aint Angela of the Alpine Mountains

aron Von Lodge was the head of a small country known as Lilliland near Switzerland. The time was the early 1900s.

The Baron loved the quiet life of this small country in the Alpine Mountains. Lilliland Castle life was idyllic for the Baron who loved hiking and horseback riding on the trails beside beautiful Castle Lake and through the mountains.

The Baron was engaged to Lady Angela of Alpine Castle. Lady Angela's castle was just three miles away from Lilliland Castle. Both castles were on the shore of Castle Lake. Lady Angela often talked about her namesake Saint Angela.

Saint Angela lived in a holy order convent in the mountains in the 1300s. The convent had to be closed for financial reasons and the nuns were invited to move to another convent in nearby Switzerland. Saint Angela decided to stay in the old convent by herself. She knew that one day she would inherit a fortune from her uncle and would reopen the convent.

In the meantime she would busy herself with an inspirational story and message for all. Just when things were so dark and dreary in the snow-covered monastery she would remind everyone that the warm rays of the spring sun were just around the corner. The first signs of the coming good times was the blossoming of the yellow and blue mountain flowers coming up through the cold mountain soil. Everywhere Saint Angela went she would say, "Just look at those precious little colorful flowers coming up as the mountain snow is melting and you will know that better times are coming."

The current Baron remembered a time in the history of Lilliland in the year 1343 when the country was about to be invaded by an enemy army that did not respect the neutrality laws of Lilliland. The Baron's great-great-great-grandfather did not have an army, only the castle guard. The castle guards were used only for ceremonies to welcome tourists and visitors.

A few days before the invasion in 1343 by the enemy army, Saint Angela visited Lilliland and said that the invading army would be defeated without the people of Lilliland having to go to war. The Baron did not see how this was possible. But as the army was camping in the valley of the mountain preparing for the attack, a spring avalanche buried the entire army under a mountain of snow. The army was completely covered and no one survived. A few weeks later at the exact site of the avalanche, a field of yellow and blue flowers began to emerge.

The story of Saint Angela and of the reopening of the convent years later was told over and over again, especially in the springtime in the Alpine Mountains of Lilliland.