Today, Friday, September 29, is the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. It might be a particularly auspicious day to be open to how angels are present in our own lives. Here is John O’Donohue’s A Blessing of Angels, which might help us to experience angels in a new way:
May the Angels in their beauty bless you.
May they turn toward you streams of blessing.May the Angel of Awakening stir your heart
to come alive to the eternal within you,
to all the invitations that quietly surround you.May the Angel of Healing turn your wounds into sources of refreshment.
May the Angel of the Imagination enable you to stand on the true thresholds,
at ease with your ambivalence and drawn in new directions
through the glow of your contradictions.May the Angel of Compassion open your eyes to the unseen suffering around you.
May the Angel of Wildness disturb the places
where your life is domesticated and safe,
take you to the territories of true otherness
where all that is awkward in you can fall into its own rhythm.May the Angel of Eros introduce you to the beauty of your senses
to celebrate your inheritance as a temple of the holy spirit.May the Angel of Justice disturb you to take the side of the poor and the wronged.
May the Angel of Encouragement confirm you in worth and self-respect,
that you may live with the dignity that presides in your soul.May the Angel of Death arrive only when your life is complete
and you have brought every given gift to the threshold where its infinity can shine.May all the Angels be your sheltering and joyful guardians.
Happy Michaelmas!
