“Make time every day to spend with God, talk to Him, tell Him your problems and take time to be still and listen to what He has to say to you.” 

When Sister Ann Venita Britto, FC, was a little girl, her mother would pray to St. Ann to bring her three daughters good men for marriage. “When I told my mom about my calling, she said that I had found the best man.” Sister Ann would accompany the Daughters of the Cross, her school teachers, as they went to the poorest parts of her home town Bombay, India. They would care for the babies and children. They would feed and teach them. It was during those moments of intense and loving service that Sister knew “what I wanted to do with my life.” She shares that her family was …a simple, middle-class family, but very prayerful.” Sister Ann certainly demonstrates her upbringing in many ways.

After graduating from college, where Sister earned her Secondary Teacher’s Certificate, she entered the convent of the Daughters of the Cross. She continued her education and earned a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Education. Sister taught in India for eight years before volunteering to teach at St. Bernard’s School in 1976. Two decades earlier, four sisters came to Tracy to establish St. Bernard’s School. Sister worked there as a teacher and principal until 1985. Her next assignment took her to St. George’s School in Stockton where she taught kindergarten for 17 years. In 2002, Fr. Richard Morse OSFS, invited her to initiate the Pastoral Care Ministry and Ministry to seniors at St. Anthony of Padua in Manteca.

As coordinator of these ministries, as well as the Ministry of Consolation and the Grief Support Team, Sister Ann trains lay volunteers, including children, to visit the sick, lonely, and homebound and take communion to them. She organizes many luncheons and bus trips for the seniors and luncheons for the physically and mentally handicapped. The holiday-themed luncheons typically have 200-250 guests in attendance. There is food, music, and dancing for all,and Sister’s many luncheons over the years have given her the affectionate title of the “Party Nun”. Additionally,she works and prays with the prisoners in Deuel Vocational Institution in Tracy each week. Her concern for homeless women and children is shown as she serves on the Board for the Haven of Peace.

Sister Ann’s work in the community has been recognized with induction in the City of Manteca Hall of Fame (2008); Honoree of St. Anthony’s School Educational Foundation (2010); Diamond Lady of Influence Award from Manteca Women’s Connection (2012); and the Change Award from the Eleanor Project for women who shape communities (2017).

She advises young people to give God the first place in their lives, and everything will fall into place. ”Make time every day to spend with God, talk to Him, tell Him your problems and take time to be still and listen to what He has to say to you.” She shares that God loves and forgive and is always ready to take us back.

Many of Sister Ann’s favorite scriptures are from Isaiah including 43:1, 49:15-16, and 41:13: “For I am the Lord, your God, who grasp your right hand; it is I who say to you, fear not, I will help you.” The Lord certainly has helped Sister in her work, not only in parish ministries and Catholic education, but in bringing people back to the Church. Many have been introduced to the faith through her good works, and couples have been inspired to have their marriages blessed in the Church.

Sister Ann will be leaving St. Anthony’s at the end of this year, as she and the other sisters of her order will be living in England to be in community with other Daughters of the Cross. The Diocese of Stockton has been blessed by their ministries these many years, and we honor Sister Ann Venita Britto with a Lifetime of Religious Ministerial Service.