Our Invisible Friends
By: Sister Mary Eucharista SMMC
Let's reflect upon the reality of the beings who have accompanied us since the time of our birth. Yes, our birth, since our mother’s angel was our guardian until the day of our birth, which is why in some places birthdays are called “angel days”!
Constructing an Angel
One day when I referred to angels in the presence of a good friend who is atheist, he shook his head in disbelief and responded that he had a lot of respect to me for me, but did not expect to hear anything like that from me. I chuckled inside because I knew he was referring to the common concept of cute little cupid angelettes, shooting arrows of Valentine love into human hearts. These are not the angels I am writing about. Angels are powerful beings, some of whom are in our presence at this moment, but that we cannot see with our physical eyes unless they allow us. They have skills that we cannot fathom, powers that make our imaginary superheroes puny weaklings, and knowledge that that would blow out the circuits of our minds.
Angelology is the study of angels within Catholic theology. Saint Thomas Aquinas, also called the angelic doctor, organized the Catholic belief in angels from Scripture and Tradition and assisted us to understand this group of very important beings so that we can understand them better in a Catholic perspective. Catholic theology affirms that angels are created intelligent beings, without bodies, who will never die. There are nine choirs of the angel hierarchies, which is the divine order God designed for them. The nine choirs of angels from the top down are the first hierarchy - the seraphim, the cherubim, and the thrones who contemplate God and enlighten the choirs below them. The second hierarchy - the dominations, the virtues, and the powers understand reality in their basic causes from which all things originate, among many other gifts. The third hierarchy, the principalities, the archangels, and the angels, understand the universe and all particular causes and details. These angels are closer to human beings and their affairs, and our guardian angels are usually chosen from that last choir, the angels.
The Friend you Need to Know
Guardian angels have been known to stop humans that were involved in self harm, to save children, teenagers, and adults in times of danger, and always bring good to those who are in relationship with them. It is easy to establish a good relationship with our guardian angel. All we have to do is speak with our angel (even something simple like, “How is your day going? Mine is a wreck. I could use some help.”), ask our angel what our angel’s name is (This may take some time because some of us are not open to hearing or understanding an angel communicating with us. The answer may come to us as we are walking down the hallway, reading a book, pursuing a meditation, or during Mass), or request help on a test, to make some money in a moral, upright way, or to find a marriage partner in life. The Archangel Raphael, whom we can find out more about in the Catholic Old Testament in the Book of Tobit, is actually a patron of matchmaking (finding a marriage partner)! Also he helps families get along better, he helps with making money and finding resources; he is a guide for youth, a patron of safe travel, and he is also the patron of confession.
Besides Raphael the Archangel, we only know about the names of two other great archangels out of seven special spirits to stand before the throne of God. The other two archangels are the Archangel Michael, the Prince of the heavenly host, and the Archangel Gabriel, who was sent by God to ask Mary if she would become the mother of God. These archangels are very open to being our friends, in addition to our own guardian angel and other angels.
Honestly, who needs superheroes when we have real, legit angels who are ready to come to our aid? Holy angels and archangels, pray for us!
