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Mary Angelica | |
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| Born | Rita Antoinette Rizzo (1923-04-20)April 20, 1923 Canton, Ohio, U.S. |
| Died | March 27, 2016(2016-03-27) (aged 92) Hanceville, Alabama, U.S. |
| Other names | Mary Angelica of the Annunciation |
| Occupation | Religious sister |
| Known for | FoundingEWTN |
| Notable credit | Mother Angelica Live (1983–2001)[1][2] |
Mother Mary Angelica of the AnnunciationPCPA (bornRita Antoinette Rizzo; April 20, 1923 – March 27, 2016), commonly referred to asMother Angelica, was anAmerican Catholic nun of thePoor Clares of Perpetual Adoration.
She was known for founding the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), an internationalCatholic cable television network.[3] She hosted the programMother Angelica Live. She also establishedWEWN, a radio network used by members of the Catholic Church to disseminate their religious teachings.
In 1981, Angelica began broadcasting religious programming from a converted garage inBirmingham, Alabama. Over the following two decades, she expanded the operation into a global media network that included television, radio, internet platforms, and print publications. She continued to host shows on EWTN until 2001, when she had astroke. She remained in thecloistered monastery inHanceville, Alabama, until her death in 2016.[4]
Mother Angelica was born Rita Antoinette Rizzo on April 20, 1923, inCanton, Ohio.[5] She was born in southeast Canton, an area referred to at the time as thered-light district or "theslums".[6] This neighborhood was inhabited by bothBlack residents and a large number of Italian immigrants employed in the Canton Mills.[6] Italian immigrants in the area experienced challenges related to social mobility, including high rates of illiteracy and extortion by theBlack Hand.[7] The neighborhood was also associated withsex work, corruption, and mob-related violence. Catholic priests at St. Anthony's Church sought to improve the lives of the local population.[7]
Rizzo was ofItalian-American descent and the only child of John Rizzo, atailor, and Mae Helen Rizzo (née Gianfrancesco). She was born at 1029 Liberty Street, the residence of her maternal grandparents, Mary and Anthony Gianfresco.[7] Mae married John at the age of 22, against the advice of her parents, who disapproved of him.[8][9]
According to later accounts, John Rizzo expressed anger upon learning that Mae was pregnant.[10] Rita was baptized at five months old; her mother brought her to the side altar of Our Lady of Sorrows and handed her over in a symbolic gesture.[11] The family initially lived in a rented house described as infested withcockroaches.
After repeated arguments, Mae began staying at her parents' home, which became a recurring pattern.[11] Tensions escalated when Mae invited John's mother, Catherine Rizzo, to live with them. Catherine reportedly criticized Mae frequently.[12] By November 1929, John had left the family, relocated to California, and ceased contact with Mae and Rizzo.[13][14] Mae and Rizzo, then age five, returned to the Gianfresco household.[15]
Anthony Gianfresco, Rizzo's maternal grandfather, had emigrated fromNaples, first settling in Colorado before moving to Ohio and marrying Mary Votolato.[15] According to Mother Angelica, her grandfather assisted new Italian immigrants with clothing and employment, while her grandmother provided food.[15]
On March 10, 1931, Mae was granted full custody of Rizzo.[16] John Rizzo was ordered to pay five dollars per week in child support, but payments were reported to be intermittent.[17] Mae retained custody but struggled with chronic depression and poverty.[18] These difficulties were exacerbated by the societal stigma surrounding divorce and limited economic opportunities for women during theGreat Depression.[16]
Between 1933 and 1937, Mae and Rizzo relocated multiple times to small one-bedroom apartments. These residences typically had a business space at the front and sleeping quarters at the back.[16] Occasionally, when disputes arose between Mae and her mother, Rizzo stayed with family friends.[16] Due to ongoing financial difficulties, they eventually returned to the Gianfresco household.[19] During their absence, Anthony Gianfresco had suffered a stroke that left himhemiparetic and reliant on a cane.[20]
Reflecting on this period, Mother Angelica later described her and her mother's circumstances as similar to those ofrefugees.[13] She recalled: "We were poor, hungry, and barely surviving on odd jobs until Mother joined the dry cleaning business as an apprentice to a Jewish tailor in our area. Even then, we pinched pennies simply to keep food on the table."[21]
