This is the view outside the window of my room in the monastery high up on a mountain overlooking the town of Rapallo, Italy.  I was up above the clouds, in the heavens for sure!  Within this monastery was an exquisite small chapel with paintings on the walls, called frescoes.  The angels in these frescoes were among the most beautiful I had seen, and it seemed quite appropriate that I would encounter them up above the clouds like this.

There was a church up on that same mountain close to the monastery.  This stained glass window is in that church.

The colors and details are amazing.  Look closely at the feathers in the angel’s wings, the intricate design within her halo and her jewelry, even the shadows within her face and hands.  How could eyes speak like that through stained glass? Incredible!

Angels are messengers from God.  They came to the shepherds out in the fields that night, bringing with them the glory of the Lord that shone around the shepherds by their very presence.  They came to bring the news of the birth of a Savior, Christ the Lord.  Suddenly there was a multitude of heavenly host praising God, “Glory to God in the highest and on earth peace.”

I wonder if it looked something like this…

This painting is called “Concert of the Angels” (1672), by Giovanni Battista Gaulli. It makes me feel the essence of what happened that night as the shepherds encountered a multitude of the heavenly host. Every face has its own unique personality and presence.  And within the multitude of those in the background I can faintly discern the faces of those saints who have gone before me, now a part of the heavenly host.  They are all shining with that same glorious light.  They are all truly alive!

I am reminded of the liturgy which is part of our Sacrament of Holy Communion….”with your people on earth, and all the company of heaven, we praise your holy name and join their unending hymn:  Holy, holy, holy Lord, God of power and might, heaven and earth are full of your glory…”( UM Hymnal)

And I know that the ” communion of the saints” is mysteriously real, and something quite glorious! We are connected with those who have gone before us…the saints who are now part of the heavenly host.

Questions to ponder….

How have you experienced the heavenly host?

Picture for a moment the faces of persons you love who are in Heaven.

nk