Pleading Angel - St. Johns Evangelical UCC Cemetery - Mehlville, MO - Funerary Art on Waymarking.com

County of statue: St Louis County
Location of statue: St. John Church Rd. & S Towne Square, Mehlville

This angel, in classic draped robe of ancient times, has his/her proper hands extended slightly in front of his/her chest and pressed together in a standard praying form, palms flat together.
This angel is a youthful looking, and could be either male of female angel, with long flowing locks, bare feet, and wings more than half the body length.

Tombstone Text:

"In various theistic religious traditions an angel is a supernatural spiritual being who serves God.

"Abrahamic religions often depict angels as benevolent celestial intermediaries between God (or Heaven) and humanity. Other roles include protectors and guides for humans, and servants of God. Abrahamic religions describe angelic hierarchies, which vary by religion and sect. Some angels have specific names (such as Gabriel or Michael) or titles (such as seraph or archangel). Those expelled from Heaven are called fallen angels, distinct from the heavenly host.

"Angels in art are usually shaped like humans of extraordinary beauty. They are often identified in Christian artwork with bird wings, halos, and divine light.

"The rendering of "ángelos" is the Septuagint's default translation of the Biblical Hebrew term mal'akh, denoting simply "messenger" without connoting its nature. In the Latin Vulgate, this meaning becomes bifurcated: when mal'akh or ángelos is supposed to denote a human messenger, words like nuntius or legatus are applied. If the word refers to some supernatural being, the word angelus appears. Such differentiation has been taken over by later vernacular translations of the Bible, early Christian and Jewish exegetes and eventually modern scholars.

"In Zoroastrianism there are different angel-like figures. For example, each person has one guardian angel, called Fravashi. They patronize human beings and other creatures, and also manifest God's energy. The Amesha Spentas have often been regarded as angels, although there is no direct reference to them conveying messages, but are rather emanations of Ahura Mazda ("Wise Lord", God); they initially appeared in an abstract fashion and then later became personalized, associated with various aspects of creation." ~ Wikipedia