The Eternal Word Television Network (EWTN) will mark its 25th anniversary this year, Aug. 15, and to celebrate it has organized five events, called Family Celebrations.

The network kicked off its yearlong celebration last month in Denver. Its second event will be Jan. 28-29 at San Francisco’s Bill Graham Civic Auditorium. More than 6,500 people are expected.

Attendants will hear renowned speakers and can visit with the network’s hosts and well-known Catholic authors. They will be part of one of the largest studio audiences the network has ever had for a taping of The Journey Home, one of EWTN’s primetime television programs. Bishop Allen Vigneron of Oakland will celebrate mass on Sunday. Future celebrations are planned for San Antonio, St. Louis, and Philadelphia.

Mother Angelica, an 82-year-old cloistered nun, who with $200 in the bank, founded EWTN in the garage of her monastery in the Birmingham suburb of Irondale, always referred to the network’s audience as her “family.” Time magazine once called Mother Angelica “the most influential Catholic woman in America.”

“These celebrations are a way to thank God for his awesome Providence and to say ‘thank you’ to our family for their support over the past 25 years,” said EWTN president Michael Warsaw.

EWTN is available in more than 118 million households in 127 countries and territories. And with its worldwide short-wave radio station, its direct broadcast satellite service, its satellite delivered AM & FM radio network, its Internet Web site (www.ewtn.com) and its publishing arm, EWTN is the largest religious media network in the world.

For more information, go to: www.ewtn25.com