Authors: Lorna Byrne
All the time his guardian angel was whispering in his ear. I
wanted to shout at Joe, 'Your guardian angel is trying to tell
you, but you won't listen.' Joe promised that, because I seemed
to be so upset, he would be very careful over the weekend.
That weekend the vision unfolded, and it all happened just
as I had seen.
One evening Joe was repairing a customer's car and went to
fill it with petrol. A friend of the owner of the car was passing
and believed Joe had stolen it. He yelled at Joe and when Joe
wound down the window he punched him in the face then
called the police. The police did not believe Joe and arrested
him. Da bailed him out and everything was sorted out, but that
evening Joe got another insight into who I am.
Two weeks before my wedding, Pauline, Valerie and Mary
took me on a hen night to celebrate. I had never been out after
work with them before. They took me first to Smyth's, the pub
that Valerie went to most Friday evenings, which was full of
people who worked in the department store. Valerie and Mary
seemed to know everyone in the pub, and there was a lot of
laughter. They were used to drinking, but I was not. They
encouraged me to have a glass of wine; it went straight to my
head, which my friends thought was hilarious. One glass was
more than enough for me, as I could really feel its effect, and
after that I stuck to 7Up.
We went from one pub to another, on foot, until we ended
up in Mary's favourite pub, Murphy's. There was a great
atmosphere there. The floor was concrete with potholes, there
were no tables, only stools at the bar and the place was packed
with people singing Irish rebel songs. I loved the music and
singing and we all joined in.We went back to Mary's bed-sit in
the city centre and had a cup of tea and some biscuits and
chatted about the evening. My friends teased me about tricks
they could play on Joe and I on our wedding day; we had a
good laugh. I had a great night, but I was glad to get home
eventually and go to bed.
It was getting closer and closer to our wedding day. Almost
everything was ready and my wedding cake had arrived at the
house; one of my aunts had made it as a wedding present. It
was fabulous, three tiers tall, she had done a wonderful job. I
still have the decorations belonging to it, too, they have been
put away in a box somewhere.
With two days to go the house was spotless, both families
were ready and, on the eve of the wedding, the neighbours
called into the house to see if they could help with any last minute
things. Anne, our next-door neighbour, assured me
that she would be over early in the morning to do my hair.
It is wonderful to see the happiness that weddings can bring
to family, friends and even neighbours – to see all the excitement
that is inside everybody come to the surface. Whenever
there is a wedding planned, I ask all the angels of the universe
that the wedding can bring happiness and excitement to all of
those involved.
Finally, my wedding day arrived! I hardly slept the night
before and I was up early – we were all up early. I was too
excited to eat breakfast, so I just had a cup of tea. One of the
most precious moments was while Da was taking everyone to
the church ahead of me and I was standing in the hall, with one
of the neighbours, waiting for him to come back for me.When
Da arrived back to the house, he escorted me to the car and sat
beside me in the back seat. He did not say a word, but just held
my hand. When we pulled up to the main entrance of the
church Da said, 'Don't move,' and he got out of the car. The
driver had come around to open the car door, but Da insisted
on opening it. As I got out of the car the smile on Da's face
made me happy. He took my hand. Just as we entered the
church to walk down the aisle he told me in a gentle voice how
proud he was to walk down the aisle with his beautiful
daughter on her wedding day.
As I walked towards the altar on Da's arm, I could feel my
guardian angel ruffling the hair that my neighbour had spent
so much time on that morning. I could see Joe standing at the
top of the aisle, looking in my direction. He looked so handsome.
Beside him stood his guardian angel with a big smile on
his face. Angels then started to appear on the altar: Michael,
Hosus, Elijah, Elisha – all the angels who have been with me
over the years. The altar was packed with angels.
The priest stood there waiting; Joe and I walked to the altar
and stood before the priest, and the ceremony began. As Joe
put the wedding ring on my finger, Hosus tugged at my dress
and joined me in saying, 'I do.'
Outside the church there were lots of photos taken and,
back at the house, we had a wonderful meal with my friends
and family sitting around one big table.
Later that evening we all left the house and Joe and I went
with our friends for a drink in the local pub. It was packed,
though, with no space for a bride and groom, so we made our
way into a pub in the centre of Dublin. Joe and I didn't stay
long before we headed to Maynooth where, in the early hours
of the morning, Joe carried me over the threshold of our little
cottage.
Sometimes the angels do not give me any warning before an
event. One evening, when Joe and I had been married three
months, something strange happened. It was about eleven
o'clock and Joe had gone to bed and was reading a book while
I was tidying up and getting ready for bed. We had no
bathroom in the cottage at this time, so I was washing myself in
front of the fire. I was only in bed about five minutes when I
needed to go to the loo, so I climbed out over the end of the bed.
I opened the bedroom door and I got a shock. I nearly
walked into someone.
'Oh my God, what are you doing here?' I exclaimed.
