Smelling the Roses: Rose Miracles and Angel Signs

People who want to focus less on the stress of the daily grind and more on what's important and inspirational often say that they're making time "to smell the roses." That phrase takes on an even deeper meaning when you consider how often roses play a part in miracles and angelic encounters. The scent of roses in the air when no rose flowers are nearby is a sign that an angel may be communicating with you. A rose fragrance may also be a sign of God's presence with you (the odor of sanctity) or accompany the delivery of a blessing from God, such as a miraculously answered prayer.

The sweet scent of roses after prayer serve as tangible reminders of God's sweet love, helping you sense the reality of something you believe in, but which can sometimes seem abstract. Those moments of supernaturally smelling roses are special blessings that don't occur regularly. So in the midst of your daily grind, you can make time to smell natural roses (both literally and figuratively) as often as possible. When you do, your senses can come alive to miraculous moments in daily life that you may miss otherwise.

Clairalience ESP

Clairalience ("clear smelling") is a form of extrasensory perception (ESP) that involves getting spiritual impressions through your physical sense of smell.

You may experience this phenomenon during prayer or meditation when God or one of his messengers -- an angel -- is communicating with you. The most common fragrance that angels send is a sweet one that smells like roses. The message? Simply that you're in the presence of holiness, and you're loved.

Your guardian angel may communicate with you through scents after you spend time praying or meditating -- especially if you ask for a sign to encourage you. If the scent your guardian angel sends is something besides the fragrance of roses, it will be a scent that symbolizes something to you, which relates to the topic you've been discussing with your angel during prayer or meditation.

You may also receive a clairlalient message from a loved one who has died and wants to send you a sign from the afterlife to let you know that he or she is watching you from heaven. Sometimes those messages come in the form of scents that smell like roses or other flowers; sometimes they symbolically represent a certain scent that reminds you of that person, such as ​a favorite food the person often ate while alive.

Archangel Barachiel, the angel of blessings, often communicates through roses. So if you smell roses or see rose petals inexplicably showing up, it may be a sign of Archangel Barachiel at work in your life.

The Odor of Sanctity

The "odor of sanctity" is a phenomenon attributed to a miraculous fragrance coming from a holy person, such as a saint. Christians believe that the scent, which smells like roses, is a sign of holiness. The Apostle Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians of the Bible that God "uses us to spread the aroma of the knowledge of him everywhere." So the odor of sanctity comes from the Holy Spirit's presence in the situations where people experience it.

In her book The Color of Angels: Cosmology, Gender, and the Aesthetic Imagination, Constance Classen writes:

"An odor of sanctity was not the only or even a necessary, sign of sainthood, but it was popularly regarded as one of the most notable. Most commonly, an odor of sanctity is said to occur on or after the death of a saint. ... A supernatural fragrance might also be noted during a saint's lifetime."

Not only does the odor of sanctity send a message that God is at work; it also sometimes serves as a means through which God accomplishes good purposes in people's lives. Sometimes those who smell the odor of sanctity are miraculously healed in some way -- body, mind, or spirit -- as a result.

"As the odor of sanctity indicated the triumph of spiritual virtue over physical corruption, it was often considered able to heal physical ills," Classen writes in The Color of Angels. "... Aside from healing, a variety of wonders are associated with odors of sanctity. ... Along with their physical powers, odors of sanctity have the reputed ability to induce repentance and offer spiritual consolation. ... Odors of sanctity could provide the soul with with a direct infusion of divine joy and grace. The divinely sweet scent of the odor of sanctity was deemed to constitute a foretaste of heaven ... Angels shared the perfumed nature of heaven. [Saint] Lydwine's hand was left penetrated with fragrance after having held the hand of an angel. [Saint] Benoite experienced angels as birds scenting the air with fragrance."