Sister Mary Joseph, a Founding Nun of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery, Dies at 87

Irondale, AL (EWTN) – Sister Mary Joseph of the Eternal Father, P.C.P.A., one of the founding nuns of Our Lady of the Angels Monastery in Irondale, Ala., passed away the afternoon of July 19, only four days after celebrating her 87th birthday.

Sister Mary Joseph traveled with Mother Angelica from Canton, Ohio to Irondale, Ala. in 1962 to establish the world-renowned monastery, out of which EWTN Global Catholic Network would improbably grow.

Born Elizabeth Olson, Sister Mary Joseph “had a serenity and an easy smile that endeared her to the nuns when she crossed the threshold in 1950,” according to “Mother Angelica” Biographer Raymond Arroyo. She truly was “Mother Angelica’s first spiritual daughter.”

Visitation is scheduled to begin at 10 a.m. Friday, July 24 at the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament in Hanceville, AL. The funeral Mass will be at 10 a.m. Saturday, July 25, also at the Shrine.

EWTN requests prayers for the repose of the soul of Sister Mary Joseph, for the nuns in her community, and for all who mourn the passing of this beloved nun, who labored for the Lord for 59 years.

EWTN Global Catholic Network, in its 28th year, is available in over 150 million television households in more than 140 countries and territories. With its direct broadcast satellite television and radio services, AM & FM radio networks, worldwide short-wave radio station, Internet website www.ewtn.com and publishing arm, EWTN, is the largest religious media network in the world.