The word "angel" comes from the Greek: "agglos" - messenger. Angels have two functions: to illuminate us and to guard us. Christians, Jews, Muslims, even pagans - Aristotle, Virgil, Plutach - believed in angels. Jews believe that St. Michael the Archangel is the Protector of Israel. I believe that is true. Aristotle said that every person has a guardian angel. The Greeks believed that angels governed the universe. The Greeks came to the belief in the existance of angels from nature's hierarchy. If we go from plants to insects to animals to man and jump to God, there is something wrong with that progression of logic. And the Greeks were very logical. They are the ones who reasoned to the existence of the immortal soul and to atoms (atomos). So, they concluded that between man and God, there had to be a creature that was pure spirit, intelligent and good. They were right. They called these beings "angels". If mere man could come to the conclusion that there had to be creatures between man and God, then you can be sure that God, of Infinite Intelligence, would conclude the same. But angels came before man was created. When angels were told that God was going to humble Himself and become a man, the angels objected. They felt that if God was going to humble Himself, He should become as they are - an angel. Many, many angels refused to adore God as a man. They made an irrevocable decision. They said that they would not serve. Now, when this decision was made by many angels, they were looking at the face of God. They were created good; but they were not admitted into glory right away. They had this one test: to adore God as a man. These angels became bad angels because they made an irrovocable decision. It was perfectly clear what they were doing. There was no changing of their minds. Once they decided, that was it. Michael drove them out of heaven. Where did they go? I believe there is a passage in scripture that says they were thrown down to earth. Jesus said: "I saw Lucifer falling from heaven like lightning." Interesting: Lucifer which means "light bearer" as he was falling from heaven made a streak like a lightnight. That tells me that Lucifer retained some light as he fell. His glory was not put out like a light switch. He fell while he was glorious. By the time he landed, however, there was no light in him. He is the Prince of Darkness. When Judas left the table of the last supper, "Satan entered him. He went out; and it was night!" Night - darkness - is the domain of Satan. These bad angels can suggest bad things to us; but they cannot penetrate our wills. They can dominate our imagination but not our will. And of course, not all temptation comes from the devil. Some come from our fallen nature and our concupiscense. But if men allow their imaginations to be filled with porn and sadistic movies, then they are letting the devil dominate their imaginations because he is the driving force behind the porn industry and abortion. He presents to the young mothers the fear of birth and the fear of what a child will do to the mothers' lives. The devil can stimulate our senses and imagination to create fear - palpable fear. Jesus had it right when He said: "Fear is useless; what is needed is trust!" But we have the power to rebuke and tell devils where to go. Sometimes, the devil can share his own despair with you and make you think it is your own. I feel that was Satan's joker with Judas. Why did Judas feel so guilty and devastated instead of repentant? Remember, "Satan entered him." Judas felt the total despair of Satan, himself. The devil did not tie a noose around Judas' neck; but Satan tied a noose around Judas' heart that did not allow Judas to just cast himself on to Jesus' mercy. When I feel tempted by the devil, I respond kindly, actually. Remember Jesus granted the devils' request to go into the swine. Jesus never seems to uprade the devils. He commands them to leave; but He never insults them as they leave. He has some compassion of these damned creatures who were once good. So, when I get a clear temptation from the devil, I respond with trying to tempt the devil to repent. I just say, "Why are you bothering me with this. Why don't just repent, yourself. God will forgive you." Now, I know devils have made their decision, but I also know that God's mercy and grace are not barrred from anywhere. My temptation to the devil to repent either will make him think or actually burn him like holy water would. Maybe he will think twice about coming back. That is my hope. Actually, God's mercy does reach hell. Those who are in hell deserve great punishment for their lack of love for God. Not loving God is a bad sin because God is all kind and loving and good and generous. To not love Him, is an eternal sin. But God's mercy reached down into the dephs of hell by not giving the full punishment of their sins. They are punished greatly; but if God gave them what they really deserve, that would be the hell of hells. Not seeing God is hell, itself.
But what about angels? We said they were given to us to guard us and to illuminate us.
How do they do that? They put good thoughts into our head. When we do wrong, they stress us to seek God. They help us to accomplish good and to love God. The scripture says about children: "Their angels behold the face of God." So, these angels are Saints who are ever ready to help us to get to heaven.
How do they guard us? Look at all the chidren who are preserved from serious accidents every day. Also, in the war, there was a Jewish man who was in a shell hole with 4 other soldiers. He got a persistent thought that he must move. He went on his belly to the next shell hole. As soon as he left, the shell hole with the 4 soldier was blown up. The men were blown in the arms of God. The Jewish man after a little while, got the same thought again. He left and went to another shell hole. As soon as he did, another shell landed in the shell hole he just left. This happened 5 times in the exact same way. He absolutely concluded that his angel was telling what to do. They angel cannot force him to move. He can only suggest with urgency. Bishop Sheen said he prayed every day to St. Raphael, patron of travelers. Bishop Sheen said that TWA meant "Traveling With Angels".
