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Our Lady of the Angels

This intimate space, carved out of the northwest corner of the church nave, is intended for private prayer and meditation. The centerpiece is an icon, designed and produced by the Monks of the Monastery of the Light of Christ, Borrego Springs, CA. The icon and the candle rack are given in thanksgiving and love for mother (Nellie H. North) and sister (Anise E. Stephens) by Gloria Cole-Smith.

Angels played a significant role in the life of the Blessed Virgin Mary. St. Gabriel the Archangel had the privilege of announcing to the humble Virgin of Nazareth that God had chosen her to be the Mother of the Savior. Scripture also reports that an angel assisted Our Lady by telling St. Joseph not to fear to take her as his wife. Angels sang the praises of God when Mary gave birth to Christ in the stable at Bethlehem. And an angel instructed Joseph to flee to Egypt with Mary and the Child to escape from the machinations of the murderous Herod.

The angels’ acknowledgment of the humble maid of Nazareth manifests both the holiness of the Blessed Virgin Mary and the humility of the good angels. As we read in the letter to Hebrews (which is a paraphrase of Psalm 8), "What are human beings that you are mindful of them, or mortals, that you care for them? You have made them for a little while lower than the angels; you have crowned them with glory and honor, subjecting all things under their feet." It reminds us that the angels minister not just to our Lord, but to us as well.

At least two well-known shrines to Our Lady of the Angels exist.

According to tradition, three merchants who had been robbed and bound built Our Lady of the Angels of Toulouse, France, in 1212. After a day and a night of constant prayer, angels unbound them, and the shrine was built as a thank offering.

Our Lady of the Angels is the Patroness of Costa Rica. In 1635 a young mulatto girl, while looking for firewood, found a small statue of the Blessed Virgin holding the Infant Jesus sitting on a large stone. Several times she took the statue home, but it kept returning to its original location. Her parish priest had the same experience. "La Negrita" as she is called by Costa Ricans is housed in a beautiful gold reliquary in a large shrine dedicated to Our Lady of the Angels.

About Icons

Icons (the Greek word for image) are the primary devotional art of eastern Christianity. They are not just beautiful pictures, but literally considered ‘windows into heaven’ in which the believer can feel in touch with the celestial hosts: our Lord, the angels and saints represented upon the icon. The bright and varied colors of this icon blend well with those of the stained glass windows on the west end of the church.

About Votive Candles

In Judaism, a perpetual light was kept burning in the Temple and the synagogues not only to insure the ability to light other candles or oil lamps in the evening but also to show the presence of God (cf. Ex 27:20-21 and Lev. 24:2-4). Later, the Talmud prescribed a lit lamp at the Ark, where the Torah and other writings of Sacred Scripture were kept, to show reverence to the Word of God. (This practice probably influenced our own tradition of having a lit candle near the Tabernacle to indicate the presence of and to show reverence for the Blessed Sacrament.)

Christians adapted the use of lit candles (or even oil lamps in the Eastern Roman Empire) for Mass, liturgical processions, evening prayer ceremonies, funeral processions, and, again, to show reverence to the reserved Blessed Sacrament. Moreover, St. Jerome (d. 420) attested to the practice that lit candles or oil lamps were burned at the tombs of saints, particularly martyrs, by the 200s, and before sacred images and relics by the 300s.

In our tradition, Christ as the light of the world has a special significance. Jesus said, "I am the light of the world. No follower of mine shall ever walk in darkness; no, he shall possess the light of life" (Jn 8:12) and "I have come to the world as its light, to keep anyone who believes in me from remaining in the dark" (Jn 12:46). At baptisms, the priest presents a candle lit from the Paschal candle (which symbolizes the mystery of Christ’s resurrection), and says to the newly baptized, "Receive the light of Christ. Shine as Christ’s light in the world to the glory of God the Father”.

So we can appreciate the use of votive candles. Here, as in early Christian times, we light a candle before a sacred image of our Lord and his mother, surrounded by angels. We do not honor the image itself, but those whom the image represents. The light signifies our prayer offered in faith coming into the light of God. With the light of faith, we petition our Lord in prayer, or petition the saint to pray with us to the Lord. The light also shows a special reverence and our desire to remain present to the Lord in prayer even though we may depart and go about our daily business.

Thus the use of votive candles at All Saints’ is following an historic practice that continues today in many Churches. The symbolism reminds us that prayer is a "coming into" the light of Christ, allowing our souls to be filled with His light, and letting that light burn on in our souls even though we may return to other activities.