112 years is a long time on earth and one nun is offering her insight on what makes life worth living. Sister Francis Dominici Piscatella of Long Island reached the prestigious distinction of being the world’s oldest nun in April. Sister Piscatella has served the Catholic Church for 94 glorious years, living through some of the most memorable events of human history: both world wars, the assassination of JFK, 9/11, and the Covid-19 pandemic, to name a few. At 2 years old, she lost her forearm in an accident with a passing train while she was living in Central Islip. But Piscatella’s mother didn’t allow her to feel sorry for herself. “I was the second oldest of seven children,” she told The New York Post. “My mother wouldn’t let them help me because ‘you’re not always going to have your sisters, so you better just shape up and do things for yourself.’ That’s what I did. Nobody really ever had to help with anything.”

Now, she’s sharing her advice after a life time of service and learning. “Teach until you die,” she said. Teaching comes naturally to someone who has been a teacher for decades like Piscatella, who joined the Dominican order right out of high school. At first, she had trouble securing a position due to having only one arm. Her friend and roommate of 45 years, Sister Francis Kammer, shared how a position finally opened up after a nun left her teaching position. “The priest said, ‘Well, can she teach?’ And the sister said, ‘Oh, she’s a great teacher.’ And he said, ‘Then she stays.’ And she never looked back,” she recalled.

Piscatella taught a number of subjects while also working administrative positions. “Well, I don’t want to brag, but I was a pretty good student in everything. I was a good teacher because I was teaching myself too. I was knocking it into my own head,” she said. She is grateful she can “still think” after suffering a brain bleed 11 years ago that doctors feared would leave her unable to walk and talk ever again. Piscatella, however, recovered and has been setting an example for her friends on what it looks like to “accept the will of God.” “Her whole life, I never heard her complain about anything,” said Kammer. “For some reason, God doesn’t want me yet,” she said “I feel normal. I never gave my age a thought, it just happened to be.”