Christian Angelology §2: The Angels and the Supernatural Order

§2: The Angels and the Supernatural Order

Article 1: The Supernatural Endowment of the Angels

THE SUPERNATURAL ENDOWMENT OF THE ANGELS i. Their Elevation to the State of Grace. — After having created the Angels, God did not leave them in puris naturalibus, but endowed them with sanctifying grace. Thus they became His adopted children and received a claim to the beatific vision. This is the unanimous teaching of Catholic theologians, and it is based upon Divine Revelation. Being “saints,” 1 “angels of light,” 2 “elect angels,” 3 “sons of God,” 4 and so forth, the Angels must necessarily be conceived as endowed with sanctifying grace. There is no ground for the assumption5 that the demons never enjoyed such a supernatural endowment. On the contrary, it is quite certain that all the Angels without exception were elevated to the supernatural order.6 We read in the Epistle l Dan. VIII, 13. of St Victor, Alexander of Hales, 22 Cor. XI, 14. and St. Bonaventure. 81 Tim. V, a 1. Neque tamen haec assertio ex 4 Job XXXVIII, 7. fide certa est. Nam Magister Sens Made by Peter Lombard, Hugh tentiarum in z dist. 5 absque nota 325 of St. Jude: “Non servaverunt suum principatum,1 sed dereliquerunt suum domicilium — And the angels … kept not their principality, but forsook their own habitation i. e., they did not preserve their supernatural prerogatives, but relinquished their place of honor. Consequently the demons too, before the Fall, were endowed with grace.8 According to the more common opinion of Catholic divines, the Angels are endowed with grace each according to the measure of his natural perfection, i. e., the natural prerogatives with which he was created. This doctrine has nothing in common with Pelagianism; for it is not merit (meritum naturae), but the disposition of each Angel’s nature which guides God in distributing His graces. In the words of St. Basil, ” The Powers of Heaven are not holy by nature, but they possess the measure of their sanctification from the Holy Ghost, according to the rank by which one excels the other.” 9 Or, as St. John Damascene puts it, ” They partake of light and grace, each according to his dignity and order.” 10 According to this theory the Seraphim 11 rank first in the order of grace, because their nature is the most perfect; while the ” Angels,” simply so called, occupy the lowest rung of the ladder. But since this teaching cannot be demonerroris existimavit, daemones nunquam habuisse gratiam. Ceterum est it a certa nostra assertio, ut iam earn negate censeatur esse plane temerartum.* (Gregory of Valencia, (lisp. 4, qu. 13, p. 1.) 8 Cfr. St. Ambrose, Serm. in Ps.t 118, 7, n. 8: Ipse diabolus per superbiam naturae suae amisit gratiam.” Other Patristic texts in Tepe, Instit. TheoL, t. II, pp. 628 sqq., Paris 1895. 9De Spiritu Sancto, c 16, n. 38. 10 De Fide Orth., II, 3: Pro sua quisque dignitate et or dine splendoris gratiaeque participes. 11 From to burn, to glow; hence, literally: Angels of love. st rated from Revelation, its value does not exceed that of a probable opinion.12 2. When Were the Angels Sanctified? — A number of medieval theologians 18 held that all the Angels remained for some time after their creation in the pure state of nature and were elevated to the state of supernatural grace at a later .date. St. Thomas demonstrated by weighty arguments that the sanctification of the Angels must have been contemporaneous with their creation.14 Among the Fathers this view had been championed by St. Augustine: “Deus angelos cum amove casto, quo Mi adhaererent, creavit, simul in eis condens naturam et largiens gratiam — God created the Angels with a chaste love, by which they adhered to Him, endowing them with grace at the same time that He created their nature.” 15 Though not an article of faith, this opinion has become the prevailing one in consequence chiefly of its having been adopted into the Roman Catechism. St. Thomas himself had previously championed the contrary view as the more common and probable one.16 12 5. Theol., ia, qu. 62, art. 6: * Rationabile est, quod secundum gradum naturalium angelis data sint dona gratiarum, et perfectio beatitudints. 