February 09, 2010
 
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| A Most Diligent Mother: Angelica |
| by John Zmirak |
| 11/18/09 |
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Leaving aside the popes, the person who has served as the public face of the Church in the United States for the past two decades is a little, crippled, chronically ill, old Italian-American lady who chats with Jesus daily, used to speak in tongues, and leaps before she looks. As I write this, she is quite ill, and we can't predict how long she will be with us. But the global media empire planted by this contemplative Poor Clare has put down mighty roots, with millions of viewers who love its dogged loyalty to the teachings of the Church. Indeed, in large swathes of the country where parishes have either closed or turned de facto Methodist, EWTN's broadcasts serve the isolated faithful like Allied broadcasts into Occupied Europe.
Given the crisis of faith of the 1970s and 1980s, building EWTN sometimes meant flouting the power of worldly bishops who'd learned more than golf tricks from their liberal Protestant colleagues. Indeed, too many clerics had soaked in the pastel, fuzzy uplift that for "mainline" denominations has largely replaced the Faith. By building without these gray men's by-your-leave a media operation that reached millions of the most devout and generous Catholics in the country, Mother Angelica did an end-run around the bureaucratic institutions that modernists had co-opted -- and built an enduring bridge between ordinary believers and the teaching office of Peter.
Born Rita Antoinette Rizzo to a fragile, fashionable mother and a worthless tom-catting father, she grew up desperately poor in a Mafia-infested Canton, Ohio. John Rizzo left her mother to fend for herself while Rita was still a toddler -- an abandonment from which Mrs. Mae Rizzo would never recover. (She would end up becoming the single most crochety nun in Mother Angelica's own community.) Marital meltdown wasn't taken for granted back then the way it is now; indeed, at my own Catholic school in the 1970s in New York, we all knew the one kid whose parents had gotten . . . divorced. And we felt bad for him -- a pity he flouted by learning to fistfight and becoming the neighborhood's best garage-band drummer. He kicked my butt more than once. (He was also Italian.) But I digress.
Or perhaps I don't. On a natural level, it just may have been the vicious scorn Pharisaical nuns poured on Rita in school for her father's sins and the sight of her mother slaving at odd jobs in the Depression that made Rita so beatifically implacable. Out of place at school, treated sternly by her mother's disappointed family, and afflicted with chronic abdominal pain that forced her as a teenager to wear a corset, Rita developed a rich inner life that more than made up for missing the Lindy Hop. Having heard of a home-bound lay mystic, Rhoda Wise, who bore the stigmata, Rita befriended her -- behavior that wasn't, in the 1940s, typical for a Midwestern teenager. Wise’s intercessory prayer led to the cure of Rita's debilitating illness and launched her on the road to a religious vocation. Scornful of the fidelity that men seemed to offer, Rita didn't get out much. As she told her biographer and longtime collaborator Raymond Arroyo: "I was never a sexpot, and I never wanted a date. Sexually, I'm a eunuch. I could care less. It's just not my bag." (You can read Arroyo's moving, candid account of her life and struggles in his book Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles.)
Lest she sound frigid as opposed to chaste, Arroyo records the torrid, Mediterranean love affair of the adolescent Rita with the One she would eventually come to call her Spouse. After slogging through high school with middling grades, she went to work at Timken Roller Bearing Company, where she began introducing her true Love to others. There, Arroyo writes,
a picture of Jesus impaled by a crown of thorns sat on the edge of Rita's desk. When accused by a co-worker of "pushing her religion," Rita responded, "If you have a picture of a movie star or someone you love, you put it out there. Well, this is my love, and it's going to stay there."
Soon Rita realized she wished to wed the Man she loved. She applied to a strict Franciscan contemplative community -- and persevered despite a long list of obstacles that ranged from her rebellious personality to chronic knee pain that made it excruciating for her to join in communal prayer. (Mother Angelica would later write that in the convent her knees were like "two puffy water-filled grapefruit.") On Nov. 8, 1945, Rita Rizzo took her first vows as a religious, marking the occasion with a letter to her mother that reads like a wedding invitation.
