Today is the feast of the Archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel (and the feast day of our many sisters with variations of those names). People frequently ask us for a book about St. Michael, as if he were the kind of saint who could have a biography. That's the thing about angels. They are a different order of creature. As Gabriel said to Zechariah, "I am Gabriel who stand before God." What a life!
The Responsorial Psalm is one of my favorites, perhaps because I am a singer: "In the sight of the angels, I will sing your praise." Of the three, it is Gabriel who has the most special role in the Pauline Family because Gabriel is the patron of audio-visual media, being himself the "media" God chose to communicate the message and invitation of the Incarnation. Vatican Radio used to have an antenna that was also a "statue" of St. Gabriel, but I think they do everything by satelite now. I couldn't find an online image of the antenna. This morning we said our Founder's prayer to St. Gabriel for all those who work in audio/video communications. Fittingly enough, it begins by invoking Gabriel's role in the Annunciation. After all, angels are first and formost messengers.
Saturday, September 29, 2007
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
2 comments:
How timely! This conversation just came up in our house recently. Tuesday is the Feast of Guardian Angels and my first-grader (along with his class) is responsible for music and responsorial prayers. I explained that angels are created spirits, but got a bit of a blank look. Do you have any book recommendations about angels for young elementary children?
There is a coloring book based on the little "Angel of God" prayer... http://www.pauline.org/store/moreinfo/coloringbks2.html
Other titles that are out of print, but may be available elsewhere are "Angel of God, What's Your Name?" by Joan Hutson, and "Angel of God" by Piera Paltro.
You have to be alert on "angel" books, because so many non-Catholic writers assume that angels are good people who have died. This error gets mixed right in as if it were a biblical given!
Post a Comment