Rizzo attended St. Anthony's School,[22] where she later reported a strong dislike for the nuns, describing them as "the meanest people on earth."[13][22] She attributed their harsh discipline to her status as the child of divorced parents. Mae Rizzo initially withdrew her daughter from the school on a temporary basis, which later became permanent.[22]
At age fourteen, Rizzo enrolled atMcKinley High School in Canton, where she became one of the school's first drummajorettes.[18] She later stated in an interview that she struggled academically, saying, "I did very poorly in school. I wasn't interested in the capital of Ohio. I was interested in whether my mother had committed suicide that day."[17] Rizzo did not form close friendships during high school, a circumstance she attributed to her concern that doing so might distress her mother, who viewed competing demands for attention as threatening.[20] Rizzo did not engage in dating, later recalling, "I never had a date, never wanted one. I just didn't have any desire. I suppose having experienced the worst of married life, it was not at all attractive to me."[23]
By the time Rizzo began high school, financial constraints necessitated a return to the Gianfresco household, where her two uncles and grandparents also resided.[20] Her grandfather, Anthony Gianfresco, had experienced a stroke, which intensified his previously volatile temperament.[20] Despite these circumstances, the family had stable housing and consistent meals.[20] Rizzo attempted to maintain her academic performance with varying success.[20]
In 1939, Rizzo began leaving McKinley High School in the afternoons, feeling overwhelmed by the noise and activity of the school environment.[23] She was prescribed calcium and nerve medication to address what was diagnosed as a nervous condition.[23] During this period, her mother's mental health appeared to deteriorate, and arrangements were made for Mae to stay with a relative inPhiladelphia.[24] Rizzo remained in Canton and experienced feelings of guilt about her mother's absence. She attempted to maintain a routine and earned money by performing baton-twirling. She expressed a persistent fear that her circumstances would not improve and that her mother would not recover.[25]
Rizzo also gave baton lessons and worked in a factory that produced liturgical candles, sending part of her earnings to her mother in Philadelphia.[25] During this time, she missed nearly two months of school near the end of her junior year and failed three subjects. She enrolled in summer school without informing her mother.[26] As a consequence, she had to relinquish her position as drum majorette, a role she had found personally affirming and which had helped her become comfortable in front of crowds.[27]
When Mae Rizzo returned from Philadelphia, her condition had improved. Rita arranged for her to take the civil service examination, which Mae passed. In 1941, Mae secured employment as a bookkeeper, which provided her with financial stability and emotional balance.[28] Rizzo graduated from McKinley High School in 1941.[29]
In December 1940, Rizzo experienced an episode of abdominal pain anddiarrhea. Her condition persisted, and by early 1941, she was experiencing spasms approximately three times per week.[30] As her gastrointestinal symptoms worsened, her grandparents arranged for her to be examined by their physician, Dr. James Pagano. He suspected complications and initiated treatment for potential ulcers or gallbladder issues.[28] The prescribed treatment did not alleviate her symptoms, and by November she had lost twenty pounds. X-rays subsequently identified a diagnosis ofgastroptosis.[28] Use of a medical support belt led to an improvement in her symptoms and allowed her to manage daily life more comfortably.[28]
Following theattack on Pearl Harbor in December 1941, Rizzo obtained a position in the advertising department of theTimken Roller Bearing Company, a major manufacturer ofgun barrels, in early 1942.[28] Serving as secretary to the vice president of advertising, she was considered successful in her role.[31] In April 1942, her abdominal pain intensified and could no longer be managed with her existing medical belt. Dr. Wiley Scott prescribed a larger belt or corset, which alleviated the pain and allowed her to return to work.[31] However, by November 1942, she experienced worsening symptoms, including an inability to sleep or eat, and the surgical corset caused skin blisters.[31]
In response to her declining condition, her mother brought her toRhoda Wise, a local figure described as a mystic and stigmatic who claimed to receive visions of SaintThérèse of Lisieux.[17] Wise instructed Rizzo to pray anovena and asked her to promise that, if cured, she would promote devotion to St. Thérèse.
