We celebrate the Holy Archangels and the Guardian Angels.
Let us know who they are, we teach and how we relate to them.
A little
history Who are the
angels? What is your mission?
Angels are
spiritual beings created by God by a free decision of his divine will. They are
immortal beings, endowed with intelligence and will.
Because of
its spiritual nature, angels cannot be seen or grasped by the senses. On some
special occasions, with the intervention of God, have been heard and seen
physically. The reaction of people to see or hear them has been of awe and
respect. For example, the prophet Daniel and Zechariah.
In the
fourth century religious art represent angels or human figure shaped. In the V
century wings were added to symbolize their readiness to do God's will and move
from one place to another without difficulty. In the Bible we find some reasons
for the angels are represented as human beings looking bright and winged. For
example, the prophet Daniel wrote that one as male, Gabriel, flying quickly
came to the (8.15 to 16, 9.21). And in the book of Revelation are frequent
visions of angels who cry, blowing trumpets, carry messages or carriers of cups
and censers; others that rise, fall or fly, others who stand in each of the
four corners of land, or beside the throne of the Lamb.
The mission of the angels is to love;
The mission of the angels is to love;
Serve and give glory to God, be His messengers, and help care for men. They are constantly in the presence of God, attentive to his orders, praying, worshiping, watching, singing and praising God and proclaiming His perfections. You could say they are mediators, guardians, protectors and ministers of divine justice.
The presence
and activity of the angels appear throughout the Old Testament in many of their
sacred books. Also appear frequently in the life and teachings of our Lord
Jesus Christ, in the letters of St. Paul, in the Acts of the Apostles and
mainly in Revelation.
By reading these texts, we can discover more about angels:
The Angles presents our prayers to the Lord and lead us to Him accompany us throughout our
lives and lead us with all goodness, when we die, to the Throne of God for our
final encounter with. This will be the last service we provide, but more
importantly, because the death did not feel alone. As an example, when we have
the archangel Raphael said to Tobit "When you pray, I had their prayers
to the Lord" (Tob 12.12 to 16). The Angles encourages us to be good. They
see the face of God, but also are ours. We must keep the inspirations of the
angels to know how to act properly in all circumstances of life. As an example,
we have the text that says: "The angels rejoice when a sinner
repents" (Luke 15:10).
The Angelic
Hierarchy
It usually listed nine
choirs or orders of angels. This hierarchy is based on the different names
found in the Bible to refer to them. Within this hierarchy, above the choirs of
angels make the lower part of their knowledge. Three choirs of angels are a hierarchical level and all of them together form the heavenly court.
I. Supreme
Hierarchy:
II. Media
Hierarchy:
• Dominions
• Virtues
• Powers
• Virtues
• Powers
III.
Hierarchy below:
Angels: They are the "prayers" of God. Seraphim means "burning love". Seraphim continually praise the Lord and proclaim his holiness. Isaiah lease 6.2.
Cherubim:
These are the "gatekeepers" of the things of God. Appear as the
keepers of the Ark of the Covenant and the way to the tree of life. Between two
cherubim’s Yahweh communicates his revelations. "He sits upon the
cherubim".
They are spoken
of in Genesis, the Exodus, in the vision of Ezekiel (1.4) and in the Letter to
the Hebrews (9.5).
Powers,
Virtues, Thrones, Principalities and Dominations: In the Bible we find these
different names when speaking of the angelic world. San Dionysius interprets
the names of the different groups of angels as corresponding to their degree of
perfection. For San Gregorio these names refer to his ministry: the
principalities are responsible for the distribution of goods spiritual virtues
are in charge of making miracles powers are struggling against adverse forces,
the dominations are the participate in the governance of companies, and the
thrones are those who are aware of the reasons of God's activity.
Archangels:
I might call the "wizards" of God. They are angels that are the
direct service of the Lord to fulfill special missions.
Saint Michael Is that the sky threw Lucifer and the angels who followed him and who maintains the battle against Satan and other demons to destroy their power and help the Church Militant to get the final victory. The name Michael means "Who is like God". His conduct and fidelity should invite us always recognize the Lordship of Jesus and at all times seek the glory of God.