13 Hugh of St Victor, Alexander of Hales, St. Bonaventure, Duns Scotus, and others. 1* St. Thomas, Summa Theologica, ja, qu. 62, art. 3: ”… quamvis super hoc sint diversae opiniones, hoc tamen [scil. quod angeli in gratia creati fuerint] probabilius videtur et magis dictis Sanctorum consonum est.” 15 De Civ. Dei, XII, 9. For some other Patristic texts of similar tenor see Suarez, De Angelis, V, 4. 16 Comment, in Quatuor Libros Sentent., II, dist. 4, qu. 4, art. 2. 328 CHRISTIAN ANGELOLOGY 3. The Probation of the Angels. — It is the teaching Qf the Fathers, unanimously defended byCatholic theologians, that, like men, the Angels had to undergo a probation, during which they found themselves in the status viae and had to merit the beatific vision of the Blessed Trinity. The fact that they were able to merit the beatific vision presupposes that while in the wayfaring state they received an external revelation of the truths necessary for salvation, and, like man, were bound to prepare themselves by a free act of internal faith for the attainment of eternal happiness.17 Gennadius 18 taught that the Angels were simultaneously raised to the state of grace and glory in the instant of their creation. But this opinion is incompatible with the revealed truth that some of them apostatized. If the fallen Angels had been constituted in the state of glory, it would have been impossible for them to sin, because the beatific vision of God completely abrogates the creature’s freedom of chosing evil.19 Cfr. Catech. Rom,, P. i, c. 2, qu. 17: ” Cum illud sit in divinis litteris, diabolum * in veritate non stetisse/ perspicuum est, eum reliquosque desertores angelos ab ortus sui initio gratia praeditos fuisse — Since Holy Scripture says that the Devil ’ stood not in the truth,’ (John VIII, 44), it is clear that he and the rest of the rebel angels were gifted with grace from the very moment of their creation.” This sentence does not, of course, decide the question at issue. 17 Cfr. Suarez, De Angelis, V, 5 sq. 18 De Eccl. Dogm., c. 59. 19 For a more elaborate treatment of this point we must refer the student to Eschatology. PROBATION OF THE ANGELS How long the period of probation lasted, whether but a single instant, or two morulae, or three,20 is a matter of pure conjecture. The only thing that we must hold as an article of faith is that a portion of the Angels came forth unsullied, while the remainder fell and were cast into hell. The good Angels ” stand before the Lord,“21 “before his throne,“22 they dwell in “the heavenly Jerusalem,” 23 i. e., * in heaven.* 24 Christ expressly teaches: Their [little children’s] angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven. 25 That the grace and glory enjoyed by the Angels is a supernatural state follows from what we have said in a previous Chapter of this volume on the essence of the Supernatural,26 and also from the rejection by the Church of Baius’s propositions: * Nec angeli nec primi hominis adhue integri fnerita recte vocantur gratia;* ” Et bonis angelis et primo homini, si in statu Ulo perseverasset usque ad ultimum vitae, felicitas esset merces, et non gratia; ” ” Vita aeterna homini integro et angelo promissa fuit intuitu bonorum operum, et bona opera ex lege naturae ad Mam consequendam per se sufliciunt” 27 The propositions proves that the special endowment of the Angels, like that of man, was essentially supernatural. 20 This is the opinion of Suarez and Scheeben. Suarez writes {De Angelis, VI, 3, 5): ” Prima [morula] fuit creationis et sanctificationis cum dispositione ad illam et consequenter cum merito de condigno gloriae; secunda fuit perseverantiae in gratia cum merito de condigno gratiae et gloriae; tertia receptionis gloriae.” Scheeben deals 22 with this problem in his Dogmatik, Vol. II, n. 1 139. 2iTob. XII, 15. 22ApOC. I, 4. 23Heb. XII, 22. 24 Mark XII, 25. 25 Matth. XVIII, 10. 26 Supra, pp! 190 sqq. 27 Propos. 1, 3, 4 Baii Damn., in Denzinger-Bannwart’s Enchiridion, nn. 1 00 1, 1003, 1004.