On January 17, 1943, the final day of the novena, Rizzo reported experiencing the "sharpest pains" she had ever felt and a sensation that "something was pulling [her] stomach out."[32] Although she considered putting on her corset before getting up, she stated that a voice commanded her to rise without it. She interpreted this moment as a healing and later observed that the abdominal lump and discoloration were gone.[32][33] Rizzo believed this event to be amiracle and identified it as the turning point in her life that led to her religious commitment.[21][34][page needed][35] She later stated, "I knew that God knew me and loved me and was interested in me. All I wanted to do after my healing was give myself to Jesus."[17]
Dr. Wiley Scott did not support the claim of a miraculous healing and described Rizzo as "a neurotic female with a mentality which is very open to any suggestive influence."[33] Nonetheless, for Rizzo, the experience marked a significant transformation and a new direction in life.[36]
Rizzo turned to Rhoda Wise for guidance, and she became her model of sanctity.[36] Every Sunday, Rizzo joined the crowds at Wise's House and she would sit close to the mystic. She learned to deal with overanxious crowds who at times mistook God's assistant from God himself.[36] Rizzo adopted devotional practices including fasting on Saturdays, reading spiritual literature, and performing the Way of the Cross at St Anthony's Church, developing a devotion to the Passion.[37] On a Fall afternoon in 1943, when Rizzo prayed before the statue of Our Lady of Sorrows, she was overcome by a "deep awareness " that she had a vocation and had to "go wherever the Lord would send her".[38] She sought out Monsignor Habig, Rhoda Wise's spiritual director, who affirmed the vocation.[38] Rhoda gave her lists of communities to contact, but most would not accept her due to her poor grades.
Her first visit was to theSisters of St. Joseph inBuffalo, New York.[38] Monsignor Habig then suggested she visit Saint Paul's Shrine of Perpetual Adoration, a facility operated by an order ofcloistered contemplative Franciscan nuns, located inCleveland, Ohio.[39] When visiting this order, she felt as if she were at home. The order accepted her as apostulant, inviting her to enter on August 15, 1944,[40] at the age of 21.[40][41]
On November 8, 1945, Rizzo was vested as aPoor Clare nun. She received a new religious name, Angelica, which her own mother, Mae Francis, was given the honour of choosing, in the gift of Mother Agnes. Mae chose the name because Rizzo had been an "angelic and obedient daughter".[42] She became "Sister Mary Angelica of the Annunciation".[42] Soon afterwards, the Cleveland monastery established a new monastery in her home town of Canton and she moved there.[21]
After nearly three years in the monastery, Angelica made her first profession of vows on January 2, 1947.[43] In 1953, she made her solemn profession of vows at Sancta Clara Monastery in Ohio.[44]
In 1953, Sister Angelica had an accident with an industrialfloor-scrubbing machine that knocked her over and injured her spine, causing her ongoing pain and later requiring her to wear leg braces for much of her life. The ache radiated from the small of her back to the middle of the left leg.[45][46][47][48] In June 1955, she sought medical review of her back pain and was given a brace to relieve the pain caused by the fall. The doctors believed the fall in 1953 had aggravated an existing spinal defect. She was fitted for a body cast to relieve her compressed spine and given oversized crutches.[49] This failed and leg and neck traction were attempted, and she was suspended from a hospital-bed contraption for six weeks. She spent a total of four months in hospital with no improvement.[50] She returned to the monastery with a back brace.[50]
To alleviate pain and restore posture, her doctors decided on a spinal fusion operation. She was admitted to hospital for this in July 1956.[50] The surgeon, Dr. Charles Houck, informed Angelica that there was a "fifty-fifty chance you'll never walk again."[50] Angelica struck a bargain with God: "Lord, if you let me walk again, I'll build you a monastery in the South." For three years, she had been discussing a southern monastery dedicated to African Americans. This was the year that the Supreme Court banned segregation in public schools and Dr.Martin Luther King Jr. made headlines by organising protests throughout the South.[17][51] During the operation, Dr. Houck found an extra vertebra crowding its neighbours, and the resulting "kissing vertebrae" were the main cause of her pain. He apparently thought the surgery had gone wrong and gave up; Angelica could move her legs but not walk, so she recovered in hospital for two months.