Angelica would carry that conjugal conviction through the decades, living with an almost constant sense that Christ was her faithful, high-maintenance spouse. Intense reading in spiritual authors like St. Teresa of Avila, St. John of the Cross, and Brother Lawrence of the Resurrection helped Sister Angelica school herself in radical trust. What's puzzling to us worldly folks is that this trust would only grow stronger in the face of suffering and disappointment. In an incident that Mother Angelica has retold hundreds of times to live and televised audiences, the young nun was cleaning the monastery floor with an unwieldy electronic polisher when the contraption got out of control -- injuring her so seriously that she would eventually need a full body cast and weeks of traction. No treatments helped very much, and Mother Angelica was left with chronic numbness and back pain, forced to wear a back brace just to get around.
Her response to this crippling event? She decided to found another monastery. For some time, sisters in her community had talked of creating an abbey that would pray for and minister to black Americans -- whose civil-rights activists were then being murdered and churches were being bombed. But no concrete plans had been made. So in her hospital bed, with no prospect of ever walking normally, Mother Angelica offered her Spouse what she calls her "outrageous bargain." Arroyo cites a letter she later wrote that laid it out:
A year ago when the doctors were doubtful that I would walk again, I turned to our Lord and promised that if he would grant me the grace to walk, I would do all in my power to promote a cloistered community among the Negroes. It would be dedicated to the Negro Apostolate by prayer, adoration, sacrifice, and union with God. It would ceaselessly make reparation for all the insults and persecutions the Negro race suffers and implore God's blessings and graces upon a people dear to the Heart of God.
While her healing was slow and incomplete, Mother Angelica didn't wait around to see if Christ was keeping up His end. With permission from her superior, she gathered other willing nuns to take up this unlikely mission with her in some hostile zone of the Bible Belt -- finally settling on an area just outside of Birmingham, Alabama. Ironically, fear of actual violence would lead the new community to keep its mission of racial reparation a closely guarded secret. In the long run, the nuns would end up serving another persecuted minority -- faithful American Catholics.
Selected to head the new community, Mother Angelica would raise the money to build it and keep it running through a wide array of holy schemes -- from marketing fishing lures to Protestant anglers with promises of blessings from St. Peter, to roasting peanuts whose "nun-appeal" made them novelties at ballparks. In the end, the only reason the self-educated Angelica started writing books and recording religious tapes was to raise much-needed funds for her abbey. The popularity and profitability of the tapes soon led her to television, which she instantly grasped was the tool needed to "reach the masses." That was when her moxie came out. As Arroyo tells it:
When the local station she contracted to film her video series decided to air a movie denying the resurrection of Christ, Mother . . . blew her top. She insisted that the station drop the movie, or she would walk. The station manager got nasty, threatening that she'd "be off television permanently" if she left. "I don't need you, I only need God," Mother fired back. "I will build my own studio, buy my own cameras, and tape my own shows."
Coming from anyone else, this might have been a peevish boast, or empty threat. But Mother Angelica had come to see a pattern in her life: Faced with grinding pain and apparent futility, she would always respond with several steps, in this order:
In other words, Mother Angelica would follow the Ignatian dictum to "pray as if all depended on God, and work as if all depended on you." While some tenured Jesuits may resent what Mother Angelica has said over the decades on her talk show -- and she's not one for undue tact -- they must appreciate how well she lives out this charism.
The source of Mother Angelica's Olympic-level diligence was the fiercely protective love a woman bears her husband -- especially when he suffers innocently for others. She couldn't bear to see her Beloved mocked, and she wouldn't stand idly by. So when that network flippantly questioned the Resurrection, she did found her own network. When U.S. bishops greeted a visit of Pope John Paul II with a show that featured Christ as a female mime, she stopped accepting their programming, despite their string-pulling and threats. When Roger Cardinal Mahony of Los Angeles issued a pastoral letter she thought watered down the Real Presence, she critiqued him, point-by-point, on television -- and refused to offer a false apology, even when Cardinal Mahony's machinations got her threatened with interdict (the loss of the Sacraments) and the closure of her community. When still other bishops tried to gain control of EWTN and stifle her loudly orthodox voice, she famously said, "I'll blow the damn thing up before you get your hands on it." Her eyes always focused on the eyes of her Beloved, she was almost blind to the worldly obstacles thrown in her way. She stepped right over them.
