HANCEVILLE, Ala. (WHNT) - Mother Angelica died on Easter Sunday at the age of 92, according to the Eternal World Television Network.
"We ask for your prayers for the soul of EWTN’s beloved foundress, Mother Angelica, who passed away today on Easter Sunday, March 27, 2016 at about 5:00p.m. central time," the station posted to its Facebook page on Sunday evening. "Please remain with us as we remember her joyful words, extraordinary works, and incredible life throughout this week."
Mother Angelica founded, EWTN, a Catholic television network, in a garage in Irondale that became a global empire. The EWTN Global Catholic Network calls itself the world's largest religious media network.
A number of events are scheduled to honor Mother Angelica, giving the public an opportunity to pay their respects to the woman so admired around the globe. These events will take place in Cullman County, home to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
A Rite of Reception of Mother Angelica's Body will be held Tuesday, March 29 at 3:00 PM. She will be received in a ceremony and escorted through the Piazza of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament. After the Procession, the Chaplet of Divine Mercy will be prayed in the Shrine's Upper Church. Her body will then be transferred to the Monastery Cloister for private visitation with the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration.
On Wednesday March 30 at 10:00 AM, a public Rosary led by Fr. Miguel Marie Soeherman, MFVA will be held in the Upper Church of the Shrine. Public visitation will begin once this concludes. A Rosary in Memoriam and Conclusion of Public Visitation will take place at 7:00 PM, led by Fr. Joseph Mary Wolfe, MFVA, which will conclude Wednesday's public visitation.
On Thursday, March 31, a Rosary in Memoriam and Public Visitation will begin at 10:00 AM in the Upper Church of the Shrine. Public visitation will begin once this concludes. Solemn Vespers will be chanted by the Franciscan Missionaries of Eternal Word, the Community of Religious Men Mother Angelica founded. At 7:00 PM, a Vigil Service and Rosary will be led by Bishop Robert J. Baker of Birmingham. Music by a Schola composed by the Canons Regular of Saint John Cantius in Chicago will be performed.
Thousands of chairs will be set up here in the plaza during Mother Angelica's funeral mass. People will be able to watch the ceremony on TV screens. (Photo: Chris Davis/WHNT News 19)
Funeral
Mother Angelica will be honored with a Mass of Christian Burial and Rite of Committal on Friday April 1. This begins at 11:00 AM in the Shrine's Upper Church. Bishops and clergy from around the world will take part. Admission to the upper church is by invitation only. There will be thousands of chairs set up in the main plaza for the general public to view the service on large screens.
After the funeral mass, a procession carrying Mother Angelica through the Shrine's Piazza and into the crypt will follow. The procession will be followed by the Rite of Committal and interment in the Crypt Chapel.
You'll find this list of events on the EWTN website.
Mother Angelica suffered a stroke in December 2001. She had been in a serious condition for the last several months.
Thoughts and prayers for Mother Angelica began pouring in just moments after the news of her passing.
“On this Easter Sunday, it is only fitting that the Lord chose today to call home one of his humble servants, Mother Angelica," said Alabama Governor Robert Bentley. "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. She will always be remembered for her personal sermons and she will live on forever in the hearts of all those that her sermons have touched through her gift to the world, the Eternal Word Television Network.”
Congressman Robert Aderholt also shared his condolences saying "I'm very sorry to learn of the news of Mother Angelica's passing. While she had lived in the district I serve since 1999, the place she truly called home was living in her faith. How fitting that she should go to her eternal home on Easter Sunday."
For more than 60 years, Mother Angelica lived the life of a cloistered nun, having taken a vow of enclosure along with more than 40 nuns who live at the Monastery of the Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration with her. The monastery is adjacent to the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville. The nuns never leave the grounds and they pray around the clock.
When WHNT News 19 visited her after her recovery from a stroke, she had this message to share with our viewers: "I love them with all my heart."
Pope Benedict awarded Mother Angelica with the Cross of Honor for distinguished service to the Roman Catholic Church, the highest honor the Pope can bestow.
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