The “original” photograph, from the November blog post

Back in November, a friend in Chicago shared a picture taken at the Adoration Chapel of Our Lady of Perpetual Help Church in Glenview, Illinois. I posted the story here, which I then updated when the same friend shared another picture taken on a different day, using a different camera, by a different person.

Then, about a week ago, I received an e-mail from Lori, a “cradle Catholic” and parishioner at OLPH, who wanted to share her own experience, and a third photograph taken at the same parish. After a bit of e-mail correspondence and some phone tag, Lori and I managed to speak on the phone today, and I asked her a lot of questions about the picture that she took and the story behind it.

The “second” photograph

Lori said that she’s been through a lot of strife in her life, including a battle with a rare form of cancer, but that her faith and deep belief in Jesus Christ has always helped her through dark times. In particular, Lori seems to know something about the reality of spiritual warfare, because at times she has the ability to perceive the unseen or unnoticed — the spiritual. She considers this perception a gift, the purpose of which she is still hoping that God will reveal to her.

Lori believes that the picture shows her guardian angel. She believes this because, simply, she asked her guardian angel to show herself, “next to Jesus”: