Greek-born Chrystalla Petropoulou, of Long Island, NY has fulfilled a lifelong dream. At the age of 92, the Mattituck resident has become a nun in the Greek Orthodox Church…

Petropoulou, seated in her wheelchair, officially became a nun on April 17, 2010 at the new All Saints Greek Orthodox Monastery in Calverton, Long Island. Along with Elizabeth Brandenburg, aged 28, and Maria Kallis, aged 27, Petropoulou received a new religious name and a new black habit. The three women each had hair in the shape of a cross ceremonially snipped from their heads.

Petropoulou, aided by her relatives and the Greek Orthdox population in Calverton, was one of the leaders in the community effort to build this monastery. In 1997, Petropoulou herself deposited $13.00 in a special bank account. This $13.00 became the basis of the fund-raising effort to get the monastery built….

In 2005, when the monastery was completed, Sunday services began. But the monastery lacked nuns. Unfortunately Petropoulou, who had dreamt of this since childhood, was now too sick and frail to do it alone. All of that changed when Brandenburg (of St. Louis) and Kallis (of Detroit) agreed to move into the Calverton monastery last August. Petropoulou followed on their heels in September. In all, five women currently live at the Calverton Monastery, and two others are expected soon…

Born in Cyprus, Petropoulou never married and has no children. Although she’d wanted to become a nun “since the day I was born,” life stood in the way. Her family moved first to England, then to the United States, where there was no monastery available in which she could have studied. When she grew older, she stayed at home to care for her elderly parents.

In the end, the dream of her childhood has become a reality. Speaking through an interpreter, Petropoulou told Newsday reporters, “I don’t care about doctors. I don’t care about medicine. I just want to die at the monastery.”