Anne Rice on Angels

[sea_oat]

I was flipping through Parade magazine from the Sunday paper, and I saw an article that the author Anne Rice wrote about angels, and the recent obsession with vampires in popular culture. Personally, I loved it. Any thoughts?

I quoted what I thought was the most powerful part of the article.

parade.com/news/2009/12/20-the-angels-among-us.html

Today, as readers and audiences obsess over vampires, one can’t help but wonder if those fans aren’t really seeking angels. After all, in the best-selling book (and blockbuster movie) Twilight, Edward the vampire is the protector of the young heroine Bella, saving her from evil humans as well as evil immortals. A good vampire also strives to protect against a bad vampire in the Vampire Diaries novels, now a show on the CW network. And in True Blood, the HBO series based on the popular books, waitress Sookie Stackhouse finds a stalwart guardian in the person of a handsome vampire as well.

Like angels, vampires are powerful and mysterious beings who aren’t subject to the ravages of old age or time. Like angels, vampires are often described and portrayed as extremely beautiful. Like angels, vampires look human and sound human, though they are not.

But vampires are sad creatures. They speak to us of confusion and the longing to be human. They struggle in the darkness, lamenting the loss of the light.

Perhaps the whole vampire craze can be related to the age-old yearning for a loving, eloquent supernatural presence that will save us from the perils and disasters of ordinary life.

With angels we are most certainly on surer ground. Our oldest religious texts assure us that the Almighty does indeed have such wondrous messengers and helpers, and that He sends them to Earth only to do good. One cannot help but be glad that once the present vampire craze is over, angels will still be busy guarding their earthly charges and answering prayers.

Angels are dazzling expressions of God’s love for his children. Not only do they bring hope to the weary, but they are always pointing upward, promising that at the end of life’s journey, they will be there to carry us to that greatest of all mysteries, the bliss and splendor of our heavenly home.

Merry Christmas, everyone.

 

[ljubim]

I read it too

Honestly I was sort of dissapointed in it… after reading a bunch of really detailed Catholic books about angels, this one didn’t even have any examples. And then she started talking about vampires?

Perhaps it’s a good lead-in for secular people to get a little deeper into it! How great would that be?

 

[Nowhere_Man]

this was great! I love Anne Rice, especially the first two books in the Vampire Chronicles; after that the hatred of God present in the books is just too much.

 

[MercyMia]

I think this is really interesting and a good point.
Keep in mind, Anne Rice has recently returned to the Church after being away from it all of her adult life!