Lucas was born presumably on June 8, 1908, in Brazil’s southernmost province of Rio Grande do Sul, to parents João Antônio Lucas and Mariana Canabarro Lucas. Her great-grandfather was Brazilian General David Canabarro of the 19th-century Portuguese Empire.
While Lucas always believed she was born on 27 May 1908, closer research found that she was likely born 11 days later.
Lucas was reportedly so skinny as a child that many believed she wouldn’t survive childhood, much less make it to such an advanced age.
Lucas put her faith in God at age 16 and underwent baptism at the Santa Teresa de Jesus boarding school in Santana do Livramento.
In 1930, she returned to Brazil to teach Portuguese and mathematics in Tijuca, in Rio de Janeiro.
In 1934, a few weeks after her 26th birthday, Lucas took her perpetual vows, marking her complete entry into religious life as a Catholic nun.
Lucas was honoured on her 110th birthday in 2018, when she received an apostolic blessing from the late Pope Francis.
Around this time, Lucas began experiencing some mobility difficulties and had to start using a walker.
In January 2021, Lucas received her first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine. In October 2022, she fell ill with the virus while she was hospitalized. She was fully recovered by November, making her one of the oldest known survivors of the disease at age 112.
When asked about the secret to her longevity, she credited the Creator. “He is the secret of life. He is the secret of everything,” she said.
“We bid farewell to the Sister, celebrating her legacy of spirituality and compassion and wishing strength to her friends and family,” the soccer club wrote.
Lucas was also the second oldest nun in all of documented history, after Lucile Randon, who passed away in January 2023 at 118 years and 340 days old.
With Lucas’ passing, 115-year-old Ethel Caterham of Surrey, England, has inherited the title of the world’s oldest person, LongeviQuest said.