January 18: A Network of Miracles

Welcome to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Today is January 18th, and our story is A Network of Miracles. On the night of January 17th, 1943, Rita Rizzo was in pain. Nine days earlier, she had begun a novena, asking God for healing from what her doctors called incurable abnormalities in her stomach and intestines. But by January 17th, the ninth and last day of the novena, the pain that had afflicted her for nearly two years had only grown worse. That night, she went to bed, praying that sleep would bring relief.

It did. When she awoke the next morning, on January 18, 1943, the pain was gone. It never returned. In the days that followed, Rizzo became convinced that God was calling her to religious life. Her mother, May, disagreed. Abandoned by her husband soon after Rita's birth, May had long battled depression and poverty.

All she had was her daughter and feared losing her. But Rita knew God had healed her for a purpose. Leaving only an explanatory note behind, Rizzo left their home in Canton, Ohio for a convent in Cleveland on the night of August 14, 1944. The next day, she became a postulant at the Adoration Monastery of the Poor Clares of Perpetual Adoration.

The following November, she received the novice habit and a new name, Sister Mary Angelica. Seventeen years later, after another mysterious healing, Sister Angelica became Mother Angelica, the foundress of a new Claration Monastery in Irondale, Alabama. The first postulant to enter was her mother, May.

In the years that followed, Mother Angelica became a familiar face on television, first on local channels, then on Pat Robertson's Christian Broadcasting Network, and finally on the Eternal Word Television Network, EWTN, which she founded in 1981. Today, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world, reaching more than 310 million homes in 145 countries and territories.

Although two strokes in 2001 ended her television career, Mother Angelica remained a prayerful presence in her Claration Monastery, the shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, Alabama, until her death on Easter Sunday, 2016. Mother Angelica's journey reminds us that miracles often precede missions. A healing was not only a restoration of health, but also a call to purpose. Her courage in following God's call shows how faith combined with perseverance can reach millions. We are reminded that God's work often begins quietly and unexpectedly, and that listening to His call requires trust, courage, and, sometimes, stepping into the unknown.

Identify one area in your life where God may be calling you to greater purpose. Take one concrete step this week toward responding, even if it feels uncertain. Thank you for listening to the American Catholic Daily Reader podcast. Join us tomorrow, January 19th, for another story of faith and courage in America.