Sister Francis Piscatella, world's oldest nun, celebrates 113th birthday on Long Island

Sister Francis Piscatella, the world's oldest nun and New York state's oldest person, recently celebrated her 113th birthday. Pope Leo XIV even sent a blessing from the Vatican to mark such a momentous occasion. 

Still doing a job she loves at Sisters of St. Dominic of Amityville, Piscatella spends her time engaged in prayerful moments, inside the tiny chapel she used to proudly tend.

"You really learn every day," she said. "God wouldn't expect us to be perfect. He wants us to lead a good life."

What to know about Sister Francis Piscatella

Born Ursulina Piscatella, the Long Island resident's birth year, 1913, was when Grand Central Terminal opened, the Ford Motor Company introduced the assembly line, and eggs were 25 cents per dozen.

She lost an arm at 2 years old and credits her mother with teaching her grit.

"A common expression was, 'Give it to the broken arm. She'll do it,'" Piscatella said.

She joined the religious sisters at age 17, and for the next 70 years taught high school and college math.

"You have to like it and you have to know it and you have to be prepared," Piscatella said.

"She was marvelous. I don't like math. I never did. She made it fun," said Sister Mary Anna Euring, a former student of Piscatella's.

"I have some more work to do"   

Piscatella is small in stature but a powerhouse of purpose. Peppy, on the ball, and walking every day, she is revered at Sisters of St. Dominic as a model of faith of fortitude.

"I have some more work to do," she said. "Just learn what God wants you to do and do it. It worked for me. I wasn't very good. I'm not a saint."

Piscatella said she wakes up every morning conversing with God, who doesn't want her yet. Her message to the rest of us sinners is simple.

"Just to live a good life, period," she said.