Back at Sancta Clara, she was confined to the infirmary. As a result of suffering, she learned to rely on God in all things.[52] Eventually, she graduated from a wheelchair to a back brace, leg brace, and crutch, and she felt she could think about the new monastery. The new abbess of Santa Clara, Mother Veronica, initially refused but was fully convinced over time.[53] In January 1957, Mother Veronica wrote to Archbishop Thomas Toolen ofMobile, Alabama, stating their desire to be in "the midst of the colored people to intercede for them." Archbishop Toolen warmly invited the nuns to the diocese and encouraged them to start the community in Birmingham, then home to a quarter of a million black people.[54] Bishop Emmet Walsh of Youngstown delayed the foundation as he felt the departure of six nuns required by Canon Law could not be sustained by the community in Canton. By February 1961, funding had been secured, and Rome granted permission to proceed with the new foundation.[55]
While at Santa Clara, Angelica was inspired to create a religious community which would appeal to African Americans in the southern states and began to seek support.[44] In 1957, ArchbishopThomas Toolen suggested that she open this community in Birmingham.[44] With a number of other Poor Clare nuns, she worked to raise the necessary funds, partially from a small business venture making and sellingfishing lures.[44]
In 1961, the nuns bought a fifteen acres of mountain-side inIrondale, as well as an adjacent small house,[56] for thirteen thousand dollars, the exact amount earned by the nuns' fishing lure business.[56] On the night of February 21, 1962, five bullets were fired at the house the nuns were staying, and a further incident with five bullets occurred nearly two weeks later.[57] On May 20, 1962, the community was officially established[58] and named Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.[41] Later, it was relocated to the grounds of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.[59] The subject experiencedthe Baptism of the Holy Spirit, which a Birmingham priest associated with thecharismatic movement had told her about, which resulted in a new understanding of theHoly Spirit.[60]
In August 1995, Angelica began to search for land to build a new monastery. She had a conviction that the sisters needed "protection" during a coming chastisement, and she was concerned that thenoise pollution around the existing monastery was not suitable for the contemplative life.[61] In October 1995, she viewed a two-hundred acre plot inHanceville, an hour north of Birmingham. "I felt the Lord's presence so strongly," she said.[62]
The architect, Walter Anderton, was aBaptist,[62] and her only instructions were that the monastery resemble theBasilica of Saint Francis of Assisi and have a 13th-century character.[62] In 1996, Angelica visitedSouth America to publicise her new Spanish-language channel.[63] InBogotá, Colombia, she visited a small shrine of theDivino Niño. Later, she revealed that she had a vision where the statue of theChild Jesus turned to her, and said with the audible voice of a child, "Build Me a temple and I will help those who help you."[63] Mother Angelica interpreted this as the Christ Child desiring an elaborate shrine.[64] Private donors contributed $48.6 million,[64] and she opened theShrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville in 1999.[65]
In 1962, Angelica began a series of community meetings on matters relevant to Catholicism and also began recording her talks for sale. BishopJoseph Vath noticed her talent for communicating with the lay public and encouraged her to continue; she began taping a radio show for broadcast on Sunday mornings and published her first book in 1972. In the late 1970s, she began videotaping her talks for television, which were broadcast on the satelliteChristian Broadcasting Network.[35] In 1981, after visiting aChicago television studio and being impressed by its capability, she formed thenonprofit civil corporation to be called the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN).[44][66] Initially, she recorded her shows in a converted garage on the monastery's property.[59]
On February 16, 1981, theSacred Congregation for Religious informed Vath that Mother Angelica was a cloistered nun and thus may not travel, other than to her studio. She had been giving talks outside for years with the bishop's blessing. Theapostolic nuncio suggestedexclaustration (i.e., the suspension of a religious from their community and vows for three years), which shocked Mother Angelica.[67] CardinalSilvio Oddi, head of theSacred Congregation for the Clergy, rescued the situation; he visited Mother Angelica and secured exemptions under Church law which enabled to leave the monastery on business.[68]
