An Apologetical Explanation of

Angels

What are angels?

[The Most High] will give his angels charge of you / to guard you in all your ways. (Ps 91:11)

Bless the Lord, O you his angels, / you mighty ones who do his word, / hearkening to the voice of his word! (Ps 103:20)

Are [the angels] not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation? (Heb 1:14)

Angels are creatures of God who are purely spiritual, personal, and immortal creatures whose purpose is to serve God and humanity. Angels are personal beings, meaning that they possess intelligence, have emotions, and are endowed with free will. They are pure spirit, i.e., they have no physical body. They possess perfection greater than that of all creation (cf. Pius XII, Humani Generis; Lk 20:36, Dn 10:9-12). (Cf. CCC 328-330)

Angels have been present since creation and have held an important role in salvation history. They sealed off Eden after the fall of Adam and Eve, and they made many appearances throughout the Old Testament as messengers of God. It was an angel who came to the Virgin Mary to ask her to become the Mother of God, and it was angels who heralded the Birth of the Savior. Christ was served by the angels, and he will return with all his angels at his Second Coming. Angels at the tomb announced to the women that Christ had been raised from the dead. (Cf. CCC 331-333)

The Church and her faithful benefit from the existence and assistance of angels; as St. Thomas Aquinas taught, “The angels work together for the benefit of us all” (Sth I, 114, 3, ad 3). The angels are invoked in our prayers and our intercessions in the liturgy, and they are recognized among the feasts of the liturgical year. Angels watch over humanity as a whole, but each individual person has a personal angel, or guardian angel, to guide and protect him or her throughout life. (Cf. CCC 334-336)

People’s devotion to angels can be found even in the earliest ages of the Church. We honor them and ask for their assistance. The Church celebrates a feast on September 29 in honor of the three angels who are named in Scripture: Michael (cf. Dn 10:13, 21; 12:1; Rev 12:7; Jude 9), Gabriel (cf. Dn 8:16; 9:21; Lk 1:19, 26), and Raphael (cf. Tb 5:4; 12:15). She also commemorates on October 2 the Holy Guardian Angels; Christ taught that even children’s “angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 18:10)

The Catechism addresses this question in paragraphs 330 and 350.

The contents of this page are Copyright © 2014 Rev. James Socias (of the Midwest Theological Forum). These apologetics are reproduced with written consent of said copyright holder for St Patricks Parish, Jaffrey, NH website only. Reproduction of any sort must be approved directly by said copyright holder.

To get a hardcopy of these Apologetics or the Didache Bible please visit the Midwest Theological Forum (publisher) at: http://www.theologicalforum.org