Article 2: The Angels in Their Relation to Men — Guardian Angels

THE ANGELS IN THEIR RELATION TO MEN, OR THE GUARDIAN ANGELS The Catholic Church teaches that every man has a Guardian Angel, whom he should venerate and invoke. This teaching is founded on Sacred Scripture.1 The mission of the Guardian Angels may be briefly described as follows: They ward off dangers from body and soul, they inspire good and salutary thoughts, they convey our prayers to the throne of grace, they assist us in the hour of death and bear the souls of the elect to Heaven.2 The Catholic teaching on the subject may be formulated in four theses. Thesis I: The Angels exercise a kind of general guardianship over the human race. Proof. Though we can adduce no express dogmatic definition in support of this thesis, it must be accepted as an article of faith, because it is taught by the magisterium ordinarium of the Church, which, in its turn, voices the manifest teaching of Scripture and Tradition. St. Paul lays it down as an indisputable axiom that the Angels minister to those who “shall receive the inheritance of salvation.” Heb. I, 14: “Nonne omnes sunt administratorii spiritus 8 in ministerium missi propter eos, qui haereditatem 1 Cfr. Gal. I, 8; 1 Tim. Ill, 16; 2 Cfr. Suarez, De Angelis, VI, 19. 1 Pet I, 12. 8 \ctTovpyuc& n vet ‘fiara. THE capient salutisf — Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of salvation ?” The Psalmist touchingly describes the tender care which the Angels bestow upon man. Ps. XC, 11 sq.: “Angelis suis mandavit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis; in manibus portabunt te, ne forte offendas ad lapidem pedem tuum — He hath given his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways; in their hands they shall bear thee up, lest thou dash thy foot against a stone.” The lives of Tobias and of our Lord Jesus Christ Himself prove how faithfully the Guardian Angels perform their duty. This doctrine was part of the Apostolic Tradition, as is clearly evidenced by the following passage from Origen: “This too is contained in the ecclesiastical teaching, that there are Angels of God and good powers who serve Him for the purpose of consummating the salvation of men.” 4 Since this angelic guardianship is based upon a divine mission,5 the question has been broached whether such missions are limited to the lower choirs, or whether members of the higher choirs too are sometimes sent down from Heaven. There are two theological opinions on this subject. One, based on the writings of the PseudoAreopagite, and espoused by SS. Gregory the Great, Bonaventure, and Thomas Aquinas, holds that only the 4 De Princip., praef, n. 10. Other 5 The term ” Angel ” is derived Patristic passages infra. from dyyeXot; dyyi\etpf to send. lowest three, or at the most five of the lower choirs discharge the office of messengers, while the Seraphim, the Cherubim, the Thrones, and the Dominations are constantly assembled around the throne of the Most High. Since, however, theologians have begun to emancipate themselves from the authority, once all too highly regarded, of the Pseudo-Areopagite, the opinion of Scotus and his school has become the more common one, to wit, that all Angels without exception are employed as divine messengers. There are two very good reasons for adopting this view. The first is the authority of St. Paul, who emphatically teaches that all spirits are “sent.”6 The second is the fact that Angels of the highest rank have been commissioned to execute divine commands, as, e. g., the Seraph in Isaias VI, 6 sqq., and the two Cherubim ” placed before the paradise of pleasure,” Gen. Ill, 24/ Thesis II: Every Christian from the moment of Baptism has his particular Guardian Angel. Proof. Suarez says of this thesis: “Though not expressly contained in Holy Writ, nor yet formally defined, it is received by universal consent in the Church and has such a solid foundation in Scripture, as interpreted by the Fathers, that it cannot be denied without very great temerity and even error.” 8 The Biblical basis eHeb. I, 14. 7 Gerson declared the Thomistic view to be heretical; but this is manifestly unjust, because the Thomists willingly concede that the higher (or so-called assisting) choirs may act at least mediately as divine messengers, t. e., by transmitting God’s commands to the lower Angels. How violently the simplest Scriptural passages were sometimes strained in order to square them with the teaching of Pseudo-Dionysius, can be seen in Suarez, De Angelis, VI, 10. sDe Angelis, VI, 17. THE of this doctrine is our Saviour’s own declaration: “Videte, ne contemnatis unum ex his pusillis; dico enim vobis, quia angeli eorum9 in coelis semper vident faciem Patris mei — See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven.” 10 The expression “their angels” (i. e., the angels of these little children), plainly points to the existence of Guardian Angels {angeli custodes sen tutelares, ayyeXxn v\oKes). That each man has a Guardian Angel is also proved by a passage in the Acts of the Apostles. The friends of St. Peter, when he knocks at the door after his deliverance from prison, joyfully exclaim: “It is his angel.” 