My name is Gabe.
Thanks for visiting my page! Gabe is a nickname for Gabriel, my real name. When I was born, Dad and Mom named me Gabriel after the great Archangel Saint Gabriel. I’m sure you remember learning about the Archangel Gabriel in "The Story of Luke and the Incarnation.”
It was the mighty Archangel Gabriel who had the important task of delivering the message to Mary FROM GOD that He wanted Mary to be Jesus’ Mother - The Mother of God!
Can you imagine Saint Gabriel getting that order from God? Just think of all the time that had gone by since Adam and Eve left the Garden of Eden. Think of all the stories from the Old Testament of Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Joseph, Moses, King David and all the prophets. Finally, a husband and wife named Joachim and Anne have a baby girl named Mary. Mary is now a young lady and at the exact right moment God says: Gabriel! The fullness of time has come! Go now and deliver my message!
"The Incarnation" by Otto Stemler c.1920
I think my name is awesome. I’m glad Dad and Mom named me after the great Archangel Gabriel!
By the way, the man who drew that illustration of our Blessed Mother and Saint Gabriel the Archangel was named Otto Stemler. He was born in Cincinnati, Ohio and he drew quite a few of the pictures that we are using on our CK101 kids pages. Guess when he drew them? About 100 years ago! I wonder if he ever imagined that a bunch of kids in the 21st century would still be looking at his pictures? It's kind of amazing to think about, isn't it? When we take our gifts and talents and offer them back to Jesus, we never really know all the ways He may use them.
Do you like to draw? I like to draw using color pencils. I actually found a black and white sketch of Mr. Stemler's picture. I carefully colored it using the above picture as my guide. After that I tried to draw it all on my own. I think it actually turned out nice. I decided to give it to my Grandma Millie. She liked it so much that she framed it and put it right next to her bed.
I thought I'd scan the black and white sketch in a PDF for you. Just click on the button below and it will download so you can print your very own copy. That way you can color and sketch it too!
My whole family has a special devotion to the Holy Angels. I’ll tell you why before I finish writing my page but first I’ll tell you the names of my sisters and brothers. Dad and Mom decided to name all of us kids, one way or another, after the Holy Angels.
My older sister is named Gloria. Her name is taken from what the Holy Angels sang when Jesus was born: “Gloria in excelsis Deo!” That’s Latin for “Glory to God in the highest!” You probably know that we sing that often at the beginning of Mass. Did you know that the Holy Angels were the very first to sing it? The shepherds in Bethlehem were the ones who heard them. They were singing about the birth of Jesus! I sure wish I could have been there to hear that. I think it would have been absolutely amazing! My sister was born at the end of December and she is a really good singer too so I think Gloria is a perfect name for her.
"Adoration of the Shepherds" Charles Le Brun 1689
My oldest brother is name Raphael after the Archangel Raphael. Saint Raphael is known as the Archangel who brings healing from God. The name Raphael actually means: “God heals” or “God’s healer.” It’s kind of interesting because my brother Raphael volunteers at a nursing home. He likes working with older people. He's really smart too. My Grandma Millie says that Raphael would be a wonderful doctor when he grows up. Maybe he will be!
The Archangel Raphael is also the special helper or Patron Saint for travelers. You can read all about the great Saint Raphael in the Book of Tobit in the Old Testament and you’ll see why. My family always asks Saint Raphael to guide and protect us whenever we go on trips.
"Tobias Curing His Father's Blindness" Bernardo Strozzi 1630-35
My brother, who is one year older than me, is named Michael. Of course, he’s named after the mighty Archangel Michael. You heard all about Saint Michael in Luke’s story. We always pray “The Saint Michael Prayer” at my Church after every Mass. Do you know it? It is a really important prayer to memorize if you don't know it yet. We all need St. Michael's protection! I'll put a great card my Grandma Millie gave me with the prayer:
My baby sister has a very beautiful and interesting name. She is named after one of the choirs of Angels. When we say “choir” in this way, it’s not about singing. I’ll try and explain it to you how my Grandma Millie explained it to me.
When God created the Angels, He created a lot of them. When talking about the number of Angels God created, the word “myriads” of Angels is often used. That word means there are LOTS and LOTS and LOTS of them! More than we could ever imagine!
Now there are some really intelligent, smart Saints, like Saint Thomas Aquinas, who spent a lot time studying and writing about the Holy Angels.
Saint Thomas explained that there are groups or what are called “choirs” of Angels. There are 9 choirs altogether in 3 levels. Maybe you have heard about some of them. I’ll list their names here for you to see:
In the first level are:
THE SERAPHIM
THE CHERUBIM
THE THRONES
In the second level are:
THE DOMINIONS
THE VIRTUES
THE POWERS
In the third level are:
THE PRINCES,
THE ARCHANGELS
THE ANGELS
Below is a picture of my baby sister receiving the Sacrament of Baptism! My sister is named after the first choir of Holy Angels. Her name is Seraphim. We call her "Sera" for short.
I also wanted to tell you something I learned about the word ANGEL that I thought was really interesting. It was something Dad explained to me. He said there was a really great Pope named Saint Gregory the Great. (I’m thinking he really must have been great to end up with a name like that!) Anyway, Pope Saint Gregory the Great explained that the word “Angel” actually means what the Angel does not what they actually are. They are SPIRITS. That means they don’t have bodies. God lets them look like they have bodies or forms when He wants us to see them.
Pope Saint Gregory the Great said we refer to them as ANGELS when they deliver some MESSAGE. “Angels” deliver messages of lesser importance. “Archangels” deliver messages of great importance like when Saint Gabriel the Archangel delivered God’s message to Mary. That was actually the greatest message ever delivered!
