A Host of Angels

I have been collecting angels for most of my life, starting with a spritely china cherub given to me as a Kris Kringle present by my childhood friend, Margaret Mulligan. I still say a prayer for Margaret each time I unwrap that brown-curled beauty, smiling to myself to note that the wreath she bears in her china hand remains as verdant as it was almost thirty years ago.

My host of angels marks the passage of time, each one propped up like a signpost along the road of life. There is the golden angel in cap and gown, a gift from loving parents to mark my high school graduation; the Santa Lucia angel, with a circlet of candles atop her blonde braids, a reminder of my twenty-first birthday; the ivory angel who plays "Silent Night," a present from my beloved Aunt Eileen many years before she died; and dozens more, each with a tale to tell. There are also the handcrafted angels--some stitched by me when I was expecting our first child, and others given me by that same dear child and her siblings an impossibly short time later. The crinkling of tissue as I carefully unwrap each winged wonder is like a church bell bidding me me to sit back a while, reflect, and remember.

My favorite angel of all is a slight, unassuming green creation with arms outstretched in praise of the newborn King. For a decade, she has adorned the very front of our tree, edging out other more comely and costly ornaments for this seat of honor. Needless to say, there is a story to explain my attachment:

When our second daughter, Theresa, was born, I decided to handstitch intricate dresses for the new baby and eighteen-month-old, Agnes. The project left no time for an elaborate tree, so I picked up a little dwarf of a thing at the Christmas tree store. Hastily stringing colored lights around it, I hot-glued Victorian scrap art round the entire tree, transforming it from a candidate for "A Charlie Brown Christmas" to a vision of cherubs and charms and flowers. Ethereal and festive, yet disposable too, that simple tree was the perfect solution to my dearth of time.

Knowing I had spent the afternoon primping our homely sprig, my husband walked through the door that night toting a curious crimson bag. Christmas was a week away, yet I found in the bag a pine green, fabric mache angel, snapped up on a whim at the train station. She was the only three-dimensional ornament on our tree that year, and I have always treasured her as a reminder of my husband's thoughtfulness.

As a little girl, I remember dreaming about what the perfect Christmas tree would look like. It ought to have a stable below with a host of angels swirling above and the bright star of Bethlehem crowning the top. From this vision, a lifelong interest was born, yet I like to think of the collection as even more than that. In some small way, that ever growing array of angelic figures was a symbolic herald of the vocation God was preparing for my life.

As mothers, we too spend our lives collecting angels. With each new soul we welcome, either by birth or by adoption, we greet a guardian angel given by Almighty God to grace and protect our family. The dear Lord Himself has said, "See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." (Mt. 18:10.) St. Jerome reminds us, "how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it."

We rarely think about it, but God, Who is never outdone in generosity, blesses us twice with the arrival of each child.

This Christmas, amid the boxes and bubble wrap, I will pause a moment to pray for the people populating the memories behind each of my many angel ornaments, and I will not forget to thank God for the precious children and princely angels he has entrusted to our family.

Comments

[Marybeth]

As my high school English teacher would breathlessly say, "simply gorgeous, simply gorgeous."

Thank you!

[Marybeth]

As my high school English teacher would breathlessly say, "simply gorgeous, simply gorgeous."

Thank you!

[Dawn]

Oh Alice, what a joyful post!

I can only imagine how beautiful that tree must appear with snow falling softly outside those windows. (And your own host of angels gathered beneath.) :)

Thank you for sharing these lovely thoughts and memories.

[Cheryl]

I wish I could go over your house and look at your collection in person and hear the stories behind each one.

[Rebecca B.]

Thrice beautiful...the post, the tree and your sweet spirit, Alice.

[Jennifer]

Beautiful. What a lovely way to start the morning! Thank you.

[Melissa Wiley]

Oh, Alice, how perfectly lovely! Do you know that you gave me my very first angel? The beautiful gold-and-white ornament that was your first gift to me on my birthday the week before Christmas. I took great care to pack it in bubble wrap for this move!

"We spend our lives collecting angels..." Beautiful.

[Jeannine]

Both the writing and the tree are just glorious!

[Margaret]

Oh Alice,
What a beautiful and tender heart you have for God. I love your reflection on the gifts of our children. How blessed your children are and how you bless all of us.
With much thanksgiving for all you share,
Margaret