In France, it is customary to name houses. Therefore, our new home also has a name from the time of the residents before us. The name "Mas Angelina" adorns the column of the entrance gate. Sure, we could change the name whenever we wanted, but we don't want to mess with the name. For good reasons, we think.
Mas Angelina means: A farmhouse named Angelina (mas = traditional farmhouse in the south of France). Angelina then again refers to angels and angel-likeness, and angels, on the other hand, are messengers or helpers of the Lord God, so they do what God tells them to do.
We named the previous house ourselves. We settled on the name after both our husband and our daughter received the certainty that the name should be Emmanuel, both separately and without knowing each other. Emmanuel is Hebrew and means "God (is) with us" and is widely understood as the title of Jesus Christ, the messiah, based on the Old Testament messianic prophecies that were fulfilled in Jesus. In Jesus, according to his name, God is with us. The name we found meaningful, Emmanuel, stood at our door for Seven years.
Now we fell in love with the beautiful angelic name of our new house and decided - without any special drama, but obviously, to keep the name unchanged.
Allow me a little side plot about an important point: I'm not a fan of extra-biblical angel romance. Actually, in fact: quite the opposite. I ignore the meanings attached to angels that are foreign to the Bible. Most of them lead people astray, that is, away from God. (Ask me more if my opinion bothers you. I'm more than happy to talk about these things related to God and his word if anyone wants to hear - even better than what I talk about France!- and that's a lot :D)
So - to the point - for us this was simply a beautiful, heavenly name. Heaven references are always welcome! Even if that alone would have been enough reason to keep the name unchanged, the name also reminded us, and especially the man, of our super beautiful favorite cafe in Paris , of which we have fond memories. The cafe is also called Angelina!
And that's not all!
When we had already signed the deed of sale for our new house, the man finally remembered to ask the sellers, the descendants of the deceased house owners, where the house could have gotten its beautiful name.
It was said that the house already had this name when the house was bought. To understand, the house was built and named, then sold, without any of the previous residents living in it. The first owners decided to keep the name already given to the house. The name was particularly apt for them, because the name reminded the owner of the house of his own beloved sister, Angelina!
It was sweet for Angelina to get a "memories" from them, because Angelina had become upset with France and moved to Chile to become a nun, vowing never to return to France! So he also left the country - and never returned.
Angelina had a very devout wish: that her brother, the owner of the house, would come to faith and become a Christian. Well, listen, the brother became a believer during his life. Unfortunately, he no longer saw Angelina, but the house bears Angelina's name!
For us, this was a wonderfully beautiful history! The name is thus even more dear to us and I bless the memory of Angelina, the memory of her brother and the relatives who so willingly shared this story with us. It's touching to be part of this thread that remembers Angelina, who devoted her whole life to faith and who certainly prayed persistently for her brother - and apparently not in vain <3
I hope that Angelina was able to live her life according to her wishes as a nun in prayer and the Lord's own without worrying about her family, because the family was and is in the Lord's hand and the Lord is not limited in helping and does not delay his help. - If only you yourself would always remember that for yourself.
Mas Angelina stands high, on the upper slope, sometimes even inside a cloud. Looking down from there, it really feels like you're looking down from the clouds to the ground. The field of vision is wide and on a clear day can reach as far as the Mediterranean Sea.
Here on the high mountainside in Mas Anglina, we are really a bit detached from the hustle and bustle, the further away in the landscape such small people are busy :) 
We all probably have some deceased relatives who have prayed for us. That prayer carries. Look at your life and see how Christ's love in the deceased extends to your life as well. They can be seemingly small things, but they become big things when you notice and thank the Creator for his help.
Blessed end of summer everyone - if you read this kind of text this far :D But blessings to others too, even if you can't handle this now. I pray for you - if even those intercessors had not been there.
With the warmest thyme-scented Provençal greetings,
Katarina <3