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

Raymond Arroyo (Author)

Book Description

Publication Date: September 6, 2005

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.

Editorial Reviews

From Publishers Weekly

In a comprehensive and engaging biography, Arroyo chronicles the life and faith of Mother Angelica, the nun who almost singlehandedly created a religious media empire through her Catholic cable network, EWTN. Born in 1923 to unstable parents (a cruel father who later abandoned the family and a chronically depressed mother), Mother Angelica—then called Rita Rizzo—is an unlikely person to have redrawn the landscape of Catholicism in America. The strength of Arroyo's biography is what he calls his "unfettered access" to records, associates and the nun herself; as an anchor and news director for EWTN, he's known her for years. But this is not purely a sweetness-and-light portrait; she comes across as outspoken and sometimes hot tempered, arguing with cardinals and even hurling a knife at a sharp-tongued uncle when she was 17. Overall, Arroyo gives a strong sense of the woman who enrages liberals, delights conservatives, but is respected by almost all Catholics. (Sept. 6)
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Review

ADVANCE PRAISE FOR MOTHER ANGELICA

“In this dramatic page-turner, Raymond Arroyo has captured the life and lessons of Mother Angelica, a woman who may well be the patron saint of CEOs. Buy this book and be inspired.”
—Lee Iacocca, The Iacocca Foundation, former chief executive officer of the Chrysler Corporation

“Raymond Arroyo masterfully captures the complexities, humanity, and tenacity of Mother Angelica, who has long been one of my own personal heroes. The founder of the Eternal Word Television Network, Mother Angelica is a woman who dared to dream, to stand up for what she believed in, and whose faith showed that anything is possible. In Arroyo’s hands, she becomes someone you wish you had the opportunity to know and love. Read this book and believe.”
—Nicholas Sparks

“This is some woman. What a wonderful story Raymond Arroyo has written—wonderful because it’s true, because he got the facts, because she chose him to tell them, and because he’s a born storyteller.”
—Peggy Noonan, author of When Character Was King

“Mother Angelica’s personal words to me, her courageous example, and her constant prayers helped inspire my portrayal of Jesus in The Passion of the Christ. No one could have captured the essence of this modern-day saint better than Raymond Arroyo. His narrative gifts and understanding of Mother are clearly evident in this truthful and often candid depiction of one nun’s struggle to bring God to the multitudes. Surely this book, and Mother’s life will have an incredible enduring legacy.”
—James Caviezel, actor

“Mother Angelica is one of the greatest entrepreneurs of all time, and is truly one of my heroes. With his “insider” perspective, Raymond Arroyo has done a masterful job capturing not only Mother’s immeasurable accomplishments but also her remarkable personality. Like Mother herself, this book has the unique combination of being both inspiring and entertaining.”
—Thomas S. Monaghan, founder of Domino’s Pizza and Chancellor of Ave Maria University

“A rattling good story of fear, faith, courage, and bulldog tenacity, beautifully told. The drama of Mother Angelica’s life is a powerful reminder that the extraordinary lies just beyond the ordinary—if we have eyes to see and ears to hear.”
—George Weigel, author of Witness to Hope:Tthe Biography of Pope John Paul II

See all Editorial Reviews

Product Details

• Hardcover: 400 pages
• Publisher: Doubleday Religion; 1st edition (September 6, 2005)
• Language: English
• ISBN-10: 0385510926
• ISBN-13: 978-0385510929
• Product Dimensions: 9.3 x 6.2 x 1.1 inches
• Shipping Weight: 1.5 pounds
• Average Customer Review: 4.8 out of 5 stars  See all reviews (125 customer reviews)
• Amazon Best Sellers Rank: #575,121 in Books (See Top 100 in Books)

More About the Author

Raymond Arroyo is an internationally known, award-winning journalist, producer, and New York Times Bestselling author. As news director and lead anchor for EWTN, he is seen in more than 150 million homes on six continents each week. Mr. Arroyo established EWTNews in 1996, creating several programs including "The World Over Live" which he hosts from Washington DC before a live studio audience. The program was named "Best Religious Show or Series in Cable Television for 2009" by CableFAX Magazine.

Known for his penetrating interviews, Mr. Arroyo has interrogated the leading figures of the day. Highlights include: The first exclusive, sit down interview with Mel Gibson about his film, "The Passion of the Christ"; Carroll O'Connor's final broadcast interview; Mother Teresa of Calcutta; Placido Domingo; President George W. Bush, several heads of state, and the first and only English interview with Pope Benedict XVI.

Mr. Arroyo has served as a Capitol Hill Correspondent, a reporter for the political columnist team of Evans and Novak, and worked for the Associated Press and The New York Observer.

A graduate of New York University's Tisch School of the Arts, Arroyo was mentored by some of the finest acting instructors in the world, among them: Stella Adler, Bobby Lewis, Uta Hagen, and Beatrice Straight.

In addition to his work at EWTN, Mr. Arroyo has appeared on The Today Show, Good Morning America, CNN Headline News, Access Hollywood, Capitol Gang, The O'Reilly Factor, Countdown, and is a regular contributor to The Laura Ingraham Show. His work has appeared in the Wall Street Journal, The Washington Times, The Financial Times, Newsweek, Time Magazine, The New Yorker, National Review, and elsewhere.

He is producer of the bestselling, all-star "Truth and Life Dramatized Audio Bible" (Zondervan), "The Word of Promise" (Thomas Nelson), and a Billboard chart topping PBS Christmas special, "The Birth of Christ"(Sony Classics) hosted by Liam Neeson. His books: "Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles" (Doubleday), "Mother Angelica's Little Book of Life Lessons and Everyday Spirituality" (Doubleday) and "Mother Angelica's Private and Pithy Lessons from the Scriptures" (Doubleday) and "The Prayers and Personal Devotions of Mother Angelica" have all been New York Times Bestsellers. The New Orleans native is currently working on a children's series, a mystery series, and an original musical. Mr. Arroyo resides in Northern Virginia with his wife Rebecca and their three children.

Customer Reviews

Most Helpful Customer Reviews

214 of 235 people found the following review helpful:

4.0 out of 5 stars A Dangerous Book, September 12, 2005

By 

Fr Phillip Bloom "parish priest" (Seattle, WA United States) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

This review is from: Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles (Hardcover)

Last week a parishioner gave me Raymond Arroyo's unauthorized biography of Mother Angelica. With mild curiosity, I read the dust jacket and table of contents. My plan was to skim the book, then return to it when I had more time. I liked Mother Angelica, but I knew little about her life or how she founded the Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN). I also admired Raymond Arroyo, often listening to his news and interview program, *The World Over.* As I began skimming the biography, I quickly became hooked. It turned out to be what I call a "dangerous book." Every year or two I will pick up a book which so grabs my attention that I wind up devoting every spare moment to reading it. Besides the most basic duties, everything else takes second place.

I was expecting a somewhat saccharine story about a folksy contemplative sister. Instead the book depicts what to me is the most difficult reality: the intense and often bitter suffering to which God apparently calls some souls. With the unflinching eye of an investigative reporter, Raymond Arroyo recounts painful details of her childhood. Rita Rizzo (the girl who would become Mother Angelica) had a wandering father who abandoned her at an early age. Her mother, never well balanced, became unhinged by the divorce - at that time a terrible stigma - and wound up reversing the normal mother-daughter roles. She increasingly demanded emotional support from her daughter and provided very little in return.

In her twenties, Rita met a Catholic convert turned mystic, who transformed the young woman's life. Entering a contemplative religious order, against her mother's bitter protests, she encountered more painful forms of suffering. Physical ailments (such as knees swollen to the size of cantaloupes) almost ended her religious vocation. Raymond Arroyo, cautious as a newsman should be, relates the seeming miraculous cure which enabled her to continue in the convent.

The story of how this contemplative sister founded a world-wide television and radio network is too complex to describe here. Without giving away the story, let me state that it was hardly a smooth journey from one triumph to the next. The biography reads like a novel depicting the suspense and mounting opposition which Mother Angelica and her sisters confronted. Inability to pay enormous bills, the betrayal of co-workers and the death of dear ones (including her mother who had become one of her sisters) led to bouts of anguish and near-despair. During this long "dark night of the soul" only her iron will and her prayer to Jesus kept her going.