Mrs Costello, the old lady who had lived in the cottage until
she had died, was standing in front of me! She looked just as
Elizabeth had described her. She was dressed in her coat and a
wonderful hat with netting and what looked like fruit on it,
and she carried a big bag under her arm.
'Goodbye,' she said. 'I am off now.'
She smiled at me. She looked beautiful, perfect, just like Mrs
Tiggywinkle. I don't know why she needed to say goodbye to
me but, if that's what she had to do, then that was fine with me.
She had given me such a start though!
I turned round and got back into bed. 'What's wrong?' Joe
asked.
'I nearly walked into her,' I said to Joe, forgetting that I
hadn't yet told him that I see spirits as well. 'I just met the old
woman who lived here before us,' I told him. 'She just came to
say goodbye.'
Joe sat up in the bed and looked at me, startled. He told me
to get back in bed and under the blankets.
I did so quietly, hoping that Joe wouldn't think too much of
the incident. He didn't – he turned around and went back to
sleep. Clearly my angels were working hard! Joe never
mentioned it again.
I lay there talking to the angels, asking why Mrs Costello
had nearly let me walk into her. I don't like walking into a dead
person, a spirit that has not yet gone to heaven, it feels
unpleasant, sending electrical shocks through my body. A
spirit that has not yet gone to Heaven has not been purified
and feels completely different to a spirit which has gone to
Heaven and come back, like my brother Christopher. With
spirits who have returned from Heaven, I feel the life-force of
their soul.
The angels told me that, for some reason that they never
explained, Mrs Costello was unable to leave the cottage until
she had made contact with me, and that she needed that
contact in order to be able to go to Heaven. I can't explain this,
but frequently I encounter souls who have not yet left this
earth and gone to Heaven, and for some reason I have a role to
play in their passing over.
A few months later, I became pregnant. Joe decided he would
sell the car in order to be able to afford all the extras we would
need with a baby on the way. So we were back to travelling by
bus, and we both laughed about that.
I found the pregnancy hard and I gave out to the angels and
God all the time. The angels just laughed at me and told me to
rest.
My baby decided to come into the world a few weeks before
his time – a beautiful baby boy almost seven pounds in weight.
We were so happy. I had told Joe, long before, about my baby
brother Christopher who had died as an infant and my desire
to call my first son after him. So we had already decided we
would call him Christopher.
I never told Joe about my encounters with my spirit brother,
though; I have never been allowed to share those encounters
until writing this book. I asked Joe not to mention to my
parents the reason why I wanted our son to be called
Christopher.When my parents came to visit me in the hospital
after his birth, Mum said we should name our son Christopher
– after her da, my grandfather. I smiled at Joe and said we
had already chosen the name Christopher. Joe squeezed my
hand.
When I brought Christopher home from the hospital I was
like any young mother – nervous and fussing over him. He was
strong and healthy but, one time when I was looking after him,
the angels appeared around me and told me he had a little
problem.
'I notice he's not digesting the milk properly. Am I right?' I
asked.
'Yes,' said the angels. 'Wrap Christopher up well, put him in
his pram and walk down to the telephone box.'
I did as I was asked and when I got there I was glad to see
there was no one on the telephone. I rang the doctor and asked
him to call to see Christopher. The doctor called that afternoon.
It was a very cold day and lashing rain. The key was in
the hall door and the doctor called out, 'Anyone at home?' as
he walked in. I was sitting by the fire with Christopher on my
knee, feeding him. I smiled at the doctor because all the angels
followed him in. He sat down on the chair and said that it was
lovely and cosy and heated his hands by the fire. He played
with the baby for a minute and then asked me what was wrong.
I told him I didn't think Christopher was digesting milk
properly. He looked at me strangely. The angels behind him
told me to be careful in what I said.
'He throws up a lot,' I added.
'Lorna,' he said, laughing, 'all babies do that.'
As the doctor pulled his chair closer to examine
Christopher, one of the angels touched Christopher's tummy
and he threw up. The milk went flying across the room. The
doctor looked at me and said, 'That's not normal.'
The doctor put a stethoscope to the baby's tummy and commented
that any time he had seen a baby do what Christopher
had just done, they always turned out to be coeliac. He then
gave me a letter to see a specialist in Temple Street Children's
Hospital in Dublin.
Christopher was indeed coeliac, so from then on he was on
a special diet. This meant there were a lot of visits to the
hospital and sometimes Christopher had to stay in for a few
days, which was hard on him and on us.
Joe worked on the garden every spare moment he had, and
I must say it was really starting to take shape. One day, when
I was watching Joe working in the garden, his guardian angel
appeared for just a brief moment and then other angels
appeared around Joe, as if they were supporting him. I could
see that the light around him was very weak.
I started to cry, saying to myself, 'No! It's not fair.'
I knew the angels were showing me that Joe was going to
become sick.
