1 00:00:00,240 --> 00:00:03,120 Speaker 1: Who is the first woman in the history of broadcasts 2 00:00:03,200 --> 00:00:06,440 Speaker 1: to found and lead her own cable network for twenty years. 3 00:00:07,040 --> 00:00:09,760 Speaker 1: On this Arroyo Grande, I'm not only going to introduce 4 00:00:09,800 --> 00:00:12,440 Speaker 1: her to her the miracles of her life, but I'll 5 00:00:12,480 --> 00:00:15,200 Speaker 1: share the secrets of her amazing success which you can 6 00:00:15,200 --> 00:00:30,240 Speaker 1: apply to your own life. Come on, I'm Raymond Arroyo. 7 00:00:30,360 --> 00:00:33,800 Speaker 1: Welcome to Arroyo Grande. Go subscribe to the show right now. 8 00:00:33,840 --> 00:00:36,840 Speaker 1: Turn notifications on so you know what's coming, and boy 9 00:00:36,880 --> 00:00:39,440 Speaker 1: do we have some big things coming. Stay tuned now. 10 00:00:39,440 --> 00:00:42,880 Speaker 1: You all saw that Blue Origin space capsule that went 11 00:00:42,960 --> 00:00:45,440 Speaker 1: up to the edge of space with an all female crew. 12 00:00:45,800 --> 00:00:49,080 Speaker 1: They got some insane media coverage and the whole flight 13 00:00:49,159 --> 00:00:52,480 Speaker 1: was eleven minutes long. Hillary Clinton and Kamala Harris, of course, 14 00:00:52,520 --> 00:00:55,520 Speaker 1: were the first women to run for president. They were lauded. 15 00:00:55,880 --> 00:00:58,560 Speaker 1: But do you know who the first woman in the 16 00:00:58,720 --> 00:01:01,720 Speaker 1: history of broadcasts you found and lead her own cable 17 00:01:01,760 --> 00:01:06,240 Speaker 1: network was. If you're thinking Oprah, you're wrong. She did 18 00:01:06,280 --> 00:01:10,399 Speaker 1: it long before Oprah in nineteen eighty one. And she 19 00:01:10,640 --> 00:01:15,560 Speaker 1: was a nun, This nun mother Mary Angelica. So many 20 00:01:15,560 --> 00:01:18,080 Speaker 1: people have seen her reruns. You might have run across 21 00:01:18,080 --> 00:01:21,160 Speaker 1: her on the Eternal Word television network, which she founded, 22 00:01:21,440 --> 00:01:25,800 Speaker 1: the largest religious media empire on the planet. But despite 23 00:01:25,840 --> 00:01:30,640 Speaker 1: your familiarity with her, her story almost dwarfs her accomplishments. 24 00:01:30,959 --> 00:01:33,039 Speaker 1: In this episode, I'm going to tell you about the 25 00:01:33,080 --> 00:01:37,120 Speaker 1: many miracles that surfaced in her life, how she accomplished 26 00:01:37,200 --> 00:01:41,480 Speaker 1: her mighty mission, and how you can incorporate her secrets 27 00:01:41,520 --> 00:01:44,960 Speaker 1: of success into your own life. Now, Mother Mary Angelica 28 00:01:45,040 --> 00:01:47,280 Speaker 1: is not somebody I read about in a few books 29 00:01:47,319 --> 00:01:50,279 Speaker 1: and decided to do a show on. I literally wrote 30 00:01:50,280 --> 00:01:53,320 Speaker 1: the book or books, as the case may be, on 31 00:01:53,400 --> 00:01:57,160 Speaker 1: her life, her biography, Mother Angelica, the remarkable story of 32 00:01:57,200 --> 00:01:59,440 Speaker 1: a nun, her nerve, and a network of miracles. I 33 00:01:59,680 --> 00:02:02,960 Speaker 1: edited three books of her wisdom and her prayers, and 34 00:02:03,000 --> 00:02:05,880 Speaker 1: I wrote the final word on her life, her Grand Silence, 35 00:02:05,960 --> 00:02:09,680 Speaker 1: The Last Years and living Legacy of Mother Angelica. She 36 00:02:09,800 --> 00:02:13,519 Speaker 1: was also a beloved mentor, a friend of mine. Her 37 00:02:13,520 --> 00:02:16,760 Speaker 1: birthday falls on April twentieth, and she left us on 38 00:02:16,800 --> 00:02:20,840 Speaker 1: the eve of Easter in twenty sixteen. So I thought 39 00:02:20,880 --> 00:02:25,280 Speaker 1: this would be the perfect Easter episode. It's inspiring, it's uplifting, 40 00:02:25,760 --> 00:02:28,799 Speaker 1: and I think it'll change your life. So stay with it. 41 00:02:28,960 --> 00:02:32,280 Speaker 1: As I was collecting material for the biography of Mother Angelica. 42 00:02:32,560 --> 00:02:35,960 Speaker 1: I'll never forget a cardinal in Rome without solicitation. At 43 00:02:35,960 --> 00:02:39,200 Speaker 1: a dinner, shared the following story with me, and though 44 00:02:39,240 --> 00:02:42,359 Speaker 1: it's now an impossibility, this is what he said, he said, 45 00:02:42,440 --> 00:02:46,200 Speaker 1: John Paul. The second, Mother Teresa and Mother Angelica die 46 00:02:46,240 --> 00:02:49,919 Speaker 1: on the same day, but their mansions were still under construction. 47 00:02:50,040 --> 00:02:52,040 Speaker 1: So Saint Peter said, look, I hate to do this 48 00:02:52,080 --> 00:02:55,400 Speaker 1: to you three, but I have a little problem. We 49 00:02:55,480 --> 00:02:58,359 Speaker 1: just don't have the occupancy yet. We're building your mansions 50 00:02:58,360 --> 00:03:00,800 Speaker 1: and they're really big. They're taking extra time and staff, 51 00:03:01,120 --> 00:03:03,360 Speaker 1: so we're going to send you all to Hell, which 52 00:03:03,360 --> 00:03:07,800 Speaker 1: they did well. About two days later, Satan comes banging 53 00:03:07,840 --> 00:03:10,880 Speaker 1: on the pearly gates. Hey, Peter, get over here, come here, 54 00:03:10,880 --> 00:03:13,519 Speaker 1: come here. We got problems downstairs. He said, Well, what's 55 00:03:13,560 --> 00:03:16,240 Speaker 1: the problem, he said, Well, this John Paul is second. 56 00:03:17,080 --> 00:03:20,280 Speaker 1: I'm losing clients hand over fist. Every time somebody arrives, 57 00:03:20,400 --> 00:03:23,520 Speaker 1: he forgives them and shoe. They're out of there. And 58 00:03:23,240 --> 00:03:25,840 Speaker 1: then you got this Mother Teresa. Every time I hit 59 00:03:25,880 --> 00:03:28,720 Speaker 1: somebody with a boil, she heals them. I cut their 60 00:03:28,720 --> 00:03:31,240 Speaker 1: head off, she puts it back on. This woman's nothing 61 00:03:31,240 --> 00:03:35,400 Speaker 1: but trouble. But this Angelica, she's the worst, Satan says, 62 00:03:36,000 --> 00:03:38,640 Speaker 1: and Saint Peter says, well, what is she doing. She's 63 00:03:38,720 --> 00:03:42,440 Speaker 1: taken up a collection, she's installed central cooling. Get her 64 00:03:42,480 --> 00:03:46,760 Speaker 1: out of here. Now, that's kind of a cute, funny story, 65 00:03:47,000 --> 00:03:51,000 Speaker 1: but it's also grossly reductive. Now, some would prefer to 66 00:03:51,040 --> 00:03:54,480 Speaker 1: have us believe that caricature of this nun and file 67 00:03:54,600 --> 00:03:58,040 Speaker 1: mother Angelica Away is really nothing more than a good fundraiser, 68 00:03:58,360 --> 00:04:01,920 Speaker 1: But I think they're missing the point. In reality, Angelica 69 00:04:02,120 --> 00:04:05,680 Speaker 1: was a determined visionary, a simple woman with a broken 70 00:04:05,720 --> 00:04:09,160 Speaker 1: heart and a shattered body called to do great things. 71 00:04:09,720 --> 00:04:13,760 Speaker 1: She was an unlikely spiritual leader and innovator, a true believer, 72 00:04:14,240 --> 00:04:18,040 Speaker 1: and I think an inspiring example for all of us. 73 00:04:18,640 --> 00:04:22,039 Speaker 1: Many puzzle over her success. How did this woman of 74 00:04:22,080 --> 00:04:25,320 Speaker 1: all people become the founder and leading light of what 75 00:04:25,480 --> 00:04:29,960 Speaker 1: is today the largest religious media empire on the planet, 76 00:04:30,279 --> 00:04:33,919 Speaker 1: reaching more than one hundred million households on TV alone. 77 00:04:34,000 --> 00:04:37,400 Speaker 1: How did she become the first woman in the history 78 00:04:37,720 --> 00:04:41,520 Speaker 1: a broadcast to found not only a non for profit 79 00:04:41,680 --> 00:04:47,359 Speaker 1: television station, but she became the standard, the standard bearer 80 00:04:47,480 --> 00:04:51,240 Speaker 1: of traditional Catholicism. I can tell you this much She 81 00:04:51,279 --> 00:04:55,760 Speaker 1: didn't plan any of it. Mother didn't plan anything at all. Actually, 82 00:04:56,120 --> 00:04:59,360 Speaker 1: she relied on providence to be her guide. I'm getting 83 00:04:59,360 --> 00:05:01,919 Speaker 1: a little ahead of my But on the surface, she 84 00:05:02,040 --> 00:05:05,520 Speaker 1: was nothing special. She was plain looking on the plump side, 85 00:05:05,680 --> 00:05:09,239 Speaker 1: not especially brilliant. She was born in a crime ridden 86 00:05:09,320 --> 00:05:13,279 Speaker 1: Italian ghetto in Ohio in nineteen twenty three, a place 87 00:05:13,360 --> 00:05:16,839 Speaker 1: better known for its prostitutes and mafia slayings than its saints. 88 00:05:17,520 --> 00:05:21,520 Speaker 1: Rita Rizzo came into the world unwelcomed and unwanted, at 89 00:05:21,600 --> 00:05:24,719 Speaker 1: least by her father. I discovered that when her dad, 90 00:05:24,839 --> 00:05:28,679 Speaker 1: John Rizzo, learned of his daughter's coming, he flew into 91 00:05:28,720 --> 00:05:32,599 Speaker 1: a rage, and he physically assaulted his wife. Before she 92 00:05:32,920 --> 00:05:38,120 Speaker 1: ever arrived, Rita had already been rejected, but that rejection 93 00:05:38,720 --> 00:05:43,680 Speaker 1: and the hard circumstances of her unstable family life created 94 00:05:43,720 --> 00:05:47,520 Speaker 1: a fusion that would produce the woman who would later 95 00:05:47,600 --> 00:05:51,600 Speaker 1: become Mother Angelica. Long before I began this project, by 96 00:05:51,600 --> 00:05:54,520 Speaker 1: the way, I was struck by the unlikeliness of this 97 00:05:54,880 --> 00:05:57,920 Speaker 1: woman as a leader. She had everything going against her. 98 00:05:58,000 --> 00:06:01,280 Speaker 1: She was poor her formal education and stopped at high school. 