‘She Loved Jesus So Much’: Remembering Mother Angelica on Her 100th Birthday
April 20 marks the centenary of Mother Mary Angelica’s birth. On that day 100 years ago, Rita Rizzo, who would eventually become a nun who would touch the lives of tens of millions of people around the world by founding the world’s largest Catholic media network, was born.
Mother Angelica, who launched EWTN in a garage the nuns transformed into a broadcasting studio on Aug. 15, 1981, impacted the lives of those closest to her, beginning with her Eternal Word Television Network family. As the centennial anniversary approached, people who knew and worked with Mother Angelica shared treasured remembrances.
EWTN has planned remembrances April 19-20. EWTN Live, at 8pm April 19, will feature host Father Mitch Pacwa and guests from the EWTN family reminiscing about Mother.
April 20 is to be a daylong commemoration, with live Masses from Rome and Irondale, Alabama, and Rosaries, along with inspirational features celebrating her life, in addition to a special Women of Grace. Bishop Steven Raica of Birmingham, Alabama, is to celebrate Mass in Rome’s Church of the Holy Spirit in Sassia.
EWTN Global Catholic Network’s Chairman of the Board and CEO Michael Warsaw said that celebrating this anniversary is “a great time to look back with gratitude for Mother Angelica’s life and realize how blessed we all were to live in a time in history where God gave her to us. Personally, she was one of the greatest blessings in my life and the life of my family. I think there is also no doubt that Mother Angelica was one of the greatest blessings that the Church has been given in this era.”
