Angels around us.

"For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone."
Psalm 91:11-12

Today is another special feast today - that of our guardian angels! I don't think I could sum up the beautiful importance of this feast day in the lives of our families better than Maria Augusta Trapp in her book, Around the Year with the Trapp Family - yes, the real words of Maria from "The Sound of Music."

"Long before our little children learn to know Peter Rabbit, Donald Duck, Mickey Mouse, and Winnie the Pooh, they must be made familiar with their most faithful companion-their best friend, their guardian angel. The beauty of telling stores to little ones lies in their ready acceptance. They believe that their guardian angel is around all the time, day and night, and they will talk to him, greeting him in the morning, discussing things with him during the day, thanking him in the evening. When children grow up with a strong sense of a spiritual power at their service instituted by God for the very special and sole purpose of being their very own helper and protector, such children need never be afraid, need never suffer from the modern ailment of insecurity. It is up to us mothers to bring about this early and very personal friendship with their guardian angel. The feast of the Holy Guardian Angel on October 2nd should be a big event in our nurseries."

I have seen this very kind of relationship in action with some children. They make remarks such as, "I asked my guardian angel to signal to my brother's angel to wake him up when I saw him sleeping in church," or "I asked, 'Please guardian angel, help me remember the answer to that problem'...and then I did!" It is striking to hear youngsters talk with such confidence about a being they have never experienced with any of their 5 senses, and to see a complete trust in their angel's concern for their welfare, especially understanding guardian angels' importance for the protection of the soul. 

Maria Trapp continues, describing the need for children to understand the stories of the good angels as described throughout the Bible; their purpose and their desire to help us gain Heaven. Just as important, is the understanding of evil, and how the bad "angels" influence sin.

"And as we tell the children about the good angels, we shall also have to mention the bad ones who turned into devils. If the highest of them, Satan himself, dared to tempt Our Lord, who are we to think that it "can't happen to us" or that such stories belong to the Middle Ages and do not apply to modern times? What St. Peter says to all of us we must tell to the little ones as well: "Watch and pray, for the devil goes about like a roaring lion seeking whom he may devour." 

I am relishing re-discovering this book and Maria's beautiful spirituality. She has so much wisdom to impart, and a close-knit, God-fearing, virtue-seeking family as proof of her careful, holy mothering; I hope to share more of her thoughts throughout the year.

Holy Guardian Angels, protect us from the evil one. Help us to raise our children to burn with a desire to love the Lord, and to be able to recognize and shun the evil one.