99 00:06:01,640 --> 00:06:05,839 Speaker 1: She failed her junior year. She had an emotionally unstable 100 00:06:05,960 --> 00:06:11,120 Speaker 1: and suicidal mother, a nervous condition, stomach problems. No betting 101 00:06:11,200 --> 00:06:16,040 Speaker 1: man would have placed money on this woman succeeding. But oddly, 102 00:06:16,920 --> 00:06:21,840 Speaker 1: it was the pain, the physical setbacks that really illuminated 103 00:06:21,839 --> 00:06:24,920 Speaker 1: her path and showed her the way, which is one 104 00:06:24,920 --> 00:06:27,680 Speaker 1: of the first lessons of Mother Angelica's life. One of 105 00:06:27,720 --> 00:06:31,839 Speaker 1: the lessons it reveals perverse as it sounds, stay with me. 106 00:06:32,720 --> 00:06:38,280 Speaker 1: Pain can be instructive, it can be useful and at 107 00:06:38,279 --> 00:06:42,160 Speaker 1: times very powerful. The sting of pain was present from 108 00:06:42,200 --> 00:06:46,200 Speaker 1: the beginning in Rita's life, like a watchful friend. Early on, 109 00:06:46,240 --> 00:06:50,400 Speaker 1: she experienced a heartache common to too many women. At five, 110 00:06:51,040 --> 00:06:53,919 Speaker 1: Rita and her mother were abandoned by her father and 111 00:06:54,000 --> 00:06:58,760 Speaker 1: left to fend for themselves. Well, Rita's nerves produced stomach abnormalities, 112 00:06:59,120 --> 00:07:01,680 Speaker 1: and they took her to and they could never figure 113 00:07:01,720 --> 00:07:04,960 Speaker 1: out what was going on. She was diagnosed with something 114 00:07:05,000 --> 00:07:09,320 Speaker 1: called potosis of the stomach. It was impossible for her 115 00:07:09,320 --> 00:07:13,640 Speaker 1: to keep food down, so, searching for relief, Rita's mother 116 00:07:14,080 --> 00:07:18,000 Speaker 1: takes her to the home of a local mystic in Canton, Ohio, 117 00:07:18,480 --> 00:07:22,920 Speaker 1: a woman named Rhoda Wise. She was a stigmatic who 118 00:07:22,960 --> 00:07:26,600 Speaker 1: claimed to have had visions of Jesus and the saints 119 00:07:26,600 --> 00:07:30,840 Speaker 1: and even conversed with them. She would suffer Christ's passion 120 00:07:31,480 --> 00:07:34,160 Speaker 1: on Fridays. Now this is bizarre. When I saw these images, 121 00:07:34,160 --> 00:07:37,520 Speaker 1: I thought, what is this? But she would bleed profusely 122 00:07:37,600 --> 00:07:41,200 Speaker 1: from her head, her hands, and her feet on Fridays, 123 00:07:41,840 --> 00:07:46,160 Speaker 1: and the local papers attributed healing powers to this woman. 124 00:07:47,120 --> 00:07:50,040 Speaker 1: Thousands of people would stand outside her house. I mean, 125 00:07:50,440 --> 00:07:52,960 Speaker 1: there are lots of local reportage of this stuff at 126 00:07:52,960 --> 00:07:58,040 Speaker 1: the time. Well, when Rita came to missus Wise, the 127 00:07:58,200 --> 00:08:03,040 Speaker 1: Stigmatic merely instructed Rita to pray a novena nine days 128 00:08:03,040 --> 00:08:05,720 Speaker 1: of prayer to Saint Teres for a cure. That's all 129 00:08:05,760 --> 00:08:07,360 Speaker 1: she did, gave her a prayer card and sent her 130 00:08:07,400 --> 00:08:12,080 Speaker 1: on her way. Nine days later, little Rita wakes up 131 00:08:12,120 --> 00:08:16,040 Speaker 1: with the feeling that her stomach had been cured, and 132 00:08:16,080 --> 00:08:19,480 Speaker 1: indeed it had been. It was the pivotal event that 133 00:08:19,600 --> 00:08:25,000 Speaker 1: revealed God's love for it was for her miraculous. For 134 00:08:25,040 --> 00:08:27,360 Speaker 1: the first time in her life, she knew she had 135 00:08:27,400 --> 00:08:30,000 Speaker 1: a father in heaven, if not on earth, who was 136 00:08:30,080 --> 00:08:34,720 Speaker 1: concerned about her future and her life. Shortly thereafter, she 137 00:08:34,800 --> 00:08:38,080 Speaker 1: fell in love with God and she entered religious life. 138 00:08:38,240 --> 00:08:41,800 Speaker 1: Now I mentioned Rhodea Wise, the stigmatic, the mystic for 139 00:08:41,840 --> 00:08:44,920 Speaker 1: a couple of reasons. She was the first person to 140 00:08:45,000 --> 00:08:50,640 Speaker 1: show Mother Angelica that pain could redeem, that pain was 141 00:08:50,679 --> 00:08:54,600 Speaker 1: sometimes sent by God to his beloved ones, and that 142 00:08:54,720 --> 00:09:00,480 Speaker 1: suffering offered up to God could produce astounding results. Just 143 00:09:00,720 --> 00:09:07,200 Speaker 1: as importantly, rode Wise's supernatural sufferings made Christ's passion real. 144 00:09:07,600 --> 00:09:11,280 Speaker 1: For Rita, rode Wise's life was proof that Jesus wasn't 145 00:09:11,280 --> 00:09:14,160 Speaker 1: a concept or a theory or a picture on the wall, 146 00:09:14,559 --> 00:09:19,480 Speaker 1: but a living God, a real person who manifested himself 147 00:09:19,679 --> 00:09:24,760 Speaker 1: through lives in real time today, and Rita would never 148 00:09:24,840 --> 00:09:28,440 Speaker 1: forget that lesson. She learned to love God in a 149 00:09:28,520 --> 00:09:31,240 Speaker 1: radical way, and look, it is a radical path. She 150 00:09:31,360 --> 00:09:35,760 Speaker 1: trusted him completely, allowing his providence to take her to 151 00:09:35,840 --> 00:09:40,640 Speaker 1: places she could not have imagined, uncomfortable places, places she 152 00:09:40,679 --> 00:09:44,000 Speaker 1: didn't necessarily always want to go. You know, Mother never 153 00:09:44,000 --> 00:09:46,520 Speaker 1: intended to start a television network, that's for sure. She 154 00:09:46,640 --> 00:09:50,679 Speaker 1: often said, everything evolved. I mean, isn't that how it 155 00:09:50,720 --> 00:09:53,440 Speaker 1: always happens? Everything evolves. Let me tell you how the 156 00:09:53,520 --> 00:09:57,600 Speaker 1: network began, and really how she was set on the 157 00:09:57,640 --> 00:10:03,360 Speaker 1: path to create what became this enormous religious Empire in 158 00:10:03,400 --> 00:10:07,960 Speaker 1: the media. In the early nineteen fifties, Sister Angelica was 159 00:10:08,000 --> 00:10:12,720 Speaker 1: mopping a monastery hallway when she slipped, aggravating a birth 160 00:10:12,840 --> 00:10:16,040 Speaker 1: defect in her back and surgery was needed. Well the 161 00:10:16,160 --> 00:10:19,360 Speaker 1: night before the operation, the doctor came in and he said, look, 162 00:10:19,679 --> 00:10:22,040 Speaker 1: you've got a fifty to fifty chance of walking again. 163 00:10:23,120 --> 00:10:27,920 Speaker 1: Good night. So when he left, she made a desperate 164 00:10:27,920 --> 00:10:31,120 Speaker 1: deal with God. She said, if you let me walk again, 165 00:10:31,880 --> 00:10:35,600 Speaker 1: I will build you a monastery in the South. Now 166 00:10:35,640 --> 00:10:39,160 Speaker 1: why she chose the South had been a mystery for decades. 167 00:10:39,480 --> 00:10:42,160 Speaker 1: I cracked it. It's in the biography of Mother Angelica, 168 00:10:42,200 --> 00:10:44,920 Speaker 1: but I'll tell you about that another time. Anyway, she 169 00:10:45,000 --> 00:10:47,959 Speaker 1: did walk again with the aid of crutches and a 170 00:10:48,040 --> 00:10:51,000 Speaker 1: back and a leg brace, leading her to comment later, 171 00:10:51,679 --> 00:10:55,600 Speaker 1: when you make a deal with God, be very specific, 172 00:10:56,320 --> 00:11:01,560 Speaker 1: and that's good advice. Mother eventually built the monastery in 173 00:11:01,640 --> 00:11:07,160 Speaker 1: the buckle of the Bible Belt Birmingham, Alabama, where Catholics 174 00:11:07,240 --> 00:11:11,079 Speaker 1: constituted about two percent of the populace. So to raise 175 00:11:11,160 --> 00:11:14,400 Speaker 1: funds and awareness for the community. In the early nineteen sixties, 176 00:11:14,600 --> 00:11:19,440 Speaker 1: the local bishop allowed Mother Angelica to visit churches in Birmingham. 177 00:11:19,800 --> 00:11:23,120 Speaker 1: Social groups just to raise awareness and introduce them to 178 00:11:23,200 --> 00:11:26,920 Speaker 1: the concept of a cloistered group of nuns who just 179 00:11:27,120 --> 00:11:29,960 Speaker 1: spent their lives in prayer, hidden away from the world. 180 00:11:30,280 --> 00:11:33,000 Speaker 1: So she gave lectures all over town and that led 181 00:11:33,040 --> 00:11:37,160 Speaker 1: to a Bible study in her monastery parlor for a 182 00:11:37,200 --> 00:11:41,400 Speaker 1: group of Episcopalian ladies initially, and they encouraged her to 183 00:11:41,400 --> 00:11:44,960 Speaker 1: write mini books to capture some of her wisdom and 184 00:11:45,040 --> 00:11:47,720 Speaker 1: guidance on the spiritual life. So she wrote these little 185 00:11:47,720 --> 00:11:49,520 Speaker 1: mini books. She would just write them in her chapel. 