EWTN became a voice for American conservatism andtraditionalist Catholicism, with its position on religious and social issues often mirroring that ofPope John Paul II.[69] Mother Angelica's emphasis on tradition led to feuds with some members of the Church hierarchy, the most famous being over a pastoral letter by CardinalRoger Mahony of theArchdiocese of Los Angeles concerning teachings about theEucharist and theliturgy.[70]
The largest Roman Catholic television network in the world,[71] EWTN estimates the network's channels reach 264 million households globally.[72]
On December 28, 1992, Mother Angelica launched a radio network,WEWN,[73] which is carried by 215 stations, as well as on shortwave.[74]
On November 12, 1997, Angelica, on herMother Angelica Live show, called on the faithful under CardinalRoger Mahony to disobey the cardinal'sGuide for Sunday Mass, saying "I'm afraid my obedience in that diocese would be absolutely zero, and I hope everybody else's in that diocese is zero."[75] On November 18, Angelica apologized.[75]
On January 28, 1998, Paula Albertini, an Italian woman, prayed the rosary with Mother Angelica in her office.[76] Sister Mary Clare saw a bright glow surrounding the painting of Saint Francis reaching up to the crucified Christ. Mother Angelica was urged to "defend the Holy Eucharist even with your own life".[77] Mother Angelica felt God wished to heal her; Albertini asked her to remove the braces, and Mother Angelica was cured as her unsteadiness vanished, no longer needing crutches.[78] She later toldLife on the Rock host Jeff Cavins that the purpose of the healing was to increase the faith of viewers and employees.[79]
In the late 1990s, her EWTN show was so popular that she occasionally was the victim of live,call-in pranks byCaptain Janks, which were aired onThe Howard Stern Show. Most of these calls were of a vulgar, sexual nature, but she handled them with her usual stern, but forgiving, candor.[citation needed]
Mother Angelica founded a Catholic community oflay brothers, the Knights of the Holy Eucharist,[80][81] as part of her broader efforts to promote Eucharistic reverence and traditional Catholic spirituality.[82][83] The Knights were established on July 25, 1998, at theFeast of St. James the Greater inHanceville, Alabama, where they initially served at theShrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.[84] In 2016, the Knights moved to theDiocese of Lincoln, Nebraska,[85] at the invitation of BishopJames D. Conley.[86] They took residence at the Our Lady of Good Counsel Retreat House near Waverly.[87][84]
Since the first establishment of her monastery in 1962, the priest celebrating the conventual Mass had always faced the enclosed nuns with his back to the rest of the congregation, a stance calledad orientem.[88] Following theSecond Vatican Council, most priests began facing the congregation (versus populum), butad orientem remained favoured in conciliar documents, and this was followed by the monastery.[88] On October 18, 1999, Bishop Foley of Birmingham promulgated a law in his diocese forbiddingad orientem,[89] so Mother Angelica wrote to the Vatican. TheCongregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments sent afax to Bishop Foley condemning his decree, stating that individual diocesan bishops could not forbidad orientem. However, Mother Angelica was unaware of this, and Bishop Foley was able to continue his battle by stating that he was representing theNCCB.[90]
On December 4, Cardinal Somalo wrote to Mother Angelica, stating that anapostolic visitation had been appointed and there would be a probe into the monastery. On December 9,[79] Bishop Foley consecrated the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament and celebrated Mass facing the people. He then rescinded his decree of October 18, 1999, instead forbidding the broadcast ofad orientem Masses.[91] EWTN moved its Masses to Birmingham to comply with this, as Mother Angelica and the Vice Presidents of EWTN worried that the Congregation or Bishop Foley could compel Mother Angelica to make changes at EWTN or, in a worst-case scenario, appoint a progressive successor with veto powers.[92]Angelica resigned as CEO of EWTN on March 17, 2000, ceding control to a board of laity. She settled into community life and enjoyed her time away from the network.[93]
On July 3, 2000, Mother Angelica collapsed, turned blue, and became unconscious.[94] All tests were normal and she recovered rapidly.