Mother Angelica has flouted powerful men, the conventional wisdom, and the voice of prudence so many times that for her it's almost routine. Her intimate contact with Christ has helped her to keep, in the midst of outrageous success and mounting power, the simplicity of her founders -- Francis and Clare. What drew her to those saints, Mother Angelica has said, was "their absolute dependence on the providence of God. They saw him in all. And what they undertook was not planned by them, but through their love and detachment they fit into whatever was happening in the present."
It takes a broadly Catholic imagination to see the strand connecting the threadbare life of St. Francis to the basilicas, hospitals, and colleges built in his name. Likewise we won't know till Judgment Day how many conversions, "reversions," vocations, and deepened lives of faith can be traced to Mother Angelica's influence. And that's just as well, since she'd never take the credit, attributing all her successes to Providence rather than personality. That said, it helped that Mother Angelica knew how to hornswoggle Baptists into laying free pipe for nuns, to charm the socks off jaded cable-TV execs, bend the ears of visiting cardinals, and impress the pope. She worked without ceasing, except to pray. It's hard to imagine that she will ever rest, even in Heaven. Perhaps those with really high-end satellite dishes will someday be able to tune into "Eternal Life with Mother Angelica."
John Zmirak is the author, most recently, of the graphic novel The Grand Inquisitor and is Writer-in-Residence at Thomas More College in New Hampshire. He writes weekly for InsideCatholic.com. Readers have left 48 comments. I can assure you that Mother Angelica and EWTN had a profound influence on my conversion. When I first stumbled across the network, I had no idea who Mother was, and there would always be a mention of the EWTN family constantly praying for her. I have enjoyed hearing the story of her life, which has brought me even deeper appreciation for her bold love of Christ. Thank you for highlighting this wonderful servant through your article!  Written by Chick "B" of Southern Catholic Exactly! Written by Fr Michael As a mother with three very small children who are constantly clamoring for TV time, I can tell you how much of a blessing Mother Angelica's EWTN has been in our home. The cartoons and kids' shows on EWTN are beautiful and faith-affirming, educational and fun. And when it's been a long day and I need to unwind, I flip on a recorded episode of Mother Angelica Live and laugh and think my way back to life. Mother works so hard for Christ, so when she goes home to Him there's no way she'll hold back from knocking out her three miracles in record time so she can be canonized and begin her mission in heaven. ![[smiley=wink]](http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/components/com_jreactions/custom/templates/blog/smileys/smiley_wink.gif) What do you think her patronage(s) will be? I think maybe TV audiences, cafeteria Catholics, and fly fishermen. Written by Becca Balmes Great article, thank you. We need more examples of heroism--since we're all called to it. God bless Mother Angelica! And God bless you for writing this. Written by Sarah L When I became a Catholic 17 yrs. ago, I learned the Catholic faith from Mother Angelica - and not from an RCIA program. Thank God for Mother Angelica! Written by Lynne Well written. I say: God bless Mother Angelica! Written by Bunny I thank the Lord for Mother Angelica. I just wish that all Catholics would stand up for their faith. EWTN has been a very important part of my life. Mother Angelica was always at the very top of what was happening in our world. Her live shows were second to none on TV. She would always help us to understand exactly what was happening in our world and at the same time, it was the very best entertainment on TV. She told it like it was, without apology. No one upheld the faith like she did. Pope John Paul II really liked her and she loved Pope John Paul. I had an opportunity to meet with her about 4 years ago. She looked radiant. Her eyes looking directly through you and into your soul. She already has one foot in Heaven and this is very evident when you see her. No noe got more excited about Mercy Sunday than she did. She would say "Such a deal, such a deal!", talking about the total forgiveness of sins and punishment available on that day. I just wish that others would follow her lead and promote Mercy Sunday even more. Written by Bob Allard Mother Angelica is the one who brought me back to my faith. I found Mother