186 00:11:49,760 --> 00:11:53,840 Speaker 1: They were maybe twenty thirty pages apiece. And from there 187 00:11:54,280 --> 00:11:57,760 Speaker 1: she was invited to speak to charismatic gatherings and other 188 00:11:57,840 --> 00:12:01,160 Speaker 1: conferences all over the country. She was captivating, i have 189 00:12:01,200 --> 00:12:04,080 Speaker 1: to say, and a lot of fun. And the ladies 190 00:12:04,080 --> 00:12:06,200 Speaker 1: in the group and the people she was speaking to 191 00:12:06,360 --> 00:12:10,320 Speaker 1: said you've got to record this for television. Mother. Well, 192 00:12:10,800 --> 00:12:13,720 Speaker 1: she decided to do just that. She did a series 193 00:12:13,720 --> 00:12:16,920 Speaker 1: for CBN. Pat Robertson invited her to do a series 194 00:12:16,960 --> 00:12:19,800 Speaker 1: on the Bible, really her just flipping through the gospels 195 00:12:19,800 --> 00:12:22,720 Speaker 1: and riffing on them if you will. Well, it was 196 00:12:22,800 --> 00:12:26,520 Speaker 1: while shooting her second series it was called in His 197 00:12:26,760 --> 00:12:31,360 Speaker 1: Sandals for CBN that she became aware of a CBS 198 00:12:31,400 --> 00:12:35,160 Speaker 1: mini series entitled The Word. Now, the Word was based 199 00:12:35,160 --> 00:12:37,680 Speaker 1: on an Irving Wallace novel by the same name, and 200 00:12:37,720 --> 00:12:41,199 Speaker 1: the story contended that an ancient scroll had been discovered 201 00:12:41,240 --> 00:12:46,160 Speaker 1: which proved that Jesus was a fraud. Well, let's say 202 00:12:46,200 --> 00:12:49,560 Speaker 1: Mother was a little perturbed by that idea, and then 203 00:12:49,600 --> 00:12:53,640 Speaker 1: she realized that she was shooting her series at the 204 00:12:53,679 --> 00:13:00,239 Speaker 1: Birmingham CBS affiliate. Well, she decided to stand her ground 205 00:13:00,360 --> 00:13:03,480 Speaker 1: and go make a fuss about this miniseries. So she 206 00:13:03,559 --> 00:13:06,720 Speaker 1: marched into the studio demanded to see the manager, a 207 00:13:06,720 --> 00:13:10,319 Speaker 1: guy named Hugh Smith. I interviewed him for the biography. Well, 208 00:13:10,320 --> 00:13:13,240 Speaker 1: this poor country selicme's waddling out and he says, now, Mother, 209 00:13:13,320 --> 00:13:16,600 Speaker 1: calmed down, calm down, what's up? What's going on? And 210 00:13:16,640 --> 00:13:19,000 Speaker 1: she says, your network is going to show a movie 211 00:13:19,120 --> 00:13:22,720 Speaker 1: called The Word and it is blasphemous to our lord. 212 00:13:23,480 --> 00:13:26,080 Speaker 1: And he says, I haven't heard anything about it, mother, 213 00:13:26,400 --> 00:13:29,880 Speaker 1: And she says, I don't care what you've heard. There 214 00:13:29,960 --> 00:13:32,600 Speaker 1: is no way I'm going to do this show here 215 00:13:32,960 --> 00:13:36,440 Speaker 1: if you continue to air that mini series. And poor 216 00:13:36,520 --> 00:13:39,240 Speaker 1: Hughes Smith says, well, we've had no complaints. Mother, you're 217 00:13:39,480 --> 00:13:43,040 Speaker 1: calm down. Nobody else is complaining about this, and she said, 218 00:13:43,280 --> 00:13:46,880 Speaker 1: it's going to confuse the people. And he said, are 219 00:13:46,920 --> 00:13:50,680 Speaker 1: you telling me how to run my station? She said no, 220 00:13:51,080 --> 00:13:53,640 Speaker 1: I think you have crimey programs, but I've never told 221 00:13:53,679 --> 00:13:57,160 Speaker 1: you how to run your station. But this is blasphemy. Well, 222 00:13:57,160 --> 00:14:00,120 Speaker 1: now her arms are crossed, her eyes are narrow, and 223 00:14:00,160 --> 00:14:04,360 Speaker 1: she asks him, are you a Christian? He said, yes, ma'am, 224 00:14:04,760 --> 00:14:07,280 Speaker 1: But do you think God cares what we air down 225 00:14:07,280 --> 00:14:11,000 Speaker 1: here at the Birmingham CBS affiliate. And she said, yes, 226 00:14:11,120 --> 00:14:14,080 Speaker 1: he cares, and I care. And if you air this thing, 227 00:14:14,320 --> 00:14:16,600 Speaker 1: I will no longer record my programs here and you 228 00:14:16,600 --> 00:14:20,680 Speaker 1: won't be able to broadcast them on this network. Well, 229 00:14:22,080 --> 00:14:26,239 Speaker 1: he said, lady, you leave here and you're off television. 230 00:14:26,600 --> 00:14:30,480 Speaker 1: You need us. She said, I don't need you. I 231 00:14:30,520 --> 00:14:34,200 Speaker 1: only need God. I'll buy my own cameras and build 232 00:14:34,200 --> 00:14:38,480 Speaker 1: my own studio. He said you can't do that. She said, 233 00:14:38,560 --> 00:14:42,000 Speaker 1: you just watch me, And with that she gathered up 234 00:14:42,000 --> 00:14:45,000 Speaker 1: her set pieces or rocking chair or bible, threw them 235 00:14:45,000 --> 00:14:48,320 Speaker 1: in the back of an Impala and she drove home. Well, 236 00:14:48,360 --> 00:14:51,000 Speaker 1: when she got there, she had to admit that Smith 237 00:14:51,160 --> 00:14:53,560 Speaker 1: was probably right. She didn't know where she was going 238 00:14:53,560 --> 00:14:56,440 Speaker 1: to shoot her program, and this was probably the end 239 00:14:56,520 --> 00:15:00,280 Speaker 1: of her television career. But I love this about not 240 00:15:00,360 --> 00:15:04,760 Speaker 1: only her story, but Mother herself, because it demonstrates Mother 241 00:15:04,800 --> 00:15:09,480 Speaker 1: Angelica's total trust in God, who, in her case, took 242 00:15:09,600 --> 00:15:13,960 Speaker 1: even her failures and turned them into something wonderful. Mother 243 00:15:14,040 --> 00:15:18,320 Speaker 1: was always receptive to God's promptings, and at that point, 244 00:15:18,360 --> 00:15:22,640 Speaker 1: the sisters reminded her her nuns of the uncompleted garage 245 00:15:22,760 --> 00:15:26,280 Speaker 1: in the monastery backyard, so she went out there. They 246 00:15:26,280 --> 00:15:29,680 Speaker 1: were still laying the foundation, and she instructed the builder 247 00:15:29,720 --> 00:15:34,200 Speaker 1: to expand his design and build her a TV studio there. 248 00:15:35,240 --> 00:15:38,200 Speaker 1: It is interesting, however, that when she got around to 249 00:15:38,360 --> 00:15:41,680 Speaker 1: naming her network, you know, she named it the Eternal 250 00:15:41,720 --> 00:15:46,880 Speaker 1: word Television network, almost as a protest against that miniseries, 251 00:15:47,200 --> 00:15:49,760 Speaker 1: the word that was the catalyst for the whole thing. 252 00:15:50,080 --> 00:15:53,440 Speaker 1: But the moral of the story is this, sometimes standing 253 00:15:53,440 --> 00:15:57,080 Speaker 1: on principle and risking everything is the only way to 254 00:15:57,160 --> 00:16:02,280 Speaker 1: realize what God intends for you. Mother Angelica was fifty 255 00:16:02,440 --> 00:16:06,400 Speaker 1: eight years old when she took the church and her 256 00:16:06,480 --> 00:16:10,440 Speaker 1: monastery into cable television, a woman with a bloate at 257 00:16:10,480 --> 00:16:15,360 Speaker 1: heart diabetes, a twisted spine, a lame leg, and literally 258 00:16:15,880 --> 00:16:20,200 Speaker 1: two hundred dollars in the bank. Still she went forward. 259 00:16:20,840 --> 00:16:22,880 Speaker 1: When I asked her about this time, she said, the 260 00:16:23,000 --> 00:16:25,720 Speaker 1: need we have for assurance and the absolute lack of 261 00:16:25,800 --> 00:16:29,760 Speaker 1: willingness to take a risk for God is appalling to me. 262 00:16:30,440 --> 00:16:32,840 Speaker 1: She said, I'm sure our Lord asked a lot of 263 00:16:32,840 --> 00:16:35,200 Speaker 1: people to build a network. There has to be a 264 00:16:35,240 --> 00:16:38,320 Speaker 1: reason that he chose a few nuns who didn't know anything, 265 00:16:38,360 --> 00:16:40,800 Speaker 1: in the wrong state of life with no money. Because 266 00:16:40,840 --> 00:16:44,520 Speaker 1: it goes against reason. Some people say I'm a woman 267 00:16:44,560 --> 00:16:49,080 Speaker 1: of great faith. I'm really a coward who keeps moving forward. 268 00:16:49,280 --> 00:16:53,720 Speaker 2: She told me questioned, Nuns in television is without question, 269 00:16:53,920 --> 00:16:56,880 Speaker 2: one of the most ridiculous things that could have ever happened. 270 00:16:57,400 --> 00:17:01,040 Speaker 2: It just evolved. When I went to China thirty eight 271 00:17:01,120 --> 00:17:05,920 Speaker 2: in Chicago, I walked in that little, tiny, tiny studio 272 00:17:06,040 --> 00:17:08,639 Speaker 2: that I had never seen a studio or TV studio before. 273 00:17:09,280 --> 00:17:13,080 Speaker 2: We had already been publicizing books for a couple of years, 274 00:17:13,560 --> 00:17:16,560 Speaker 2: reaching a lot of people. I remember standing in the 275 00:17:16,640 --> 00:17:21,160 Speaker 2: doorway and saying, it doesn't take much to reach the masses, 276 00:17:21,200 --> 00:17:22,560 Speaker 2: And I said, Lord. 277 00:17:23,200 --> 00:17:24,600 Speaker 3: I've got to have one of these. 278 00:17:25,160 --> 00:17:28,040 Speaker 1: And I thought after I said that what would you 279 00:17:28,119 --> 00:17:28,480 Speaker 1: do with it? 280 00:17:28,560 --> 00:17:28,919 Speaker 4: Dummy? 281 00:17:28,960 --> 00:17:30,840 Speaker 2: You know, what would you do with something like this? 282 00:17:31,000 --> 00:17:33,560 Speaker 2: But I got this in my mind. I couldn't get 283 00:17:33,560 --> 00:17:33,840 Speaker 2: it out. 284 00:17:34,440 --> 00:17:39,240 Speaker 1: Mother practiced what she called a theology of risk. Mother 285 00:17:39,320 --> 00:17:42,400 Speaker 1: never hesitated. When she felt God was calling her to something, 286 00:17:42,520 --> 00:17:45,200 Speaker 1: leading her to something, she ran after it. So many 287 00:17:45,200 --> 00:17:48,440 Speaker 1: of us worry, what are people going to think? We 288 00:17:48,560 --> 00:17:52,520 Speaker 1: become hamstrung by the possibility of failure, so we stay 289 00:17:52,840 --> 00:17:56,280 Speaker 1: right where we are, regardless of what we're being inspired 290 00:17:56,320 --> 00:17:59,720 Speaker 1: to do. A call to do and Mother used to say, 291 00:18:00,080 --> 00:18:03,359 Speaker 1: God is looking for Dodos. There are lots of people 292 00:18:03,640 --> 00:18:05,760 Speaker 1: out there who know it can't be done, so they 293 00:18:05,800 --> 00:18:09,359 Speaker 1: don't do it. But a Dodo doesn't know it can't 294 00:18:09,400 --> 00:18:15,280 Speaker 1: be done. God uses Dodos, and I'm a Dodo. She said, Okay, 295 00:18:15,359 --> 00:18:18,200 Speaker 1: here's a quick Dodo story. I love this story. It's amazing. 