On September 5, 2001, Mother Angelica sufferedfacial paralysis,[95] with anMRI showing she'd had bilateral recurrentstrokes.[59][95] She returned to taping her show twice weekly on September 25. On December 11, she fell and fractured her arm, requiring surgery.[96]
OnChristmas Eve, Angelica collapsed in the monastery chapel and was found unresponsive,[97] with aCT scan revealing acerebral hemorrhage.[98] She was transferred to Birmingham and underwent acraniotomy to remove the blood clot from around her brain.[99] Despite this, there had already been damage to the part of the brain controlling speech and understanding.[99] However, within one week, she could move both legs, and the paralysis affecting her left hand and mouth for three months had gone.[79]
On January 25, 2002, she returned to her monastery,[100] and since then needed assistance. She also suffered fromseizures which sapped her energy.[101] She began speech therapy and stopped hosting television programs.[102] As her health declined, fellow sisters at the Hanceville monastery began providing her constant care.[103] Mother Angelica attributed her need for purification as the reason for her stroke.[104]
Mother Angelica was restless for one more miracle and felt she could be useful in helping the faithful to cope with theclerical sex-abuse scandal, which broke in early 2002.[105] In October 2003, she travelled toLourdes for a six-day pilgrimage. Mother Angelica and the pilgrims there reached out to one another. She did not receive physical healing, but discovered she was still needed and could do much good, even in silence.[106]
In December 2004, Mother Angelica visited the Japanese island ofKyushu. They explored the possibility of a monastery inNagasaki, and went north to visit the shrine ofOur Lady of Akita.[107] She was in considerable pain and a doctor felt Angelica had fractured hertail bone while in Akita.[108] Mother Angelica was much less mobile and more frail following this.[109]
Before her major stroke, Mother Angelica had been considering the founding of new monasteries.[110] Following her 2001 stroke, overseeing this seemed beyond reach.[110] There were forty-two nuns at the Hanceville monastery, but not all of the older nuns agreed to founding new monasteries, as theirs was only five years old. Five nuns – the "Phoenix Phive" – led by Sister Mary Fidelis, founded a monastery inPhoenix, Arizona in 2005.[111]
In July 2008, Sister Grace Marie, a formerAnglican convert, and four other nuns started a new foundation with Mother Angelica's blessing inSan Antonio, Texas. The nuns who left for San Antonio had been "bridging the gap" between two factions of nuns who would soon have a major dispute.[112]
Mother Angelica remained abbess during this time, but her incapacity left the effective exercise of leadership to the elected vicar, Sister Catherine.[113] Most of the young nuns and many older nuns looked up to Catherine, but a few of the older ones felt marginalised. Sister Catherine began spreading the "Divine Will" devotion rooted in the writings of alleged ItalianmysticLuisa Piccarreta,[114] which some older nuns disapproved of.
In May 2009, the community elections saw Sister Margaret Mary chosen as vicar.[115] She quickly called chapter meetings to reconsider the vocations of younger nuns, especially practitioners of the controversial Divine Will devotion. This divided the community as Mother Angelica's health deteriorated. A group of nuns wrote a letter of complaint to Rome, and the Holy See authorized anapostolic visitation formally to investigate the community. The visitation resulted in the appointment of a new superior from outside the community in November 2009, Mother Angelica stepping down as abbess, with both Sister Margaret Mary and Sister Catherine made to leave immediately onsabbatical.[116]
On October 4, 2009, Mother Angelica and DeaconBill Steltemeier, then-chairman of EWTN's board of governors, received the Papal Medal (Pro Ecclesia et Pontifice) fromPope Benedict XVI for their distinguished service to the Catholic Church.[117][59] Due to her ill health, Mother Angelica received the award in her room.[118]Robert J. Baker, theBishop of Birmingham, said: "Mother Angelica's effort has been at the vanguard of thenew evangelization and has had a great impact on our world."[118] On October 15, Mother Angelica received another major honor from the Holy See when she was appointed the community'sAbbess Emerita for life.[116]
In early December 2015, Mother Angelica was placed on afeeding tube. A representative of the order explained, "It's not that she's completely unable to eat. It's assisting her to get the nutrients she needs." He added that she had experienced "some up and downs the last few months. She's a fighter." Although Mother Angelica was bedridden, a representative said she was "able to communicate with a squeeze of a hand, make gestures with her eyes. She acknowledges people when they're there. The nuns say she does sleep a lot."[47][119] The use of a feeding tube was in accord with the wishes she made before her stroke in 2001 – a reporter recalled her saying: "We don't understand the awesomeness of living even one more day... I told my sisters the other day, 'When I get really bad give me all the medicine I can take, all the tubes you can stuff down me. ... I want to live. ... Because I will have suffered one more day for the love of God... I will exercise you in virtue. But most of all I will know God better. You cannot measure the value of one new thought about God in your own life.'"[103]