Always
appears as the messenger of Yahweh to fulfill special missions and as a carrier
of happy news. For example, posting to Zachary the birth of John the Baptist
and the Virgin Mary the Incarnation of the Son of God.
It has a
very important role in the life of Tobit to show the way forward and what I
had to do. Tobit obeyed throughout the archangel Rafael without knowing it was
an angel sent by the Lord. He asked to present their prayers and good works to
God. And I leave as a message to bless and praise God, every good and never
stop praying.
He is
considered the patron of travelers for having guided Tobit on his travels by
land and by sea. Is patron of physicians (diseases of body and soul) by the healing performed in Tobit and Sarah, the father and wife of Tobit.
They can
also ask for special favors to guardian angels of others to protect them from
certain danger or guide them in a difficult situation.
The cult of
guardian angels began in the Iberian Peninsula and then spread to other
countries. There is a book about this devotion in Barcelona as of 1494.
What do
they teach the angels?
To glorify
the Lord, proclaim His holiness and pay their homage of adoration, love and
praise uninterrupted.
To accurately and promptly fulfill all orders they receive from the Lord. To fulfill God's will without question his orders or postponing the fulfillment of these
To serve others. They're worried about us and want to help in the various circumstances that we face throughout life. This should encourage us to serve our brothers and generously share their joys and sorrows and the gifts that God has given us.
God created
angels as pure spirits, all were in a state of grace, but some, led by Lucifer,
the most beautiful of the angels, by their malice and pride, refused to worship
Jesus Christ, God made man, to feel superior beings and eternal God and
rejected a free and intelligent act on your part ..
Lucifer, called Lucifer, Devil or Satan and the rebellious angels who followed him, turned into demons were cast out of heaven and were confined to a state of eternal torment where they can never see God. They did not change their nature, remain real and spiritual beings.
Lucifer is the enemy of God, whom Jesus called "the deceiver", the "father of lies". His constant activity in the world to keep men looking the God by deception and invitations to evil. Want to avoid who know, who love and reach eternal happiness. It is an enemy you have to fight to get to heaven.
Satan and
his demons began their evil actions with Adam and Eve and not give up in their
work. Exploit man's inclination toward evil by nature that was damaged after
original sin. They are very clever, well disguised evil.
Is
"must" believe in angels?
As shown
above, all Scripture is filled with verses and whole chapters that speak of
angels. If we believe in the Scriptures, we cannot deny the existence and
activity of the angels.
Besides the
testimony of Revelation, we are of the Fathers of the Church who left us
beautiful and evocative descriptions of the angels that were taken up by St.
Thomas not only in the theological but a dynamic Christian.
The Church
has defined dogma of faith the existence of angels.
In the
Fourth Lateran Council, in 1215, due to the dualism that existed in the middle
Ages, it was explained that God is creator of all things, the visible and the
invisible, the spiritual and corporeal creatures, and that some and others were
created from nothing.
In 1870,
due to materialism and rationalism that existed at that time, the First Vatican
Council affirmed again the existence of angels.
Paul VI
returned to reveal the existence of angels in 1968 to formulate the "Credo
of the People of God."
In the
Church's liturgical reform of 1969 was established on September 29 to remind
the archangels San Miguel, San Rafael and San Gabriel and the 2nd of October as
the day for a memorial of the Guardian Angels.
Why devote two days of the liturgical year to The Angles?
It is easy
to forget the existence of angels by the busyness of life and mainly because we
do not see. This neglect may miss us thank you very much that God intended for
us through the angels. For this reason, the Church has set these two holidays
for at least two days a year, we remember the angels and archangels, rejoice
and thank God that we have assigned a guardian angel and take advantage of this
day to ask your help.
Watch your faith
True the
angels are very important in the Church and in the life of every Catholic, but
they are creatures of God, so they cannot be equal to God or worship them as
gods. They are not the only thing that can bring us closer to God or we can
reduce the whole teaching of the Church on these. Not to forget the
commandments of God, the commandments of the Church, the sacraments, prayer,
and other means that help us live close to God.
