“When at night I go to sleep, fourteen angels watch do keep.” In the play Eleanor’s Story which I saw at the Winnipeg Fringe Festival, the main character sings a German prayer from the musical Hansel and Gretel to bring her comfort while Berlin is being bombed. Hansel and Gretel sing it together to give them comfort when they are lost in the woods. I often sang duets in church with a friend when I was a teen and one of the pieces we performed together was When at Night . The words go…………
When at night I go to sleep
Fourteen angels watch do keep
Two my head are guarding
Two my feet are guiding
Two are on my right hand
Two are on my left hand
Two who warmly cover
Two who o’er me hover
Two to whom ’tis given
To guide my steps to heaven
Guardian Angel- 1900 German postcard
Hearing those lyrics again in Eleanor’s Story reminded me of something I read in the media after the Dallas attack on police officers.
Shetamia Taylor, a woman caught in the cross fire of the shootings with her son said,
“I was running ….. and I felt the bullet in the back of my leg. My son came to grab me but I grabbed him and lay on top of him. A policeman asked if anybody was hit and I said yes, but not loudly because I didn’t want my son to hear. The officer got on top of me and covered me and my son. Another cop was at my feet and another stood by us and they protected us.”
Like the angels in the song who are at Hansel and Gretel’s feet, and cover them, and hover over them to provide safety and comfort, those Dallas police officers acted as guardian angels for Shetamia and her son.
Other posts…..
Walking on Angels
What Next? 
Thanks for your story, MaryLou. The pic brought back many memories for me from my childhood. As well, this pic hung in our
Oma’s home for years. It now hangs in our home . It’s always been a favourite of mine. And yes, I do remember you singing the angel song with Debbie?
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