296 00:18:19,240 --> 00:18:22,160 Speaker 1: When Mother Angelica needed to purchase her first satellite dish 297 00:18:22,160 --> 00:18:26,879 Speaker 1: in nineteen eighty one, she called an RCA executive. Okay, 298 00:18:27,400 --> 00:18:29,960 Speaker 1: and I interviewed this man when I was working on 299 00:18:30,040 --> 00:18:33,479 Speaker 1: the biography. She went down the phone book and there 300 00:18:33,520 --> 00:18:36,480 Speaker 1: was only one manufacturer at the time building these enormous 301 00:18:36,520 --> 00:18:39,240 Speaker 1: satellite discs that you needed if you were going to 302 00:18:39,280 --> 00:18:42,480 Speaker 1: broadcast a signal into the skies, into space and then 303 00:18:42,640 --> 00:18:45,640 Speaker 1: they go back down to your homes. And those satellites 304 00:18:45,720 --> 00:18:50,720 Speaker 1: at the time were about two million dollars plus. She 305 00:18:50,960 --> 00:18:52,760 Speaker 1: calls this guy and she went down the list. She 306 00:18:52,840 --> 00:18:55,679 Speaker 1: was looking for any vice president whose name ended in A, 307 00:18:56,280 --> 00:18:58,680 Speaker 1: I or O. She was looking for an Italian whose 308 00:18:58,760 --> 00:19:00,840 Speaker 1: arms she could twist like the guy in the neighborhood. 309 00:19:01,119 --> 00:19:05,159 Speaker 1: So anyway, she finally gets this RCAA vice president on 310 00:19:05,200 --> 00:19:08,879 Speaker 1: the phone. I interviewed the poor man. He said, talking 311 00:19:08,920 --> 00:19:12,400 Speaker 1: to Mother Angelica was like going nine rounds with Joe Frasier. 312 00:19:13,200 --> 00:19:15,159 Speaker 1: You know. She kept coming at you. And she said, hello, 313 00:19:15,960 --> 00:19:18,760 Speaker 1: this is Mother Angelica. I need one of those satellites 314 00:19:18,800 --> 00:19:21,840 Speaker 1: you sell it. And he's like, who is this? She said, 315 00:19:22,000 --> 00:19:25,000 Speaker 1: a Mother Angelica. I'm down in Birmingham, Alabama. I've got 316 00:19:25,000 --> 00:19:28,879 Speaker 1: this said network. I'm I bring Catholic Network, Religious Network. 317 00:19:28,880 --> 00:19:31,199 Speaker 1: We're gonna bring hope to people. But I need one 318 00:19:31,240 --> 00:19:34,320 Speaker 1: of your satellites. And he said, well, do you have 319 00:19:34,359 --> 00:19:36,920 Speaker 1: two point five million dollars that's the cost of the satellite. 320 00:19:37,160 --> 00:19:40,360 Speaker 1: She said, well, sweetheart, that's why I'm calling you. Well, 321 00:19:40,400 --> 00:19:42,399 Speaker 1: this went back and forth for a while. Finally the 322 00:19:42,440 --> 00:19:45,000 Speaker 1: guy after I think he was just bullied and beaten. 323 00:19:45,240 --> 00:19:47,679 Speaker 1: He said, look, lo, lord, I can't just give you 324 00:19:47,680 --> 00:19:50,639 Speaker 1: the satellite, but what I can do is order it 325 00:19:50,680 --> 00:19:53,560 Speaker 1: for you, and if you can make a down payment 326 00:19:53,600 --> 00:19:57,360 Speaker 1: at the time of delivery of six hundred thousand dollars, 327 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:00,159 Speaker 1: then they'll unload the equipment. But unless you give the 328 00:20:00,200 --> 00:20:02,879 Speaker 1: man a certified check for six hundred thousand dollars, not 329 00:20:02,920 --> 00:20:05,960 Speaker 1: a piece of equipment comes up the truck. Do you understand, Yes, sir, 330 00:20:06,359 --> 00:20:08,080 Speaker 1: do you think you can get that kind of money? 331 00:20:08,359 --> 00:20:10,440 Speaker 1: The Lord has all the money in the world. God 332 00:20:10,440 --> 00:20:13,760 Speaker 1: bless you. She hangs up the phone. Well, three weeks later, 333 00:20:14,080 --> 00:20:16,960 Speaker 1: here comes the two flat beds with all the RCAA 334 00:20:17,160 --> 00:20:20,439 Speaker 1: satellite equipment on it, and she is beaming. She's like, 335 00:20:20,600 --> 00:20:23,119 Speaker 1: you know, a mother waiting for her child. She's excited, 336 00:20:23,160 --> 00:20:25,439 Speaker 1: and the nuns are there just to paint the picture. 337 00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:30,040 Speaker 1: These are a group of nuns in Birmingham, Alabama. Irondale, Alabama, 338 00:20:30,080 --> 00:20:33,200 Speaker 1: probably best known for Fanny Flag books. You know, the 339 00:20:33,520 --> 00:20:36,600 Speaker 1: Fried Green Tomato books. That's the same town where Mother 340 00:20:36,640 --> 00:20:39,920 Speaker 1: Angelica and her nuns live. But this is rustic. They're 341 00:20:39,960 --> 00:20:42,040 Speaker 1: on the side of a hill. You know. She's got 342 00:20:42,080 --> 00:20:44,919 Speaker 1: like a chain link fence with sheep and goats running 343 00:20:44,920 --> 00:20:46,880 Speaker 1: around and a chapel in the middle of the place. 344 00:20:47,000 --> 00:20:49,560 Speaker 1: That's it. There's nothing happening there. So here comes as 345 00:20:49,680 --> 00:20:53,000 Speaker 1: RCAA satellite and the man gets off and says, are 346 00:20:53,080 --> 00:20:55,640 Speaker 1: you mother, Angelica? We need you to sign for this. Well, 347 00:20:55,760 --> 00:20:57,760 Speaker 1: she goes to sign and he says, do you have 348 00:20:57,920 --> 00:21:00,119 Speaker 1: the check? It says you need a check for six 349 00:21:00,200 --> 00:21:03,520 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars before I can unload anything. And she goes, 350 00:21:03,520 --> 00:21:08,040 Speaker 1: wait right here. Mother takes her crutches and goes into 351 00:21:08,040 --> 00:21:11,040 Speaker 1: the chapel. She kneels. Now, you husbands will love this 352 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:13,000 Speaker 1: part of the story. She kneels down, and she looks 353 00:21:13,040 --> 00:21:17,280 Speaker 1: up at her spouse, the Lord and the blessed sacrament, 354 00:21:17,280 --> 00:21:23,760 Speaker 1: and she says, where your satellites outside? You wanted this thing, 355 00:21:23,800 --> 00:21:26,280 Speaker 1: you'd say I ordered it. Now the man, I guess 356 00:21:26,280 --> 00:21:30,720 Speaker 1: he's looking for payments. So this is your satellites, waited. 357 00:21:30,880 --> 00:21:32,680 Speaker 1: I don't need it, but you wanted it, so here 358 00:21:32,680 --> 00:21:35,679 Speaker 1: it is, and it's time to pay. I guess. She 359 00:21:35,720 --> 00:21:37,840 Speaker 1: expected the money to fall from the ceiling, which it 360 00:21:37,880 --> 00:21:41,199 Speaker 1: did not. Do by the way that day. But what 361 00:21:41,280 --> 00:21:44,280 Speaker 1: I love about this is when Mother Angelica reached a 362 00:21:44,320 --> 00:21:46,680 Speaker 1: brick wall. This is another great lesson from her life. 363 00:21:46,680 --> 00:21:49,439 Speaker 1: I watch this happen so many times. She would be 364 00:21:49,480 --> 00:21:52,320 Speaker 1: inspired to do something, but when she hit a brick wall, 365 00:21:52,320 --> 00:21:54,840 Speaker 1: as she did that day, she would drop it like 366 00:21:54,840 --> 00:21:57,720 Speaker 1: a hot rock, like it never happened. And in that moment, 367 00:21:57,880 --> 00:21:59,680 Speaker 1: she got up on her crutches. She walked out of 368 00:21:59,680 --> 00:22:03,160 Speaker 1: the chap and she was determined to turn the delivery 369 00:22:03,160 --> 00:22:07,600 Speaker 1: away because this must have been her inspiration, her will, 370 00:22:08,119 --> 00:22:11,399 Speaker 1: not God's. And as she was talking to the delivery man, 371 00:22:11,560 --> 00:22:13,879 Speaker 1: one of the nuns came running over from the monastery, 372 00:22:14,240 --> 00:22:16,760 Speaker 1: a woman named Sister Emmanuel. She's still there by the way, 373 00:22:17,160 --> 00:22:18,720 Speaker 1: and she said, Mother, there's a man on the phone. 374 00:22:18,760 --> 00:22:20,520 Speaker 1: It's an emergency. He really needs to talk to you. 375 00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:22,680 Speaker 1: He won't get off the phone. He's called us multiple times. 376 00:22:22,800 --> 00:22:25,000 Speaker 1: Could you please come talk to him. She said, Jesus, 377 00:22:25,080 --> 00:22:27,800 Speaker 1: Mary and Joseph's sister. I got big business here, and 378 00:22:27,840 --> 00:22:29,480 Speaker 1: she said, but I know that, but this man, he 379 00:22:29,480 --> 00:22:31,080 Speaker 1: won't get up the phone. He says it's an emergency, 380 00:22:31,119 --> 00:22:32,439 Speaker 1: he needs to talk to you. I'll only talk to 381 00:22:32,440 --> 00:22:35,560 Speaker 1: you okay, give me a second, sweetheart, she tells the 382 00:22:35,640 --> 00:22:38,480 Speaker 1: delivery man. She goes back into the monastery picks up 383 00:22:38,480 --> 00:22:43,000 Speaker 1: the phone. It's a guy calling from the Bahamas. He 384 00:22:43,040 --> 00:22:45,680 Speaker 1: had read her many books many years ago, remember those 385 00:22:45,680 --> 00:22:48,440 Speaker 1: from the seventies, Almost a decade ago. He had read 386 00:22:48,440 --> 00:22:50,920 Speaker 1: one of her many books. He had been inspired, converted, 387 00:22:51,040 --> 00:22:54,400 Speaker 1: changed his life, got off of drugs, reconciled with his family, 388 00:22:54,760 --> 00:22:57,000 Speaker 1: and for the last six months he had been trying 389 00:22:57,000 --> 00:22:59,640 Speaker 1: to get in touch with Mother Angelica because he wanted 390 00:22:59,680 --> 00:23:04,080 Speaker 1: to write a donation to her book ministry, a donation 391 00:23:04,240 --> 00:23:08,560 Speaker 1: of six hundred thousand dollars. Can you send it right now? 392 00:23:08,600 --> 00:23:12,240 Speaker 1: She said, well, that day, I didn't believe this story. 