Mother Angelica’s funeral to be broadcast live on media network she founded

The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) will broadcast the funeral of Mother Angelica live on Friday.

A Mass of Christian Burial will be celebrated at 11am on Friday at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Hanceville, and interment will immediately follow in the Shrine’s Crypt Church.

Mother Mary Angelica died on Easter Sunday at the age of 92 at her order’s Our Lady of Angels Monastery in rural Alabama.

Mother Angelica was born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, in 1923. She entered the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration monastery in Cleveland at age 21 and joined other nuns in moving South to open a new monastery in Alabama in 1962.

Known to millions of viewers simply as ‘Mother Angelica’, she founded EWTN in 1981. With only $200, Mother Angelica began broadcasting a religious talk show from a TV studio put together in the monastery garage in suburban Birmingham. That show grew into EWTN, which has long had the blessing of the Vatican.

She had been in declining health since suffering a severe cerebral hemorrhage on Christmas Eve 2001. She never regained her full speaking ability and had other, less-severe strokes through the years.

Bedridden for months, Mother Angelica was placed on a feeding tube in the autumn as her health slowly declined, fellow nuns at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery said in an announcement released in November.

“Mother has always, and will always, personify EWTN, the Network which she founded. In the face of sickness and long-suffering trials, Mother’s example of joy and prayerful perseverance exemplified the Franciscan spirit she held so dear. We thank God for Mother Angelica and for the gift of her extraordinary life,” said Michael P Warsaw, EWTN Chairman and Chief Executive Officer said on Sunday.

Despite its humble beginnings, EWTN Global Catholic Network calls itself the world’s largest religious media network. It has 11 TV networks that broadcast Catholic programming to more than 258 million households in more than 145 counties and territories.

Eternal Word’s radio operation includes a global shortwave broadcast; satellite and internet radio channels; and more than 300 Catholic radio affiliates in the United States. Its print services include the National Catholic Register newspaper, the Catholic News Agency and EWTN Publishing Inc.

The non-profit broadcaster reported total revenues of $46 million in 2013, the last year for which tax records are available. Of that, $45.4 million came from donations.

Alabama Governor Robert Bentley said in a statement Sunday that Mother Angelica will live forever in the hearts of those touched by her sermons.

“On this Easter Sunday, it is only fitting that the Lord chose today to call home one of his humble servants, Mother Angelica. She devoted her life to ministry, converting untold numbers of people to the Church. She left an indelible mark on Alabama, the Catholic Church and the world as a whole,” Bentley said.

Mother Angelica has touched the lives of millions of people around the world. When Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) was launched on August 15, 1981, many felt there would be little demand for a Catholic network. Now, in its 28th year, EWTN has become the largest religious media network in the world, transmitting programming 24 hours a day to more than 148 million homes in 144 countries and territories on more than 4,800 cable systems, wireless cable, Direct Broadcast Satellite (DBS), low power TV and individual satellite users. Without making plans for the future, Mother Angelica, relying completely on Divine Providence, believes in going "where God opens the door." It is that deep and constant faith in the Lord, which has called Mother Angelica to act on God's invitation to do the impossible, through Him, who accomplishes the miraculous.

Please use this thread to post memories, reflections or personal accounts of how Mother Angelica touched your heart.

The Power of Prayer

One of my favorite memories is the day the first satellite dish arrived. 2 trucks carrying the unassembled 33' satellite dish arrived during the early part of Lent. Mother went out to greet them. A burly deliveryman explained that before he could unload the equipment, he needed to collect the down payment of $600,000, required by the contract. Mother stalled for time and retreated to the chapel. She did not have the money.

"I blew it, Lord", she said in the chapel. After a moment of prayer, she went back outside, resolved to turn away the equipment. One of the sisters called her to the phone. It was a guy from the Bahamas, on a yacht, who was reading one of her mini bookks and having trouble with his kids. He said he was going to send her a donation: $600,000. Mother thanked him and asked if he could send it right away. By lunch, the money had arrived in her account and the equipment was unloaded.

St. Paul assures us that : "If God is for you, who can be against you"? On Sunday, March 8, the satellite dish dangled from a borrowed crane. Like a spider inspecting a newly spun web, one of the staff hung from the end of the crane, appraising the satellite dish. A photographer snapped the above photo to capture the moment. When developed, the photo revealed a transparent red streak, like a laser beam, emitting from the center of the satellite dish. It was a divine confirmation of Sr. Regina's vision - a supernatural manifestation of the never to be extinguished flame of the Word. The photo became an immediate inspirational icon and it hangs in the network offices to this day.

With only $200, Mother Angelica began broadcasting a religious talk show from a TV studio put together in the monastery garage in suburban Birmingham.

Mother Angelica needed to expand beyond the garage but lacked the funds. She had the gardener drive stakes into the ground, tie string around the stakes and then hang white cloth strips from the string. On a visit to the facility, a cardinal asked Mother about this odd arrangement adjacent to the garage. She explained that it was a visual reminder to God of where the future studio would be placed. Once he returned to his diocese, the cardinal arranged to send a donation to Mother Angelica.

"If God is for you, who can be against you?"

Catholic ping!

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