Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles

The extraordinary saga of Mother Angelica, founder of the multimillion-dollar Eternal Word Television Network and “the most influential Catholic woman in America” according to Time magazine

In 1981, the year after Ted Turner founded CNN, a simple nun, using merely her entrepreneurial instincts and $200, launched what would become the world’s largest religious media empire in the garage of a Birmingham, Alabama, monastery. Under her guidance, the Eternal Word Television Network grew at a staggering pace, both in viewership and in influence, to where it now reaches over a hundred million viewers in hundreds of countries around the globe.

Born Rita Rizzo in Canton, Ohio, in 1923, Mother Angelica was abandoned by her father and raised in poverty by a mother who suffered from suicidal depressions. As a young woman, Rita developed severe abdominal pain that doctors dismissed as a “nervous condition,” but when she sought the prayers of a local mystic, her symptoms disappeared. Awakened to the power of prayer, she vowed to dedicate her life to God and became a cloistered nun, expecting to spend her life hidden from the world. But Rita’s faith soon compelled her to unlikely endeavors, from establishing a monastery in Alabama to starting the world’s first Catholic cable network. Relying solely on “God’s providence,” Mother Angelica built an empire without concern for budgets or fund-raising campaigns, achieving what even the highest levels of the Catholic Church had been unable to do.

Raymond Arroyo combines his journalist’s objectivity and eye for detail with more than five years of exclusive interviews with Mother Angelica. He traces Mother Angelica’s tortured rise to success and exposes for the first time the fierce opposition she faced, both inside and outside of her church. It is an inspiring story of survival and proof that one woman’s faith can move more than mountains.

A portrait of Mother Angelica describes the influential nun's youth, her dedication to a cloistered order of Franciscan nuns, and her creation of the powerful, multimillion-dollar Eternal World Television Network. 35,000 first printing.

In 1981, a simple nun, using merely her entrepreneurial instincts and $200, launched what would become the world' s largest religious media empire in the garage of a Birmingham, Alabama, monastery. Under her guidance, the Eternal Word Television Network grew at a staggering pace, both in viewership and in influence, to where it now reaches over a hundred million viewers in hundreds of countries around the globe.

Raymond Arroyo combines his journalist' s objectivity and eye for detail with more than five years of exclusive interviews with Mother Angelica. He traces Mother Angelica' s tortured rise to success and exposes for the first time the fierce opposition she faced, both outside and inside of her church.

RAYMOND ARROYO is the news director and lead anchor at EWTNews. As host of the international newsmagazine, The World Over Live, he is seen in more than 110 million households each week. Arroyo has worked at the Associated Press, the New York Observer, and for the political columnist team of Evans and Novak. His writings have appeared in the Wall Street Journal, the National Review, the Financial Times, and other publications. He has been featured on the Today show, Good Morning America, Access Hollywood, and various cable outlets, where he frequently comments on matters of culture and faith. He lives in New Orleans with his wife and three children.

One miserable life — The gift of pain — The healing and the call — Bride of Christ — Sancta Clara — Providence in pain — The foundation — A family monastery — The spirit moves — Doing the ridiculous — Cathedral in the sky: The Eternal Word Television Network — Death and the dark night — The abbess of the airwaves — A witness to the nations: WEWN — The defender of the faith — Hammer of the Heretics — Miracles and chastisements — The last things — Purification.