Angelica while flipping through TV channels at a time when I was hurting deeply over the death of my father. I found peace in her words and a goldmine of teaching through EWTN. My life has totally changed since I found this saint who has profound wisdom and appeal to the common man. Thank you Mother Angelica and may God Bless you always! Written by Cayla An excellent tribute to an amazing, heroic woman. Written by Tom Piatak How refreshing to hear Mother Angelica praised like this! She deserves every well-chosen word and more. We are blessed to have her nuns out here in Arizona and I can tell you they are as just as funny, feisty and faithful as she is! The faces of each one of them shine with a light that is truly heavenly. The old Mother Angelica Live shows (of which I have quite a collection) are so timeless, that my 17-year old wise-cracking son, who pretends not to watch) will laugh out loud when Mother goes after the enemies of her Spouse and the enemies of the Church. It is impossible to overstate her contribution to the formation of the Church Militant in these last few decades. As you say, we will only see in Heaven the value of her contribution. Written by SC EWTN is truly a modern miracle and a testament to Mother and to the Holy Spirit! Written by TonyC In times when so many orthodox Catholics have felt betrayed or ignored by much of the Amchurch heirarchy, mocked and insulted by the arrogant 'lame stream media', ridiculed by the amoral denizens of Hollywood and New York - God used, and still uses, this humble and gracious lady and her Network to reassure them that the Truth is still the Truth, and that He still hears and cares for them. Thank God for her. Written by Jay Heathman Ever since I first came across Mother Angelica on EWTN in the mid '90s, I've been conflicted about watching and listening to her. More and more I came to appreciate what she had to say, but couldn't stand her style. My snobbery is a real problem. But EWTN and her messages got through to me anyway and I made way back to the Church that I have always loved, however imperfectly. It's only on EWTN that most of us sexual sinners ever hear anything about the value of chastity. As she and EWTN where promoting everything that the Church has to offer, the bishops and priests who scorn her were subjecting themselves to the gay contamination that has brought so much shame to Christ's body. I contribute practically nothing to the churches where I attend Mass almost everyday and send as much as I can to EWTN every month -- and I suggest that others do the same. I trust EWTN, I don't really trust my local churches here in NYC. Written by Bob Moran ...she is a "voice crying out in the wilderness" Mother promotes truth through Catholic teaching... not to mention her sense of humor and deep joy ! may we all follow her example...God bless her! Written by christine Isn't she wonderful? What an inspiration Mother has been to me. I picture her reception in heaven, when it happens, with pure delight. Hugs and smiles all around. She's been a warrior, and will be greeted as a true heroine one day. Written by Ann Sabocik Mother Angelica, the Franciscans, and EWTN shaped and nurtured my faith, and prepared me to embrace the cross of my husband's vascular dementia. Now, that very same message of faith, hope, and love is shared in the book EMBRACING DEMENTIA - A Call to Love, and is helping people all over the world, all because of Mother Angelica and EWTN. Thank God for this holy, courageous woman and her fiat to God. God bless her and the whole EWTN family Written by Ellen Edmonds Hi Bob. I sympathize on the style question, but maybe that's God's way of humbling us--packaging the Truth in something less than a "Stuff White People Like" NPR wrapping. Much more importantly, there are MANY good parishes in NYC. I strongly suggest you check out the following: Our Saviour on Park and 37th Street, where Fr. George Rutler is pastor. Elegant, reverent liturgy and sermons worthy of Newman. St. Agnes on 43rd and Lexington: The first regular Sunday Latin Mass in NYC, with plenty of good people to befriend. St. Vincent Ferrer on Lexington and 66th Street. A solid, well-educated Dominican pastor, in the most beautiful church in NY. St. Jean Baptiste on Lexington and 75th Street. Gorgeously restored Baroque church, with solid priests. Also get in touch with the Confraternity of the Sacred Heart, which sponsors polyphonic liturgies around the city. There's one this Saturday for the Presentation at Holy Innocents Church on 37th and Broadway (if I remember rightly) at 1 pm. Contact the Confraternity at This e-mail