, Anna asked what it was used for. Her mother carefully explained to her that it represented the crucifixion of Christ. Anna listened wide-eyed to the explanation, then clapped her hands and exclaimed, “Did He do that? Well, wasn’t He a dandy!”
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.