An Angel Gets a Moustache

Marion T I agree with you. The way our prayers are answered, the way our angel protects us is not always the same as we would desire. When one hears a distinct voice commanding one to RUN HOME, just in time to prevent a fire from consuming one's house, where did that come from? I rather think it's from a benevolent presence and not simply one's imagination. Father Barron speculates, in the Catholicism series, that each angel is its own species and that makes the most sense to me. I cringe whenever I hear from a Catholic who should know better, "Well, dear old Auntie Meg is now an angel in Heaven, watching over us!" when old Auntie Meg has shuffled off her mortal coil. Charity would compel me to eventually straighten her out on that notion but I'm a coward and don't know how to avoid hurt feelings there. Any suggestions?

There has been a suggestion or two in the comments section (which is also the place to leave questions, by the way).  I'll add my two cents.

It depends on the circumstance and the person. You wouldn't want to say anything that might embarrass the speaker of the misinformation if you were in a group of people, calling her out as a dumb bunny. You could say something very simple, like, "Oh I hope she is watching over us in Heaven! That means she's a saint! Everyone who is dead and in Heaven is a saint."

At least it doesn't sound like we're lowering Auntie Meg's pay grade.

I, too, cringe at such comments, but I can generally get away with a mild reminder (based on my get up) that Auntie Meg is a saint in Heaven, not an angel. I might even go so far as to mention that angels are a separate entity from human beings.

I tend not to do that, though.  For one thing, these things are generally said at funerals and wakes, when people already have enough to think about.  I might pipe up if it comes up in a regular old conversation, not at a mourning fest.

And even then....not so much. It really depends on the circumstances. I pick my battles, as they say. And sometimes, you just know your thoughts fall on deaf ears.

My mother is one of those people who insist, along with countless others, that if you shave the hair off anyplace on your body, it will grow back darker and thicker. I've listened to her admonish young people never to "start shaving" and tell the story about how Aunt Char's sister shaved her face and ended up with a thick black beard.

Maybe that's actually what happened to St. Wilgefortis.

The truth is Aunt Char's sister probably shaved her face because she already had a thick black beard. If shaving caused hair to grow back thicker and darker there would be no bald men or women and no men with scraggly beards.

After hearing her say it again recently, I did a little research. A lot of people believe this myth. Maybe I'm the one who is wrong? Maybe when women shave, their hair grows back darker and thicker?

The doctors at Mayo Clinic beg to differ, as does every single other person who knows anything about hair, shaving and hair growth.

But I'm not going to mention this to my mother, because she will tell me they're wrong and I'm wrong because she saw what happened to Aunt Char's sister. Which isn't even empirical proof, although I'm sure I could never convince her of that, either.

I imagine that people who want to believe that Auntie Meg is an angel in Heaven will continue to do so, no matter what you say to them. It's not the worse thing you could get wrong, theologically speaking.