He did. He became very ill with a gastric ulcer shortly
afterwards and he was much sicker than most people with the
same condition. This was to be a pattern with Joe, for some
reason that I never fully understood, when he got sick with
something, he became much sicker than other people.
Despite a special diet and lots of medication, Joe was very ill
and unable to work for six months. As a result, he lost his job
with the transport company and we had to depend on the state
social welfare to survive.
It was a very difficult time for us and, although I didn't know
then, this was a pattern that was going to continue for the rest
of his life.
One day, when Christopher was about eighteen months old,
I brought him out to the front garden to play, locked the little
gate and walked back into the house, leaving the front door
open, to make the beds. Angel Elisha appeared for just a
moment.
'Hello, Lorna, I'm just letting you know that you are going
to have a visitor.'
Before I could say a word, Angel Elisha had disappeared. I
laughed and said, 'That was a quick visit.'
Elisha did not reappear; I did not give it another thought and
continued making the beds, every now and then looking out
the window to check on Christopher. When I walked into our
little front room I noticed a flash of light on the doorstep and
heard a little laugh. The spirit of a little girl walked into the
hall. She had long, black wavy hair with dark blue eyes. She
was dressed in a coat with a black collar, a hat and knee socks
with black shoes. She danced into the kitchen and smiled at
me. I followed her into the kitchen.
This little spirit still had her guardian angel with her. I have
rarely seen a spirit with its guardian angel – they normally only
stay with us for a little while after death because a spirit doesn't
need the help of a guardian angel after it has passed through
the gates of what we call Heaven.
The little girl appeared as in flesh and blood, just like you or
me. She was a little girl that had lived some time in the past but
quite how she had died I did not know at this time. Her
guardian angel was transparent, like a raindrop full of life; he
reflected all colours and he surrounded her. All guardian
angels are similar in appearance, despite having distinguishing
characteristics: a little like the way brothers and sisters are
similar to each other but have different characteristics. I have
no difficulty telling apart a guardian angel and another type of
angel.
I could see the little girl's guardian angel moving around
her, as if protecting her from the human world and everything
in it; he did not even let her feet touch the ground. Sometimes
her guardian angel turned and smiled at me then put his finger
to his mouth, indicating I was not to say a word.
The little girl turned around and skipped out of the kitchen,
into the hall and through the door and they both disappeared
in a flash of light. Over the next few months, the little girl
appeared with her guardian angel on many occasions. She only
visited when the front door was open, but that was 99 per cent
of the time. The first time she spoke to me she told me she had
been all alone when she died. Then she looked up at her
guardian angel and said, 'I really did not know I had a guardian
angel. I never knew you were there.'
The little girl's eyes seemed to fill with tears and her guardian
angel reached down and took the tears away. I could feel a great
love and emotion, and my own eyes filled with tears. The little
girl said no more and skipped back out of the door.
Another time, she told me her name was Annie. I never
seemed to get a chance to ask her questions because her
guardian angel would always put his finger to his lips,
indicating for me not to say a word.
One morning, Angel Elisha appeared again. 'Don't you dare
disappear on me like you did last time,' I immediately said.
'Let us sit down on the doorstep,' Angel Elisha said.
'Elisha,' I asked, 'Why are the spirit of this little girl and her
guardian angel coming to see me?'
'Lorna,' she replied, 'Annie needs to know that someone
loved her when she was alive. She died alone and she thought
no one loved her, not even her mum and da – she could not
find them when she was dying. Her guardian angel has
brought Annie to you, so you can be a parent to her. It's a big
thing to ask of you, Lorna.'
'You know, Angel Elisha,' I said, 'It is working; I look
forward to seeing Annie, even though she is a soul and not
flesh and blood. I am finding I have an attachment towards
her. I know her guardian angel is making that attachment grow
into love between us both. Thank you, Angel Elisha.'
'Goodbye now, Lorna,' Elisha said as she disappeared.
Annie's visits became more frequent – almost every day.
Then one day she used my name.
'Lorna,' she said, 'You know I died in a fire. I couldn't find
anyone, I called out but no one heard me. Where were my
mummy and daddy? My mummy and daddy didn't care; they
didn't love me. I remember lying down and crying and when I
woke up I was in Heaven.'
'Annie, when you go back to Heaven,' I replied, 'you will
meet your mum and dad and you will know they love you.'
As I spoke these words, Annie reached out and touched me
for a moment. In that hug I felt her physical body.
'That's all I need to know; that I was loved in the human
world,' she said, and she turned around, with her guardian
angel, and ran out the door.
I thanked God. I felt happy to know that Annie was now
settled in Heaven with her parents.
Sometimes it seems that God and the angels cannot convince
a spirit that they were loved when they lived. So God
sent Annie to this human world of ours with her guardian
angel, so that she could be told that she was loved when she
lived. It's hard to understand, but she needed to know that she
was loved.