Founder of the EWTN Global Catholic Network, Mother Angelica, remains in a “delicate” condition according to a Feb.22 update from the Nuns at Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.
The update read:
“We want to extend a very special and heart-felt thank you to each of you who have been praying for Mother Angelica. The many cards and promises of prayer she received throughout this past Christmas season were a great consolation and support. Mother’s condition remains delicate and she receives devoted care day and night by her sisters and nurses. In God’s providence, she was able to receive the special Jubilee grace of passing through the Holy Door shortly after it’s opening. Although she is most often sleeping, from time to time Mother will give a radiant smile. There is no doubt that her heart must be “on things above.” (cf Col 3:2) Near the close of 2015, the entire community of the MFVA Friars was able to come for the offering of a special Mass for Mother Angelica – another gift of God’s Mercy. Mother herself is regularly fortified by the sacraments. Please continue to keep her in your prayers; each day is a gift!.”
Director of pilgrimages at the monastery, Luke Johnasen speaking on the state of the 92-year-old nun said, “From what I’m told, it’s not that she’s completely unable to eat. It’s assisting her to get the nutrients she needs. He confirmed to CNS that she had been fitted with a feeding tube.
“She’s had some up and downs the last few months,” he said. “She’s a fighter.”
92-year-old Mother Angelica suffered from multiple strokes in 2001, and a massive hemorrhage on Christmas Eve that same year left her hugely incapacitated.
Born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, in 1923, Mother Mary Angelica of the Annunciation — as she came to be known — entered the Poor Clares, a branch of the Franciscan order, in 1944. She went on to found a monastery in Irondale, Ala., in 1962 and in the 1990s started the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament, where she now resides, about an hour north in Hanceville. She established the EWTN cable channel in 1981. She celebrated her 70th year in religious life in 2014.
Under the leadership of a lay board, EWTN has improved massively and today it claims to be “the largest religious media network in the world,” broadcasting 24 hours in several languages to atleast 258 million television households in 145 countries and territories.
On Feb. 12, while on-board to Cuba for his meeting with Russian Orthodox Patriarch Kirill, Pope Francis sent his warmest regards to Mother Angelica.
“To Mother Angelica with my blessing and I ask you to pray for me; I need it,” the Pope said. “God bless you, Mother Angelica.”
Mother Angelica died , God rest her soul!