On Friday, a nun who has spent the last 84 years of her life within the confines of a convent in central Spain, north of Madrid, was to venture out into the world in order to meet the Pope.
Sister
Teresita, 103, entered the convent of Buenafuente del Sistal at the age
of 19, on April 16, 1927, which is coincidentally the day that Joseph
Ratzinger, now know as Pope Benedict XVI, was born.
Encouraged by her father to commit herself to a life of religious servitude in order to escape poverty,
she has only left the convent grounds once.
During the Spanish Civil
War, between 1936 and 1939, the nuns fled the convent for a few hours to
escape the fighting.
However, on Friday she was to travel 60 miles
to Madrid, Spain in order to meet Pope Benedict, who is visiting the
country to celebrate World Youth Day, a week-long Catholic festival that focuses on the world's youth.
"She
said she thinks she will make the trip with her eyes closed, so that
nothing will distract her," said the convent's mother superior, Maria.
The
Daily Mail details that Sister Teresita has missed such events as the
“Spanish miracle,” economic boom between 1959 and 1973, the 1992 Summer
Olympics in Barcelona and the death of Pope John Paul II and election of
Benedict XVI in 2005.
The sister, however, does not consider her
seclusion a burden.
"Who can spend 84 years in a convent without being happy? You feel happiness when you follow your vocation," she said.
Sister
Teresita is also somewhat of a celebrity at Buenafuente del Sistal,
having been the subject of a book called, "What Is A Girl Like You Doing
In A Place Like That," by Jesus Garcia, which follows the lives of ten
nuns in the convent.