:) I'm hoping to name my children after the archangels hahha I loved this post!

Angels, like humans, are fascinating to me. It's quite wonderful

Feliz cumpleanos!

And very good post. I agree!

Happy birthday, Jacob! :)

@greenbird321 - For some reason I've had the darndest time trying to say "you are welcome" and that I love praying for you! Come on Xanga, let me reply.........!

@greenbird321 - Huzzah! It worked!

Happy belated birthday! I hope you had a great one.

I enjoyed reading in my Magnificat about the feast day and saw a neat old show on EWTN that day too.

I had a "vision" shortly after Steve and I got married in 2006. I was in our bedroom in the dark, and an angel came and wrapped me in his wings. Inside the wings, it was sort of vast...I could reach out in all directions and not touch the end of the space...sort of like the camping tents in the Harry Potter books, or what it must be like to be inside Mary Poppins' bag. I could see under his wings where the bedroom was, and time/space was normal outside his wings. inside his wings was like being in another place (or maybe even dimension?). I have wondered whether it was a valid God-based vision or just a wacky imagination moment. I even asked a priest about it once, but he didn't have anything to say. What I took away from it was that we have no grasp of the amazing abilities of angels, and that they are very safe to be around. It was a peaceful, happy, comforting thing for me.

@BigToePeople - It seems to me that a being such as an angel, whose "average day" consists of being in the constant, complete sight of God, has enough room in their wingspan to contain a great deal of mystery. Some experiences, like this deep contemplation, have no explanation, but whether this is your mind and heart making a deep connection to a greater spiritual truth, a beautiful imagining, or a vision from God, it seems to me to be a moment of holiness and a cause for gratitude to God, "from whom all good things come."

@Ancient_Scribe - Thank you so much for this perspective. It has a ring of truth, as if you're putting to words what my instinct was. Whether it was a mental connection with spirit, an imagining, or a vision...it gives me an inkling about the angels and about our God. It gives me comfort and a real trust in God and angel's might. My husband is right here and I read your response here to my husband and also told him of your prayers that my mom would come to understand the Eucharist and come to the Catholic Church and also that we become parents. He's very grateful. As am I. So glad we've connected here on Xanga. You have a great ministry of comfort to many of your Xanga friends.

@gracebeyondmeasure - Hey no worries! It is good to see you around Xanga again!!

@Niccee - But angels can serve him in ways and in places where humans cannot, so, yes; more servants for God! Can you imagine their joy, to be there in the presence of God and then one day He points to one and says, "Will you serve me?"

I believe he sent Gabriel because he wanted the whole thing to be up to Mary. If God asked you something in person, how could you possibly say no? Our human will is naturally attracted to what is good, and being that God is perfect and the most good that anything or anyone can possibly be, no human being (sinless or not!) could possibly say no. However, sending Gabriel to speak on His behalf, God honors Mary even more by respecting her free will, placing all of salvation in her hands for that moment when all heaven and earth held their breath, praying that she would say, "I do" to God's proposal. All human experience (this side of heaven, anyways) is mediated somehow, whether by angel, dream, the Spirit (who works always under a veil of mysery) or the flesh as is the case of Jesus Christ, when God appeared to us as one of us. He does this not out of laziness or inability, but out of love.

@puritea - Really?

@puritea - How?