Angels, Guardian Angels, Cherubim, Seraphim, and Other Holy Spirits

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This week my new book, The Catholic Companion to Angels, will be out. In honor of the occasion, for my blog I posted the introduction to the book:
A Catholic women’s group once invited me to give a talk on angels. My first reaction was, Why angels when there are far weightier topics the Church should be concerned about today? The women’s request reflected our culture’s fascination with those mysterious creatures, a fascination that some would say borders on angelmania.
We are surrounded by angels in more ways than one. Their representations, ranging from muscular warriors to plump, rosy cherubs, are found just about everywhere. Statues of angels stand in mute adoration in churches, watch over our loved ones’ graves in cemeteries, and entice us in gift shops. Angels appear in paintings and on Christmas cards, posters, lapel pins, t-shirts, and magnets. A baseball team is named after them, and a long-playing television show was about people who were “touched by an angel.” Click to continue.

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