WATCHERS AND HOLY ONES
Solemnity of St. Michael and All Angels
27 September, AD 2009
TEXT: Revelation 12:7 and St. Matthew 18:1.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen.
“There was war in Heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not . . . And the great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world: he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him.” (Rev. 12:7f).
The Propers for the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, which we celebrate today, deal with, as expected, some aspects of the Holy Angels of God; those spiritual beings, which we find from Holy Scripture, are created beings, like we humans, but are made entirely of incorporeal matter, or spirit, if you prefer. Setting aside the whole plethora of ideas found in angelology, which was the rage about ten years ago, we find that it is somewhat easier to say what angels are not than what they are. Angels are not the little fat-cheeked, naked cherubs that adorn note cards or are fashioned into lapel pins. They are also not leggy, voluptuous, pouting-lipped models strutting and preening ridiculously large feathered wings in Victoria’s Secret advertisements, although some of them are rather heavenly. Finally, lest we be completely misled, Angels are not even the unruly, haloed, adorable little children of the Christmas Pageants that we remember from our youth. In Holy Scripture, we find, instead, that angels are terrifying rather than titillating. They inspire awe and wonder rather than sentimental thoughts of, “Oh, aren’t they so cute.” When, in exceptional circumstances, they appear before human beings, their corporeal presence is fierce and overwhelming. This is why, the majority of times, their first words to humans are, “Fear not!” For they are on extraordinary missions for the Most High and act as intermediaries of God’s Grace to His people. Even their name, “angel”, points to their function and office instead of their being. The word “angel” is taken from the Greek which means “messenger” or “one who is sent”. So we see that their name refers not so much to who or what they are, as to what they do.
From extra-biblical sources and Holy Tradition, the Church teaches that the whole assembly of angels is divided up into nine offices or “choirs”, arranged in three groups of three divisions each. St. Dionysius the Areopagite, a convert of St. Paul from Athens and, later, the Bishop of Athens, first wrote about the holy Angels in the late fifth to early sixth centuries in his work, The Celestial Hierarchy. Later, St. Thomas Aquinas refined the theology of the holy Angels and the Council of Trent, even later, established their teachings as Doctrine of the Church. Now while we could go into all of that theology, we want to remain focused upon the Scriptural references to the Angels and learn for ourselves, what their function was to humans and remains so even to this day.
There are many references to the holy Angels in Holy Scripture; three hundred and twenty-six, to be exact. Sometimes they are named and sometimes they are simply called “Angels of the Lord”. Angels guarded the entrance to Paradise so that Adam and Eve could not re-enter after their disobedience. Abraham entertained angels through his hospitality. An Angel also stayed Abraham’s hand from slaying his son, Isaac. Balaam would have been slain by an Angel had not his donkey refused to move forward. Jacob wrestled with an Angel and so forth and so on. The prophets Daniel and Ezekiel go into great detail about the holy Angels they saw in visions from God. And it is from their words and the witness of the New Testament that we come to know, all that we do, about these special ministers and messengers. But there are three named Angels in Scripture that we want to look at specifically, because they give us the greatest amount of information on the intersection of these divine beings with human beings. They are the Archangels or “chief” Angels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
St. Michael’s name means “Who is like God?” And the answer is no one. Four times he is named in Holy Scripture; twice in the book of Daniel, once in the Epistle of St. Jude, and once in Revelation, also known as the Apocalypse, which we heard as the reading for the Epistle this morning. From these four scriptural passages, Christian Tradition assigns to St. Michael four offices; to fight against Satan, to rescue souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at their death, to be the Champion of God’s people – the Jews in the Old Testament and we Christians in the New, and, finally, to bring people’s souls to Judgment where they are weighed in the Heavenly balance. He is often portrayed as standing over a defeated Satan in Christian art and stands ready to defend entire nations, but especially individual souls, our souls, as they wrestle with evil from within and without. So we see that St. Michael is the warrior-Prince of Heaven in God’s army.
St. Gabriel, also known as the Angel of the Annunciation, is mentioned several times in two books of Holy Scripture; Daniel and the Gospel of St. Luke. His name means “Strong Man of God” for in Daniel he brings the message of interpretation about the fall of the Persian Empire, but more directly, in St. Luke’s Gospel, he brings word to Zachariah about the birth of his son, St. John Baptist, and to Mary, the announcement that she would be the mother of Our Lord, the Saviour of the world. Holy Tradition also has St. Gabriel as the Angel who appeared to Joseph in his dreams and as the Angel who “strengthened” Our Lord in the Garden of Gethsemane. Finally, extra-biblical sources identify St. Gabriel as the Angel who will blow the trumpet blast that announces and initiates the end of time. So it is important for us to heed what St. Gabriel has to say if ever he brings us a message.
The last named Archangel in Scripture is St. Raphael. We have to be a little careful here, because St. Raphael is mentioned not in the books which make up our Canon of Holy Scripture, but is included in the Deutero-canonical books or second canon of Scripture, which our Roman and Orthodox brethren acknowledge, but we read only for example of life and instruction of morality but do not contribute to the establishment of Doctrine. Nevertheless, these apocryphal or “hidden” books are to be read within the course of readings for the Daily Offices of the Church and are wonderful examples of God’s love, mercy, and wisdom towards his people. It is within the pages of the books of Tobit and Enoch that we find St. Raphael, whose name means “God has healed”. In the story of Tobit, St. Raphael is the travelling companion of the young Tobias. He has disguised himself in human form. Along the journey he protects Tobias from many dangerous circumstances and finally as they return home, Tobias, through the miracles wrought by St. Raphael cures Tobias’ father of his blindness by using the gall bladder of a fish. It is then that St. Raphael reveals his true nature to the family and says, “I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord.” So throughout history, St. Raphael has been credited as being the “Healer” of the Lord. It is also through Holy Tradition that we find that St. Raphael is the Angel who troubled the water in the pool of Bethesda, such that anyone who touched the water afterwards was healed, as recorded in St. John 5. For his work as the “Healer” of God, St. Raphael is the Patron of medical workers and travelers.
So we find that, in His Mercy, God provides us with watchers and Holy Ones who defend and protect, heal, and communicate God’s tidings with us as a part of His Creation. God’s great Love for us gives us spiritual and direct channels of His Grace through these Holy Beings to strengthen our relationship with Him. We do not strive upon this earth alone. God gives us comfort, strength, and hope when situations and the power of darkness besets and besieges us, even to the point that Jesus tells us in the Gospel for today that we have individual, guardian Angels who watch over His “little ones” here on earth. That is a great and never-ending comfort to all of us as we live our lives in preparation to live with God for all eternity in the Life that is to come. Call on God’s Holy Angels when you need them. They are there and they are always ready to protect and to serve God’s people!
Let us pray.
O HOLY Angels, watch over us at all times during this perilous life; O holy Archangels, be our guides on the way to heaven; O heavenly choir of the Principalities, govern us in soul and body; O mighty Powers, preserve us against the wiles of the demons; O celestial Virtues, give us strength and courage in the battle of life; O powerful Dominations, obtain for us dominion over the rebellion of our flesh; O Sacred Thrones, grant us peace with God and man; O brilliant Cherubim, illumine our minds with heavenly knowledge; O burning Seraphim, enkindle in our hearts the fire of charity and the Love of God. In Jesus’ Holy Name we pray. Amen.
And now, unto God the Father, God the Son, and God the Holy Ghost be ascribed all might, majesty, power, and dominion as is most justly due this day both now and forever; world without end. Amen.
SOLI DEO GLORIA – JEU+