In honour of the Archangels
IN HONOUR OF THE ARCHANGELS
Mario D’Couto
My original intention was to get
this article published on the feast of the Archangels which is on 29th
September. However, due to other commitments, I was not able to do so. I have
never written anything about the angels and I guess this is probably the first
time I am writing about the angles and more specifically about the Archangels.
But, who are the angels? An angel is God’s messenger. They are beings with no
corporeality. They carry our petitions to God and bring them back to us favours
and benedictions.
St. Thomas writes that the angelic
nature is a whole world of perfection in itself. And this at least we know,
that angels are spiritual substances, incorruptible by nature, utterly separate
from matter and entirely free from all those infirmities which encompass us on
every side. They are all brightness and beauty and their loveliness surpasses
all the united charms of the earth. Their intelligence is godlike for their
knowledge extends to all truths of the natural order, as well as to a great
number of the supernatural order. They are acquainted with all the secrets of
nature and all that remains hidden from the greatest minds that ever existed,
is intimately know to them. They know without labour countless things at the
same time and in an instant of time, unaccompanied with doubt or obscurity.
They do not make use of discoveries like men nor comprehend the things they
know after our manner – that is reasoning from one thing to another; they
understand everything at a glance and this is why they are styled emphatically.
They are agile and are often
represented with wings to denote their swiftness. They can pass from place to lace
in the twinkling of an eye, without any interviewing lapse of tie. Their power
and strength are also inconceivable. To sum up all their wonderful qualities,
the bright spirits may be called pure and lustrous mirrors reflecting the
infinite perfection of God.
The saintly priest, Fr. Jean Jacques
Olier says that the angels taken all together represent the Immunity of God by
their unlimited number and variety, whilst each choir and each angel in
particular mirrors one of the divine attributes, such as God’s love, His
goodness, His strength and so on. Each angel by the very fact of His creation
and existence, must first adore, honour and love a particular divine
perfection; at the same time, he is predestined to communicate to us something
of that special character and grace with which he is endowed.
It should also be noted that no two
angels are alike. This difference is not the same as the difference between a
man and a woman or between two men or two women. It is completely vast. Every
angel is specifically different from the other as one species differs from
another. The angels are unspeakably lovely, they have no shadow of
imperfection, of the resplendent glory. No painter, no poet, no artist every
conceived anything like them. They are living replicas of God’s beauty. God’s
perfection are infinite and countless millions of angels reflect these
perfections in a divinely marvellous way.
Their glory is to execute God’s
orders promptly and joyously and they lose no opportunity of proving their
fidelity and devotion to the most gracious and the most perfect of Masters.
They are examples to us, human beings, of loving service and obedience. Had
there been any resemblances between heaven and earth, this world of ours would
be much happier. However, the point is not that. It is quite fascinating to
think that we have the powerful spirits who choose to serve us. We are nowhere
in front of them either in physical experience or character. But yet God in His
love and mercy has given us the Angels to be our guides. It is they who
stimulate us to a more ready and loving obedience to the designs of Providence
in our regard.
It is due to the goodness of the
Angels that they make sure to bestow, their care even upon those who commit
only venial sins against the Creator. In fact, they even look after those souls
who are in mortal sin, who trample under foot the Precious Blood of the God –
Man and our guilty of His death! With incredible kindness the continue to watch
over these unfortunate souls and spare no effort in bringing them to penance
and reconciliation with God.
Some may ask, “Do these great angels
really prize our poor love and friendship?” Most certainly. St. Gertrude tells
us that one day she was inspired to offer her holy communion in honour of the
nine choirs of angles. God permitted her to see how radiantly happy and
grateful they were for the act of love. She had never dreamed that she could
give them such happiness. This example should encourage us to do the same,
especially by offering the Divine Blood in thanksgiving to God for all the
beauty and holiness and glory that He has given them. If we do so they repay us
a 1000 times over.
With that being said, let us now
move unto some specifics about the three Archangels, namely, Raphael, Gabriel
and Michael. St. Raphael whose name signifies, ‘Medicine of God’ seems be at
the head of the angelic medical staff. His reputation as physician and a guide
of travellers is due to the story in the Holy Writ which relates how he brought
healing to the elder Tobias, released Sara from being molested by the devil and
gave the youthful pilgrim in his charge, safety, guidance and most noble
companionship. We have only to read of the services he rendered to Tobias to
love the bright side of the spirit of heaven fervently. For more information
read Tobit 12: 1-22.
