Sangha of Auspicious Companions

Indefatigable Spirit of 3 Elderly Nuns Who Fled a Care Home

The unbreakable spirit of three octogenarian Augustinian nuns in the Austrian Alps have garnered social media fame after they escaped a senior care home to return to their shuttered convent, which has an adjoining school where all three nuns taught. Two years ago, church authorities closed the convent that Sister Rita (82), Sister Regina (86), and Sister Bernadette (88) called home and moved them to a nursing home against their will. Former student Christina Wirtenberger, 65, who has known the sisters since she was 10 years-old, notes that while the sisters are as headstrong and sharp as ever, they’re also vulnerable due to their older age. That’s where the community came in. “The parishioners who hired a U-Haul and helped the sisters stage their getaway are now joined by a host of locals eager to help the sisters grow old on their own terms,” reports Esme Nicholson on NPR. Another former student Karin Seidl points out that these nuns have devoted their lives to the community and there is a collective intention to help them live with agency and dignity in their old age.

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