Listen to weekly rebroadcasts of the Ave Maria Hour on Blogtalk Radio >>
The popular Ave Maria Hour was first brought to the airwaves in 1935 and continued until 1969, encouraging and entertaining thousands of listeners. It was heard over some 350 stations and 400 more through the facilities of the Armed Forces Radio Service. Recorded in a studio in New York City and on the grounds of Graymoor, these historical dramatizations received many awards for religious radio programs sponsored by the American Exhibition of Educational Radio and Television programs of Ohio State University. It received the Golden Bell Award in 1959, presented on live television by Mr. Ed Sullivan.
In 1969, the Ave Maria Hour ceased broadcasting after 34 years, due to the increased costs of programming and airtime. It was one of the greatest means by which the community became widely known. From 1998 to 2006, due to the generosity of Whitney Radio (WVOX/1460 AM and WRTN/93.5 FM), the show was revived to engage today's audiences and the pro-active style of call-in radio. Fr. Bob Warren, SA, Fr. Charles Angell, SA, and Fr. Walter Gagne, SA, served as hosts to discuss the meaning of the stories in contemporary terms and then take call-in comments from listeners of all religions asking a wide range of questions.
The library of existing Ave Maria Hour broadcasts is extensive, with over 2,500 recordings on 12" and 16" vinyl records. We are currently in the process of converting the recordings, starting with the much-in-demand series The Life of Christ (44 shows) onto quality CD technology.
