Mother Angelica's 1993 Video Goes Viral After X User Calls on Blessed Carlo Acutis' Intercession
One of Mother Angelica's most well-known videos went viral after an X (Formerly Twitter) user turned to Blessed Carlo Acutis' intercession.
Will Anselm, who published a video of Mother Angelica calling out the liberal Church in America, said his post "blew up" during the early morning of May 1, 2024. The video generated approximately 200,000 views as of Thurs., May 2.
Last night at 12:35, I made a devotion to Blessed Carlo Acutis, whose patronage is digital media and the internet, specifically for grace, guidance, and wisdom in my use of social media as a service to Christ.
— Will Anselm (@willanselme) May 1, 2024
At 1AM, this post blew up and as of now over 53k people around the… https://t.co/KDj261XtxD pic.twitter.com/pCdsrZBfZR
Reposting the video along with a photo of Blessed Carlo Acutis holding the Eucharist, Anselm writes:
"Last night at 12:35, I made a devotion to Blessed Carlo Acutis, whose patronage is digital media and the internet, specifically for grace, guidance, and wisdom in my use of social media as a service to Christ.
"At 1 AM, this post blew up and as of now over 53k people around the world have seen and heard Mother Angelica absolutely skewer theological modernism and liberalism.
"At least 50 people have discovered @EWTN for the first time, and have downloaded their app or asked how to access Mother Angelica's classic videos online.
"Blessed Carlo, Pray for us!"
The original 28-minute video was Mother Angelica's reaction to an article in The Denver Post about a Stations of the Cross performance at the 1993 World Youth Day in Denver, Colorado. The production portrayed Jesus as a woman, which The Denver Post called “ironic… since the Catholic Church won’t ordain women as priests.”
“No, it’s not ironic,” Mother Angelica responded. "It's blasphemous."
Here are Mother Angelica's words in the recently-resurfaced viral video:
"You have really no God, you have no dogma, no doctrine, and no authority, because the only authority in the Catholic Church is our Holy Father and the Magisterium, and you’ve disclaimed that.
“You don’t believe in the Eucharist, you don’t believe in the Immaculate Conception, you don’t believe in the Virgin Birth, you don’t believe in Mary’s power of intercession, you don’t believe in religious life, you don’t believe in being a spouse of Christ.
“You do believe in teaching to little children of the third grade sex education. You do believe in forcing centering prayer and forcing inclusive language upon us. And now you depict Jesus as a woman. You are sick."
Turning to Blessed Carlo Acutis
Anselm said he turned to Blessed Carlo after participating in a meeting with other Catholic influencers on X (Formerly Twitter). He then encouraged the group to turn to the young Blessed and privately said a prayer calling on him.
"I had an extraordinary sensation, as if seeing him on his deathbed conversing with his mother, and I felt immensely calm and reassured. Then, when I exited the call, I observed an innocuous tweet about Mother Angelica that had exploded in views, likes, retweets, and follows within just a few hours," Anselm told ChurchPOP.
"It continued to escalate throughout the night, overwhelming my notifications. The following morning, I realized that this level of engagement was beyond what I could predict from my analytics. I felt convinced that it was due to the intercession of Blessed Carlo."
How Mother Angelica & Carlo Acutis Reflect Eucharistic Devotion
Due to Mother Angelica and Blessed Carlo's deep devotion to the Eucharist, Anselm said he believes they are both "tightly interwoven" and "they both relate intimately to a defense of the Eucharist," but "from two very different perspectives."
"I'm reminded of the most childlike and simple, yet nonetheless, profound terms that both Carlo and Mother Angelica used to refer to the Eucharist on various occasions," Anselm began.
"Carlo famously referred to it as the genius of God who is clever enough to hide Himself in a piece of bread– a very childlike understanding affirming the Real Presence.
"Similarly, in parts of that video, which I extracted and posted on X, Angelica spends most of her time speaking positively, referring to the awesome wonder of when all that presence comes down into that one little host, and then she goes on to speak about some kneeling, some standing, some picking their noses in the presence of the Real Presence," he continued.
"Unlikely together, these holy and selfless Catholics seem almost unquestionably to point towards the need to make right and clear our attitude towards the Real Presence of our Lord Jesus Christ--Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity upon the altar..."
Anselm added that he believes Blessed Carlo Acutis and Mother Angelica's connection to one another also calls the Church "to safeguard and to restore the proper dignity and catechized understanding of the Real Presence of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, Body, Blood, Soul, and Divinity, in the Blessed Sacrament of the altar, the Eucharist."