11 The objection that the Saviour’s words apply exclusively to the children of the Jews, is invalid. For, in the first place, all the supernatural prerogatives of the Synagogue descended in an enhanced degree upon the Christian Church; and, secondly, the Fathers in their interpretation of this and similar passages nowhere make a distinction between Jews and Christians, or between the Old and the New Testament. St. Basil declares: “That each one among the faithful 12 has an angel, who directs his life as a guide 13 and shepherd,14 nobody can »oJ £776X01 airiav. loMatth. XVIII, 10. 11 Acts XII, 15. 12 in&(TT(p r(av wiffTtav. is iratSaywyds. 1* vofievs. deny who remembers the words of our Lord: “See that you despise not one of these little ones.” 15 Commenting on this same dictum of our Divine Saviour, St. Chrysostom writes: “Each faithful Christian has an Angel; for every righteous man had an Angel from the very beginning, as Jacob says: 16 The Angel that nourisheth and delivereth me from youth.” 17 Origen undoubtedly voices the belief of the Primitive Church when he says: “Each of us, even the lowliest, has an Angel by his side.” 18 The faith of the early Christians manifested itself unmistakably in the devotion they paid to the Guardian Angels. As early as the fourth century it was customary to erect altars and sanctuaries in their honor. The Feast of the Guardian Angels originated in the eleventh century. “Though of comparatively recent introduction, [it] gives the sanction of the Church’s authority to an ancient and cherished belief.” 19 Some of the early Fathers and ecclesiastical writers held that besides his Guardian Angel every Christian has also a demon to tempt him.20 Bellarmine rightly li Contr. Eunom., 1. 3, n. z. i«Gen. XLVIII, 16. 17 Horn, in Col., 3 n. 4. 18 Horn, in Num., 20, 19 On the history of this feast cfr. the article ” Guardian Angels, Feast of,” by T. P. Gilmartin, in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII. On the festivals of the Angels in general see K. A. H. Kellner, Heor~ tology, pp. 328 sqq., London 1908. 20 Thus Origen (Horn. 12 in Luc), Gregory of Nyssa (De Vita Moysis), Tertullian (De Anim., c. 30), and Cassian (CollaU, VIII, 17). They seem to have followed the Shepherd of Hermas (1. II, mand. 6): Atfo clalv £776X01, eZf rrfi ducatoatvrjs, eZ$ rijf Tornfdat. THE reckoned this belief, which has absolutely no Scriptural foundation whatever, among the errors of Hermas. That every man should be afflicted with an imp to plague him, is a notion which can hardly be reconciled with belief in a benevolent Providence. Perhaps Hermas was led to adopt it in a well-meant endeavor to Christianize the pagan idea of a genius niger as a counterpart to the genius albus. Some modern writers on the philosophy of religion maintain that Jewish and Christian angelology was borrowed from the pagan religions of the East, and that in the last analysis the Angels are merely personifications of Divine Providence. Not to speak of the extreme antiquity of the Jewish belief in Angels,21 this theory is disproved by the teaching and conduct of Christ Himself, and also by the sharp contrast existing between the Angels of the Bible and the figments of pagan mythology. Thesis III: Not only Christians and those justified, but heathens and sinners also have each a Guardian Angel. Proof. Suarez refers to this proposition as embodying “the common teaching of theologians and Fathers.” 22 Its meaning is that every man has a Guardian Angel in as far as he is a man, not in consequence of Baptism or justification. This angelic guardianship begins at birth. Magna 21 See Gen. Ill, 24; XVI, 7 sqq. etiam infideles, neque solos baptiCfr. Hackspill, * L’Angelologie satos, sed etiam inbaptizatos habere Juive * in La Revue Biblique, 1902, angelos custodes, est communis sen22 * Non solum iustos, sed etiam in priore assertione principali allepeccatores, neque solos fideles, sed gavimus. (De Angelis, VI, 17.) pp. 527 sqq. tentia theologorum et patrum, quos

