It rises suddenly out of the Sonoran Desert landscape, towering over the tallest tree or cactus, a commanding building with a sensuous dome, elliptical vaults, and sturdy bell towers. There is nothing else like it around, nor does it seem there should be. This incongruity of setting is what strikes first-time visitors to Mission San Xavier del Bac. This great church is of another place and another time, while its beauty is universal and timeless. Mission San Xavier del Bac is a two-century-old Spanish church in southern Arizona located just a few miles from downtown Tucson, a metropolis of more than half a million people in the American Southwest. A National Historic Landmark since 1963, the mission’s graceful baroque art and architecture have drawn visitors from all over the world. Now Bernard Fontana—the leading expert on San Xavier—and award-winning photographer Edward McCain team up to bring us a comprehensive view of the mission as we’ve never seen it before. With 200 stunning full-color photographs and incisive text illuminating the religious, historical, and motivational context of these images, A Gift of Angels is a must-have for tourists, scholars, and other visitors to San Xavier. From its glorious architecture all the way down to the finest details of its art, Mission San Xavier del Bac is indeed a gift of angels.

A BOOK OF ANGELS tells not only the extraordinary true stories of present-day encounters with angels, but also traces the understanding and study of angels through history and in different cultures. Discover what angels look like, whom they chose to visit, how they enter our lives, and so much more.

Angels are everywhere, ready to help in times of need. We just have to open ourselves to their healing energies--and this uplifting collection shows how. Drawing on leading expert Chrissie Astell's personal experiences of angelic intervention, along with moving accounts from her readers, course participants, and workshop attendees, Gifts from Angels tells stories of children protected, accidents avoided, and other life-changing miracles. Astell also provides practical visualizations and meditations, along with guidance on guardian angels, archangels, and the life to come.

A collection of stories, legends, poems, and prayers about angels, with color illustrations from missals and prayer books.

The Book of Angels shines a light on little-known facts of angel lore that have been hidden away for centuries. Brought to vivid life through Ruth Thompson's stunning full-color artwork, this angel guide, now in paper, presents otherworldly beings of awe, mystery, and power--from Lucifer, the Bringer of Light, whose ambition sparked the War in Heaven, to Uriel, the most formidable of angelic warriors, to Azriel, the fearsome Angel of Death. A special section on Angelic Lore recounts stories from the Bible, literature, and history.

Explores the relationship between people and angels, through the eyes of the early church. Heaven is closer than we realize. Its boundaries overlap our own, and angels move in and out of our porous present, this moment that seems to us so solid and concrete. If that reality seems dim to us now, it beamed for the early Christians. Through their writings, sermons, songs, and art, the ancient faithful confessed a powerful and vivid belief that angels help carry us on our journey to God. Rooted in the Scripture and following this ancient understanding, Lifted by Angels reveals: the role that angels play in the lives of people and in God’s plan of salvation the different ranks and functions of angels how Satan and his demons fell from grace and plagued humans the functions of guardian angels and how God assigns them to fit our personal needs how guardian angels help us resist evil, temptation, and the devil the way angels join with us in our prayers, even adding their own to ours the service angels provide in worship Featuring examples of angels in ancient icons and frescoes and supported by extensive research on the early church and its pastors, poets, theologians, and artists, Lifted by Angels answers universal curiosity about angels and the unseen world, leaving readers inspired and hopeful about the nearness of God.