There is nothing that I love more than when an issue of The Echo has several prevailing themes throughout—sometimes themes are planned, like the Back-to-School content you’ll find in this issue, and sometimes themes emerge as our contributors begin turning in their stories and photos.
This issue, I was delighted to find that “angels” came together as a theme—from the adorable angels on the cover who participated in the Our Lady of Mount Carmel feast day celebration in Ashtabula to our Reader Resources section (page 7) to our Saint of the Season (Saint Michael the Archangel, page 27). Even the diocese’s first Diocesan Media Day, on September 29, which we cover in this issue, was organized to be celebrated on the Feast of the Archangels, as Archangel Gabriel is the patron saint of telecommunication workers, broadcasters and messengers.
So I thought I’d add to the theme with some fun facts about angels:
* The word “angel” is derived from the Greek word for “messenger,” aggelos.
* The Bible names nine “choirs” or groups of angels—each with a different purpose (for example, the seraphim, the cherubim and the thrones are among the highest in the angel hierarchy).
* Angel hierarchy is determined by an angel’s closeness and similarity to God, according to Saint Thomas Aquinas.
* The Church recognizes seven archangels, though we only know the names of three—Micheal, Raphael and Gabriel.
* According to the Catechism, “The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture calls ‘angels’ is a truth of faith.”
* Guardian angels are very much real and are not just a bedtime story. We’ll be covering that in more detail with the Feast of the Guardian Angels on October 2, in our next issue.
Angels aside, in this issue you’ll also find feature stories on the inaugural Chefs for Charities event (page 16), benefitting Catholic Charities Regional Agency, and on Margie Popovich Cretella’s new book Have You Seen My Brother? (page 21) about the life of diocesan priest Father Stephen Popovich, who passed away in January. Father Patrick Manning also delves into the common misinterpretation of the words “myth” and “prophet” (page 30), and we introduce two new standard sections to the magazine—one on Pope Francis’ monthly prayer intention (page 25) and one with Catholic news from outside our diocese (page 26). And there’s much more besides! We hope you enjoy it all.
Until next month,
Katie Wagner