This book will probably be read mainly by "conservatives." That is a shame - and perhaps makes this a dangerous book in another sense. It is easy for those concerned with doctrinal integrity to feel betrayed by official teachers. The book describes Mother Angelica's strong reaction even against bishops who, for example, promoted women's ordination or who watered down difficult teachings (such as marital fecundity). In that atmosphere, one can take aim at the wrong target - as Mother Angelica sometimes did. For example in his 1987 visit to the U.S., the pope was in Phoenix for the Feast of the Holy Cross (September 14). The organizers provided a large, bare cross for him to kiss. Mother Angelica railed against the organizers, seeing this as a sign of how the American Church wants to take Jesus off the cross.

No doubt every pastor in the country, including the most orthodox, has had conservatives attack him for what they perceive as liturgical or doctrinal deviations. They can magnify the smallest misstep until it seems to include all the abuses of the past four decades. For this kind of misguided zeal, many pastors are only too eager to lay the blame at Mother Angelica's feet. "Another complaint from one of the EWTN crowd."

Whether Raymond Arroyo's book will increase polarization or reduce it depends on how people read the book. It is easy to get caught up in the political dimension and miss what I believe is Raymond's deeper purpose: to show us a woman who came from a difficult background and who by her own admission has many flaws, but who has embraced suffering with its redemptive power. In a word, he wants to help us glimpse the mystery and the triumph of the cross.

122 of 132 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars Fervent Trust in God always prevails - a must read for EVERYONE with much, little, or no faith, September 6, 2005

By 

Amy Seltzer "100% Catholic, 100% pro-life" (USA) - See all my reviews
(REAL NAME)   

Amazon Verified Purchase

This review is from: Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles (Hardcover)

The spiritual impact this book has on its reader is amazing. It gives anyone, no matter how difficult their situation, the hope that your life is worth something. Given over to God, the life of every person is powerful.
Even if you are not a "religious person" this story in itself is fascinating and nearly unbelieveable. It is written very well, making a most enjoyable read. A good laugh is also guaranteed.
And for those of you like myself, tired of the liberal Church constantly chipping away at our Faith, you will have plenty to cheer about.

Buy the book; you will not be disappointed.

33 of 34 people found the following review helpful:

5.0 out of 5 stars A Young Man Discovers the Remarkable Story of an Elderly Nun, September 20, 2005

By 

Seth Naser (Estes Park, CO) - See all my reviews
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This review is from: Mother Angelica: The Remarkable Story of a Nun, Her Nerve, and a Network of Miracles (Hardcover)

I discovered EWTN in the first months of my freshman year of college. While channel surfing through MTV and ESPN, I came across a beautiful old face swallowed by large glasses and wrapped in a white wimple.

I stopped. I'd never known a nun, let alone seen one in a traditional habit. Her simple outlook on faith kept me hooked. After watching Mother Angelica on television for the past five years, I thought I knew the simple elderly nun who'd shown me the beauty of my Catholic faith. After reading Raymond Arroyo's new biography, I realize how wrong I was.

Here is the life of Rita Rizzo weaved into a wonderfully narrative story. It shows her humble and tormented early years, her first miraculous healing, and her radical conversion to live for God. It chronicles many little known facts: her many ailments and healings, her intention to build a Southern monastery for reparation for unjustice to African Americans, her charismatic experiences, her dark night of the soul. Her leap of faith in creating the largest religious communications empire in the world is given its due, but does not overshadow.

Arroyo treats Mother as a human being, not a pious, holy card saint. She has doubts, a sense of humor, and a fiery temper. She struggles in her relationship with both parents, clashes with bishops and cardinals over orthodoxy and control of her network, and ultimately undergoes a Vatican investigation.

Mother Angelica has lived a life of radical service through love for Her Spouse, Jesus Christ, and His Church. Anyone who knows her only through her television network knows only part of the story. This biography tells it all. And Mother will be seen as an even greater witness to God because of it