National Catholic Register, Aug 26, 2025 /
13:23 pm
When Anna Zervas entered religious life and chose her religious name, Mary Annella, her mother reportedly objected to the choice. “There’s no St. Annella,” her mother pointed out. To which the young woman answered: “Then I shall have to be the first one.”
Zervas’ goal — sainthood — is now closer than ever, as Bishop Andrew Cozzens of Crookston, Minnesota, announced that he will soon open her sainthood cause, making Zervas’ the first sainthood cause ever opened in the northerly Minnesota diocese.
Zervas died in 1926, aged just 26, after suffering from a debilitating skin condition. After her death, people began to report receiving favors and miracles through the holy Benedictine nun’s intercession.
In a video message posted Aug. 20, Cozzens announced that he will open Zervas’ cause with a Mass on Oct. 9 at the Cathedral of the Immaculate Conception in Crookston; “everyone” is invited. Doors will open at 4 p.m., and at 5 p.m., Patrick Norton, a local Catholic who has worked to spread devotion to Zervas in recent years, will share his story.
An organ recital will take place at 6 p.m., followed by Mass at 6:30.
Cozzens said in his video message that he had received a “nihil obstat” from the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints, affirming that nothing stands in the way of opening Zervas’ cause. Once opened — giving Zervas the title “Servant of God” — the cause will first gather testimonies and information to determine if Zervas lived a life of “heroic virtue.”
“Sister Annella is a daughter of the Diocese of Crookston, who was born and died in Moorhead, Minnesota. And she offers all of us an extraordinary example of deeply lived Catholic faith and deep trust in God,” Cozzens said.
“Through this cause,” he added, “we begin the process of gathering evidence to determine if her life is one of heroic virtue and whether imitation and formal recognition will be granted by the universal Church.”
Zervas was born Anna Cordelia Zervas in the Fargo, North Dakota-adjacent town of Moorhead in 1900. The second of six children in a devoutly Catholic family, Zervas showed a great devotion to her faith, especially to Christ’s presence in the Eucharist. As a young girl, she would often walk to daily Mass, even in the extreme cold of the upper Midwest.
At age 15, she entered the Order of St. Benedict at the convent of the Benedictine Sisters in St. Joseph, Minnesota. She made her perpetual vows in July 1922.
After only one year as a sister, Sister Annella began experiencing what was later diagnosed as pityriasis rubra pilaris, a chronic and debilitating skin disease that caused extreme itching and other serious discomforts. Despite her condition, the musically talented sister persisted in her role as a music teacher at a Catholic school in Bismarck, North Dakota.
Known for her positive attitude and good humor, she offered up her pain in unity with Christ’s suffering, trusting in Mary’s intercession and finding in the Eucharist her “greatest consolation.” She died on the eve of the solemnity of the Assumption.
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) voted overwhelmingly in favor of moving forward her cause at its fall 2024 plenary assembly.
As part of the buildup to the opening of her cause, the Zervas family has reportedly been cooperative, sharing photos and information to help tell her story. A nonprofit guild, made up of Catholic faithful, has been organized under the guidance of Cozzens to promote prayer for and awareness of her prospective cause as well.
Based on the evidence of the “positio,” the official document compiled by the Diocese of Crookston that is sent to the Vatican’s Dicastery for the Causes of Saints to determine if the Benedictine lived a life of heroic virtue, Sister Annella will be declared “venerable.” If the Vatican verifies that a miracle can be attributed to her intercession, she will be declared “blessed.”
“May God bless you, and may he continue to raise up saints in our midst,” Cozzens concluded.
(Story continues below)
Subscribe to our daily newsletter
This story was first published by the National Catholic Register, CNA’s sister news partner, and has been adapted by CNA.
Jonah McKeown was a staff reporter for Catholic News Agency from 2018 to 2025, where he also worked on CNA’s podcasts. He is now a staff writer for CNA’s sister news partner, the National Catholic Register. He earned a master’s degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He lives in St. Louis.
