I believe we can actually meet our angel or AN ANGEL many times in our life. An angel can come to us in the form of a person if we need them. For example, many years ago, driving to Spokane from California, ...
...this very large pick-up truck, with a very large man got out of the truck, he took charge of our situation with such confidence. Took out a very, very large chain, really big links, I noticed. He told us to get into his truck and for some reason we had no fear of him. ...
... he went back to pull our car out of the ditch and brought it to us. I told him he must be our Guardian Angel, and he just smiled and left.
The strange thing is he never even asked us if we wanted to go to that motel, it was as if, he just wanted us to NOT go further that night.
To this day I believe he was one of our angels, maybe the women who was in the car praying, while I was being stupid and trying to dig our way out with the top of a cooler.
Another little story from a women in our Church, her husband was dying, and while he lay there on his death bed, he told her he saw the angels coming for him, and he wanted her to know, that they really did not have any wings.
Presuming that he was an angel, it may be a stretch to say you were "being
stupid" by trying to dig the snow out, because you were doing something
in an effort to help, and God rewards good effort. You had prayer and
work going on, "work and pray" is the monastic rule,
ora et labora.On the other hand, it seems possible he was a big rig tow operator, and
his "really big links" were for pulling big trucks out of the ditches. He may
have had a loved one die recently from exposure to the elements, and
that could explain his confidence and desire for you to go no further in
those conditions. And if that had been so, he probably would not have
wanted to explain it all to you because he would not want to upset you
even more than you already were - it may have sounded like he was
thinking of you being "hurt" and in your disoriented state you could have
misinterpreted that to mean he was thinking of hurting you!
I have been in situations when someone who did not know me said they
thought I was an angel, merely because I intervened to help when others
passed by unconcerned. And I recall just smiling and leaving. But I'm no
angel, I assure you! HAHAHAHA
We should avoid giving our angel a name because it might be closer to the
name of a devil than to our angel's name. If you think you have a private
revelation of your angel's name, how can you be sure that wasn't just a
deception of the devil? The devil is allowed to tempt people, even saints.
To hear that Padre Pio did something or experienced something is what it
is: you are probably not getting the whole story. You should not then go
out and attempt to imitate his spiritual gifts any more than you should try
to expel all the snakes out of the land just because St. Patrick did so out
of Ireland. People like to marvel at the miracles of saints to the point
where they may try to duplicate their miracles in the present, but what
about the
penances these saints practiced?
St. Patrick took an ICE BATH before he went to bed for the night. He was
not content with fasting on bread and water, he toasted his bread to the
point where it was black - one may say "burnt toast." How many of us
would be willing to do that? The Cure d'Ars ate
moldy potatoes. We
may be eager to replicate these saints' miracles, but how eager are we to
replicate their penances that always preceded them? Even Our Lord did
not go out performing miracles until he spent 40 days and nights in the
desert, fasting, during which time even he was tempted by the devil. The
devil hates to see us practice penance, for he knows that is how we
become empowered to do real battle against him!
Fr. Pfeiffer mentions in a recent sermon how a man in Scripture (OT) was
given the power to perform a prodigious miracle after he had left his
delicious food at table, when he had been hungry and had been for some
time anticipating this fine meal, but he had left the table and went out to
give aid to someone in need. God was very pleased with his self-denial,
his mortification, and so gave him the power to perform a miracle. The
scripture does NOT say that the man had planned the whole thing. It does
NOT say that he desired to perform a miracle and so planned to leave his
food and go out looking for troubles to solve.
The "wings" of an angel are an artistic depiction of their power of rapid
movement. The can go from one place to another as quickly as they can
think of being at their destination. They move with the speed of thought.
Now, how else would you allude to that note of being?
The Angel of Portugal, most likely St. Michael Archangel (he is the patron
saint of Portugal) who appeared more than once to the shepherd children
of Fatima had no wings. But they didn't have any question but that he
was an angel, because he told them he was, and they could see through
him somewhat, that is, he was not entirely opaque but somewhat
translucent, and he was able to suspend the "law" of gravity by leaving
the host suspended in the air while he gave the chalice to Jacinta and
Francisco to drink from it. That, by the way, was Jacinta's First Holy
Communion, and Francisco's as well. They were 7 and 8 respectively.
Angels don't like to go around lavishing us with appearances and signs
because it too quickly becomes an addiction and then the devil can use
our expectations in his favor by giving us deceptions. If the devil could
fool St. John of the Cross, how much more could he fool us?
I do not intend to demean the fascinating stories in this thread that
testify to what their recipients believe to be the intervention of their
guardian angel, for certainly these things can happen. I would however
caution anyone against trying to MAKE them happen. It is not within our
power to cause our angel to do anything at our whim when it is our own
entertainment or ego that is the object of our desire. Spiritual gifts are
not properly directed to a magic show or an industry for making money,
or for personal curiosity and diversion. Whenever one does such things,
he is far more likely to be invoking the power of the FALLEN angels!