393 00:23:12,280 --> 00:23:13,960 Speaker 1: By the way, when I heard it, she went through 394 00:23:14,000 --> 00:23:16,520 Speaker 1: every bit of it. But I ended up going to 395 00:23:16,600 --> 00:23:20,080 Speaker 1: South Trust, which was the local bank at the time. 396 00:23:20,640 --> 00:23:23,280 Speaker 1: That was where she did her banking. I pulled the 397 00:23:23,320 --> 00:23:26,560 Speaker 1: records and there, in black and white was the six 398 00:23:26,640 --> 00:23:30,920 Speaker 1: hundred thousand dollars donation that the guy wired into account. 399 00:23:31,240 --> 00:23:34,440 Speaker 1: That was the down payment for the satellite that to 400 00:23:34,480 --> 00:23:40,399 Speaker 1: this moment broadcast EWTN in North and South America, and 401 00:23:40,480 --> 00:23:44,480 Speaker 1: a great testament to her faith to the very end 402 00:23:44,600 --> 00:23:45,560 Speaker 1: to the bitter end. 403 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:46,119 Speaker 4: You know. 404 00:23:46,160 --> 00:23:48,760 Speaker 1: Mother would always say God is good, but he's slow. 405 00:23:49,640 --> 00:23:53,359 Speaker 1: That's a good example of it. She continuously embraced that 406 00:23:53,680 --> 00:23:58,240 Speaker 1: next risk for God. Mother Angelica lived in what she 407 00:23:58,359 --> 00:24:02,200 Speaker 1: called the present moment. It is, I believe, one of 408 00:24:02,280 --> 00:24:05,600 Speaker 1: the main reasons for her success. She explained it to 409 00:24:05,640 --> 00:24:09,800 Speaker 1: me this way, what is God calling you to do now? 410 00:24:10,440 --> 00:24:15,040 Speaker 1: In this present moment, now, yesterday, tomorrow, right now. God's 411 00:24:15,080 --> 00:24:19,760 Speaker 1: will is manifested to us in the duties and experiences 412 00:24:19,800 --> 00:24:23,560 Speaker 1: of the present moment. We have only to accept them 413 00:24:23,800 --> 00:24:26,640 Speaker 1: and try to be like Jesus in them now. As 414 00:24:26,680 --> 00:24:29,800 Speaker 1: you can imagine, this spared her many a worry about 415 00:24:29,800 --> 00:24:32,720 Speaker 1: the future and allowed Angelica to go where angels feared 416 00:24:32,720 --> 00:24:35,800 Speaker 1: to tread. Oh, she went there too. Now. No one 417 00:24:35,840 --> 00:24:39,480 Speaker 1: saw Mother Angelica coming. She was a complete surprise. I mean, 418 00:24:40,000 --> 00:24:43,680 Speaker 1: had certain church officials realize what Mother Angelica and her 419 00:24:43,720 --> 00:24:47,720 Speaker 1: network would become, she might well have been ecclesial road 420 00:24:47,800 --> 00:24:50,240 Speaker 1: killed by the end of the first week. A man 421 00:24:50,320 --> 00:24:53,000 Speaker 1: they might have seen coming. But a woman, an aged 422 00:24:53,080 --> 00:24:56,600 Speaker 1: nun with a quick mouth and a grandmotherly manner, answerable 423 00:24:56,680 --> 00:25:01,560 Speaker 1: only to the Pope, completely surprised these guys They didn't 424 00:25:01,600 --> 00:25:03,880 Speaker 1: know what to do with her. She looked so harmless, 425 00:25:03,920 --> 00:25:07,240 Speaker 1: you know. Most of the church bureaucracy considered her a 426 00:25:07,400 --> 00:25:11,680 Speaker 1: rube who would quickly fail. But that too was part 427 00:25:11,720 --> 00:25:14,800 Speaker 1: of her success. They underestimated her. She was like God's 428 00:25:14,800 --> 00:25:19,560 Speaker 1: little trojan horse on crutches. It's always the simple ones 429 00:25:19,760 --> 00:25:23,719 Speaker 1: that God chooses, the humble. Former Pope Benedict the sixteenth 430 00:25:23,880 --> 00:25:26,960 Speaker 1: marvel at how God seems to call the little, the 431 00:25:27,080 --> 00:25:31,200 Speaker 1: simple to shape the culture and carry the truth into 432 00:25:31,240 --> 00:25:34,320 Speaker 1: our time. And Mother may well be one of those people, 433 00:25:35,040 --> 00:25:37,600 Speaker 1: you know. I was originally going to title her biography 434 00:25:37,800 --> 00:25:41,399 Speaker 1: to Confound the Wise The Unexpected Life of Mother Angelica 435 00:25:41,520 --> 00:25:44,480 Speaker 1: from that great line in Corinthians. God chooses the lowli 436 00:25:44,720 --> 00:25:49,200 Speaker 1: to confound the wise, and the weak to confound the strong. Unfortunately, 437 00:25:49,240 --> 00:25:52,600 Speaker 1: not everyone enjoys being confounded, which often put Mother on 438 00:25:52,640 --> 00:25:56,600 Speaker 1: a collision course with some in the hierarchy. She fell 439 00:25:56,640 --> 00:26:00,240 Speaker 1: into television in nineteen eighty one, a year before the 440 00:26:00,280 --> 00:26:06,000 Speaker 1: Bishop's Conference launched its own ill fated Catholic Telecommunications Network 441 00:26:06,040 --> 00:26:09,040 Speaker 1: of America, their own cable system. By the time the 442 00:26:09,040 --> 00:26:12,399 Speaker 1: bishops launched in nineteen eighty two, they found their planes 443 00:26:12,440 --> 00:26:17,200 Speaker 1: spoken streetwise, none had beaten them to the punch. Mother 444 00:26:17,280 --> 00:26:21,119 Speaker 1: was already an established on air presence, and she was 445 00:26:21,160 --> 00:26:26,040 Speaker 1: connecting with wide audiences across the country. Lacking viewers and 446 00:26:26,080 --> 00:26:32,920 Speaker 1: sufficient funds, the Bishop's network eventually dissolved divine providence anyone. 447 00:26:32,960 --> 00:26:37,360 Speaker 1: This partially explains why Mother Angelica had, shall we say, 448 00:26:37,400 --> 00:26:41,720 Speaker 1: a difficult relationship with the Bishop's Conference and certain bishops. 449 00:26:42,400 --> 00:26:45,800 Speaker 1: Then there was that tiny issue of orthodoxy. You see, Mother, 450 00:26:46,359 --> 00:26:50,000 Speaker 1: from the earliest days refused to air descent on her network, 451 00:26:50,400 --> 00:26:54,399 Speaker 1: no matter who that descent came from, including bishops. One 452 00:26:54,480 --> 00:26:56,800 Speaker 1: day in nineteen eighty eight, a priest who worked for 453 00:26:56,840 --> 00:26:59,960 Speaker 1: the Bishop's Conference called Mother to insist that she aired 454 00:27:00,200 --> 00:27:04,280 Speaker 1: interviews with any bishop who wished to be on her network, 455 00:27:04,800 --> 00:27:06,920 Speaker 1: regardless of their orthodoxy. 456 00:27:07,320 --> 00:27:10,080 Speaker 5: Why don't you air these people? And I said no, 457 00:27:12,160 --> 00:27:16,880 Speaker 5: and I don't think they're Catherine. He says, by what 458 00:27:17,040 --> 00:27:20,080 Speaker 5: right do you have to say that? 459 00:27:21,359 --> 00:27:31,560 Speaker 3: I said, I owned a network, and he said you 460 00:27:31,760 --> 00:27:37,600 Speaker 3: won't always be there, and I said, I'll blow the 461 00:27:37,720 --> 00:27:41,720 Speaker 3: damn thing up before you get your hands on it. 462 00:27:51,720 --> 00:27:55,359 Speaker 1: So they caught you on a good day, Yeah, a 463 00:27:55,480 --> 00:27:59,879 Speaker 1: good day. Now, some clergymen have criticized Mother Angelica. Pointing 464 00:27:59,880 --> 00:28:04,600 Speaker 1: to her brashness, her simplistic theology, some have called her 465 00:28:04,680 --> 00:28:08,560 Speaker 1: names and ridiculed her. That's unfortunate. Mother Angelica never set 466 00:28:08,560 --> 00:28:11,320 Speaker 1: out to lead the church. She fell into the role 467 00:28:11,359 --> 00:28:15,919 Speaker 1: by default. People listened to Mother Angelica because of the 468 00:28:15,960 --> 00:28:19,120 Speaker 1: directness of her message or humor as you heard, her 469 00:28:19,200 --> 00:28:22,840 Speaker 1: natural ability to tell a story, and most importantly, the 470 00:28:23,000 --> 00:28:26,320 Speaker 1: soundness of her teaching. She was standing on top of 471 00:28:26,600 --> 00:28:30,720 Speaker 1: two thousand years of church teaching, and they thirsted for 472 00:28:30,920 --> 00:28:34,640 Speaker 1: Orthodoxy for devotions, and she gave it to them when 473 00:28:34,640 --> 00:28:38,800 Speaker 1: others wouldn't. Had those critical members of the clergy been 474 00:28:38,840 --> 00:28:41,480 Speaker 1: doing their job, had they been bringing a message of 475 00:28:41,520 --> 00:28:44,080 Speaker 1: hope and truth and hard truth to the common man, 476 00:28:44,960 --> 00:28:49,040 Speaker 1: maybe God would not have chosen a cloistered none to 477 00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:52,440 Speaker 1: do this television work. As I told an archbishop once, 478 00:28:52,680 --> 00:28:57,040 Speaker 1: was mystified by Mother Angelica's hold on people. I told him, 479 00:28:57,040 --> 00:29:00,239 Speaker 1: when the bishops regained their moral voice and shake off 480 00:29:00,280 --> 00:29:04,360 Speaker 1: their timidity, Mother Angelica will cease to exist. She filled 481 00:29:04,440 --> 00:29:08,080 Speaker 1: a leadership vacuum in the church. Mother never intended to 482 00:29:08,120 --> 00:29:10,640 Speaker 1: lead anybody. She would be the first to admit she's 483 00:29:10,680 --> 00:29:13,680 Speaker 1: no theologian. She certainly wasn't looking to be one. She 484 00:29:13,720 --> 00:29:17,200 Speaker 1: had many faults which she recognized, and you know that 485 00:29:17,520 --> 00:29:20,600 Speaker 1: I think also is part of her appeal. She was 486 00:29:20,840 --> 00:29:23,960 Speaker 1: look She was like a podcaster before there was podcasting, 487 00:29:24,120 --> 00:29:28,480 Speaker 1: and she was authentic long before people caught the authenticity wave. 488 00:29:29,040 --> 00:29:34,080 Speaker 1: In her humanity, people saw themselves and that gave them hope. 489 00:29:34,800 --> 00:29:39,200 Speaker 1: Mother could be tempestuous. She was quick to anger, suspicious. 