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      In October 1962, Pope Saint John XXIII knelt to pray in the home of the Virgin Mary — not in Nazareth, or Jerusalem, or even Bethlehem. The pope went to Loreto, a small village in Italy, to seek the blessing of the Mother of the Church on the upcoming Second Vatican Council. He was in the house where tradition holds Mary was born, where the Archangel Gabriel greeted her and Christ was conceived, and where the Holy Family lived in Nazareth. An inscription on the wall of the humble dwelling reads: “Angels conveyed this house from Palestine.” The belief is that in the years 1291 and 1294, the house was miraculously carried by angels out of the Holy Land, first to a place of safety in Dalmatia (present-day Croatia) and after three years to Loreto, where it remains a place of pilgrimage.

      In 1595, Pope Clement VIII had the story inscribed on the Holy House of Loreto, concluding with: Pious Pilgrims, worship with devout affection the Queen of Angels, our Gracious Mother, so that through her merits and prayers, she may obtain for you from her beloved Son, the forgiveness of sins, health of body, and the happiness of eternity.⁸

      January 9

      Homeless Angel

      Angels are all around us. We just need to see and listen with our hearts. Barbara Romanowski shared her experience. “I was standing outside a department store when an older woman approached me and asked if I could give her change for a cup of coffee. I reached into my pocket and pulled out the only bills I had on me — $3.00. ‘Thank you,’ she whispered. ‘I’m an angel, you know, and I will watch over you.’ And she walked away. Only then did I realize that I had no money to get my car out of the parking lot. I stood there wondering how the heck I was going to get home. Starting to panic, I began checking my pockets for a train ticket I might have. When I put my hand into the pocket from which I had pulled the $3.00 I gave to the angel, I found three dollar bills in that pocket!”⁹

       We are already strangely related, even acquainted, with the angels during our earthly lives. Once we attain to their company, to heaven, to the space of the heart of Christ, we shall no longer ask: “Who are you?” We shall probably call out in final recognition: “So it was you all the time!” ¹⁰

      January 10

      Airlifted by an Angel

      Now the prophet Habakkuk was in Judea. He had boiled pottage and had broken bread into a bowl, and was going into the field to take it to the reapers. But the angel of the Lord said to Habakkuk, “Take the dinner which you have to Babylon, to Daniel, in the lions’ den.” “I have never seen Babylon,” the prophet excused himself, “and I know nothing about this den.” The angel of the Lord took Habakkuk by the crown of his head, lifted him by his hair and, with the rushing speed of the wind itself, set him down in Babylon, right over the den. Within moments, Daniel had his meal. Read this Old Testament angel story in more detail in Daniel 14:33–41.

      “You have remembered me, O God,” said Daniel. “You have not forsaken those who love you.” When the king who had condemned Daniel found him still alive, he cried aloud: “You are great, O Lord, the God of Daniel, and there is no other besides you!” (Daniel 14:38–41)

      January 11

      Belief in Angels

      A 2011 poll conducted right before Christmas by the Associated Press and Gallup pollsters revealed some surprising statistics. Many people who never went to church believed in angels! Overall, 77 percent of adult Americans then believed that “angels are for real.” Among all Christians in the United States, the percentage of believers was even higher — 88 percent. A majority of non-Christians claimed belief in angels, and four in ten Americans who didn’t attend religious services said they did, as well. Additionally, pollsters found that women were more likely than men to believe in angels. And adults over thirty tended to believe in the heavenly messengers more often than younger adults.¹¹

      “The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls “angels” is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.”

      — Catechism of the Catholic Church, 328

      January 12

      Angels Serve as Witnesses at Baptism

      The Church celebrates the Baptism of the Lord on the Sunday after Epiphany. The feast closes the Christmas season with Jesus asking John the Baptist for baptism. The sinless Son of God did not need baptism, but the event prefigures the sacrament of Baptism. Jesus was plunged into the water of the Jordan, while a Christian is immersed in the water of Baptism. Tertullian, a Father of the Church, taught that an angel serves as the “witness of baptism” and prepares the newly baptized to witness to Christ. “Thus the angel set in charge of baptism makes ready the way for the coming of the Holy Spirit by the washing away of sin.” ­­¹²

      Scripture reminds us that the angels rejoice when Creation glorifies God. Imagine how overjoyed the angels are when baptism acknowledges that we are sons and daughters of God and members of Christ’s body, the Church.

      January 13

      An Angel’s Light

      During the dark days of winter, some people suffer with SAD (Seasonal Affective Disorder), a type of depression related to seasonal changes, particularly less daylight. Light therapy helps, because light naturally lifts our spirits. We need light! It’s the way we’re made! No wonder that angels — when they appear to us — are bright and shining beings. An angel’s light is always a reflection of God’s awesome light and holiness. When the angel Gabriel appeared in blinding radiance to Daniel to encourage him, the terrified young man fainted (Daniel 8:16). But Daniel’s fear was soon followed by joy.

      Now this is the message that we have heard from him and proclaim to you: God is light, and in him there is no darkness at all (1 John 1:5). Even if today is a cloudy day, thank God for

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