Archangel Gabriel . . .

Gabriel is my guardian angel. He is my saint. I am Catholic.

Gabriel is of significance in each of the world's three major religions.

He is one of seven Archangels, and one of three mentioned by name in the Bible. It was Gabriel who appeared to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions regarding the Messiah...and it was Gabriel who had the most significant of all angelic appearances...appearing before Mary and announcing the birth of the Saviour. His name means "Man of God, God is my strength" and he is the patron saint of communication workers.

Gabriel came to me when my art was at a turning point 12 years ago. I was sitting at my art table, experiencing a severe creative block which had been going on for a couple of months, when I received a phone call in which I learned about the death of a life-long friend. After hanging up the phone, I returned to my art table and sat there in a state of shock. Since it was a Sunday, I naturally had the newspaper in a pile on the floor beside my table. I reached down and picked up whatever happened to be on top in an attempt to take my mind off of the just received news.......and there was Gabriel on the front page of the travel section. He was in sculpture form, of course. It was a story on traveling to Italy. The sculpture of him lives at the Vatican, holding up a large bath of Holy Water.

My friend's name was Keith Ebanks. He was Catholic before I ever knew what it meant. I think of him often and sometimes I feel him nearby, and I will be forever grateful for the sense of wonder and curiosity his Catholic faith instilled in me.

Angels exist as beings of pure line and color, pure energy, and they are quite real indeed, I assure you.

The angels are ALL around us.

Until next time . . .