How does an American nun end up serving a 'life sentence' in a Mexican prison? Mother Antonia, 'La Mama', has done so by choice for more than 30 years. After a life of privilege in Beverly Hills that included 2 marriages, 2 divorces and 7 children, Mary Brenner became a nun at age 50. She felt called to Tijuana's most notorious prison, La Mesa Penitentiary. Outside prison walls, she founded her own order, Servants of the Eleventh Hour. Like La Mama, they are all older women who believe they can make a difference, serving the poorest of the poor. Despite alarming violence in Tijuana and severe prison overcrowding, Mother Antonia says she will never leave 'sus hijos', the prisoners she considers her sons and daughters.—Anonymous

Update: Mother Antonia died of natural causes on October 17, 2013 in Tijuana, Mexico, at the age of 86. She is buried in Tijuana. The Servants of the Eleventh Hour continue her mission serving the "poorest of the poor." An effort is underway to have her named a saint by the Roman Catholic Church.—Ronn Kilby