address is being protected from spam bots, you need JavaScript enabled to view it You NEED a local church community, as Mother Angelica would certainly agree. Keep sending her checks, but find a solid parish, PLEASE! Written by John Zmirak To me, Mother Angelica is the patron saint who eloquently fought against the spirit of 'political correctness.' She just told it like it was - not seeking man's approval - only GOD'S. "I'll blow the damn thing up before you get your hands on it." ![[smiley=happy]](http://insidecatholic.com/Joomla/components/com_jreactions/custom/templates/blog/smileys/smiley_happy.gif) What a great example of how honest and straight forward people used to be, when speaking. Simpler times-when right was right and wrong was wrong. ** Thanks to Bill Donahue (the Catholic League) for courageously defending the Church, here in the USA. What a wonderful witnesses to Catholic truth we would be if all of our members would speak so plainly. I'm so sick of the padded words, the piles of documents... Prayers for Mother, and a bouquet of yellow roses (her favorites) too. Written by Maureen Mother Angelica has also affected the way the bishops take care of their flocks, they're doing a much better job than they did in the '70s and '80s. There is also a movement toward more orthodoxy in the church, including saintly seminarians. It's as if God became fed up with trying to get through to some bishops and - like Peter and the other apostles - used someone who seemed to be an unlikely recipient of such grace. We may not have a Padre Pio or Mother Teresa with the Church Militant, but we have Mother Angelica. Long may she live! Written by Christopher Mother Angelica...so real, no bull, so human, All Saint!! Written by Lisa Let's pray for more modern-day saints of Mother Angelica's calibre -- who are willing to die for... or do whatever it takes to to right the wrong ! Written by Lyda Miranda I first discovered EWTN almost a decade ago when I stumbled across the faint signal on the shortwave of my 1948 radio. I immediately went out and purchased a state of the art shortwave and listened to it for hours. When EWTN satellite TV became readily available in Australia, I purchased a satellite dish and have not looked back. As a family, we love the programming. Nobody in my house is forced or forces themselves to watch it: we do so by choice. Thank-you Mother for the difference you have made in our lives. Yours Michael Written by Michael of Melbourne Don't forget to keep praying for her complete healing including cognitive. This is from the EWTN website's update on her: "We also begged the Divino Nino to continue to bless Mother and if it would please Him to cure her completely." Written by Maggie Mother is a true inspiration. I've learned so much about my Catholic faith from her. I download "Mother Angelica Classics" on my iPod. What a force she is in the fight against evil. God bless her. Written by Kay As a revert to the faith after being away for 25 years, I can tell you that EWTN had a huge role in teaching me about my Catholic faith. I love Mother Angelica's humour and honesty and am awed by her courage and the strength of her convictions. I don't want her to leave us, but God may have other plans. Written by Roberta Young My wonderful wife of 55 years and me over our lifetime watched the Holy Fathers, the hierarchy, and the local priests do what they thought best for the entire Body of Christ. But in our opinion we, God’s children here in America and around the world, have been impacted by our mothers more than anything else. That is, Mother Teresa who shed light on the value of humility and service to God, Mother Angelica who through her devoted self determination and dedication to her beloved Spouse now sheds “the light of truth” on us and the world over, and our Blessed Mother Mary who is ever calling all of us to penance, prayer, and peace. The Patriarchs of the Church who gave life to our faith and have carried it to the ends of the earth are to be praised with all due respect and reverence but nary a one nor the Lord they worship was without a mother who bore and nursed them when they were helpless. This is why I firmly believe the many problems associated with marriages and family life today is directly or indirectly a result of the removal of women from the pedestal which they rightfully should occupy. A few years back in a sort of round table discussion among folks preparing for baptism and confirmation and the local pastor he was asked by one of the ladies why the church didn’t allow women to be priests, I could not resist and immediately stepped in