Have You Seen this Angel?

Can you guess who the “little angel” is in the picture above? I’ll tell you below!

But first: this reminds me of when I was ten years old and at our parish’s annual All Saint’s Day party.

The highlight of the party was a costume contest where adults would try to guess which saint each of the kids had dressed up as.  I had selected my saint and, thanks to my older sisters’ geniuses, I had the perfect costume.

I was wearing one of my dad’s green t-shirts (the one he wore with his BDU’s) and had a belt around my waist, a pillowcase secured by a hairband on my head, and a fishing pole with a cardboard fish dangling from the end slung over my shoulder.

 I then ran around the party asking, “Can you guess who I am?”

One older parishioner looked very thoughtfully down at me. He took his time. I was suddenly afraid he might guess–although no one else had yet.

“Um, St. Peter?”

I shook my head.

“One of the Apostles?”

Still no.

 “I give up.”

I broke out into a huge grin, “I’m St. Raphael!” I exclaimed.

Then, I ran away to find someone else to guess. The story of the Tobias in the Bible, St. Raphael disguised as a young man, the fish, and Sara–get it?

Not many people know about one of the most dramatic stories in the Bible. How did ten-year-old me know about it?

That’s easy–I learned about it in A Book of Angels. This incredible book contains ALL the stories of angels throughout the Bible and shows how they can help us on our way to Heaven. An easy-to-read book is perfect for a middle-grade reader, it is a perfect way to introduce children to the stories of Angels in the Bible.

Do you know….

• There are 7 Archangels and three of them are mentioned by name in the Bible?
• Balaam was prevented from cursing the Israelite people by an armed angel standing in his way? 
• Which type of angels have two sets of wings?
• An angel showed St. John visions of the end of the world?

If your kids aren’t able to read A Book of Angels yet, there are some other great ways to help them realize the impact of angels in their everyday lives. When I was younger, reading the book about Guardian Angels in the Little Books for Catholic Kids collection was a favorite of mine. 

Now that I am a bit older (and no longer on a continual hunt for a good All Saints Day costume), I have started to look for answers to some of my more unusual angel questions.

For example: Did God make more angels or more people? Do you know the answer?

I wondered about this until I read All About Angels which provided the answer to not just this question, but also to questions I didn’t even know I had!!

Throughout the years, my interest in angels has only increased by reading the TRUE story of Sr. Maria Antonia in Under Angel Wings: the True Story of a Young Girl and her Guardian Angel. Sr. Maria had the amazing experience of seeing her guardian angel numerous times throughout her life!

My family loves this book so much that during the month of October a few years ago, my dad read it aloud every evening at dinner so we could discuss it together! Her stories of how her Guardian Angel saved her dozens of times made me reflect back on my life and how many times my angel has helped me without me even realizing it! You realize Guardian Angels are with you all the time, even protecting us from the things we do as little children without thinking…and stepping in when we get older, too…

I like to read–and there are a LOT of books I like to recommend! You can read more about my favorite books, including one I skipped school to read!, here on the Holy Heroes blog!

PS So, did you guess that the “little angel” at the top of the blog is my sister, Clara? My parents lived with their two children in Minnesota that Halloween (before any of the rest of us were even born!) and it was COLD that evening. Mom dressed up both Virginia and Clara as angels, but to keep them warm walking from house-to-house, she bundled them up with sweaters underneath the costumes. Clara didn’t like the way the costume looked, all bulky, and besides–it was getting very hot taking all those pictures! So…the bottom lip began to stick farther and farther out! It is one of our family’s favorite pictures.