On September 29 we celebrate the Feast of the Archangels and on October 2 we celebrate the Holy Guardian Angels.
This is just some of the facts on Angels, not an extensive teaching.
Who are the Angels? The simple answer is Angels are the messengers of God. God created them before He made everything else. There are 3 Angels named in Scripture:
Michael the Archangel Rev. 12:7-8
Gabriel the Archangel Daniel 8:16; Luke 1:11-38
Raphael Tobit 12:14-15
There are many references to Angels throughout Scripture.
We all have a Guardian Angel to watch over us and help us. Our Guardian Angel can come from any of the 9 chores of Angels. It is good to get to know our Guardian Angel. We don’t have to know our Angel’s name to get to know the Angel. Our Guardian Angel is always there from the moment of conception through eternity provided we chose Heaven.
As I said above Angels were created before everything else God created. God does allow Angels to come as His messengers and helpers at times, they do not always take human form. Again see scripture such as Ezekiel and Isaiah, Daniel and Revelation. We do not become Angels at our death, we become Saints from the Latin Sanctus meaning Holy. How do I know this, well as I said God created Angels before everything else. Michael the Archangel and his angels fought the bad angels: see Rev. 12:7-8.
When we are Baptized we are cleansed of Original Sin and are God’s adopted son’s and daughter’s. See Matt 3:17, Angels do not get Baptized. When we do wrong, we can ask for forgiveness through Reconciliation many times and try again many times! When the Angels rebelled it was permanent, they didn’t get a second chance. Angels do not receive the Body and Blood, Soul and Divinity of Jesus Christ as we do, but they are always at Mass to worship our Lord.
We are thankful for the creation of Angels and their friendship with us and their help as we journey toward Heaven! We pray that we get to know our Angel.
If you would like to know more about Angels look up Angels in Scripture, St. Thomas Aquinas wrote a lot about Angels, The Catechism of the Catholic Church mentions Angels. The Children’s Book of Angels by Jerry Windley-Daoust is a simple, yet well written book about Angels.
There is the St. Michael prayer, the Angel of God prayer and the litany of the Holy Angels.
Have a Blessed Week as we close out the month of September and begin October!
