Choose a topic from Part 1:

107. The Speech of Angels

1. Angels manifest knowledge to one another, and to thisextent they "speak" to one another. But the speech ofangels is not a matter of sounds or of uttered words. The speech ofangels is a direct communication of knowledge from spirit tospirit.

2. An inferior angel can speak to a superior angel, eventhough, as we have seen, it cannot enlighten the superior angel; acandle cannot enlighten the sun, but it can burn visibly in thesunlight. An angel speaks by directing its thought in such wisethat it is made known to another angel, superior or inferior. Suchdirecting is done according to the free will of the angelspeaking.

3. Certainly the angels "speak" to God byconsulting his divine will and by contemplating with admiration hisinfinite excellence.

4. Neither time nor place has any influence on angelicspeech or its effect. Local distance cannot impede thecommunication of angels.

5. Angelic speech is the ordering of angelic mind toangelic mind by the will of the angel speaking. Now, itbelongs to the perfection of intellectual communication that it canbe private; even a human being can speak to another person alone.Therefore, the angels who are superior to human beings, must becapable of communicating thoughts, angel to angel, without makingtheir communication known to all the other angels. The scope ofangelic communication depends on the will of the angel speaking;this will determines the communication for one other angel, or forseveral, or for all.

"When the devil has failed in making a man fall, he puts forward all his energies to create distrust between the penitent and the confessor, and so by little and little he gains his end at last."
St Philip Neri

* * *

"It is better to be burdened and in company with the strong than to be unburdened and with the weak. When you are burdened you are close to God, your strength, who abides with the afflicted. When you are relieved of the burden you are close to yourself, your own weakness; for virtue and strength of soul grow and are confirmed in the trials of patience."
St John of the Cross, OCD - Doctor of the Church

* * *

"A person who rails at God in adversity, suffers without merit; moreover by his lack of resignation he adds to his punishment in the next life and experiences greater disquietude of mind in this life."
St Alphonsus de Liguori

* * *