490 00:29:39,560 --> 00:29:43,480 Speaker 1: There's a funny story, one of the nuns told me. Maybe, well, 491 00:29:43,520 --> 00:29:46,080 Speaker 1: I'll tell it. It doesn't give you a little insight 492 00:29:46,120 --> 00:29:49,840 Speaker 1: in Derek character. Sister Gabriel is a little Vietnamese nun 493 00:29:49,960 --> 00:29:52,800 Speaker 1: in Mother Angelica's order. She's still there, and when she 494 00:29:52,920 --> 00:29:56,040 Speaker 1: first came to the monastery her English was not so great. 495 00:29:56,600 --> 00:30:00,640 Speaker 1: Her English instructor told her, whenever someone asked you question, 496 00:30:01,400 --> 00:30:04,640 Speaker 1: you always have the option to answer yes or no. 497 00:30:05,760 --> 00:30:09,440 Speaker 1: So to ease her into religious life, Mother Angelica phrased 498 00:30:09,520 --> 00:30:14,360 Speaker 1: commands to Sister Gabriel as questions. So Mother said, would 499 00:30:14,400 --> 00:30:17,760 Speaker 1: you like to clean the hall? Sweet high Well Gabriel 500 00:30:17,800 --> 00:30:20,000 Speaker 1: thought about it for a moment. She knew she had 501 00:30:20,000 --> 00:30:26,240 Speaker 1: a choice. She considered it and she said, no, my 502 00:30:26,440 --> 00:30:30,360 Speaker 1: choice is no. I wouldn't like to do it well 503 00:30:30,760 --> 00:30:33,960 Speaker 1: to make herself perfectly clear. At that point, Mother Angelica 504 00:30:33,960 --> 00:30:37,640 Speaker 1: stood at her full height, appropriately modulated her voice and barked, 505 00:30:38,000 --> 00:30:41,800 Speaker 1: just do it, damn it. You know. One of the 506 00:30:41,840 --> 00:30:46,120 Speaker 1: most important things she taught me is that saints are 507 00:30:46,160 --> 00:30:51,680 Speaker 1: not perfect. They're just trying to be perfect. Mother's weaknesses 508 00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:54,480 Speaker 1: and her flaws were always in evidence. Some of them 509 00:30:54,480 --> 00:30:58,160 Speaker 1: sprang from her terrible childhood, which could easily derailed her life. 510 00:30:58,320 --> 00:31:02,200 Speaker 1: But the glory of Angelicas is that God used even 511 00:31:02,240 --> 00:31:06,160 Speaker 1: her weaknesses for his own ends. She talked about this 512 00:31:06,280 --> 00:31:10,280 Speaker 1: in her very first television broadcast, and I think it 513 00:31:10,320 --> 00:31:14,640 Speaker 1: applies to all of us, on a show entitled Our Hermitage. 514 00:31:14,640 --> 00:31:17,640 Speaker 1: Remember she was doing this for CBN. She talked about 515 00:31:17,720 --> 00:31:21,080 Speaker 1: the multiplication of the loaves and the fishes, and she said, 516 00:31:21,280 --> 00:31:24,840 Speaker 1: have you ever wondered what happened to those scraps after 517 00:31:24,960 --> 00:31:28,720 Speaker 1: Jesus took them and filled those twelve baskets? She said, 518 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:31,800 Speaker 1: I've bet those apostles ate those scraps for months. Most 519 00:31:31,800 --> 00:31:34,680 Speaker 1: of you take the scraps of your life and you 520 00:31:34,840 --> 00:31:39,760 Speaker 1: permit them to poor guilt on your poor souls, of resentment, 521 00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:43,560 Speaker 1: of regret, and you live in those regrets and you 522 00:31:43,680 --> 00:31:47,000 Speaker 1: live in that guilt. I wish I'd never felt angry 523 00:31:47,160 --> 00:31:51,320 Speaker 1: or distressed, but I have. But I know that Jesus 524 00:31:51,360 --> 00:31:54,040 Speaker 1: is going to take the scraps of my life and 525 00:31:54,160 --> 00:31:57,600 Speaker 1: your life, and he will make something so beautiful. If 526 00:31:57,640 --> 00:32:00,320 Speaker 1: you have anything in your past that you saw sorry 527 00:32:00,320 --> 00:32:03,040 Speaker 1: for that seems to be keeping you back and making 528 00:32:03,080 --> 00:32:06,720 Speaker 1: you more miserable and unhappy, let the Lord pick up 529 00:32:06,800 --> 00:32:10,840 Speaker 1: those scraps. And that's just what she did. She let 530 00:32:10,920 --> 00:32:14,200 Speaker 1: God pick up the scraps every day. And she also 531 00:32:14,360 --> 00:32:18,320 Speaker 1: bet everything on God, which brings us to the quintessential 532 00:32:18,360 --> 00:32:23,320 Speaker 1: Mother Angelica principle. Get your pencils ready, do the ridiculous 533 00:32:23,560 --> 00:32:27,400 Speaker 1: so God can do the miraculous. She would say, time 534 00:32:27,760 --> 00:32:31,400 Speaker 1: and time again. She would prove that dictum to be true. 535 00:32:31,560 --> 00:32:34,200 Speaker 1: One day, in nineteen eighty eight, she was determined to retire. 536 00:32:34,640 --> 00:32:37,760 Speaker 1: The network was on solid footing. She had launched the thing. 537 00:32:37,920 --> 00:32:40,280 Speaker 1: She accomplished what she had been asked to do. So, 538 00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:44,200 Speaker 1: while in prayer, she shared her retirement plans with God. 539 00:32:45,040 --> 00:32:48,400 Speaker 1: Mother relayed the conversation to me. She said, Lord, I 540 00:32:48,440 --> 00:32:51,440 Speaker 1: want to pull back a little bit from the network. No, 541 00:32:52,240 --> 00:32:55,000 Speaker 1: she felt God tell her, I want you to begin 542 00:32:55,560 --> 00:32:59,920 Speaker 1: a shortwave radio network. Lord, I don't know anything about 543 00:33:00,080 --> 00:33:03,720 Speaker 1: short wave, she said, I know. Begin He told her. 544 00:33:04,480 --> 00:33:08,000 Speaker 1: She really didn't understand the order at all. But she 545 00:33:08,160 --> 00:33:13,080 Speaker 1: pressed forward, not always easily. Mother never hesitated. You'll remember, 546 00:33:13,120 --> 00:33:15,400 Speaker 1: I told you earlier when she felt she was being 547 00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:17,560 Speaker 1: led to something, when she felt God was leading her, 548 00:33:18,040 --> 00:33:20,760 Speaker 1: she would go for it. Where most of us dismissed 549 00:33:20,800 --> 00:33:24,440 Speaker 1: those tiny inspirations, Angelica hung on for dear life, and 550 00:33:24,520 --> 00:33:27,720 Speaker 1: she rode them to their completion. Five years after that 551 00:33:27,840 --> 00:33:33,120 Speaker 1: prayerful dialogue, Mother Angelica was owner of the only privately 552 00:33:33,200 --> 00:33:37,400 Speaker 1: held shortwave network in the world, which cost more than 553 00:33:37,480 --> 00:33:42,080 Speaker 1: thirty five million dollars to bring into being. She truly 554 00:33:42,480 --> 00:33:46,160 Speaker 1: did the ridiculous so God could do the miraculous. Now, 555 00:33:46,160 --> 00:33:48,920 Speaker 1: all this might seem crazy to some, miraculous to others, 556 00:33:48,920 --> 00:33:51,600 Speaker 1: but crazy to some. And people will no doubt say, 557 00:33:51,600 --> 00:33:54,520 Speaker 1: and I hear you, how did she know this was 558 00:33:54,600 --> 00:33:58,000 Speaker 1: God speaking to her? Now? Not even Mother Angelica can 559 00:33:58,080 --> 00:34:00,880 Speaker 1: prove that, and I'm not going to try either. But 560 00:34:01,400 --> 00:34:04,760 Speaker 1: there is one thing we should take note of. In 561 00:34:04,840 --> 00:34:10,880 Speaker 1: practically every case, the things she was asked to build materialized, 562 00:34:11,840 --> 00:34:16,040 Speaker 1: and they did so in extraordinary ways. That evidence is 563 00:34:16,040 --> 00:34:18,719 Speaker 1: hard to dismiss. And the other thing I promised in 564 00:34:18,800 --> 00:34:23,759 Speaker 1: the title was her extraordinary foundation of prayer. This is 565 00:34:23,800 --> 00:34:26,759 Speaker 1: a woman who was a cloistered nun. She spent a 566 00:34:26,760 --> 00:34:29,920 Speaker 1: few hours a day before God in the blessed sacrament, 567 00:34:29,960 --> 00:34:33,719 Speaker 1: that's the consecrated host in her chapel. Every day she 568 00:34:33,719 --> 00:34:36,360 Speaker 1: would kneel down and she would pray. She would meditate 569 00:34:36,400 --> 00:34:41,000 Speaker 1: over the scripture quietly in silence for hours, and she 570 00:34:41,200 --> 00:34:44,560 Speaker 1: imaginatively put herself in the middle of the gospel stories 571 00:34:45,080 --> 00:34:51,200 Speaker 1: and during that moment, during those times, she discovered incredible lessons. 