Sister Mary Agnes Zinni, OSB, age 100, passed peacefully at St. Scholastica Monastery in Boerne, TX with her Benedictine Sisters and her two nieces, Christine and Rose, by her side.
Sr. Mary Agnes was born on September 27, 1925, in Batavia, New York to a family with four children. She grew up in a very loving Italian immigrant family environment, and her parents’ deep faith planted the seeds that would later open her to God’s call to religious community life in her church. Sr. Mary Agnes took her first vows as a Franciscan Sister in Paterson, New Jersey in 1945, and after training, she was sent to work at Holy Cross Hospital in Austin, TX. While there, she served as Chief Medical Technologist and subsequently Hospital Administrator.
Sr. Mary Agnes received her BS in Chemistry/Biology from St. Joseph College in West Hartford, Connecticut and her MEd in Rehabilitation Counseling from the University of Texas at Austin. After working in the Austin Diocese and opening special projects for the poor in Austin, Waco, and San Antonio, she was drawn to the Boerne Benedictine Community and joined them in 1987. She said, “I realized God was gracing me with a deep love for Benedictine Monastic Spirituality. I was one in spirit with the Community’s prayer life and commitment to justice and peace.”
Sr. Mary Agnes has served in many different positions and ministries with the Benedictine Sisters. Within Community she has served on the Sisters Council and as Monastery Coordinator, Sub-Prioress, Prioress, President of the Benedictine Ministries Corporation Board, and Formation Director. In Community ministries she served as Director of the Omega Retreat Center, Coordinator of Spirituality Programs and Spiritual Director.
Sr. Mary Agnes was highly involved with St. Peter Upon the Water (the San Antonio Archdiocese Spiritual Direction Formation Program) for three years and on the Formation Team for six years. She was a member of the Planning and Implementation Committee of the three-year Christian Mysticism program co-sponsored by the Oblate School of Theology and members of the Contemplative Outreach San Antonio Leadership Team. She also served as Facilitator of the Omega Centering Prayer Group and as a member of the Contemplative Outreach San Antonio Leadership Team.
Sr. Mary Agnes was preceded in death by her parents, Frank and Grace Zinni; her sister, Nicholette Rinaldo; Carrie Zinni; her brother, Nicholas Zinni, and his wife, Regina; and her niece, Theresa Harrison. She is survived by Dr. Christine Zinni (niece); Frank Zinni (nephew), his wife, Barbara, and their daughter, Agnes; Rose Steele (niece), her husband, Alan, their daughter, Jessica, and son, Brian; Thomas Rinaldo (nephew), his wife, Kim, their son, David, and their daughters, Cheryl, Crystal, and Christina; and numerous great-nieces and nephews.
Services for Sr. Mary Agnes will be held June 24, 2026, at St. Scholastica Monastery.