c. 2000 Religion News Service
HANCEVILLE, Ala. _ Mother Angelica, the popular but controversial nun of the Eternal Word Television Network, rarely travels anywhere these days except to Birmingham to do her twice-a-week television program, “Mother Angelica Live.”
When she does travel, Mother Angelica is usually accompanied by Brother Angelo, who serves as her official spokesman both on the road and at the shrine, where she is usually in cloistered quarters with the other Poor Clare Nuns of Perpetual Adoration.
Brother Angelo is one of six lay brothers of the Knights of the Holy Eucharist, which is affiliated with the Franciscan order of brothers. They live in an apartment in the loft of a nearby barn and take care of chores around the monastery, which is part of the Shrine of the Most Blessed Sacrament.
Despite sometimes sweltering temperatures, Brother Angelo and the other Knights wear the burley-brown robes of traditional Franciscans with wide sleeves and ropes tied at the waist as they milk cows, feed the chickens and rabbits they raise for food, and plow fields with horses for vegetable gardens that help feed the nuns.
“It does get a little hot,” said Brother Angelo. “But we try to live a simple lifestyle.”
Brother Angelo, an energetic and personable young man of 33, has dark hair and eyes and a sparkling smile.
“I truly love living here,” said the Iowa native. “Mother Angelica is really hilarious and what you see on TV is what she truly is like. She’s like a grandmother to everyone and will do anything for anyone. She did this all for Jesus, which is her motto _ `All for Jesus.”’
While the brothers, who do not take religious vows, are free to come and go around the grounds, the cloistered nuns remain in private quarters for their entire lives. They will even be buried in crypts at the back of the 200-seat lower church, directly underneath the main sanctuary, which seats some 300 people.
The cloistered nuns, who range in age from 18 to 77, maintain a prayer vigil 24 hours a day before the Blessed Sacrament _ the bread and wine of communion. They attend Mass each morning at 7.
To become a nun, the women go through an eight-year process of training after entering the monastery to determine whether they want to be “extern” or “intern” nuns. The extern nuns tend to duties of the shrine such as preparing the temple for Mass, giving the priest his vestments and greeting the many visitors.
The primary duty of the intern nuns is prayer. They also clean, cook and take care of elderly nuns who are sick. They are allowed to read only Catholic-related materials and have no television, radio, newspapers, computers or other modern communication devices. They learn of problems in the world only when they receive prayer requests, such as for earthquake or airline crash victims.
When the women who come to live here first arrive, they kneel in front of a door with no handle. They knock three times and Mother Angelica opens the door to the living quarters.
After a few quiet words are exchanged, each woman is ushered to the place where she will spend the remainder of her life. A funeral Mass is given for each nun after she arrives to show she has “died to the world,” said Brother Angelo. Then she takes part in a wedding-style ceremony with a gold ring that “marries” her to Christ and the church.
The nuns may visit with relatives at the monastery twice a year, for a total of 24 hours during four six-hour periods. The visiting room is divided by a half wall; relatives sit on one side and the nun on the other.
“The reason for the order is to give thanksgiving,” said Brother Angelo. “The biggest problem we’re asked to pray for is that someone’s son or daughter is away from the church, which is some of the worst suffering people go through.”
DEA END BETOWT
