At 112, World's Oldest Living Nun Has 4 Words Of Advice

Sister Francis Dominici Piscatella of Long Island, New York, is the world's oldest living nun. At 112, she has only four words of advice for anyone hoping to live as long as she did.

Ms Piscatella has been enjoying her senior years on the South Shore of Long Island and has served in the Catholic Church for 94 years. She has advised people to follow the virtues they have witnessed in their loved ones.

Sharing her advice, Ms Piscatella told The New York Post, "Teach until you die," before adding, "You have to be a saint before you get to heaven."

Ms Piscatella currently resides in the Queen of the Rosary Motherhouse in Amityville and has had a long journey of faith and fate over the years.

Her life changed when she was two years old and was involved in an accident with a speeding train in Central Islip. The accident resulted in the loss of her left forearm. She claimed not to have let her siblings help her.

"My mother refused to let them assist me because 'you're not going to have your sisters forever, so you better just shape up and do things for yourself,'" Ms Piscatella told The Post.

Her calling to Catholicism stemmed from the love she witnessed her family show for one another and the community.

However, Ms Piscatella had to physically demonstrate that her disability would not prevent her from serving. It was difficult to find a convent in 1931 that would admit her with only one arm.

Ms Piscatella said that the convent was not a place for handicapped people, and one has to "drive work" when they go to the convent. "It's not a vacation area," she said.

It was not until another nun, who was looking for a change and had a teaching job open, that Ms Piscatella got into the Dominicans.

Ms Piscatella worked in administrative positions from the age of 17 to 84, teaching from the heart on an array of subjects, including maths, history and arithmetic.

Nowadays, Ms Piscatella is loved by the Catholic community on Long Island, with whom she celebrated her 112th birthday. She enjoys praying and spending time with them.