and stated “because they have more important things to do!” Needless to say the pastor gave me a stern look and the lady’s head jolted a bit but the question was answered and the conversation moved on. Any doubt I may have had about my spontaneity that day has been removed by our dearly loved Mother Angelica. Written by Bill Sr. At a time when "Political Correctness" was the rule of the day, Mother Angelica was spouting TRUTH. To watch her was so refreshing. She was truly a "Voice Crying in the Wilderness" May her "Cry" reach the hearts of those "Politically Correct" prelates who have done so much to harm Our Beloved Church. God Bless Mother Angelica. She will someday see all the good she has done for those anonymous people who listened to her reiterating God's Truths. Bea Written by Bea Quote(28) Mother Angelica and EWTN made me a Fathiful and Devout Catholic November 18th, 2009 | 7:45pm Praised be to Jesus for Mother Angelica!I pray for half her faith, trust, loyalty and wisdom. I came into the church in 1991 as a convert, due to Our Lady of Medjugorje and then someone told me about EWTN shortly after that. Thanks be to God, as the RCIA program in our church would have driven me away had it not been for the teachings of Mother and all programs on EWTN. That is where I learned my faith. Not to mention Cathlic Radio! Have been watching Mother and EWTN for the past 18-1/2 years and have grown 100 fold in my faith because of her boldness, teaching the truth, her wit, and her deep love for Jesus. So to start this place in the south and to put it out there on the airwaves is to be eternally grateful to God for her "yes". It reminds me of Our Blessed Mother's "yes" given in pure faith and love for Jesus. Again, praise be to Jesus! Written by Jan Brennan Thanks for a wonderful article about a wonderful MOTHER. Written by C Trapp Our priority:"Honor God, and all the rest...".My wife and I decided years ago to go to communion, holding palms of hands together.I knelt on the floor, as long as I could.Always receive on tongue,even when priest pushed his hand,holding the H.Host, against my closed hands.My friend saw what I did, then did the same, receiving on tongue.We need altar-rails.Ask mother Angelica's opinion.Always receive on tongue.We have a Maria statue downtown.For many years,I go once a month to pray the rosary there in public.In 2007,a man 40 years younger than me,asked if he could join me.Whenever we can,we go both,or me alone,pray rosary in public downtown.I wrote the bishop; offer only 25 c. if no communion-rail.Offer $ 5 if use of communion-rail.Stop praying "Lord I am not worthy to receive You, but why should I kneel before You ?And You must first come in my hand and wait till I put You in me" Stop praying "Holy Mary, I love you greatly; but why should I kneel before your divine Son ?"Communion-rails form a dam against evil, are signs to sainthood.Only by kneeling down can we reach great hights.Let's show a little of the courage Mother Angelica has. Praise God. Written by Joe Cober What Mother Angelica has accomplished through the grace of GOD is nothing short of a miracle ! She accompanied me on my path of conversion through her EWTN ministry ! I will always keep her in the prayers of my heart !! Written by Nancy I only wish Mother Angelica had been around in the seventies when I was a dopey kid going to masses with wishy-washy priests. She has without a doubt helped me on my journey back to Christ and his one true church. {I guess that means we'll have a nasty little book written about her by christopher hitchens} Written by Richard I found Mother Angelica and EWTN way back in the 1980's. I credit Mother with her saying "yes" to her spouse for my returning to the Church after 15 yrs of being away. She has been there through my divorce, my childrens ups and downs, the passing of my father. To me she is a true Mother. I wish I could have met her, and just let her know how much I love her. My prayers are with her. May God Bless You Mother Angelica and you Mr. Zimark for writing this artical. Written by Miss Patty Mother Angelica has helped me & my family through so much in life. After hearing her asking people over & over to, "Go to Confession!,...You'll feel so good afterwards, you'll want to celebrate with a pizza!", well, how can one resist!? I had been away for a while & thanks to Mother Angelica I came back & brought up my children watching her wonderful, orthodox Catholic programs. Even my Protestant husband would watch her shows with me & he's grown to appreciate the Catholic faith, thanks to Mother. She has been a wonderful mother to us all. We've