Sister André, the oldest person in Europe, was 117 years old after she conquered the corona virus

Sister André, considered the oldest person in Europe and the second in the world, had COVID-19 in January and “didn’t even know.” This Thursday he will celebrate his 117th birthday with a festive menu, a mass and a glass of port.

While no official body grants the “title” of Dean of France, Sister André, born as Lucile Randon on February 11, 1904, is the oldest person in the country

His birthday this year has a resurrection flavor at his nursing home in Toulon (southeast), that was brutally hit by the coronavirus in January, with 81 positive cases and a dozen deaths

Sister André barely remembers: ‘I’m not sure I had it. They tell me yes, I was very tired, it’s true, but I didn’t know “explained to the AFPTV

Locked up, this nun lived one life triple confinement: in his wheelchair, in his room and unable to receive visitors

“His birthday is a stimulus for us, we are going to see it as an opportunity to bring back life,” he said. David Tavella, responsible for the communication of the residencia Sainte-Catherine-Labouré

Sister André has no plans for her 117th birthday, but behind the scenes the festivities are organized.

There will be a exceptional mass in this establishment that still has a dozen nuns.

The cook plans to prepare a meal worthy of the event: port, foie gras, capon fillet with porcini mushrooms and of course a Norwegian omelette, the nun’s favorite dessert

A video conference will also be organized with her second cousins, who will not be able to visit her in person.

He saw 19 French presidents pass

Journalists from all over the world, from New York, from Lisbon, call or try to meet her. “When I tell her ‘Sister André, they are waiting for you’, she drags her feet, but then she doesn’t stop,” says Tavella, who describes her as “A woman with an exceptional spirit, very moving”

On Wednesday, on the eve of his birthday, the woman who saw it 19 presidents Since birth, she has been sunbathing in the garden surrounded by laurels, with her hands in prayer and her eyes closed. He counsels young people to be “courageous” and to show mercy.

Born in Alès (Southeast), within a non-practicing Protestant family, Sister André worked as governess in different families, in Paris and in the province.

One of his best memories is the return of two of his brothers at the end of the First World War “It was rare, in families it was more common that there were two dead and not two alive. The two came back “said to the AFP last year on the occasion of its 116th birthday.

She was baptized at the age of 26 and He entered the orders quite late, at the age of 41, with the Daughters of Charity

“I was a governess in Paris and I was doing very well. I wanted to move on and be a daughter of love, ”she recalls.

Sister André has four great-nephews and many great-great-nephews.

(With information from AFP)

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