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As soon as I asked the Saints and Angels for their help, it was as if they surrounded me in a huge crowd, to support me, as I knelt before the Father's throne, offering Him my evening praise. Truly, the Lord assured me, I have an army of Heavenly friends.
When a man and a woman are about to make their marriage vows in a Catholic church, Christ is there with all His Saints, to witness the marriage, which is a sacrament of the Church. The saints will celebrate the union, and after the vows, will pray to the Father for the couple; and the Angels also pray.
It is God's wish that our Catholic churches be recognisably houses of prayer. We enter, on the threshold of Heaven; and it is right that we should see reminders of our fellow-worshippers, the Saints and Angels - and of the Saviour Who welcomes us from the tabernacle - and not see merely a bare plaster wall.
It is as if, far above the earth, the Godhead holds at its heart an oasis of light. This is the city of God, home of the Saints and Angels for Eternity; and it is foolishness, in the Lord's sight, to risk losing an Eternity of bliss, there, for a moment's earthly pleasure or gain followed by Eternal pain and darkness.
Our guardian Angels always pray with immense reverence and devotion. They love to see us pray in the same manner; and though we do not usually see them we can delight in the knowledge that they are beside us as we pray: our faithful guardians and companions.
God and His holy Angels look on with joy, wherever Christ and His mother Mary are present, where Christ is adored and Mary honoured, and where people follow their example - as in the Domaine, at Lourdes.
The Lord told me that I can more easily avoid distraction during Holy Communion if I remember that to meet Christ in Person, flanked by His holy Angels, is a far greater privilege than if I were to meet the Queen in person, in her palace, flanked by her companions.
Through Christ, at every Mass, we share in His praise of the Father, and are brought into the presence of the whole company of Heaven
Christ showed me, before Mass began, the glory above the sanctuary, and the steps that led to the Father's throne. He asked me to paint what I saw, and then to complete a huge picture, with Saints and Angels too. Everything that we do at Mass, with and through Christ, is done for the glory of our Heavenly Father.
Two holy Angels stood at each side of the altar, during the Mass, in honour of Christ, Who was made Really Present at the Consecration.
If we pray before the tabernacle in Church, where Jesus Christ is Sacramentally, substantially Present with us, as close to us as He was to His Apostles in Galilee, and if we adore Him, we do what the Angels do. They are hovering beside the tabernacle, adoring Our Lord in an attitude of perfect love.
Satan, the wicked Angel, imagined that death would defeat the 'Son of Man'. Yet Jesus conquered both death and Satan by rising from the dead. In private prayer, and at Mass where Jesus' Sacrifice is re-presented, we are right to praise and thank our Saviour for shedding His Blood on the Cross, for our sakes, and re-uniting Heaven and earth by his love and obedience.
Christ in His Passion was cheered on by millions of watching Angels; and we who follow Him in our own work and sufferings can be certain that we have Saints as well as Angels cheering us on, encouraging us to persevere.
As the Son of God pondered His descent to our sinful world, He knew that through all His future agonies He would have millions of Angels cheering Him on. He wants us to know that as we meet opposition (from inside as well as outside the Church) in the practice of the Faith, we have not only Angels but also thousands of Saints, cheering us on.
A priest deserves honour in the Church. It is the Will of Christ that we treat with special devotion and respect those 'other Christs' in our midst, who remain worthy of honour even if sick, disabled or old. Christ has chosen them for their elevated state, which is recognised even by the Angels.
The Church has for centuries inspired, employed, or admired painters, who keep before the eyes of the faithful, in graphic form, those truths of the Faith on which we should act, if we are to be saved by the grace of Christ. We can be helped by images of Heaven or Hell, even if angels or demons, for example, are portrayed in semi-human form, or in ways stemming from a particular culture.
Christ is true God, as well as true man. The bright cloud represented the Godhead, and Heaven; and as it split open, Christ emerged, willing to descend to earth to live as a sinless man in a sinful world, to save us from Hell. The Angels looked on in awe and wonder, seeing His love for us all.
Christ saw that I felt lonely, being unable to go out very much. He gestured towards the Saints and Angels in the sanctuary, and said: "Look at the Company you have, my child! All this company is yours" - to enjoy.
The truth which we have learned from Christ and His Apostles is still true, is still taught by the Catholic Church, which Christ founded, and is still meant to be told to everyone in the world who is willing to listen: that God loves us so much He has come down from Heaven, and that Jesus, God-made-man, is the only Saviour.
It was by her total surrender to the Father's Will that the Blessed Virgin Mary accepted the message of the Angel, and was able to reply that she was the handmaid of the Lord; and so Christ was conceived in her womb.
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