572 00:34:52,040 --> 00:34:54,799 Speaker 1: And I would argue it was from the fullness of 573 00:34:54,840 --> 00:34:59,959 Speaker 1: that prayer, that meditation, which she called her secret weapon, 574 00:35:00,520 --> 00:35:05,080 Speaker 1: that prayer that everything sprang her on air teachings, her 575 00:35:05,080 --> 00:35:08,440 Speaker 1: advice to callers, her split second decisions are where to 576 00:35:08,480 --> 00:35:13,040 Speaker 1: take this multimillion dollar corporation. The prayer quiet with God 577 00:35:13,680 --> 00:35:17,600 Speaker 1: allowed her time to hear his voice and trust him 578 00:35:17,640 --> 00:35:20,600 Speaker 1: to guide her steps. She was also a big believer 579 00:35:20,719 --> 00:35:24,800 Speaker 1: in divine providence. You know that is that's the idea 580 00:35:25,200 --> 00:35:28,799 Speaker 1: that God provides all you need, all you have to 581 00:35:28,840 --> 00:35:32,759 Speaker 1: do is trust Him. Easier said than done. When I 582 00:35:32,760 --> 00:35:35,479 Speaker 1: asked her what she meant by divine providence. She told 583 00:35:35,480 --> 00:35:38,799 Speaker 1: me this, and it's in Mother Angelica's little Book of 584 00:35:38,800 --> 00:35:41,920 Speaker 1: Life Lessons, that's a collection of her wisdom. She said, 585 00:35:42,280 --> 00:35:46,719 Speaker 1: there's a scary thing about God's providence. If you don't go, 586 00:35:47,360 --> 00:35:51,360 Speaker 1: he won't go. In every instance, God waited on his 587 00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:54,799 Speaker 1: apostles to step out in faith, not knowing what was 588 00:35:54,800 --> 00:35:58,480 Speaker 1: coming next. And this is where we failed today. We've 589 00:35:58,520 --> 00:36:01,480 Speaker 1: been brainwashed, she said, to believe that. We first have 590 00:36:01,560 --> 00:36:03,799 Speaker 1: to have a goal. Then we have to find a committee. 591 00:36:03,880 --> 00:36:06,160 Speaker 1: Then we have to have meetings, then we have a 592 00:36:06,200 --> 00:36:09,200 Speaker 1: fun drive, and then we must get qualified people in 593 00:36:09,280 --> 00:36:12,240 Speaker 1: a budget, and then you can begin to do something 594 00:36:12,280 --> 00:36:15,880 Speaker 1: for the Lord. Sweetheart, by that time, you've forgotten what 595 00:36:15,960 --> 00:36:19,239 Speaker 1: you started out to do. But because she was in 596 00:36:19,360 --> 00:36:25,440 Speaker 1: constant prayer and she was providence sometimes turned up in 597 00:36:25,600 --> 00:36:29,200 Speaker 1: unpleasant ways. I have to say Mother didn't court controversy, 598 00:36:30,040 --> 00:36:33,760 Speaker 1: but it often found her because when she saw something 599 00:36:33,800 --> 00:36:37,200 Speaker 1: that violated her principles or her faith, you can bet 600 00:36:37,520 --> 00:36:40,080 Speaker 1: she was going to speak out against it. Now, some 601 00:36:40,200 --> 00:36:43,000 Speaker 1: would say, don't rock the boat, just be quiet, bide 602 00:36:43,000 --> 00:36:48,360 Speaker 1: your time. Mother didn't operate that way. Case in point. 603 00:36:49,120 --> 00:36:54,040 Speaker 1: Ever since Vatican two, ideological divisions have splintered the church. 604 00:36:54,760 --> 00:36:58,719 Speaker 1: There were progressives wanting things like ordination, women loose or 605 00:36:58,840 --> 00:37:02,840 Speaker 1: more relaxed, laid back liturgies, while traditionalists in the church 606 00:37:02,960 --> 00:37:08,359 Speaker 1: craved eternal truths and timeless devotions and socralty. Well. In 607 00:37:08,480 --> 00:37:12,759 Speaker 1: nineteen ninety three, Mother Angelica broadcast Pope John Paul the 608 00:37:12,840 --> 00:37:16,560 Speaker 1: Second's visit to Denver one evening. During a passion play, 609 00:37:17,160 --> 00:37:23,640 Speaker 1: a female mime played the role of Jesus. Mother felt 610 00:37:23,680 --> 00:37:28,560 Speaker 1: compelled to take to the airwaves and respond. 611 00:37:27,920 --> 00:37:34,759 Speaker 5: I'm tired. I'm tired I'm being pushed in corners. I'm 612 00:37:34,800 --> 00:37:38,440 Speaker 5: tired of your inclusive language that refuses to admit the 613 00:37:38,440 --> 00:37:44,320 Speaker 5: Son of God is a man. I'm tired of your tricks. 614 00:37:44,800 --> 00:37:48,520 Speaker 5: I'm tired of your deceit. I'm tired of you constantly 615 00:37:49,000 --> 00:37:52,319 Speaker 5: just making a crack and then the first thing you know, 616 00:37:52,520 --> 00:37:55,200 Speaker 5: there's a whole and all of us fall into it. 617 00:37:56,520 --> 00:38:00,480 Speaker 5: I am so tired of your liberal church in America. 618 00:38:00,960 --> 00:38:06,160 Speaker 4: Do you see this car? We had this little modern 619 00:38:06,280 --> 00:38:10,840 Speaker 4: collar so that we would really appeal to this modern world, 620 00:38:12,840 --> 00:38:22,440 Speaker 4: this pagan society. Am I better now, but I'm being realistic. 621 00:38:23,680 --> 00:38:24,759 Speaker 4: We're going to change it. 622 00:38:25,840 --> 00:38:27,640 Speaker 1: We're going to look very Roman. 623 00:38:29,760 --> 00:38:31,440 Speaker 5: Because I make in a statement. 624 00:38:32,239 --> 00:38:35,200 Speaker 1: There were those who worried that Mother Angelica had now 625 00:38:35,280 --> 00:38:38,280 Speaker 1: taken on the bishop's conference and blown up a papal event, 626 00:38:38,880 --> 00:38:42,000 Speaker 1: and that might be the end of her network. The 627 00:38:42,080 --> 00:38:46,000 Speaker 1: opposite happened. She was featured in newsweek, in major media, 628 00:38:46,640 --> 00:38:51,239 Speaker 1: and her counterprotest put her on the map. Viewership of 629 00:38:51,320 --> 00:38:56,560 Speaker 1: e WTN exploded. Why do you think that was? Because 630 00:38:56,560 --> 00:38:59,759 Speaker 1: she was outspoken, She was true to her God and 631 00:38:59,800 --> 00:39:04,400 Speaker 1: her faith, true to herself, and she stood with her audience. 632 00:39:05,200 --> 00:39:08,839 Speaker 1: And that's such an important lesson. If you're principled and 633 00:39:08,880 --> 00:39:11,080 Speaker 1: you stand with your audience, I don't care what business 634 00:39:11,080 --> 00:39:14,279 Speaker 1: you're in, the audience will stand with you, and miracles 635 00:39:14,680 --> 00:39:19,400 Speaker 1: might just happen. You might also notice Mother Angelica's lack 636 00:39:19,520 --> 00:39:23,520 Speaker 1: of hesitation in that clip. She once told me when 637 00:39:23,520 --> 00:39:26,800 Speaker 1: I was vacillating about something, there's a lot of things 638 00:39:26,800 --> 00:39:29,000 Speaker 1: that you can do, but you've got to do what 639 00:39:29,080 --> 00:39:32,120 Speaker 1: God asked you to do and stick to it. You 640 00:39:32,200 --> 00:39:36,279 Speaker 1: have all eternity to experience the presence of God, but 641 00:39:36,360 --> 00:39:39,880 Speaker 1: you have a very short time to do something for him, 642 00:39:40,200 --> 00:39:44,960 Speaker 1: So get cracking. Now is the time to act. I've 643 00:39:45,000 --> 00:39:47,880 Speaker 1: really taken that to heart. As an example from my 644 00:39:47,920 --> 00:39:50,880 Speaker 1: own life. I did not intend to write a book 645 00:39:51,320 --> 00:39:55,239 Speaker 1: or a biography, and certainly nothing as complex or time 646 00:39:55,280 --> 00:39:58,800 Speaker 1: consuming as Mother Angelica's story. I was on a retreat 647 00:39:58,800 --> 00:40:01,239 Speaker 1: in nineteen ninety nine and I received one of those 648 00:40:01,320 --> 00:40:06,240 Speaker 1: tiny inspirations we talked about earlier. I just a passing thought, 649 00:40:06,520 --> 00:40:09,240 Speaker 1: is all it was, and I thought maybe I should 650 00:40:09,280 --> 00:40:13,000 Speaker 1: write her story. I didn't know hidden pieces of her 651 00:40:13,080 --> 00:40:16,719 Speaker 1: tale that I felt there might be something there. So 652 00:40:16,760 --> 00:40:19,480 Speaker 1: I approached her. I asked her help. I told Mother 653 00:40:19,600 --> 00:40:22,640 Speaker 1: I could not write a definitive biography without a cooperation. 654 00:40:23,120 --> 00:40:25,719 Speaker 1: But and this I thought would kill the whole deal. 655 00:40:26,440 --> 00:40:28,319 Speaker 1: I told her I could not write and would not 656 00:40:28,400 --> 00:40:31,880 Speaker 1: write an authorize biography because I wanted the freedom to 657 00:40:31,920 --> 00:40:36,120 Speaker 1: investigate the story as I saw it, and editorial control 658 00:40:36,360 --> 00:40:40,120 Speaker 1: would be mine alone. She prayed about it for a while, 659 00:40:40,160 --> 00:40:42,280 Speaker 1: and she came back to me a couple of days later, 660 00:40:42,719 --> 00:40:46,160 Speaker 1: and she said, all right, let's start and see what happens. 661 00:40:46,560 --> 00:40:50,320 Speaker 1: She gave me total access to her community, her history, 662 00:40:50,360 --> 00:40:56,280 Speaker 1: her diaries, letters, physicians, friends, her sisters. I found the enemies. 663 00:40:56,800 --> 00:40:59,120 Speaker 1: It was an incredible journey, and I have to say 664 00:40:59,120 --> 00:41:01,279 Speaker 1: a brave one from other Angelica. I mean, think about it. 665 00:41:01,520 --> 00:41:04,560 Speaker 1: Would you let someone who had known you for several years, 666 00:41:04,719 --> 00:41:07,600 Speaker 1: seen you in good times and bad, write your life story, 667 00:41:08,200 --> 00:41:11,640 Speaker 1: submit yourself to all manner of questioning and interrogation for 668 00:41:11,760 --> 00:41:14,720 Speaker 1: several hours at a stretch. I'm not sure if I would. 