I, myself, have had a real, direct and immediate encounter with St. Raphael the Archangel. I owe my life and those of my children and grandchildren to St. Raphael. Without him I would never have lived to get married and have my 6 children. Here is my grateful story which I tell in his honor:
The year was 1959; I was in Louisville, Kentucky. I had given catechism to a Baptist man over a period of time, and he was being received into the Church as a Catholic. He made his First Holy Communion. I attended both as his only family because his own family disowned him for becoming Catholic. I was the only one there to welcome him and who loved him as my spiritual brother in Christ. After the ceremony, he gave me a Christopher medal and told me something. He said in reference to the Holy Eucharist. I remember his exact words: "I do not believe that is God." And I said, "You don't?" And he said: "I KNOW THAT IS GOD!" He related to me that he had never had such an incredible experience in his life. He said he wished to become a monk! [Monks were part of the landscape because the Trappist Monastery, Gethsemani, was known to all Kentuckians.] But I said to Mr. Timason: "You can't. You are married with children!" He accepted my spiritual counsel with the same faith as he took all his catechism lessons. We departed lovingly as brothers. But as I reached the bottom of the church steps, I was meet by Betty, a tall woman. I was 6' 1", and she was as tall and heavier than myself. She asked me for a ride home from church she had attended. I disregarded the fact that she was pursuing me over some time. I just kindly agreed to take her home in my blue 1958 Volkeswagon Beetle. Her head was closer to the windshield that I was because she sat taller in her seat than I did. While driving on the Freeway, we were both talking, and I missed the interchange to go on another freeway that was to her house. She did not notice; but I quickly did and told her we had to get off to find an overpass and down ramp to go back to the interchange. The first exist we came to was the one I took. I went drove over the overpass bridge and looked for the down ramp to return to the interchange. I was surprised; but there was no down ramp at all. I stopped and told Betty: "We have two choices here. We can return to the freeway and go up for another 4 miles and find an exit, overpass and down ramp OR we can continue to take this road we are on now and keep making left turns which will take us back to the freeway in the direction we want to go. What would you like to do?" She said: "Let's continue on this road and keep making left turns till we reach the freeway." So, I agreed. We started going down this road at about 40 mph and looked for our first left turn opportunity. None came. The sun was setting quickly, and the paved road became a dirt road. That should have sent me back to the overpass, but I hoped to see a left turn soon. Now it was getting dark and the dirt road had no street lights in "them thar hills". It was now dark with no lights at all except my head lights.
Then suddenly, my rear wheels made a loud "ZZINNG!" I have never heard that sound before. What happened next was even far more puzzeling: my head lights instead of shining forward shined directly heaven ward. I was no longer looking out my windsheild at the road. I was now looking at my hood and had to bend my nect to see my headlight beams going upward instead of outward. I could not figure it out...until..the car by itself turned to the right by the weight of my passenger, Betty. Then I instantly knew that we were not on the road at all. We were in the air! I grow calm in emergencies. So, realizing the we were falling on Betty's side and that she would be fatally slammed against her door, I grabbed her around her neck and placed her in a hammer lock. I then anchored her and myself to the steering wheel by placing my arms and wrists and hands around the steering wheel. Upon impact, she and I would at least break our fall by the steering wheel which is a tremendously strong component of a car. I waited for impact. We must have been very high because I had all this time to think and make a human seat belt for her and myself.
As I braced myself for impact, I heard an audible voice. I had never heard one like this one before, and I never ever heard another one since. This was a unique encounter. The voice said: "Turn your wheels to the left!" Now the voice had tremendous authority but was loving as well. Emotions were also communicated telepathically - that is to say: I felt great assurance, goodness, kindness, caring - all that projected into my being while the voice spoke to me. Now, you would think that if there were a heavenly voice, that something profound would be said. No, this being was a very practical person. He was concerned about safety not spirituality. Well, I thought why wouldn't being just turn my wheels to the left instead of asking me to do it since this being was very powerful. Well, then I realized that if my wheels were to have been turned by someone on the outside, the steering wheel would have broke our arms. Guess it was up to me. And for sure this voice was something you could not disobey. It was like the voice of God; but it was not God. It was someone very close to God: one of the seven who stand before the throne of God.
