Praise be! Singing nun wins Italian The Voice after becoming internet sensation with more than 30 MILLION views Sister Cristina secured more than 60 per cent of the vote She has sung hits including Time Of My Life and Girls Just Wanna Have Fun Universal Records has given her a record contract

Not since Julie Andrews burst into song as Maria has there been such a flurry in the abbey.

A singing nun wearing full habit has won the final of the Italian version of The Voice.

Sister Cristina, who has become a global internet sensation with performances of Like a Prayer and Believer, took 60 per cent of the vote, then closed the show by leading the audience and bemused judges in the Lord’s Prayer.

Victory: Sister Cristina has become a global sensation and won the Italian version of the voice with 60 per cent of the vote

The pretty brunette’s enthusiastic performances in full habit and sensible shoes had made her the firm favourite to win after breaking all You Tube records following her first appearance with 31 million hits in just a week.

Following her triumph, Sister Cristina punched the air and thanked God for her victory over a long haired rocker who had performed 'Stairway to Heaven'.

She said: 'I want Jesus to come in here!' 'My presence here is not up to me, it's thanks to the man upstairs!'

The remarkable nun has won a record contract with Universal Records but has yet to decide if she will take up a full-time pop career.

She said: 'I will go back to my priorities – prayer, waking up early in the morning, school service. That's fundamental for me to be able to begin something new later on.'

Unlikely winner: Sister Cristina's first performance broke YouTube records with 31million views

The 25-year-old nun has sung ppop classics including Girls Just Wanna Have Fun and Time Of My Life

Cristina, who is from Sicily but lives in a convent near Milan stunned judges when she appeared on the show saying she was inspired to go on the show by Pope Francis, who has instructed nuns and priests to 'come out' of their churches and convents and spread the word of God 'to the periphery' of society.

Since then the 25 year old Ursaline nun has appeared on stage singing pop classics such as Cindy Lauper’s 'Girls Just Wanna have Fun', ‘Time of My Life’ from the film Dirty Dancing, and even sang alongside Kylie Minogue during a performance of 'Can't Get You Out of My Head.'

Her performance of Alicia Keys's 'No One' won the admiration of the US singer who said that she described the talented Italian as 'pure energy'.

She has also received praise from Whoopi Goldberg who starred in the film 'Sister Act' as a pop singer pretending to be a nun.

But critics have panned her as a novelty act rather than a serious singer. Emma Marrone, who represented Italy in this year's Eurovision song contest, moaned that the hype surrounding the nun was 'an insult to showbusiness'.