Celestina Ossoli

In 1961, Sister Annelvira was sent on a mission to the Democratic Republic of the Congo (then recently independent from Belgium under the name Congo, later Zaire). She settled in Kikwit, where she made her perpetual vows on March 25, 1962. She committed herself body and soul to her work as a nurse and midwife. During this period, she contracted severe pulmonary tuberculosis. Hospitalized in Kinshasa, she only consented to receive her treatments on the express condition that the same medications be provided free of charge to all indigent patients suffering from tuberculosis at the Kikwit hospital. In 1967, she returned temporarily to Italy to complete her training at the University of Rome, where she obtained a specialization in obstetrics in 1969. Returning to the Congo the same year, she was assigned to Kisangani, on the outskirts of Kinshasa, before being appointed superior of the Kikwit community in 1977. After knee surgery in Italy in 1979, she requested and obtained permission to return immediately to the mission field. In 1992, Sister Annelvira was appointed Provincial Superior of Africa. She settled in Limete, a district of Kinshasa, the seat of the provincial house. In April 1995, a terrible and mysterious epidemic of hemorrhagic fever, which would prove to be the Ebola virus, broke out at the Kikwit hospital. As soon as she learned of the critical condition of the first religious sister affected, Sister Floralba Rondi, Sister Annelvira did not hesitate to travel more than 500 kilometers from Kinshasa to reach Kikwit in order to assist her fellow sisters and organize relief efforts. On site, she cared for the sick and accompanied her sisters as they died one after another. Demonstrating total self-abnegation, she refused to have the blood plasma available for transfusions reserved for her, requesting that it be kept as a priority for sick children. Contaminated in turn by the virus, she passed away in isolation on May 23, 1995, in Kikwit, at the age of 58.

The death of Sister Annelvira and her five companions (Sisters Floralba Rondi, Clarangela Ghilardi, Danielangela Sorti, Dinarosa Belleri, and Vitarosa Zorza), nicknamed the "Martyrs of Charity," immediately sparked deep emotion and a reputation for holiness in Italy and the Congo. On April 28, 2013, the cause for beatification and canonization was officially opened in the Cathedral of Kikwit. On June 8, 2013, the diocesan rogatory inquiry opened in Bergamo, Italy. It was closed on January 25, 2014, by Bishop Francesco Beschi. The diocesan inquiry in Kikwit was officially closed on February 23, 2014. On June 12, 2015, the Congregation for the Causes of Saints promulgated the decree of validity for the diocesan inquiry. Finally, in 2018, the Positio detailing her life and the heroic nature of her virtues was submitted and published.

On March 17, 2021, Pope Francis authorized the Congregation for the Causes of Saints to promulgate the decree recognizing the heroic nature of her virtues, thereby granting her the title of Venerable. The cause for beatification is currently underway. The official approval of a miracle attributed to her intercession is required to pave the way for her beatification.

The spirituality of Sister Annelvira was deeply rooted in the charism of the Institute of the Sisters of the Poor, founded by Saint Luigi Maria Palazzolo. The latter had expressly asked his religious sisters to devote themselves to the service of the sick, "even in times of contagious diseases." Sister Annelvira embodied this instruction to the supreme gift of her life. She was distinguished by a communicative joy of living, a profound humility, and a constant attention to the presence of God in the simplest daily tasks. Her life bears witness to an unwavering faith in Providence. Today, the remains of Sister Annelvira and her five companions rest in front of the cathedral of Kikwit, according to the wish of the local bishop, Mgr Edouard Mununu, in order to honor their sacrifice. In her hometown of Orzivecchi, a street bears her name and a commemorative stele has been erected on the road to the Pieve to perpetuate her memory.