I had to let go of Betty to turn my wheels to the left. She kept her head on my shoulder and eyes shut. Turning my wheels to the left was so easy because there was no road beneath me. It was much easier than power steering. Not a second after completing turning my where as far as they could go, my front wheel landed on something. But the landing was so gentle as to not bottom out my shocks. We were like a small 747 landing on a runway but that it was vertical not horizontal. We were rolling backwards just on those two front wheels! But how could that be? We were falling from very high up. We were definitly on a vertical wall of somekind because we were both thrown to the left and right as my front wheels rolled on very rough rocky terrain. I remember my rear wheels then engaging now too. We were now rolling on all four wheels backwards and downwards. The rear wheels had engaged because the wall were were descending now was slooping outward as does the base of mountains do. With centrifical force we were thown into a lake that was about 4' deep. I do not remember the splash; but I do remember my emotions: I felt so utterly relieved that our car was stopped and we were alive! I did not actually become frightened until after my eyes acclamated to the dark, I could see the high ridge of a cliff that we had come from. That was frightening. I am glad God let all this happen without my seeing anything. My engine was off being submerged in 4 foot of water. But my headlights were still on; and I could see the surface of the lake...and the gentle rain falling. No water came into my water-tight Beetle. Betty kept her head still on my shoulder and did not speak a word. I believe she was in shock. Actually, later I saw that as my Bettle drove off the cliff, the windshield hit her head and gave her a black and blue bruise on her forehead. The 500 lbs engine - when we went of the cliff - made the Beetle go vertical and made our headlights to vertical as well. It happened so quickly. Actually, if I had put on my brakes going off the cliff, that would have killed us. But by not knowing, I sailed off the cliff and was actually airborn because of the watertight undercarriage of the Beetle. We were sailing belly first but leaning to the right. So, by turning my wheels to the left, my tires were vertical and 90 degrees to the earth. Had I not turned my wheels to the left, I would have crashed on the opposite was the cliff that was a V shaped gorge. If I were a stunt driver, I could have made it over one cliff edge to the other. But my car only went partly over and missed completing the jump. I was heading for the cliff wall. Had I not obeyed the voice, I would have exploed on the wall instead of landing on it. My engine was on. I had a full tank of gas. I we would have died in a fireball. But the voice saves us so cleverly. I guess God does not use miracles if brains can help first. But it was not my brains. I could not even see. Who was it then?
The police came and were angry at us. First they put a hook on my bumper and pulled us out of the land. The hook was attached to a large crane on top of the cliff. After we were on shore, the policeman said: "Every body out!" As I saw my car lifted up and taken back to the clift, it looked like a little car as it reached the top and disappeared over the top. The angry policeman said: "How did you get down here!" I said: "I drove down here." He said: "It is not possible to go from there to here and be alive." He said: "Two years ago a taxi cab driver did the same as you did and died instantly." And I said: "Then don't you think you should put signs and guardrails up there!" He did not know how to answer me. But just think a man had died doing what happened to me and Betty, and City did nothing about it. Of course everyone in them thar hills knows that there is a cliff there; but no one from out of town knows it. The road as it was just ended no where. It just went off a cliff. I hope to God that now there is a guard rail there. But someone was GURADING Betty and me. God saw what was happening. Our angels probably alerted God. God probably pointed His finder at the nearest Archangel to Him and said: "Handle it!" And Mighty Archangel Raphael DID!
The police made us both go the hospital to get treated and released. Betty wound was looked after; I had nothing to show...not even a scratch. By the way, my Bettle did not have a scratch on it either. But the bumper (that had the hook) had been pulled out because of an collapsed inner reinforcement. Beetled are not built to be hoisted in the air by their bumpers. I took Betty home. She never said a word to me. She was silent the whole time. I think she was in emotional shock for sure.
When I got home, I fell on my knees to thank God for sparing my life. The next moring - which was God's total gift - I got up early and went to the Cathedral on Broadway in Downtown Louisville. When I entered the church, I again fell on my knees and would not even look at the tabernacle - so abashed was I that God had saved me. I thanked God with all myheart as Psalm 138 says: "I thank You Lord with all my heart because You have heard the words of my mouth. In the presence of ANGELS I give you thanks because of your kindness and truth and LOVE which was greater than we ever knew of You!" I especially thanked God that my Mom, mother of 8, did not have to get a telegram from the police to inform her of my fatal accident due to their fault. It would have been wrongful death for sure as it was for the taxi cab driver. God rest his soul. I do pray for him.
My eyes were still down when I saw on the seat in front of me a pamphlet with a color picture on it. So, I picked it up. It was a picture of St. Raphael and had a prayer to him and addressing him as Patron of Travelers. It said: "St. Raphael, Patron of Travelers, pray for us." [Later editions of this pamphlet said: "St. Raphal, Patron of Travelers, land, air, or sea, pray for me."] Well, now, St. Raphael was the voice and he wanted me to know it. He even left me his calling card! Even if I have a little drive to Ann Arbor and back, I ask St. Raphael to get me there and back safely. I love this angel. He is still following me around because I went to Ann Arbor and back which is a 3 hours plus trip on the road. As I was coming back, I felt I should get off the express way early. I could take Jefferson hom instead of going on for two more miles on the express way. Now I was on Jefferson doing only 25 mph when I heard a big noise in my right rear wheel. The car would not go. The engine was fine but something keep the car from going. I got out. The rear right wheel was askew and off the axel. Someone from my parish recognized me took me home. I called the wrecker and we both went to my car the next day in the daylight. He said to me: "It is a good thing this did not happen while you were on the express way. The car would have gone in to an uncontrolable spin and you would have been killed." Now, just imagine. St. Raphael knew all the while that this was going to happen. He told me to get off the express way and it happened when I was going very slowly. "O St. Raphael, I thank you, dearest Angel; but not only save me from all dangers on the road; save me from all spiritual dangers, too, and get me safely to heaven where you and I can sing God's praises ogether. Promise me that you will join me in singing Psalm 138 together!" Yes, "in the presence of the angels".......
What great company that will be! Right, St.Raphael!
Love, Pio
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