What the Church Teaches about Angels
The Church continues to benefit form angelic services , since angels are recognized in her prayers and rubrics. In the funeral liturgy we pray, "May the Angels lead you into Paradise." The words of Gabriel are given in the Hail Mary, and the announcements is repeated in the Angelus, which the Church recites at 6 a.m., noon and 6 p.m.
The Angels are appealed to for prayer at the beginning of Holy Mass in the words: "And I ask the Blessed Mary, ever Virgin, all the Angels and Saints, and you, my brothers and sisters, to pray for me to the Lord our God." The Confiteor in the Traditional Roman Rite of the Mass invokes "Holy Michael the Archangel." The Preface of Holy Mass also appeals to "all the choirs of Angels in Heaven" to join with us in praising God. And after the Consecration, we pray: "Almighty God, we pray that Your angel may take this sacrifice to your altar in Heaven....."
The Church has traditionally designated September 29 as the Feast of (Dedication of the Church of) St. Michael the Archangel. This feast has now been expanded to include St. Gabriel and St. Raphael also. In the traditional Roman calendar, May 8 commemorated "The Apparition of St. Michael the Archangel" at Monte Gargano in Apulia, Italy in 492. The guardian angels are remembered on October 2. Besides these remembrances, there are also other prayers in which the Church mentions angels. In addition, there are novenas, chaplets, litanies, beloved hymns and prayers of the saints.
In an address given by Pope John Paul II on July 9, 1986, the Holy Father stated regarding angels: "All of the Church's tradition is unanimous in affirming that they do exist. One would have to alter Sacred Scripture itself if one wished to eliminate this teaching...at certain points in salvation histsory, angels have had a fundamental role to play in the unfolding of human events."
In the same year, only July 23, the Holy Father further instructed:
"The Angels are purely spiritual beings, created by God and given intelligence and free will. Through and immediate intuition of the truth, their intelligence grasps its object in a way that is much more complete than is possible for man..the world of the pure spirits is divided into good angels and bad ones. And this division has happened precisely as a result of their freedom to choose. God was present to their intelligence and free will as the Supreme Good. He also wished to give them, through grace, a share in the mystery of His Divinity. The good angels have chosen God. But the others...have turned against God and the revelation of His Grace. Their decision was inspired by a false sense of self-sufficiency, and it emerges as hatred and rebellion against God."
It is traditional Catholic teaching that each individual is given a guardian angel, who will accompany, guard and teach him throughout life. After death this angel will accompany the soul to its judgment, visit it if it is detained in Purgatory, and accompany it to the glory of Heaven.
Linkback: https://tubagbohol.mikeligalig.com/index.php?topic=72355.0
