Angels of Awakening and St. Joseph
To God be the glory.
Have you ever been awakened at night, and felt the need for prayer? Have you ever had a dream or an experience with an angel, and you knew just what to do? You may have experienced an angel of awakening. (listen to the new song)
Now, this phrase itself might not appear in Scripture, but there certainly seems to be a special class of angels that carry this grace.
Zechariah was awakened by an angel in chapter 4:1:
"And the angel that spoke in me came again: and he waked me, as a man that is wakened out of his sleep." (Zech. 4:1) Interesting how the Douay-Rheims puts it, that the angel spoke in Zechariah. It's like he heard the angel's voice echoing within him.
Of course, St. Joseph himself was visited several times (that we know of) by an angel in his dreams. (Matt. 1:20-24; 2:13-14) When the angel came, it brought revelation of God's will to Joseph. In each case, he immediately woke, and did what was told to him. What discernment he must have had! What an experience it must have been, to move him so strongly.
Of course, the angel came and guided him in God's will, and awoke him in two very important moments: marrying Mary, and escaping into Egypt to save the life of Jesus.
Even the Magi were "warned of God in a dream that they should not return to Herod." (Matt. 2:13)
Angels for Ordinary People
But angels of awakening are not sent only to prophets and saints, but rather God's angels are sent "to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation." (Heb. 1:14) That means, angels serve all those that have received Jesus Christ as their Lord and Savior. Many theologians believe that this is the reason satan became upset, and was cast out of Heaven- he did not want to serve the sons of salvation, as angels are higher beings than men. Yet, when the Second Person of the Trinity became a man, Jesus Christ, He elevated those who would believe in Him to become "children of God." (John 1) Angels are higher in being, but even they do not have Jesus living in them (Col. 1:27) and are not made in the image and likeness of God.
All that is to say, many people have had experiences with angels, you might say angels of awakening. In fact, roughly 67% of Canadians believe in angels (link), while 65% believe in God. (link) Out of all those that believe in angels, 59% believe that angels are humans, living among us. Perhaps the reason is that angels may take human form, and can even eat and drink! (Gen. 18:1-8; Gen. 18:22; Gen. 19:1-3)
Angel Stories
We have had several experiences with angels, some of which you might call angels of awakening.
Once, Dan was awoken at around 4 in the morning to see an angel standing in our bedroom, with a trumpet. He prayed and asked, what was this for? The angel said, "sound the trumpet in Zion." Dan asked, what does this mean? He heard, "proclaim a fast, for revival in the nations beginning with the Catholic Church." It happened to be the beginning of Lent. We made a video to proclaim a fast (which itself comes from Joel 2), encouraging people to offer their Lenten fast not only for themselves but for the Church itself. We included our song, "Signs and Wonders and Miracles," which we had just wrote.
When Fr. Fernando heard this new sound, and seen the video we made, he immediately invited us to join him in the missions, in India. It was an instant open door, one that has been very important and meaningful in our lives and ministry! In fact, it awakened Heart Two Heart Ministries to a whole new level, and opened doors to new nations and people around the world. Praise the Lord.
Another angel story: Lee Anne was going to a Healing Mass in Windsor, ON on the First Friday of the month. As she was driving there, in the dead of winter, there was freezing rain and black ice on the road. Cars and tractor trailers were piled up at the side of the road; it was very dangerous. At one point, her car slid across the lanes. It was sliding back and forth across several lanes of the highway! it was like a little toy car being tossed. She asked the angels to take over driving the car. All of a sudden, it was as somebody had picked up the car, and put it straight on the road, and she had control of the car again. When she got to the stop in Woodstock, the man at the gas station asked her, "how did you get here without any problems!?" because three of the tires were low pressure, and one was completely flat! "How did you ever get here!?"
When she was prayed over at the Healing Mass, the word that was given to her was, "God always goes before you, and His angels go behind you." She knew what that word meant, because she had just experienced it on the highway! Praise God.
The Holy Spirit Himself is the Spirit of Awakening
Lee Anne believed in God, but she wanted Him to show her that He was really real. She prayed every day, kneeling beside the bed and reading the Bible. She said, "God, I need to know You're real." She had everything a person could want, but felt very lonely. After some time, at 3 in the morning, her little cocker spaniel woke her up and wanted to go to the bathroom, which she never did before. She lived on 10 acres at the top of the Caledon Mountain at the time, and you can appreciate how dark it is at night in the country. She let the dog out, and she noticed how beautiful the stars were that night, almost that you could touch them. She heard the thunder in the heavens and somehow she knew that God was revealing His voice to her. She was as happy as the "cat's meow," that God was really real and that He was really in her life. This is how God revealed Himself to her.
Her life didn't change for the next 3 years, and then all of a sudden she had a deep desire in her heart to be Confirmed. Because of circumstances beyond her control, she had not been confirmed. She went to the parish priest, and he arranged for her to be confirmed with the Grade 8 class...it just so happened her daughter was being confirmed at the same time, and she was livid! That didn't stop her from getting confirmed; she went ahead with it. When the Bishop layed hands on her, for the first time she felt peace in her heart. From there, her life got very challenging, but because of the peace in her heart she was able to persevere. That was when she met a Holy Spirit-filled priest who prayed over her as she went to confession with him, and that night, she stayed up all night, waiting for something. She didn't know what she was waiting and watching for, all night long, as she looked out her bedroom window to the garden. What was so surprising, is that she wasn't tired! Even when she went to work the next morning, she felt refreshed, like she had had a good night's sleep.
At work, people were saying, "what happened to you? Did you get your hair cut? You look younger!" etc. They were noticing that something about her was different. It was: she was renewed and baptized in the Spirit. That was how the Holy Spirit was awakened in her, and prompted her to go to the next step with Him! She has never turned back. (for more, see article)
The Holy Spirit, and the angels of awakening, are calling and prompting us to go to the next level with God!
PRAYER
All in all, let us call upon the Lord and ask Him to send His angels, His ministering spirits! They are sent to serve us who believe!
Lord, release the angels of awakening and all Your holy angels, we humbly pray. WAKE US UP, wake up the Church today to see the Glory of the Lord. You know our needs before we ask, Father. Let the angels be assigned to us that we need to today, for signs, wonders and miracles...that all may come to know you as Messiah, Lord, and King. St. Joseph, who experienced so much with angels and dreams, pray for us to follow God's will in our lives, and to draw closer to Him than ever this season. Amen.
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How St. Joseph enjoyed praise and worship:
(from "How a Forgotten Nun’s Visions Shed ‘New Light’ on the Life of St. Joseph,"
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