My Mother Angelica Story

For those of you who don't use Facebook, I wanted to share my story--as so many have been doing throughout the week, calling in to EWTN television and radio. We were at a couple of their live shows this week and Father John Paul wanted me to tell the story, but while they took phone calls, they didn't ask the live audience for stories.

But it's just as well because I wouldn't have known how to condense it--and I'm much less coherent in speaking than in writing.

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My Mother Angelica Story

In 1987 I traveled from Massachusetts down to Irondale to visit Mother Angelica and her nuns with the idea of possibly joining her convent. I stayed with them 3-4 days and actually didn't enjoy myself very much. I loved some of the nuns, but others really rubbed me the wrong way. And I didn't get to stay in the enclosure very long--meals, yes, but I kept being sent off to work with volunteers or see the Dominicans in Birmingham. I think it was my second-to-last day that Mother called me in and told me she didn't think I had a contemplative vocation. I thought in my head, "Well how does she know? She's hardly seen me at all!"

But Mother had a different plan: she wanted me to stay and be the first of a group of sisters who would help take care of the Network. That was NOT at all my plan, but I was very shy back then and overwhelmed by Mother Angelica's personality. She took my confusion for agreement and later announced to all the Sisters that I was going to be her first sister to take care of the Network. I know I was beet-red as they were all congratulating me, because I wasn't as sure about it as Mother was.

It took all my courage to go see her in her office afterwards to tell her that I wasn't really sure about the idea: could I go home and think about it? Well some people have mentioned a look that Mother would give if you were in trouble, and I'm pretty sure that's the look I got then. I knew immediately that the answer was No: she expected me to be as spontaneous and adventurous and she was, but it was such a change to my own idea for my future, I just couldn't say yes right away.

Now fast-forward 10 years: I've met and married Mark in San Diego, and that was the one and only time in my life I was absolutely sure I was doing the right thing. We were practicing Catholics, but I had lost the fervor I had had when discerning a vocation, and Mark didn't know the Faith all that well. We thought we were okay Catholics, doing the basics that were required of us.

I had completely lost track of Mother Angelica and EWTN because wherever I lived after that 1987 visit, I never had access to it. But around 1997 we took a vacation to the Central Coast of California. We checked into our little seaside motel and turned on the television--and there was Mother Angelica in full habit, which was quite a shock to me (one of my hesitations about joining her community was that I didn't like their shorter brown habits--with NYLONS of all things). Mark had never seen her before at all, but I was spluttering: "I don't know what's happened: she never looked like that before! She played the drums at Mass, for Pete's sake!"

Well her guest was a priest who was telling how he had died in a car accident and was destined for hell--except that Our Lady interceded for him to Jesus, asking he be given a second chance. Our jaws dropped and we sat down on the bed to watch--and pretty much forgot about the seaside. We spent most of that vacation in the room, watching EWTN.

We went home, found out the only way we could get EWTN was through shortwave and so that's what we did. We recorded programs off the shortwave for years until San Diego finally got EWTN on the cable line-up. Our lives completely changed from listening to EWTN radio and we became much more knowledgeable and fervent in our Faith.

Fast forward another 10 years and in 2007 we made the move to Birmingham just to be closer to the Network. It was not lost upon me that it was 20 years ago Mother wanted me to stay and help with the Network. Mark and I are friends of the Friars and the Network, but don't work there. But we do lead studies (Bible and otherwise) on the grounds of EWTN now and then and are so happy to be able to attend Mass in that beautiful little chapel.

Last night when I saw her body laid out at the Shrine, I said to her silently, "Hi Mother--remember me? I'm the one who didn't do what you wanted me to do. I hope you've forgiven me." I got a little choked up, but Mark reminded me that we both know we were meant to be together--and she knows that now too.