669 00:41:15,280 --> 00:41:19,920 Speaker 1: This was a trying and instructive exercise for Mother. Once 670 00:41:20,000 --> 00:41:22,799 Speaker 1: we'd got into the swing of things, she told me, 671 00:41:23,600 --> 00:41:26,799 Speaker 1: I wish you forty years in purgatory if you sugarcoat 672 00:41:26,880 --> 00:41:29,960 Speaker 1: my life. She said, I want people to see the humanity, 673 00:41:30,440 --> 00:41:33,799 Speaker 1: so they realized that God did everything. We would meet 674 00:41:33,880 --> 00:41:37,720 Speaker 1: in the parlor of her monastery every Saturday for about 675 00:41:37,760 --> 00:41:42,040 Speaker 1: five to six hour sessions, interrupted only by lunch. We 676 00:41:42,120 --> 00:41:45,319 Speaker 1: moved chronologically through entire life, and I would go out 677 00:41:45,440 --> 00:41:49,640 Speaker 1: rifle through source documents in Canton, Ohio or in Rome, Birmingham, 678 00:41:49,840 --> 00:41:52,799 Speaker 1: interview people who crossed your path, and then I'd come 679 00:41:52,840 --> 00:41:56,440 Speaker 1: back at the end of every week and have a 680 00:41:56,560 --> 00:41:59,480 Speaker 1: new crop of questions I would throw at her. This 681 00:41:59,520 --> 00:42:03,719 Speaker 1: went on from nineteen ninety nine to November twenty eighth 682 00:42:03,920 --> 00:42:07,759 Speaker 1: of two thousand and one. On the twenty eighth, I 683 00:42:07,840 --> 00:42:10,680 Speaker 1: told her that would be our final interview, and we 684 00:42:10,760 --> 00:42:13,200 Speaker 1: covered her entire life up until that point, and the 685 00:42:13,280 --> 00:42:15,799 Speaker 1: last interview we talked about the future, the future of 686 00:42:15,800 --> 00:42:20,000 Speaker 1: her monastery, her life, what she saw for her community next, 687 00:42:20,560 --> 00:42:23,880 Speaker 1: what she saw for EWT in her network next, and 688 00:42:23,920 --> 00:42:25,600 Speaker 1: I would only come back to her, I said if 689 00:42:25,640 --> 00:42:29,120 Speaker 1: I needed spot interviews to fill in holes in the 690 00:42:29,160 --> 00:42:31,600 Speaker 1: writing as I went along. And a few days later 691 00:42:31,680 --> 00:42:35,000 Speaker 1: we recorded a Christmas special together and did a live 692 00:42:35,080 --> 00:42:38,680 Speaker 1: show together, and Mother went into her cloister for her 693 00:42:38,719 --> 00:42:41,680 Speaker 1: advent retreat. So they locked themselves away for about three 694 00:42:41,680 --> 00:42:46,480 Speaker 1: weeks before Christmas. Before going into the chapel that Christmas 695 00:42:46,520 --> 00:42:50,560 Speaker 1: Eve in two thousand and one, she told her nuns, 696 00:42:51,080 --> 00:42:54,239 Speaker 1: Jesus is coming today. I'm going to the chapel to 697 00:42:54,320 --> 00:42:58,040 Speaker 1: wait for him. He would come more quickly than she imagined. 698 00:42:58,880 --> 00:43:02,080 Speaker 1: Mother Angelica suffered a stroke that day in the chapel. 699 00:43:02,120 --> 00:43:07,520 Speaker 1: That morning, it limited her speech, sealed her memory. Providentially, 700 00:43:07,560 --> 00:43:10,480 Speaker 1: without my knowing it, I had captured the last testament 701 00:43:10,560 --> 00:43:14,680 Speaker 1: of Mother Angelica, the final word on her remarkable life. 702 00:43:14,800 --> 00:43:18,200 Speaker 1: What a gift she has given me and really anybody 703 00:43:18,200 --> 00:43:20,920 Speaker 1: who read that biography. Had she said no, and I 704 00:43:20,960 --> 00:43:23,719 Speaker 1: think about this all the time. Had she said, no, 705 00:43:24,320 --> 00:43:26,840 Speaker 1: or had I ignored that little voice in my head, 706 00:43:27,640 --> 00:43:31,560 Speaker 1: much of Mother's story would have been lost. But God's 707 00:43:31,600 --> 00:43:35,240 Speaker 1: timing his providence again. It's pretty good. It's not always easy, 708 00:43:35,280 --> 00:43:37,160 Speaker 1: but it's good if you trust it, if we're open 709 00:43:37,200 --> 00:43:39,879 Speaker 1: to it. And I have to confess I hesitated once 710 00:43:39,880 --> 00:43:43,719 Speaker 1: I began writing this work. Writing is a terrible prospect 711 00:43:43,800 --> 00:43:47,600 Speaker 1: for any time, but a project like this seemed so 712 00:43:47,760 --> 00:43:51,000 Speaker 1: far flung. It was daunting. Thousands of TV shows, to 713 00:43:51,040 --> 00:43:54,480 Speaker 1: wade through, more than one hundred interviews, medical records, on 714 00:43:54,520 --> 00:43:57,000 Speaker 1: and on and on. And when I shared my fears, 715 00:43:57,960 --> 00:44:00,560 Speaker 1: Mother Angelica told me this. It's great advice for anybody 716 00:44:01,000 --> 00:44:04,359 Speaker 1: who I think is hesitant about what you're doing. She said, 717 00:44:04,360 --> 00:44:06,200 Speaker 1: if you want to do something for the Lord, do 718 00:44:06,320 --> 00:44:09,440 Speaker 1: it whatever you feel needs to be done, even if 719 00:44:09,440 --> 00:44:11,959 Speaker 1: you're shaking in your boots and you're scared to death, 720 00:44:12,400 --> 00:44:16,920 Speaker 1: take the first step. The grace comes with that first step, 721 00:44:17,200 --> 00:44:20,719 Speaker 1: and you get the grace as you step. Being afraid 722 00:44:20,800 --> 00:44:24,040 Speaker 1: is not a problem, she told me. It's doing nothing 723 00:44:24,400 --> 00:44:29,160 Speaker 1: when you're afraid. That's the problem. Boy was she writing. 724 00:44:29,880 --> 00:44:33,040 Speaker 1: And those words helped me finish a five year marathon 725 00:44:33,520 --> 00:44:36,640 Speaker 1: and a lot of her prayers. Thank Goodness only in time, 726 00:44:36,680 --> 00:44:40,799 Speaker 1: I think we fully appreciate Mother Angelica's contributions, not only 727 00:44:40,880 --> 00:44:44,799 Speaker 1: to women, to the church, to the world. But she 728 00:44:44,920 --> 00:44:48,440 Speaker 1: has done what no one else could. She preserved devotions 729 00:44:48,520 --> 00:44:52,920 Speaker 1: thought lost. She sewed a thread of hope into the 730 00:44:52,920 --> 00:44:57,560 Speaker 1: hearts of people who were hurting. She reached and carried 731 00:44:57,640 --> 00:45:00,759 Speaker 1: the traditions of the church to the young, and now 732 00:45:00,800 --> 00:45:03,920 Speaker 1: you're seeing in France and England, in the United States, 733 00:45:04,040 --> 00:45:08,880 Speaker 1: you've got thousands of young people coming to faith, begging 734 00:45:08,920 --> 00:45:13,800 Speaker 1: to be baptized and to come into the church. That also, 735 00:45:14,000 --> 00:45:19,080 Speaker 1: I think is the bounty of Mother Angelica's work, seeds 736 00:45:19,120 --> 00:45:24,040 Speaker 1: planted decades ago. But her personal story, the courageous life 737 00:45:24,080 --> 00:45:26,319 Speaker 1: that she lived, it really is its own lessons, and 738 00:45:26,360 --> 00:45:29,080 Speaker 1: I hope you'll explore that life in the biographies I've 739 00:45:29,080 --> 00:45:31,560 Speaker 1: written in other books. They're on my website. Go to 740 00:45:31,640 --> 00:45:34,239 Speaker 1: Raymondarroyo dot com or you can go to Amazon. Just 741 00:45:34,280 --> 00:45:37,440 Speaker 1: type in Mother Angelica Raymond Arroyo. Those books will come up. 742 00:45:37,920 --> 00:45:45,600 Speaker 1: She was imperfect, wounded, petty, angry at times, just like us. Still, 743 00:45:46,360 --> 00:45:51,239 Speaker 1: despite her failings, she trusted God enough to permit him 744 00:45:51,280 --> 00:45:57,320 Speaker 1: to create a literal network of miracles, something she herself 745 00:45:57,360 --> 00:46:00,960 Speaker 1: could never have done alone. I wanted to feature Mother 746 00:46:01,000 --> 00:46:04,640 Speaker 1: Angelica's story on this episode because I think we can 747 00:46:04,760 --> 00:46:11,160 Speaker 1: all mimic her holy recklessness, embrace risk in the present moment, 748 00:46:11,600 --> 00:46:14,800 Speaker 1: allow divine providence to lead the way it always works, 749 00:46:15,160 --> 00:46:19,040 Speaker 1: and do the ridiculous so God can do the miraculous. 750 00:46:19,560 --> 00:46:22,200 Speaker 1: Here's to Dodoes, and I want to leave you with 751 00:46:22,239 --> 00:46:25,520 Speaker 1: a little prayer. Mother actually came up with this. It 752 00:46:25,560 --> 00:46:28,279 Speaker 1: was at the end of one of her last public speeches, 753 00:46:28,800 --> 00:46:31,719 Speaker 1: and off the top of her head, she said this, 754 00:46:32,840 --> 00:46:35,440 Speaker 1: since there is no more time and you and I 755 00:46:35,520 --> 00:46:39,200 Speaker 1: may not pass this way again, I will ask the 756 00:46:39,280 --> 00:46:42,400 Speaker 1: Spirit to touch your hearts and teach you all those 757 00:46:42,520 --> 00:46:46,920 Speaker 1: marvelous things. How to live in the present moment, how 758 00:46:46,960 --> 00:46:51,719 Speaker 1: to be at peace when distress is assailing you, how 759 00:46:51,719 --> 00:46:55,200 Speaker 1: to love when you don't feel loved, how to always 760 00:46:55,320 --> 00:46:59,600 Speaker 1: commune with God in the depths of your soul, and 761 00:46:59,840 --> 00:47:04,920 Speaker 1: to bear those beautiful gifts of the Spirit always. I 762 00:47:05,000 --> 00:47:08,719 Speaker 1: love you, and God loves you more than you know. 763 00:47:09,560 --> 00:47:13,560 Speaker 1: Rest in peace, dear Reverend Mother. I hope you'll come 764 00:47:13,600 --> 00:47:16,560 Speaker 1: back to a royal grande soon. Wasn't that fun? I 765 00:47:16,680 --> 00:47:19,200 Speaker 1: like that I like to bring someone that I knew 766 00:47:19,360 --> 00:47:21,600 Speaker 1: personally with such a light in my life, and I 767 00:47:21,640 --> 00:47:24,600 Speaker 1: hope some of her lessons enlighten your own life. Why 768 00:47:24,719 --> 00:47:28,000 Speaker 1: live a dry, constricted trickle of a life when if 769 00:47:28,000 --> 00:47:30,680 Speaker 1: you fill it with good things, it can flow into 770 00:47:30,719 --> 00:47:35,319 Speaker 1: a broad, thriving Arroyo Grande. I'm raiding at Arroyo. Make 771 00:47:35,400 --> 00:47:39,520 Speaker 1: sure you subscribe like this episode, Thanks for diving in, 772 00:47:39,560 --> 00:47:43,640 Speaker 1: and we'll see you next time. Arroyo Grande is produced 773 00:47:43,680 --> 00:47:48,040 Speaker 1: in partnership with iHeart Podcasts and DPS Studios, and is 774 00:47:48,080 --> 00:47:52,279 Speaker 1: available on the iHeartRadio, Apple, wherever you get your podcasts