Chapter Six — Veneration Of The Saints And Beati

Holy Angels

213. With the clear and sober language of catechesis, the Church teaches that "the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition".

Tradition regards the angels as messengers of God, "potent executives of his commands, and ready at the sound of his words" (Psalms 103:20). They serve his salvific plan, and are "sent to serve those who will inherit salvation" (Hebrews 1:14).

214. The faithful are well aware of the numerous interventions of angels in the New and Old Covenants. They closed the gates of the earthly paradise (cf. Genesis 3:24), they saved Hagar and her child Ishmael (cf. Genesis 21:17), they stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice Isaac (cf. Genesis 22:7), they announce prodigious births, they protect the footsteps of the just (cf. Psalms 91:11), they praise God unceasingly (cf. Isaiah 6:1-4), and they present the prayer of the Saints to God. The faithful are also aware of the angel's coming to help Elijah, an exhausted fugitive (cf. 1 Kings 19:4-8), of Azariah and his companions in the fiery furnace (cf. Daniel 3), and are familiar with the story of Tobias in which Raphael, "one of the seven Angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of God" (cf. Tobit 12:15), who renders many services to Tobit, his son Tobias and his wife Sarah.

The faithful are also conscious of the roles played by the Angels in the life of Jesus: the Angel Gabriel declared to Mary that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of the Most High (cf. Luke 1:26-38), and that an Angel revealed to Joseph the supernatural origin of Mary's conception (cf. Matthew 1:18-25); the Angels appear to the shepherds in Bethlehem with the news of great joy of the Saviour's birth (cf. Luke 2:8-24); "the Angel of the Lord" protected the infant Jesus when he was threatened by Herod (cf. Matthew 2:13-20); the Angels ministered to Jesus in the desert (cf. Matthew 4:11) and comforted him in his agony (Luke 22:43), and to the women gathered at the tomb, they announced that he had risen (cf. Mark 16:1-8), they appear again at the Ascension, revealing its meaning to the disciples and announcing that "Jesus ...will come back in the same way as you have seen him go" (Acts 1:11).

The faithful will have well grasped the significance of Jesus' admonition not to despise the least of those who believe in him for "their Angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven" (Matthew 10:10), and the consolation of his assurance that "there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner" (Luke 15:10). The faithful also realize that "the Son of man will come in his glory with all his Angels" (Matthew 25:31) to judge the living and the dead, and bring history to a close.

215. The Church, which at its outset was saved and protected by the ministry of Angels, and which constantly experiences their "mysterious and powerful assistance", venerates these heavenly spirits and has recourse to their prompt intercession.

During the liturgical year, the Church celebrates the role played by the Holy Angels, in the events of salvation and commemorates them on specific days:

• September 29th (feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael),
• October 2nd (the Guardian Angels).

The Church has a votive Mass dedicated to the Holy Angels whose preface proclaims that "the glory of God is reflected in his Angels". In the celebration of the sacred mysteries, the Church associates herself with the angelic hymn and proclaims the thrice holy God (cf. Isaiah 6:3) invoking their assistance so that the Eucharistic sacrifice "may be taken [to your] altar in heaven, in the presence of [...] divine majesty". The office of lauds is celebrated in their presence (cf. Psalms 137:1). The Church entrusts to the ministry of the Holy Angels, the prayers of the faithful, the contrition of penitents, and the protection of the innocent from the assaults of the Malign One. The Church implores God to send his Angels at the end of the day to protect the faithful as they sleep, prays that the celestial spirits come to the assistance of the faithful in their last agony, and in the rite of obsequies, invokes God to send his Angels to accompany the souls of just into paradise and to watch over their graves.

216. Down through the centuries, the faithful have translated into various devotional exercises the teaching of the faith in relation to the ministry of Angels: the Holy Angels have been adopted as patrons of cities and corporations; great shrines in their honor have developed such as Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, San Michele della Chiusa in Piemonte and San Michele Gargano in Apulia, each appointed with specific feast days; hymns and devotions to the Holy Angels have also been composed.

Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the Guardian Angels. St. Basil Great (+378) taught that "each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard and guide them through life". This ancient teaching was consolidated by biblical and patristic sources and lies behind many forms of piety. St. Bernard of Clarivaux (+1153) was a great master and a notable promoter of devotion to the Guardian Angels. For him, they were a proof "that heaven denies us nothing that assists us", and hence, "these celestial spirits have been placed at our sides to protect us, instruct us and to guide us".

Devotion to the Holy Angels gives rise to a certain form of the Christian life which is characterized by:

• devout gratitude to God for having placed these heavenly spirits of great sanctity and dignity at the service of man;
  
  
• an attitude of devotion deriving from the knowledge of living constantly in the presence of the Holy Angels of God;- serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels. Among the prayers to the Guardian Angels the Angele Dei is especially popular, and is often recited by families at morning and evening prayers, or at the recitation of the Angelus.
  
  

217. Popular devotion to the Holy Angels, which is legitimate and good, can, however, also give rise to possible deviations:

• when, as sometimes can happen, the faithful are taken by the idea that the world is subject to demiurgical struggles, or an incessant battle between good and evil spirits, or Angels and demons, in which man is left at the mercy of superior forces and over which he is helpless; such cosmologies bear little relation to the true Gospel vision of the struggle to overcome the Devil, which requires moral commitment, a fundamental option for the Gospel, humility and prayer;
  
  
• when the daily events of life, which have nothing or little to do with our progressive maturing on the journey towards Christ are read schematically or simplistically, indeed childishly, so as to ascribe all setbacks to the Devil and all success to the Guardian Angels. The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.