Mother Angelica, that fiery woman who founded EWTN and shot into the hearts and minds of Catholics worldwide through her programming, was also an intelligent, sincere, and devoted woman. Her faith shone through her words and her writings. And her love for Christ and Our Lady even more. Here are seven quotes from Mother Angelica on Christ and Our Lady.
1. Mary: The Promised Woman
“Throughout these centuries he also prefigured and foretold the mission and the coming of the Woman—the Woman he promised to Adam and Eve—the one who would crush the serpent’s head. Deborah, Judith, and Esther prefigured the Woman whose holiness God would use to deliver his people from the enemy. Through Isaias he promised a Virgin who would conceive and bring forth a son whose name would be Emanuel—a son who would ‘bear his Kingdom on his shoulders, and he would be called Wonder—Counselor, Mighty God, Eternal Father, and Prince of Peace’ (Is. 7:14, 9:6). Through Jeremiah he announces that the Woman will bear in her womb a man who is God and man (Jer. 31:21-22) . . . Unlike Eve, whose pride forced Adam to wield the hand of authority, the Woman breaks through the clouds of sin like the soft rays of the sun—penetrating and coloring everything they touch, but never casting a shadow over the sun.”
2. Mission of Mary
“She would never forget the one who had done great things to her and her only desire was to see Him praised and glorified. She was always on hand when he needed her and always hidden when all went well. The infant Church was as small as her son once was, and she would nourish it with the milk of her love and devotion.”
3. The Humorous Insight of Christ
“It is hardly reasonable to think that the God who created man to laugh never laughed himself. Although there is no specific passage in Scripture that indicates Jesus laughed, there are numerous passages that indicate he certainly caused other people to laugh. At least, they displayed one of those satisfying smiles one sees when a words or gesture expresses something that has long gone unsaid. We can well imagine the men going home at night and telling their wives, ‘You should have heard what He said to those Pharisees today! The Master has great wit for He confounds His enemies with their own words.'”
4. Fruits of His Love
“It is a mystery difficult to comprehend. It is Jesus in me who bears the fruit—and yet, I am the one who manifests the fruit. His power, his grace, and his gifts in me must be manifest to my neighbor. I must render to my neighbor those things I cannot render to God, and God in his infinite goodness counts it as done to himself. This twofold combination—his grace and my will—must work together in perfect harmony if the fruit is to be beautiful and plentiful.”
5. Motivated Effort
“If the Apostles had analyzed the stranger’s request, they would never have complied with it. Every fisherman knows you do not throw a net over the starboard side of a boat, and common sense would have told them that if they had not made a catch all night they would surely not make one at dawn. But they did not stop to look at the obstacles; they wanted only one thing—a catch of fish. Behind the effort of throwing over the net was a motive—a motive strong enough to overcome the impossible. I must be sure that behind all my actions there is a motive. The effort I put forth in accomplishing the smallest task must have some motive behind it. An action without a motive is like a boat without a rudder. It sails aimlessly across the sea of life, pushed to and fro by the wind of futility.”
6. Meditation on the Life of Jesus
“I look at the Incarnation with awe hen I see Jesus conceal his eternal wisdom, power, and majesty, and assume human nature– not as an adult, but as an infant, totally dependent upon two of his creatures. What would make him do such a thing? The only answer is love because only love is strong enough to overcome every obstacle. It is difficult to think of his majesty and power as obstacles—and yet they seemed to be. As God, there was no way to identify himself with me. He knew I would often be tempted to look at him and say, ‘How do you know what it feels like to suffer pain, failure, weakness, humiliations, hunger, and thirst?'”
7. Love Is Not Loved
“I am not like a pebble on the beach—a grain of sand on the seashore or just one of millions of human beings past, present, and future. No, I am a unique human being loved by God as if I were an only child—the only fruit of his creative powers. He loves me. He created me out of nothing—breathed a soul into my body, endowed me with a personality destined to give him a unique kind of glory for all eternity because he loves me. Jesus is the perfect image of the Father. When I look at Jesus, I see the Father—I see love—I see the Spirit and the Spirit loves me. If I were to put all the love in the world into one heart it would be merely a spark in comparison with the love the heart of Jesus has for me.”
For more words of wisdom on Jesus and Mary, pick up a copy of Mother Angelica on Christ and Our Lady!
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