the Sister with a capital S?

Lazarakis   Wed Apr 26, 2006 2:56 am GMT
Read this story about Mother Theresa from http://www.xanga.com/ll_enceprk_ll

I'll never forget one day I was walking down the street and saw something moving in the open drain. ...this man--who lived such a terrible life of suffering in that open drain only said: "I have lived like an animal in the street, but I'm going to die like an angel, loved and cared for." And just as we were still praying with him, praying for him, he looked up at the Sister and said, "Sister, I'm going home to God," and he died....

Why does the Sister here have a capital S? Does it refer to a specific religious figure? I don't think it refers to Mother Theresa 'cause she was the person who was telling the story...
Guest   Wed Apr 26, 2006 3:20 am GMT
You left a part of it out: "He had been eaten by worms and, after we had brought him to our house, it took us three hours to clean him."

The sentence indicates Mother Theresa was accompanied with someone else, probably with one or more nuns. The dying man was addressing one of these nuns.

"Sister" is how a nun is addressed.
Uriel   Wed Apr 26, 2006 9:16 am GMT
"Sister" and "Brother" usually denote religious affiliates, like nuns and monks.