In early February 2016,Pope Francis, while en route toCuba for an apostolic visit, recorded a message for Mother Angelica: "To Mother Angelica, with my blessing and I ask you to pray for me; I need it. God bless you, Mother Angelica."[47] Near the end of that month, her fellow nuns at Our Lady of Angels Monastery called for prayers on her behalf, saying in a statement: "Mother's condition remains delicate and she receives devoted care day and night by her sisters and nurses. In God'sProvidence, she was able to receive the specialJubilee grace of passing through theHoly Door shortly after its opening. Although she is most often sleeping, from time to time Mother will give a radiant smile. ... Please continue to keep her in your prayers; each day is a gift!"[120]
Mother Angelica remained at the monastery until her death on March 27, 2016,Easter Sunday, at the age of 92, from complications due to the stroke she had 14 years prior.[121] At the time of her death, she "also suffered fromBell's palsy, heart disease and asthma."[46]
Mother Angelica held the Catholic belief inredemptive suffering,[122] wherein human suffering can become meritorious if offered toJesus Christ and mystically united with his suffering. For this, in her period of declining health, Mother Angelica "instructed her nuns to do everything to keep her alive, no matter how much she suffered, because every day she suffered, she suffered for God."[46] EWTN chaplain Joseph Mary Wolfe told reporters that Mother Angelica's desire to unite with Jesus in suffering was fulfilled when she "went into her death throes onGood Friday".[46]
Wolfe recalled that "Mother began to cry out early in the morning from the pain that she was having. She had a fracture in her bones because of the length of time she had been bedridden. They said you could hear it down the hallways, that she was crying out on Good Friday from what she was going through. These two people [a caregiver and one of the sisters of her order] said to me she has excruciating pain."[46] Wolfe said that "After the 3 o'clock hour arrived on Good Friday she was more calm, she was more peaceful."[46] By 5:30 a.m. on Easter Sunday, Wolfe was contacted by Mother Delores, who told him Mother Angelica "was really struggling, she wasn't doing very well."[46] Wolfe went to her bedside to administer thelast rites, with the sisters of her order then praying theDivine Office around her. As it was Easter Sunday, the usual prayers had additionalAlleluias, which are otherwise not recited in theOffice for the Dead, something Wolfe felt to be significant. Around 10:30 a.m., Father Paschal saidMass in her room and she receivedViaticum (finalCommunion). She died shortly before 5:00 p.m.[46]
Sean O. Sheridan, the former president of theFranciscan University of Steubenville where Mother Angelica received anhonorary doctorate of sacred theology, described her as "a true media giant. She proved that the Church belonged in the popular media alongside the news, sports, and talk shows".[72][123] Mark Evans ofDeadline wrote, "Though her stances were decidedly old-school – she was critical of religious and political progressives – her lectures were lightened with an often self-deprecating humor. She famously said the nuns she remembered from her youth were 'the meanest people on God's earth.'"[72]
On March 30, 2016,Easter Wednesday, at Pope Francis'general audience inSaint Peter's Square,Vatican City, an employee of EWTN held up a portrait of Mother Angelica. The Supreme Pontiff responded to the display by saying "She's in Heaven."
In a ceremony on March 29, 2016, Mother Angelica's body was brought to Our Lady of the Angels Monastery for private visitation by Poor Clare nuns. Public visitation was at the upper church of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament from March 30 to 31. TheMass of Christian Burial was held at the upper church on April 1, with theArchbishop of Philadelphia and EWTN board memberCharles J. Chaput serving as principal celebrant, and the EWTN chaplain Joseph Mary Wolfe ashomilist.Robert J. Baker andDavid E. Foley, the then-current and emeritusBishops of Birmingham (where both EWTN and Our Lady of the Angels Monastery are located), respectively,concelebrated theMass, along with ArchbishopThomas J. Rodi ofMobile, whoseecclesiastical province includes the Diocese of Birmingham. BishopThomas Olmsted ofPhoenix, BishopRichard F. Stika ofKnoxville, and ArchbishopCarlo Maria Viganò, theApostolic Nuncio to the United States, who delivered a message from Pope Francis, also concelebrated the mass. In addition, many priests, deacons, religious, and seminarians were in attendance. This was followed by therite of committal at the shrine's crypt chapel. All of her funeral rites were broadcast by EWTN.[124][125]
After Mother Angelica's death, there were calls for her to bebeatified. Canon Law dictates that an individual's cause cannot begin until five years after their death.[126] As of September 2022, there has been no announcement from theDiocese of Birmingham whether a petition has been sent to Rome to promulgate a beatification process.
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