"Lord, if you let me walk again, I'll build you a monastery in the South."
That was the famous promise that young Sister Angelica made to Our Lord in the face of an operation that might have paralyzed her for life. Although the operation was a medical failure, Mother could indeed walk – one of many miraculous events that led to the founding of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery.
This weekend, EWTN invites you to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the founding of that monastery, out of which grew the world's largest religious media network. EWTN's celebration begins with a Mass, which will be celebrated Birmingham Bishop Robert J. Baker, with a homily by Fr. Joseph Mary, who serves as EWTN's chaplain and who knows Mother well. (Airs live at 9 a.m. ET, Saturday, May 19, with encores at noon and midnight.)
On Sunday, Father Joseph will officiate and preach at a full hour of Vespers & Solemn Benediction of the Blessed Sacrament. (Airs 6 p.m. ET, Sunday, May 20; with encores at 1:30 a.m. ET, Monday, May 21; 3:30 a.m. ET, Thursday, May 24; and 2 p.m. ET, Friday, May 25.)
As long-time viewers of EWTN know, Mother's operation was far from the only miraculous event that brought the young nun from her monastery in Canton, Ohio to the Deep South.
There was the senior nun at the Canton monastery who wanted to start her own foundation. Since the Canton monastery couldn't support two foundations, the abbess decided to mail letters from the two sisters to two different bishops asking for their support in establishing a foundation in their dioceses. Whoever received the first positive response could proceed with her foundation. Guess whose letter arrived first?
Then, the Bishop of Youngstown, who had charge of the Canton community, told the abbess he didn't feel her monastery was strong enough to survive the departure of the six nuns required by Church law to establish a new foundation. But with the abbess' support, Sister's own pleas and plans, and faced with the specter of her declining health in the cold weather, the Bishop was eventually persuaded.
However, at 37, Sister was too young to become an abbess without an official dispensation from Rome. The Bishop set about getting that for her and one more obstacle was overcome.
The beginnings of the Alabama foundation were perilous. With a Catholic population of only 2 percent, the monastery was vandalized every Saturday and the nuns were shot at many times! But, of course, that only succeeded in bringing the monastery to the attention of the public.
According to Raymond Arroyo's official biography of Mother Angelica, as the monastery was being built, the Archbishop of what was then the Mobile-Birmingham Diocese became concerned about cost overruns. He ordered Mother to stop building until she could obtain get the necessary funds. Mother informed the crew, but the electrician said: "Sister, for you to owe me money is like having money in the bank. I'm going to finish the job." The rest of the crew agreed. Mother received a $25,000 loan from Sancta Clara to pay the crew. To contain costs, Mother Angelica and another nun pitched in and Mother scaled back the size of the monastery – a move she realized, in later years, was providential – of course!
Mother officially left the Sancta Clara monastery with the nuns who would populate the new monastery on May 8, 1962. They arrived in Birmingham two days later. For the next 10 days, they hosted an open house. On May 20, the monastery was dedicated, the tours ended, and the convent was closed to the public. But the adventure was just beginning!
To learn more about Mother's incredible life, join us for our weekend celebration and pick up a copy of Raymond's Arroyo's best-selling biography, "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, And a Network of Miracles." Get it here: http://bit.ly/J95Itk.
God bless Family!
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