Sr. María took the white novice veil in 2017 and made her temporary vows three years later, in a ceremony attended by one of her daughters, Sr. María Sun Shen, who sang to the Virgin Mary in her native language at the end of the Mass.
Newsroom, June 20, 2025, Gaudium Press — The community of Augustinian Recollect nuns at the Monastery of Santo Toribio de Liébana in Vitigudino, Salamanca, Spain, recently celebrated with great joy the solemn profession of Chinese nun, Sister María Zhang YueChun.
On May 13, the feast of Our Lady of Fatima, Sr. María gave her definitive “yes” to the Lord, committing her life fully to prayer and contemplative life. The ceremony took place in the monastery chapel during a Mass presided over by the Bishop of Salamanca, Most Rev. José Luis Retana, and concelebrated by several diocesan and Augustinian Recollect priests.
From Atheism to Faith and Religious Life
Sr. María’s vocation journey began years ago in her native China and is filled with signs of God’s love. Born in Shangqiu, Henan Province, she had no ties to Catholicism. Married and a devoted mother of five, she encountered the Augustinian Recollect Sisters during a serious illness—an experience that opened her eyes to faith.
On July 1, 2007, she and her four daughters were baptized. Her husband and son followed that Christmas. In 2008, her husband passed away, and over time, her daughters joined a community of Augustinian Sisters present in China since 1931. On April 25 this year, her only son was ordained an Augustinian priest.
Following her husband’s death, María felt a deep call to live her faith more radically as a contemplative nun. However, no such communities existed in China. So in 2015, supported by one of her daughters, who was already in an Augustinian community in Spain, she left her homeland to follow God’s call.
A Smile That Never Faded
Despite her clear spiritual background, some communities initially declined her due to her age (56 at the time) and her lack of Spanish. But with the help of a Chinese priest and an electronic translator, she found her way to the Vitigudino convent.
The superior, Sr. Berta Feijó (originally from Peru), told ACI Prensa how the community welcomed her: “Little by little, she learned what’s essential to our contemplative life and adapted well. What we observed was that she was always smiling and happy.”
Sr. Berta added, “she is an example of a life of dedication, recollection, and service—especially to our elderly sisters, all in their nineties.”
The Vitigudino community includes 16 sisters from four continents: five Spaniards, seven from Tanzania, and others from Guatemala, Peru, Venezuela, and China—reflecting the Church’s beautiful universality. Despite language barriers, Sr. María never gave up.
“She was never discouraged, never seen sad, never complained. She is always content,” Sr. Berta said. “The first thing she learned to say in Spanish was: ‘I am happy.’”
Sr. María took the white novice veil in 2017 and made her temporary vows three years later, in a ceremony attended by one of her daughters, Sr. María Sun Shen, who sang to the Virgin Mary in her native language at the end of the Mass.
On May 13, 2025, after publicly declaring her total consecration and invoking the saints in a litany, Sr. María prostrated on the floor in humility, while two sisters showered her with rose petals.
With information from ACI Prensa and diocesisdesalamanca.com
Compiled by Gustavo Kralj
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