SUNDAY, Aug. 23, 9am

Alaska: Big America

HISTORY This two-hour special from 2004 traces highlights of Alaska’s history from Russian explorer Vitus Bering’s voyage in 1741 on up through World War II and after.
 

Blessed Alexandrina Maria da Costa

EWTN In 1918, Blessed Alexandrina (1904-1955) of Balazar, northern Portugal, suffered partial paralysis when she jumped out of a window to escape assault. The paralysis became total in 1925, and Alexandrina saw that she was to be a victim soul who offered her sufferings to show everyone the horror of sin and to help us love Jesus. Pope John Paul II beatified her in 2004. Re-airs 5am Thursday. Advisory: TV-PG.
 

Answered Prayers

TLC Produced and hosted by actress Roma Downey, this series portrays life-threatening situations in which people have experienced, as she says, “supernatural provision.” On Aug. 23, cases include a teenager’s near-drowning and a stuntman’s accident. Aug. 30’s stories involve a car in a river, a mudslide and a window washer’s plunge.
 

Conversations the World Over With Raymond Arroyo

EWTN In this interview, the late Cardinal Francis Xavier Nguyen Van Thuan (1928-2002), whose cause for canonization is under way, said the love of Christ sustained him during his imprisonment by the Vietnamese communist regime from 1975 to 1988, including nine years in solitary. Re-airs 2:30am Saturday. Advisory: TV-PG.
 

At Home with Jim & Joy

EWTN Today’s guest, Peter Kleponis, explains how Catholics can protect themselves from today’s pornography epidemic and can help others. Re-airs 5pm Friday and 10:30am Sunday.
 

Great Performances: Vienna Philharmonic Summer Night Concert 2015

PBS Zubin Mehta conducts the Vienna Philharmonic in the gardens of Austria’s Imperial Schönbrunn Palace, and pianist Rudolf Buchbinder is the soloist.

The Many Reflections of Mother Teresa

EWTN At 5:30pm on Aug. 31, Jan Marie Halphen of Upon This Rock interviews Sister Mary Lumen of the Missionaries of Charity. At 1:30pm Sept. 5, Missionaries of Charity Father Bob Conroy discusses his vocation and daily life.
 

Memorial Mass for the Servant of God Father Vincent Capodanno

EWTN Archbishop Timothy Broglio of the Archdiocese for the Military Services will celebrate the annual Mass for Maryknoll Father (and Servant of God) Vincent Capodanno, a Navy chaplain who gave his life in battle against the North Vietnamese Army on Sept. 4, 1967, while ministering to wounded and dying Marines. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor.
 

American Masters: Althea

PBS This documentary profiles tennis great Althea Gibson (1927-2003), who won the French Open in 1956 and both Wimbledon and the U.S. Nationals in 1957 and 1958. She broke tennis’ color barrier and won 11 Grand Slam tournaments in all, including six doubles events.

Dan Engler writes from
Santa Barbara, California.