Mother Angelica - Who Was She?

By now most people have heard that Mother Mary Angelica, foundress of Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN), died on Easter Sunday at the age of 92.  How appropriate that she finally went home to the Lord on Resurrection Day!

I have great admiration for Mother Angelica, but it wasn't always that way.  I was a young adult of the 1980's, when relativity was born and when we looked on traditional Catholic values as "out of touch" or irrelevant to our modern lives.  I first became aware of Mother Angelica during the 1980s when I was still a teen.  I'm not sure how I found out about her, but I know my immediate impressions certainly were not positive ones.

When I finally decided to take a look at EWTN, I managed to catch Mother in one of her "hellfire" moods.  Dressed in a full black habit with a wimple on her head, she reminded me of Sister Francis Xavier from grade school (she was pretty stern too).  Aha, I thought - she's exactly as I heard - a real kook!

But, years later, I discovered there were two sides to Mother Angelica.  She struggled with anger and "crabbiness" (as she often admitted), but her insistence on the application of doctrine and dogma of the Church was unwavering and she suffered no fools who could not see that.  Her anger was righteous.

Mother's other side was different.  When she spoke about Jesus her tone softened and the great love she had for Him poured from her.  She was like the quintessential grandmother who begged us to come home because Jesus was waiting with boundless love and mercy.  In a gentle and tender voice she assured us that Jesus loves us.  I'm sorry I missed that the first time I saw her.

It is only now at her passing that the stories of her remarkable life and great faith are pouring forth.  People are stepping out to talk about the impact she had in their lives.  Even the Wall Street Journal gave her a laudable tribute!

There is so much more that could be said about this enigmatic woman and her impact on the New Evangelization.  I know as I have grown older and seen more of the archive of her shows, I have come to appreciate both sides of Mother Angelica.  I know, like Archbishop Fulton Sheen, her voice will continue to reverberate over the airwaves.

Eternal rest grant unto her and may perpetual light shine upon her.

cc

Linking Catholics Together

 One of the reasons I started writing "Comfortably Catholic" was to pass on the huge number of great resources that are now available for education, prayer and reflection.  While many are traditional resources (books, DVDs, etc), the more exciting ones are websites, podcasts and applications for smart phones.  Isn't this an awesome way to promote the "New Evangelization"?

Every week or so, I'll post some great resources I have found that will help us on our journey as Catholic Christians.  I'm still finding new stuff all the time, so if you know of additional resources, leave a comment here or on Facebook.  I'll be getting links to my own social media accounts soon so you will be able to contact me with a single click on an icon for Facebook, Twitter, email or Pony Express.  (That's just a joke; Pony Express is not some new social media site you just aren't hip enough to know about.)  Once I collect enough resources, I'll add a page to this blog so you can see them in one place.  In the meantime, I can keep the web resources here on the right side of the page ---->

This week I'm going to offer a few apps for your Android or IPhone device:

Laudate

This one is soooo cool and it will take you WEEKS to drill down to all the information it puts right at your fingertips.  It is touted as the #1 Catholic app and is available in 12 languages.  Get this - it has nearly all the essential resources you need to be a great Catholic, and some you didn't even know you need.  Here's what it includes: the New American and Douay-Rheims Bible, the Catechism of the Catholic Church, the Rosary and Divine Mercy Chaplet (and about 5 other chaplets I haven't even heard of), Daily readings, Stations of the Cross, Liturgy of the Hours, Saint of the Day, Vatican documents and lots of prayers.  For prayers, including the Rosary and Stations of the Cross, it offers podcasts so you can pray along.  Best of all, it's FREE!  You can find it at the Google Play store for Android devices or the App Store for IPhones, IPads etc. 

Scriptural Rosary from Franciscan University

Sorry, I can only find this for Android devices at Google Play and it's listed as "Free Rosary - Scriptural Ed."  This is my favorite rosary, especially when I'm in the car and need an audio version.  This Rosary features students from Franciscan University at Steubenville and between each Hail Mary, they read very short portions of the scripture that goes with the respective mystery of the Rosary, whether it is Joyful, Sorrowful, Glorious or Luminous.  I find it really helpful to meditate on the specific event in Jesus' life.  For those of you who are less than comfortable with the Rosary because you think the prayer centers too much on Mary, this is a great audio Rosary for you.  Again, this one is FREE.

The Daily Office from Mission St. Clare

This is a simple, free app that gives you the morning and evening prayers of the Daily Office.  If you're like me and didn't really understand the Daily Office until recently, this is basically a self contained prayer service for morning and evening.  It has different prayers and Scripture readings for each day, as well as intercessions and penitential prayers.  I honestly can't say I use it everyday because it takes a while to get through each one, but it is a neat resource you can find at Google Play or the App Store.

Here are two more apps I found, one for Android and the other for IPhone.  I can't vouch much for either because I haven't yet used them, but they do look interesting:

Mea Culpa
This app for IPhone is the one you may have heard about.  It is a detailed examination of conscience to prepare for Confession.  It doesn't just list the commandments, but goes into detail at the nuances of sins.  You can pick the sins you have committed and add them to your list for easy reference when you go to Confession.  This app is not for children under the age of 17 as it includes more explicit sexual or drug related sins.  It is free at the App Store or ITunes.

Catholic Droid
This app for Android devices appears to be a lot like Laudate, but also includes an examination of conscience, numerous versions of Catholic Bibles and the Pope's Twitter feed!  Everything you need for free!

So, that's my first attempt at getting some resources out there.  If you have never checked out some of these (or other) handy apps for your phone, now is the time!  You probably have apps for all kinds of other goofy things on your phone, why not have something useful for your spiritual life?

Keep watching for more Catholic links.

CC