Welcome to another week of Just Enough Info with The Zelie Group. This week we are discussing The Angel Feasts that are celebrated on September 29th and October 2nd. Today is the feast of the Archangels, otherwise known as Michaelmas and October is the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.
I'd love to introduce you to the other hosts of the JEI: Just Enough Info Linkup:
1. Naming your Guardian Angel: yea or nay?
“The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.”
I don't know where this quote is directly from but I found it mentioned several times throughout the articles written on this subject. I have linked to one such article below.
Through many different articles I came across, there was a high degree of concern for those who name there Guardian Angels because God is the only one who has authority over the Holy Angels and giving them a name is an insinuation that we have authority as well. In addition to this I read that naming your Guardian Angel could actually open doors that could potentially hurt you spiritually.
I highly recommend reading the article, "Have You Given Your Guardian Angel a Name?"
2. Have you had any angel experiences?
Yes! I have had MANY experiences thanks to my Guardian Angel and so has my entire family! We are firm believers that there are Angels protecting and guiding us through our lives.
My dad was in the Air force for over 28 years before he retired and he often told me stories from when he was deployed and he found himself in very bad situations. He would always tell me that the only reason why he was still alive today was for two reasons. One... the prayers of my grandmother. Two... his Guardian Angel.
I even have a picture of a cloud that looks like an angel that formed above my Grandma's burial spot during her funeral! I wish I knew where it was off hand so I could share it with you. My dad keeps a blown up version of this same picture on the mantel in my childhood home.
3. How have you shared about angels with your kids?
We have discussed angels quiet often in our family. My oldest has two Baptismal Saints and Saint Michael is one of them. We have also discussed angels because I had a miscarriage and Little Man was old enough at the time to understand that something had happened to the baby in my belly. It was a difficult conversation to have with a child but I told him that now he had a special angel in heaven that would pray for him as he grew up and we would meet this angel when we go to heaven. The hardest part of the miscarriage was that I was 3 months pregnant so we did not know the sex of the child and we did not have a chance to name it. Now that I know we shouldn't name our Guardian Angels, I truly feel that I have a special Angel in heaven looking after me and my family.
We also pray to our Guardian Angels before big school tests, sports games and when we travel. The boys know that if we have a Saint to ask for intercession that we do but we include our Guardian Angels all the time!
Here is my FAVORITE prayer to our Guardian Angel. It is very known and common but I just love it anyway.
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God's love commits me here,
Ever this day, be at my side,
To light and guard, Rule and guide.
Amen.
Well that is my take on Just Enough Info this week. I would love to hear your thoughts! Feel free to use the beautiful picture below in your linkup post if you so desire!
Please Join us and Link Up with your answers to this week's questions about The Angel Feasts that are celebrated on September 29th and October 2nd. Here are the questions:
1. Naming your Guardian Angel: yea or nay?
2. Have you had any angel experiences?
3. How have you shared about angels with your kids?
Next week we will be discussing Respecting Life Month (October):
Does your family or parish mark the month in a special way?
Do you have any books or resources to recommend on the Respect Life theme?
What do you wish others understood about the Respect Life message?
Feel free to check out the last few weeks of JEI to learn about the link up rules and other fun topics we have already discussed:
The Zelie Group has some fun questions coming up in the next few weeks so make sure to follow us on Facebook and we would love to hear what you are interested in! What are you looking to learn about? Do you have questions about the Faith? Questions about the Liturgical Year? We want to help and learn and grow with you and your families!
