being my spirit guide, this spirit was also an angel.
People have often asked me what I think the difference is between an angel and a spirit guide. And before I can answer this, I need to first mention Saint Augustine, the Catholic saint and mystic. According to this extraordinary man, “Angels are spirits, but it is not because they are spirits that they are angels. They become angels when they are sent. For the name angel refers to their office, not their nature. You ask the name of this nature, it is spirit; you ask its office, it is that of an Angel.”1
As I said earlier, the word angel is of Greek origin meaning messenger. So I find St. Augustine's explanation of angels to be very interesting. For one thing we are all spirit. Spirit is our true nature; we are not the body. But St. Augustine pointed out that it is not this nature that makes them angels but their office, which another way of saying what they do or the message they portray.
I believe that a person is an angel because of his deeds and not his nature. Having said this, I believe that spirit guides are different levels of angels. You have the highest level which includes the Archangels Gabriel and Michael all the way to spirits who once walked among us on this earth and now work to help people still in human form. All are sent to us to help us with our journey or purpose here on earth.
They help us, for example, by sending us signs. You see someone's name or hear it on four different occasions on the same day. They may be putting this person in your mind so that you contact him. Other times we may have a feeling about something or even hear a voice in our head. When I was about twenty-one, I was driving home as an icy mist covered the roadways. I found myself on a normally busy street in my hometown of Elizabeth, New Jersey when without warning I lost control of my car as it began to skid on the ice. My initial thought was to try to turn my steering wheel away from the direction of the parked cars and the utility pole, but suddenly I heard a voice say, “Let go of the wheel.” I quickly let go and just sat in my vehicle as the car continued to skid as if it had a mind of its own. I think I must have said a bunch of “Hail Mary's” and “Our Fathers” in mere seconds before my car came to a halt within about a foot from the utility pole.
We've all heard this little intuitive voice at one time or another during our lives; however most of us just dismiss it as a figure of our imagination. The angels and spirit guides can guide us by bringing certain people into our lives. How many times have you met someone and had the feeling that you were meant to meet him? Chances are you were.
Part of the Nicene Creed reads:
We believe in one God,
the Father, the Almighty
maker of heaven and earth,
of all that is, seen and unseen.
Although angels and spirit guides are part of this unseen (spirit) existence, sometimes they do make themselves seen for our benefit. In fact, as you will realize in this book, often times we need only to ask for their help and it will be given. Hopefully after reading the divine visits which follow you will know, without a doubt, that we are never really alone. There is always someone watching over us.
1 www.catholictradition.org/Angels/angels1.htm
 | You Are Healed |
It is only fitting that I begin with the heartwarming story which gave me the idea for this book. I met Toni DiBernardo when she contacted me with a story for my book Visits from Heaven, which was released in December 2009. The story, ironically entitled My Brother Joey, the Angel, tells of an afterlife communication or visit from heaven her mother experienced when Toni's deceased brother Joey appeared at her deathbed.
She writes, “The week that my mother died, I had experiences that were just unbelievable as she was communicating with my father and brother Joey who had already passed. One day my mother looked at me and told me that my brother Joey was in the room with us. She said, ‘Oh, I wish that you could see this beautiful male angel all dressed in white. I'm afraid if you turn your head too fast, he will leave; he is so beautiful.’”
She went on as if she were having a conversation with this angel. “Did you hear what he just told me?” she asked. Then without waiting for an answer she continued, “I told him to please put me down because I was going to make him fall and he told me, ‘Mom, I won't let you fall. You are as light as these feathers on my back.’” I couldn't believe what I was hearing. She then looked at me and said, “Toni, it's Joey; I always knew he was an angel.”
Years later Toni experienced her own divine visit. Only this time, it was not her brother or anyone else in her family. This time she says she was visited by Jesus himself. I will never forget the day when Toni called to tell me that she had just been diagnosed with pancreatic cancer. She was understandably very upset and wasn't sure if she wanted to even go through with the recommended surgery to remove the tumor along with part of her pancreas and spleen.
At that time, she wondered if she should even bother having the surgery. Pancreatic cancer has one of the lowest survival rates with less than 5 percent of those diagnosed reaching the five-year mark. Part of the problem is the fact that this cancer is very rarely diagnosed early enough because there are typically no symptoms early on. During the later stages of the disease, symptoms include jaundice and abdominal pain.
Toni Di Bernardo
That day as we spoke on the phone I could totally understand why Toni had her doubts about having the surgery. However, I encouraged her to go through with the surgery. In my mind, it was better to at least fight the cancer, and her family felt so as well.
Luckily, Toni opted to have the surgery, and I told her that she would, of course, be in my prayers. I went over to the local Target and purchased a figurine of a cross and sent it to her in support. Prior to mailing it to her, I said a prayer asking God to please help her. Unbeknownst to me, Toni would later take this cross to the hospital with her.
During this time prior to the surgery, Toni's friend Ruthie, who is very religious, put a prayer shawl on Toni and recited what is known as simply the Jewish Prayer. The following is the prayer in both Hebrew and English:
Baruch Ata Adonai
Blessed Art thou Our Lord
Malki Ot Haolam
King of the Universe
Shama Adonai Elohay
Hear me oh Lord my God
Shiva atiele Cha va Tiypaenee
I cried to thee and thou hast healed me.
Ahalela Shem Elohim
I will praise thy name, O God
Kooma Adonai
Arise, O Lord
Hoshieynee Elohay