learned so very much from her & her outstanding shows, websites, great love, words, & example. She's a breath of fresh air for the airwaves & for the world. She has touched countless people/lives all over the world of all faiths or no faith & has taught us about God's love, by her shows, words, & example. I wonder how many babies are alive today because of her pro-life teaching programs. Her sacrifice/suffering has affected so many people. Her humor has helped us through some tough times & continues to help us. All that she has done has helped & encouraged us to each be the saints that God has called us to be. I pray for her & always want God's will for her. May God richly bless her & her network, religious, priests, etc. We dearly love you Mother Angelica. :) Thank you. Written by Gail H. How reluctant I was to move from Western NY to Birminghman, AL in 1998 until I learned that Irondale, AL was so close by. I had been watching EWTN faithfully, so to realize that I could actually go to Mother's monastery filled me with great excitement! I had the privilege of attending a live broadcast and having the blessing of Mother autographing a paperback book someone had written about her. A friend took a photo of me standing next to this saintly nun. I treasure this with all my heart. Now that we have returned to Western NY, I continue to watch the daily Mass from the small chapel, reminiscing the days when I actually was there in the pew. How awesome are the ways of Almighty God to use this humble woman whose trust in Him built this network. Del Levesque, Lockport, NY Written by Delphine Levesque Quote(36) I have always had an affection towards Mother Angelica and her H November 18th, 2009 | 10:32pm God is Good and God is Great. Mother has always given praise to her Spouse. She is woman of True Virtue in the trials of adversity. May the Triune God always Hold our dear Mother Angelica in their heart...Becky Written by becky breiner Mother Angelica is a gift from God for all to embrace. Thanks be to God for this living Saint. I personally have and continue to be blessed by the vehicle that EWTN provides in driving me closer to Christ. EWTN is Mother Angelica. EWTN is TRUTH. When you hear the Word of God you will understand. Stay tuned, stay focused and stay informed - don't stray from EWTN and you won't stray from Christ and His Holy Church. Also, Blessings to all of the priests, nuns, brothers and staff at EWTN for their marvelous works , prayers and evangelism. Peace and all good, Joe Mantegna, SFO Written by Joseph Mantegna, SFO When I joined EWTN, I joined the Church Militant. I'm so proud to be a supporter of EWTN, the Church Militant, as opposed to what I have to put up with, the Church Mildew. Many modernists (with MBAs, theology, money, etc.) have catholic television stations, programs, etc. but they still can not compete against a single nun. Mother is beating them while she is practically mute and bedridden. Written by Don in ATL In grateful thanks to God for Mother Angelica I pray for all of her intentions. And we know that means alot. She was with me through EWTN when my husband left and I would wake up crying at night. How soothing to turn on the tv and be comforted by just what I needed to hear. When our daughter died at 26 and I lived in shock and disbelief she was there on EWTN soothing me and leading me to offer up all my sufferings. And now when I am too ill to get to Mass, I still watch and pray, both on tv and internet. Thank you God for your faithful child Angelica. And thanks for the wonderful writer that brings us to her once again. Written by Lady LGCHS My children grew up hearing and seeing Mother and EWTN on the television. I would have it on when they were growing up at all different times of the day. Hey kids!, Mother Angelica live is on! They would come and listen to her all the time. My children are my oldest son (23), Santino (LIving in London), My twins boys 19, Thomas and Joseph and my beautiful girl, 17, MariaRose. They would always ask about her and how she's doing now. She was part of our family! Mother, thank you, thank you, thank you for all the times you calmed me down in my marriage and raising my children, as I listened to you, all the times EWTN was on so we could recite the rosary be comforted. We love you so much Mother!! And Mother thank you for helping me when we first opened our Sacred Heart Catholic Goods store, it will never be forgotten...... Written by Grace What a lovely read--I am so tickled to know that I had the same words for Divine Mercy as Mother, "What a deal!" How good our God is! Written by Lynne Mother Angelica