The
name “Gabriel” has been interpreted as “Strength of God”. Of the 3 Archangels
mentioned in the Holy Scripture, St. Gabriel appears to be the King of heaven’s
chief Ambassador, fittingly endowed with dignity, graciousness, knowledge and
discretion. And all the embassies on which he was sent, the greatest was to
announce the wonderful mystery of the Incarnation and the mighty work of
Redemption through the shedding of the Blood of the Incarnate Word. He was, we
may say, the first Adorer of the Precious Blood on earth and the first to
pronounce the sweet name of Jesus as the Saviour. He is also considered to be
Our Blessed Mother’s Guardian in a special way. We cannot honour Mary by
devoutly reciting the prayer that is most pleasing to Her, without at the same
time honouring the glorious Archangel, who was God’s instrument in Her
exaltation.
Though his name is not explicitly
mentioned, we may well believe what tradition tells us that it was Gabriel who
announced to the shepherds on the hills of Bethlehem, the birth of our sweet
Lord and that it was he who led the multitudes of the blessed spirits who sang
around the crib the heavenly song, “Glory to God in the highest and peace among
men of good will.” It was he who consoled St. Joseph in his sorrows and
accompanied the Holy Family in their flight to Egypt.
St. Gabriel has also been looked
upon as the angel wo comforted our Lord when He suffered His Bloody Agony in
the Garden of Gethsemane. Fr. Walter Eliott has written inspiring pages on this
consoling angel. He writes, “In that hour the highest angel could not vie with
the meanest child of Adam as a comforter of Jesus. Never did He feel so much a
man as when He began to sink deeper into the human person’s wickedness and
woes. Here then was a new sorrow disguised even in His comfort. For not only
did He crave comfort direct from His Father and yet must be content with an
angel’s instead, but next to His Father’s, He craved sympathy from His own
kind, His own flesh and blood, His chosen men and an utterly different
comforter was given Him – the while that the Apostles slept and waited ….. Yet,
not withstanding all this, the angel’s coming was a gracious boon from His
Father.”
Once Jesus experienced this peace,
the devils were gone …. Who have been tormenting Him. Christ knew that the only
comfort possible for Him was within the gift of mean alone, that is to say,
their willingness to suffer with Him. But when the angel had come and before he
vanished away, our saddened Redeemer thanked Him lovingly very grateful for his
affectionate ministry.
St. Michael has always been known as
the ‘Prince of the heavenly hosts.’ It was he who defeated Lucifer in the great
battle spoken about in the book of Revelation. He never ceases to wage war
against his enemy and ours. No harm can come to the children of God who place
their trust in the Precious Blood and in the and in St. Michael, the ‘stand –
bearer of salvation’, who always stands as a firm and impregnable wall against
the fiercest attacks of the evil one.
Besides being the ‘Prince of the
Heavenly hosts’, he is also the helper of the sick and the dying. In this
light, St. Alphonsus di Liguori narrates an incident when the Archangel helped
a soul to come back to God.
A certain Polish nobleman had for
many years led a wicked life. When the hour of his death approached, he was
filled with terror and tortured by remorse of conscience over his former
recklessness, so that he was reduced to utter despair. No amount of exhortation
or encouragement had any effect upon him; he refused absolutely every spiritual
consolation.
This unhappy man, however, still had
some veneration for St. Michael and God in His mercy permitted the Holy
Archangel to appear to him in his last struggle. St. Michael encouraged him to
repentance and said that he had prayed and obtained for him sufficient time to
regulate the affairs of his soul. Shortly afterwards, two Dominican priests
came to the house, saying that a stranger had sent them. The sick man
recognized this as the work of St. Michael. He confessed his sins amidst tears
of repentance, received Holy Communion with touching devotion and breathed
forth his soul with every indication of being truly reconciled with God.
Pope St. Leo the Great would write,
“Make friends with the holy angels and we shall find in them our most loving
companions in our earthly exile, our champions against the malice and rage of
the devils, our advocates at the judgment seat of God and our companions in bliss
and glory throughout the endless priority.” The Catechism of the Catholic
Church teaches us, “To angels is committed by the Providence of God the office
of guarding the human race and of protecting men from any serious harm.” Holy
Scriptures confirms this statement, “He hath given His angles charge over thee,
to keep thee in all thy ways. In their hands shall they bear thee up, lest
though das thy foot against a stone.” (Ps 91:11 – 12)
Thus, the angels desire to help us
but because of our sins, it impedes them from working in us they have been
commissioned by God to help us. Were we to know them better and love them ore
and were we more docile to their constant inspiration, our happiness would be
unspeakable great. The angles are passionate lovers of humankind. It is indeed
an indescribable joy for them when they are certain that the merits of the
redemption through the Divine Blood of Christ will not be lost on the souls
committed to their care.
