Before Mother Angelica Built EWTN, She Found Healing Through Rhoda Wise’s Prayers

Before Mother Angelica Built EWTN, She Found Healing Through Rhoda Wise’s Prayers ‘If it weren’t for Rhoda Wise, there would be no EWTN,’ O’Neill noted. ‘So it’s quite a connection.’ As the canonization cause for American mystic and Servant of God Rhoda Wise took a major step forward this month — clearing a key milestone at the Vatican as formal documentation on her life and virtues advances before the Dicastery for the Causes of Saints — the stigmatist’s deep connection to EWTN cannot be overlooked. Michael O’Neill, who is also known at the “Miracle Hunter,” shared fascinating details about the connection between the possible saint and EWTN foundress Mother Angelica. Speaking on EWTN Radio, the author of They Might Be Saints said: “Rhoda Wise has been passed away for some decades now, of course, but she was one of these people who had the most mystical phenomena surrounding her of anyone in American history, in my opinion.” Born in 1888, Wise was an Ohio housewife and convert to Catholicism who gained national attention after reporting miraculous healings from severe ankle injuries and cancer in 1939, as well as bearing the stigmata from 1942 to 1945. Wise’s Canton, Ohio, home still draws hundreds of weekly visitors seeking healing, and her legacy of quiet faith and intercession continues to inspire. Among her earliest visitors was a 19-year-old teenager suffering from a debilitating stomach condition named Rita Rizzo. “She came with her mother to the home of Rhoda Wise and asked her to pray for her,” O’Neill explained. “They started a novena over the course of nine days. On the ninth day, her stomach ailment completely and thoroughly disappeared — and never returned.” That young woman later entered religious life, took the name Mother Angelica, and went on to found Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) — the world’s largest religious media network. “If it weren’t for Rhoda Wise, there would be no EWTN,” O’Neill noted. “So it’s quite a connection.” A Personal Legacy: EWTN Correspondent Mark Irons Wise’s impact reaches far beyond historical archives, extending into the lives of those who cover her story today. EWTN News correspondent Mark Irons visited the Canton home for a special report, and that experience left a lasting personal mark on his own family. “I’m excited to hear Rhoda’s cause for canonization is moving ahead,” Irons told the Register. “In 2023, I visited the home of Rhoda Wise for an EWTN report. My wife and I were both inspired by her story. And we could both relate to her devotion to St. Thérèse of Lisieux.” That inspiration became a permanent part of his family’s life two years later. “In 2025, we welcomed our first daughter and decided to name her Rhoda,” Irons added. “We continue to pray for the intercession of Rhoda Wise in our family life.” Scientific and Vatican Scrutiny Addressing the medical scrutiny involved in investigating mystical phenomena and beatification causes, O’Neill pointed out that Wise’s case is supported by documentation from physicians who examined her during her lifetime. He noted that despite frequent secular skepticism surrounding stigmata, clinical research has failed to replicate such physical manifestations through non-supernatural means like hypnosis. “There are many miracles that happen in the world, but without the documentation, Rome will never touch it,” O'Neill emphasized, highlighting the rigorous criteria required by the Vatican when assessing cases for sainthood. With documentation detailing her heroic virtues now under review in Rome, devotions and prayers for her beatification continue to grow among pilgrims visiting the Rhoda Wise House and Grotto in Canton. - Keywords: - rhoda wise - mother angelica