MOTHER ANGELICA 'GRADUALLY HEALING'

Irondale, AL (EWTN) “Mother Angelica is gradually healing,” said Sister Mary Catherine, Vicar of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Hanceville, Alabama.

Sister Catherine’s comments came following Mass on Sunday, September 1st, after Mother Angelica and the Nuns had completed a nine-day Novena to “El Divino Niño Jesús,” “The Divine Child Jesus.” The nuns were also celebrating the feast day of “El Niño” that occurs on the first Sunday in September in Bogotá, Colombia.

Mother and the Nuns have had a special devotion to the “Divine Child Jesus” since Mother visited a Bogotá Shrine dedicated to “El Nino” in 1995. It was while at this Shrine that Mother was inspired to build what became the monastery and Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville.

Sister Mary Catherine said the Novena was offered for Mother’s complete recovery from the severe stroke she suffered on Christmas Eve, 2001.

Each evening during the nine days, the sisters visited with Mother to pray with her and sing songs for her. Mother responded with smiles and funny comments. It was very spirited,” she said.

Sister Catherine said that Mother is continuing her daily physical and speech therapy and is articulating her sentences better than before. “Mother still has a long way to go and we are hopeful. But she still needs our prayers,” she said.

According to EWTN’s President, Michael Warsaw, more than 50 thousand persons have visited EWTN’s website (www.ewtn.com) to offer a Spiritual Bouquet for Mother Angelica’s recovery. “We have received more than 1.8 million individual Mass intentions, Holy Communions, Rosaries, Novenas, Holy Hours and prayers for Mother,” he said.