As we mark the seventh anniversary of the passing of Mother Angelica, founder of EWTN, we remember this remarkable woman and praise the Lord for the great things He has done through her, bringing many to the knowledge of Jesus.
Mother Angelica passed away on Easter Sunday, March 27th, 2016, at 5:00 p.m. She was 92 years old and died of natural causes.
Although she was a public figure, there are details of her life that are not well known. That’s why we bring you a list of 10 facts you probably didn’t know about this amazing woman:
1.Mother Angelica’s birth name was Rita Antoinette Rizzo. She was born on April 20th, 1923, in Canton, Ohio, and was an only child.
2.Her full religious name was Maria Angelica of the Annunciation. “Mother Angelica” is just a shortened version.
3.Mother Angelica was miraculously healed when she was 20 years old.
At 16, she began to suffer from a terrible stomach pain. By the time she was 18, the condition had worsened enough to seek medical help. X-rays showed she had a problem not only there but also in her intestines. Doctors tried several treatments, but nothing could beat the pain. In January 1943, she prayed a novena asking for the pain to cease. On the 17th, when she woke up, the pain had completely disappeared! She considered it a miracle and that deepened her relationship with God.
4.Mother Angelica secretly entered the monastery.
Her mother opposed her becoming a nun, but she felt God’s call so intensely that despite everything, she decided to enter. To avoid her mother’s resistance, one day she left home secretly and went straight to the monastery, leaving only a note for her mother. In one part, it said: “When you receive this letter, I will be in Cleveland. I have entered the Monastery of the Adoration. Something happened to me after the cure. I don’t know what it was, but I have fallen completely in love with Our Lord. Living in the world for the last 19 months has been very difficult. I love you very much and have not forgotten all you have done for me. Please trust Him. I ask you to bless me so that I can reach the heights I long for. I love you very much.”
5.Mother Angelica almost became paralyzed in an accident when she was just over 30 years old.
After making her solemn vows, one day, she was cleaning the floor with an electric polisher. She slipped on the soapy floor, hit a wall hard, and the accident seriously affected her back. In the following months, her condition worsened, and the pain became unbearable. At some point, she had to be plastered, and finally, the doctors decided to operate to solve the problem. The night before surgery, concerned that she might become paralyzed or even die, she prayed: “God! You haven’t brought me this far to leave me without a back for life. Lord Jesus, if you allow me to walk again, I will build a monastery in your glory. And I’ll do it in the south!”
And the surgery worked! Four months later, she walked out of the hospital.
6.Mother Angelica founded a new monastery in Alabama with money obtained from the sale of handmade fishing hooks.
Following her promise, she dedicated herself to establishing what would become the Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Alabama. She raised the necessary money in a unique way: she and other nuns made and sold fishing hooks.
7. Mother Angelica was 58 years old when she founded EWTN.
She began taping her series on Catholic teaching in the mid-1970s for a CBS-affiliated station, but stopped after the network aired an improper film.
That didn’t make her give up her TV shows: she simply decided to start her own TV station. She converted the monastery garage into a TV studio and officially launched Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) as a cable channel on August 15, 1981, just a few months after her 58th birthday.
8. She had mystical visions of the Christ Child on a regular basis.
In 1995 when she went on a mission trip to Colombia, she had an encounter with the Child Jesus. She says that a life-size image of the Divine Child (Infant Jesus of Prague) came to life, smiled at her and spoke to her, asking her to build a church.
And so she did: the Shrine of the Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama.
Apparently, the Infant Jesus continued to appear to her regularly, even at the entrance of her monastery.
9. She received the highest pontifical award given to lay and religious.
On October 4, 2009, Pope Benedict XVI conferred on her the Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice award. This award began to be given by Pope Leo XIII in 1888 and is the highest award that can be given to lay people or religious.
10. Until her death, she participated in Eucharistic adoration for several hours every day.
Regardless of her great worldwide success, Mother Angelica remained committed to her vows as a religious and to her faith in Jesus Christ.
She had to stop recording her programs in 2001 at the age of 78 due to health problems. However, she maintained her spiritual devotions as long as she was able to do so, including Eucharistic adoration several hours each day at the Shrine she founded.
Pray for the eternal rest of Mother Angelica’s holy soul!
Originally published in ChurchPop.
