"Visit this house, Lord, we pray,
And drive far from it the power of the adversary.
May your holy angels dwell here instead,
And the blessing of peace remain on us always."
So we pray for our children every night, blessing them with the sign of the Cross.
I was reminded of the power of the Cross, of the holy protecting angels, and of the saints in a conversation with a new friend, Kendra. Her 8 year old daughter, Laura, has many fears. Laura has created an elaborate evening routine in going to and getting in and staying in bed. Being from a thoroughly secular family, prayer is not an option - at least not one I could suggest to her mother. (When the family came over for lunch, the children did not even know that anyone might at some time pray before a meal. They had clearly never heard of the idea.)
We had to confront real ongoing fear in our youngest daughter's fear of the dark. But we could not abide any of the schmaltzy angel-ick night lights on offer.
Thankfully when Nicodemus spent 10 days at the Monastery of St. John in northern California this summer, he found the night light of St. George. Dashing a dragon to bits is most definitely the way to cast the darkness out of a child's room! We had assured our daughter, E., that her guardian angel was watching over her. We had hung an icon of a guardian angel by her bed. We had prayed, as do Orthodox Jews to this day, that the Archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel would protect her. We reminded her that if she had a bad dream or awoke afraid, she should make the sign of the Cross, asking for Christ's protection. And these all helped.
And to be truthful, the assurance of valiant St. George impaling the dragon has calmed her fears - and satisfied her parents' various requirements of a night light.
Night, night,
Beth
(The night light is not available on the website, but you can call or email Brother Valentin: (530) 474-5964 or [email protected])
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