is proof that we have to proclaim the truth fearlessly and without apologies if God is going to use us to change hearts and minds. Her strength of conviction and solid information brought me back to the Church after many years. Catholics need to make sure that EWTN and Mother's shows stay on the dial in these very hard times. The forces of secularism have never been stronger. Please note if your local cable company has changed EWTN's channel number, moving it out of the "basic package" and onto one of the upper out of the way channels, which requires additional fees to watch, even if EWTN gives the signal for free to all. Also I see that in some areas it is being religated to the "local access" channel and coming through in poor quality like you would see with an outdoor antenna, not with a good signal and with inferior sound. If you notice this in your area, please try to contact your local cable company and request that EWTN be moved back to its lower channel location, or that the signal be improved. We noticed that our cable company also had plans to move the protestant channel and replace it's channel 12 location with Oprah's oxygen channel, and protestants were able to get that move canceled, so obviously the cable companies can do what they want, but can be petitioned. The thing that bothered me the most was that not only did they move EWTN from channel 28 to channel 97, but they did not replace channel 28 with any other programming....it is just blank. Petitions to bring the channel back down to a more mainstream channel number might be necessary. This signal is a lifeline for all. And don't forget... keep EWTN and Mother Angelica in your prayers and penances. Written by Marietta in Newburgh, NY Mother Angelica's EWTN website's Q & A captured my heart and catechized me enough to entrust my soul to Jesus & His Church! Then several years later I got DISH Satellite just so I could have EWTN and the life-changing Mass came alive for me through beautiful Liturgies & Eucharistic Adoration/Benediction, and the catechtical programming further transformed my mind and formed my conscience. Truth, Beauty and Goodness proclaimed in so many venues! I learned Latin by example of the Mass so that now I can participate in global Catholic celebrations. EWTN most certainly "gathers round Peter's chair" and helps me in expressing a true devotion to the Blessed Virgin Mary. My spiritual gifts have been fanned into flame for Christ. Orthodoxy of teachings can not end in a luke-warm devotion to Jesus who is my Bridegroom and Master. Thank you Mother * * * Written by LEM Mother is wonderful and I pray her Spouse will offer her healing. She has prayed for my family and I am sure she gets heard in a special way. She is an inspiration. Here in the UK I wish there was someone like her-but thanks to her we have EWTN here anyway. Written by Shell Mother Angelics Became MY mother, after My uncle shot my mother in the head when I was Just a Baby,I spent most of my life Devastated and in deep pain and lived a dangerous life. Mother Angelica Saved MY life and The Life of My Husband Steve and Our Marriage. Our Story can be found in Raymond Arroyo's Book { Mother Angelica's little book of Life Lessons and everyday Spirituality } In The Introduction to the book My Story is told of How This Saint saved my life and showed me who Jesus is.I Love Her With All My Heart And Soul And Am Forever indebted to Jesus for Letting her Grab me Out of The pit!,LOVE and Prayers For MY mother Angelica. Written by Mrs. Markie Works 12 yrs ago we purchased DISH just to get EWTN, which we'd never had access to before. Its not overstating things to say that its changed to "tone" of our home to a kinder & committed Catholic family. I pray for Mother & the network daily & contribute all the money I can because, without them, I hate to think of what state the Catholic Church would be in here in the USA. Written by gb I hope someone is reading these letters to you. You need to know that you have helped so many people come to love and know the Lord. You have saved lives! Those lives now will in turn save other lives with your inspiration. Thank you dear lady, Love Always, Child of God Written by Child i love you, Mother Angelica, and ALL the beautiful and inspirational works that you and your very blessed sisters have shared with us,...i know that you will be with us always,...God Bless,...we pray for Peace, Truth, Love & the Eternal Blessings of God and His Word to us, which you have helped to shine out so brightly,...Love,....Amen <3 Written by georgie-ann |
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