How angels can bring peace to grieving hearts during the holidays
For those who have lost loved ones, the holiday season can intensify feelings of grief, loss, and loneliness. But each year, as I read the New Testament accounts of our Savior’s birth, I find great solace in thinking about angels.
An angel appeared to Mary (Luke 1:30) and then Joseph (Matthew 1:20) to announce their roles as Jesus’s earthly parents, and he eased their alarm with the comforting words, “Fear not.”
And on the night of Christ’s birth, shepherds witnessed legions of heavenly hosts proclaim, “On earth peace, good will toward men” (Luke 2:14).
Angels are messengers of peace. And just as they did in times of old, they can help ease our fears and bring us comfort. Here are four principles about angels that bring me peace amid my grief during this time of year.
1. Angels Are Real
“Has the day of miracles ceased? Or have angels ceased to appear unto the children of men?” (Moroni 7:35–36).
As a child, I loved Christmas picture books that portrayed angels as rosy-cheeked cherubs with feathery wings. I lumped them into the same category as unicorns and mermaids. But modern prophets have testified of the reality and eternal nature of heavenly messengers.
In his general conference address earlier this year, Elder Shayne M. Bowen shared his personal witness that angels are still as active as ever: “Many today say that miracles no longer exist, that angels are fictional, and that the heavens are closed. I testify that miracles have not ceased, angels are among us, and the heavens are truly open.”
President Jeffrey R. Holland has also spoken frequently about angels:
“I testify of angels … In doing so I am testifying that God never leaves us alone, never leaves us unaided in the challenges that we face. ‘[N]or will he, so long as time shall last, or the earth shall stand, or there shall be one man [or woman or child] upon the face thereof to be saved (Moroni 7:36).”
2. Angels Are Not Strangers
“There are no angels who minister to the earth but those who do belong or have belonged to it” (Doctrine and Covenants 130:5).
When I was young, my aunt was killed in a car accident. I thought about her often and hoped she was aware of me. For years, I believed in and trusted her angelic companionship.
My connection to angels provided an unequaled depth of peace years later when my daughter died unexpectedly. I had already experienced a profoundly influential heavenly relationship with my aunt, and I knew that would now extend to my precious angel daughter.
President Joseph F. Smith further explained this principle:
“When messengers are sent to minister to the inhabitants of this earth, they are not strangers, but from the ranks of our kindred [and] friends … . Our fathers and mothers, brothers, sisters, and friends who have passed away from this earth, … may have a mission given them to visit their relatives and friends upon the earth again, bringing from the divine Presence messages of love, of warning, or reproof and instruction, to those whom they had learned to love in the flesh.” 1
Our prophet, President Russell M. Nelson, has also testified that when we receive heavenly help, it may come from those we love. “No doubt many of us are aware of additional accounts of communication from the deceased to friends or family members living here in mortality. . . . There can be little doubt that our loved ones are near in spirit.” 2
3. Angels Are Closer Than We Think
“Oh, know you not that angels are near you?” (Hymn #117).
Scripture and culture are filled with sensational stories of angelic visitations and interventions. However, Church leaders throughout the latter days have taught that angelic influence is most often a subtle personal experience with those who love us and are invested in our welfare and success.
The Prophet Joseph Smith explained, “The spirits of the just are exalted to a greater and more glorious work. . . . Enveloped in flaming fire, they are not far from us, and know and understand our thoughts, feelings, and motions.” 3
President Joseph F. Smith also testified of the companionship of angels:
“I believe we move and have our being in the presence of heavenly messengers and of heavenly beings. We are not separate from them. … I claim that we live in their presence, they see us, they are solicitous for our welfare, they love us now more than ever.” 4
More recently, President Jeffrey R. Holland echoed the same teaching:
“In times of special need, [God] sent angels, divine messengers, to bless His children, reassure them that heaven was always very close and that His help was always very near. … Always there are those angels who come and go all around us, seen and unseen, known and unknown, mortal and immortal.”
4. Angels Are Available to Us
“I will go before your face. I will be on your right hand and on your left, . . . and mine angels round about you, to bear you up” (Doctrine and Covenants 84:88).
When my daughter was two years old, she was diagnosed with a cancerous brain tumor and died just one day later. During that terrifying day in the hospital, the social worker asked how I was enduring the intense fear and grief without falling apart.
At first, I didn’t have an answer, but as I pondered her question, the Spirit testified that an army of heavenly loved ones had come rushing to my aid. Generations of people who knew I belonged to them wrapped me in their angelic embrace and stood beside me, lending me strength and peace beyond my own.
President Jeffrey R. Holland encourages us to proactively consider our needs and “Ask for angels to help you.”
I trust President Russell M. Nelson’s testimony that “The veil of death is thin. .… Our loved ones may be just as close as the room nearby, separated only by the gateway to immortality and eternal life.” 5
I believe in angels. I have felt their love and been blessed by their influence. I’m thankful that during this Christmas season, the very ones I miss are the angels tasked with delivering Christ's peace to my heart. And when I miss them, I will rely on His promise that we will be together again someday.
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