dignitas animarum* says St. Jerome, ut unaquaeque habeat ab ortu nativitatis in custodiam sui angelum delegatum. 23 Theodoret and Isidore of Sevilla base this belief on Christ’s dictum concerning little children, which we have quoted above.24 Quite a number of the Fathers, it is true, speak of Guardian Angels only in connection with pious Christians; but their utterances must not be interpreted in an exclusive sense; these Fathers merely wish to emphasize that every good Christian enjoys the special protection of a Guardian Angel, which does not exclude that God bestows the same paternal providence also upon the heathen and the sinner. The attitude of the Schoolmen on this question was governed by the declaration of St. Anselm, that “every soul is committed to an Angel at the moment when it is united with the body.” 25 St. Thomas, proceeding from the principle that “the guardianship of the Angels over men is as it were the carrying into effect of divine Providence,” 26 argues as follows: “Benehcia, quae dantur divinitus, ex eo quod est Christianus, incipiunt a tempore baptismi, sicut perceptio Eucharistiae, et alia huiusmodi. Sed ea quae 28 In Matth., 18, 10. 24 Supra, p. 33325 Elucid., II, 31: * Unaquaeque anima, dum in corpus mittitur, angelo committitur* 26 * Ang riorum custodia est quaedam executio divinae providentiae circa homines.* (S. Theol., ia, qu. 113, art. 2.) THE providentur homini a Deo, in quantum habet naturam rationalem, ex tunc ei exhibentur, ex quo nascendo talem naturam accipit; et tale beneficium est custodia angelorum… . Unde statim a nativitate habet homo angelum ad sui custodiam deputatum.” 27 Socrates’s assertion that he enjoyed the guidance of a tutelary spirit (8ai/oW) expresses a profound truth.28 Thesis IV: Every State and every ecclesiastical province has its own divinely appointed tutelary spirit. Proof. This thesis, which embodies merely a probable opinion, finds some slight support in the famous vision of Daniel,29 where the Archangel Michael battles side by side with Raphael as princeps Iudaeorum, for the Israelites against two other Angels, who are called princes (DV^) of the Persians and the Greeks. Of the four Angels engaged in this conflict three are expressly designated as “princes” of certain nations or States. We must refer the reader to St. Thomas for an explanation as to how Angels can battle with one anpther on behalf of their clients.30 St. Basil commenting on the vision of Daniel says: “That there are certain Angels who are placed at the 27/. c. 28 Cf r. Manning, The Daemon of Socrates, London 1872. For a lengthy and attractive discussion of the ” Daimonion of Socrates ” (for which he admits his inability to find a proper translation) cfr. M. Louis, Doctrines Religieux des Philosophes Grecs, Paris 191 o. 29 Dan. X, 12 sqq. 80 Su mma Theologica, ia, qu. 113, art. 8. head of entire nations, … is a fact which the wise Daniel heard from the Angel [Raphael], who spoke to him thus: The prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me, and behold Michael came to help me.” 81 Some of the Fathers think that the “man of Macedonia who appeared to St. Paul in a vision and besought him to *pass over into Macedonia, and help us,“82 was the tutelary Angel of the Macedonians.83 St. Michael, who is called “the Prince of Guardian Angels,” was regarded as the tutelary spirit of the Jewish Synagogue; in the New Testament he is venerated as the special protector of the Catholic Church.84 Certain Scriptural expressions 86 permit us to infer that churches, cities, and ecclesiastical provinces likewise have special tutelary spirits.86 That we owe a duty of reverence to our Guardian Angel is taught by St. Bernard in these words: “In quovis diversorio, in quovis angulo, angelo tuo reverentiam habe!’ 87 Readings: — Trombelli, Trattato degli Angeli Custodi, Bologna 1747 — Berlage, Dogmatik, Vol. IV, §§ 26 sqq. — De la 81 Contr. Eunom., 1. Ill, n. 1. 82 Acts XVI, 9. 83 Cfr. Origen, Horn in Luc, 121 St Ambrose, In Luc, 1. 12. 84 Cfr. St. Thomas, Comment, in Quatuor Libros Sent., IV, dist. 43, art. 3, qu. 3: ” Ministerium iliud erit principaliter unius archangeli, scil. Michaelis, qui est princeps Ecclesiae, sicut fuit Synagogae.” On St Michael, his personality and his cult see F. G. Holweck in the Pastoral-Blatt, St Louis, Mo., 1910, No. 7, pp. 97 sqq. 85 Cfr., e. g., Zach. I, 12. 86 For a more detailed explanation see Suarez, De Angelis, VI, 17. 87 Serm. in Ps., 12, pa. THE GUARDIAN ANGELS 339 Gerda, De Angelo Custode. — Albert, a Bulsano, Theol. Dogmat., t. I, pp. 321 sqq., Oeniponte 1893. — Chardon, L’Ange et le Pretre, Paris 1899. — S. J. Hunter, Outlines of Dogmatic Theology, Vol. II, 2nd ed., pp. 298 sqq. — R. O’Kennedy, The Holy Angels, pp. 99-119, London 1887. — C. Gutberlet, Gott und die Schopfung, pp. 441 sqq., Ratisbon 1910. — H. Pope, art. “Guardian Angels” in the Catholic Encyclopedia, Vol. VII. — K. Pelz, Die Engellehre des hi. Augustinus, Munster 1913.