By the way, you might have noticed that I picked a picture of me at home where I'm writing a letter to one of my friends. I actually did that on purpose. I wanted to show you that all of the kids here at Catholic Kids101 want you to think of each of our CK101 pages as being like a letter. We all agreed that we really like it when we get letters from our family and friends in the mail. And since we can’t actually write each one of you a personal letter and have it stamped and delivered to your home, we figured our CK101 Pages would be the next best thing. Even though it's on a computer or mobile device, we want you to think of it this way: A CK101 message from each one of us delivered especially for YOU!
From the CK101 Kids!
Now I’ll tell you why my family has a special devotion to the Holy Angels. It has to do with Grandma Millie. She’s my dad’s mom.
When my Grandma Millie was a little girl she said her family wasn’t rich but they weren’t poor either. She said they were just right. They were happy and healthy and had just what they needed.
When Millie was four years old, her dad, my Great Grandpa, suddenly got very sick and needed to be in the hospital for 3 whole months. Because of this, Millie’s mom, my Great Grandma, needed to work extra hours at the sewing company where she usually just worked part time. With all the doctor bills and the food and the things they needed, she had to do this until my Great Grandpa got better.
Each weekday morning, Millie’s mom would have to leave very early. Grandma said she remembered it was still dark outside. But before she left, she always put a fresh bun with strawberry jam, a piece of cheese and a shiny red apple on the little table next to Millie’s bed. When Millie woke up, she would kneel down next to her bed and say her morning prayers. Then she would eat her breakfast. After breakfast she would play with her dolls until a neighbor friend was able to come and get her. Grandma Millie said that the neighbor always came as soon as “the sun was shining brightly and the birds were singing sweetly.”
One early morning while Millie was still sleeping, after her mom had left the house, Millie felt a hand on her shoulder gently shaking her to wake up. When Millie opened her eyes, she was very surprised to see a child about her age looking at her! The child was dressed all in white and was very beautiful. The child also had, the best way Grandma Millie could describe it, "a dazzling Christmas tree star” above her head that lit up the room!
The child didn’t say anything but motioned to Grandma Millie to follow her. Millie got up and followed the beautiful child into the kitchen.
The child pointed to the dial on the stove. Millie looked carefully and could see that the gas dial to the oven was turned to the “ON” position. Millie reached up and turned the dial so it was “OFF.” She also saw that the oven door was part way open so she closed it. When Millie turned around to look for the little child, she was gone!
When Millie told her mom what had happened later that night, her mother was very surprised! Then Grandma Millie said that her mother suddenly gasped and then her eyes filled with tears. She made the Sign of the Cross and then hugged Grandma Millie for a long time. This is what had happened:
Millie’s mom was going to bake some fresh buns before leaving for work. She had turned the dial on the gas oven and was about to light the flame when the telephone rang. It startled her! She knew it must be the hospital because nobody else would be calling so early in the morning. She ran to answer the phone and a nurse from the hospital said she needed to come immediately because her husband had suddenly taken a turn for the worse. She hung up the phone and was soon out the door. She had completely forgotten about turning on the oven dial on their gas stove without lighting the flame and opening the oven door! Grandma Millie said her mother would normally never do such a thing. It’s just that she was so tired from working all the extra hours, going to the hospital so much and worrying about her husband that her mind was not thinking straight that morning.
My Great Grandma understood that God had saved her little girl by sending His Angel with a message! If that oven dial on the gas stove had remained “ON” with the oven door open and no flame lit, a gas called “carbon monoxide” would have filled the air in their house. Millie would have been breathing in this deadly gas while she was sleeping. She could have died from carbon monoxide poisoning.
That day ended up being a very happy day! Grandma Millie ended up being just fine! Great Grandpa ended up being just fine! A couple months later he was all healed up and everything was back to the happy way it had always been.
Grandma Millie says that God let her Guardian Angel give her that message because He had a plan for her life. In His plan she had to grow up so she could meet and marry Grandpa. We are sure glad too because without Grandma Millie none of us would be here!
At the very end of my CK101 Page are two prayers. The first prayer you probably already know but I decided to put it at the bottom of my page just in case you don’t. This is a prayer to our Guardian Angel that everyone should know and pray often. I always pray this prayer when I wake up in the morning. My family always prays it when we are driving to Church to go to Mass or to make a visit with Jesus. Dad told us our Guardian Angels love Jesus so much and they want to help us love and adore Him too!
The second prayer is one my Grandma Millie taught me. It’s a prayer to the Archangel Gabriel. I like it so much that I wanted you to see it and have a chance to pray it too.
I'll end with two great Guardian Angel quotes from two of my favorite Saints. The first one is from Saint John Bosco. He said, "When tempted, call on your Angel. He is more eager to help you than you are to be helped! Ignore the devil and do not be afraid of him. He trembles and flees at the sight of your Guardian Angel."
The second quote is from the great Saint John Vianney. He is the Patron Saint of priests. Saint John Vianney said: "How happy is that Guardian Angel who accompanies a soul to Holy Mass!"
Your CK101 friend,
Gabe
ANGEL OF GOD
(Angele Dei)
Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here;
ever this day be at my side, to light and to guard, to rule and to guide.
Amen.
PRAYER TO SAINT GABRIEL THE ARCHANGEL
Saint Gabriel the Archangel, loving messenger of the Incarnation,
come to my aid and to the aid of all those I love.
“Spread your wings” over all the children of the world,
you who did announce the Incarnation of our Lord Jesus Christ.
Holy Archangel, you are often depicted holding a lily.
Give to all young people a petal from your scepter of purity.
May your “Ave Maria!” echo in the hearts of all people
so that all the world may find salvation in Jesus through Mary, our Mother.
Finally, never stop proclaiming the words you spoke
on that joyful day of the Annunciation:
“For nothing is impossible with God!” Amen.
