By Nabil Semaan
GLADNESS OF ANGELS (17)
“Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” (Hebrew 1:14). St. John Chrysostom comments on this verse by saying, “Look how God loves man so that He created holy creatures to serve the man created according to His image.” Humans, although heavier than angels by their body and in a state of sin, death and corruption, when they are deified become higher than the angels in divinity and holiness. “What is man, that thou art mindful of him? And the son of man, that thou visited him? For thou hast made him a little lower than angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour” (Psalm 8:5-7). The example of this is the Theotokos, the Mother of God, who became “more honorable than the cherubim and beyond compare more glorious than the seraphim.” The devil is jealous of the rank man took after the incarnation.
St. Gregory of Nyssa says, “Angels kneel in front of every man who is born again and celebrate the return of men to the original grace through the Newborn, because they are glad for every man who is saved from sin. This gladness of angels will not be complete until the second coming of Christ, for which the angels are waiting.”
THE GUARDIAN ANGEL (18)
“For He shall give his angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways” (Psalm 90:11). The major work of angels is to praise God, but their partial work is to guard humans and the universe that surrounds humans. The Holy Fathers mention many cases in the Old and New Testaments about angels helping humans. For example, when St. Peter was delivered from prison, it was said: “This is his angel” (Acts 12:15).
St. John Chrysostom says that “for every one of us has his angel;” St. Basil the Great adds, “Beside every believer in God, sits his angel, so repent.” Finally the angel of prayer is the angel who helps us to pray. St. Clement of Alexandria says, “Even when a person prays alone, he is accompanied by angels.” Tertullian commands the Christian not to sit when he prays in respect for the angel of prayer standing beside him. Archangel Raphael is one of the seven angels who “carry the prayers of the saints to God” (Tobiah 12:15). Origen writes, “Angels gather close to the person praying to be united to his prayer. Moreover, each angel contemplates the face of the Father in Heaven and prays with us and works for us for all our needs.”
ROLE OF ANGELS IN OUR SPIRITUAL LIFE
The angels have a major role in the spiritual life of each person. First of all, they convey all the spiritual gifts to the person and this according to their rank and depending on the person’s spiritual stage: purification, illumination or deification. “The more we purify ourselves, the more we know God, and the more we love Him” (St. Gregory the Theologian). The spiritual person resembles the angels, as St. Gregory of Nyssa says: “The spiritual life allows the spirit to enter the world of angels.” During the purification stage, “We need an angel to help us overcome our passions, since we are not perfect,” according to Origen. In the illumination stage, the soul enters the angelic world, to attain finally a life of union with God.
The angels contemplate how the soul moves out of the darkness of sin to a state of illumination and grace and passes them over to the glory that the Logos granted to humanity only in His union with human nature. The angels wait for a deified person to be united to his prayer and be lifted up more towards God. That is why, “The angels wait for the death of martyrs to lead their souls to its place,” says St. Gregory of Nyssa, and “they surround the martyrs on their way to God and they accompany them to the holy of holies where the Holy Trinity is in the middle of Cherubim and Seraphim,” confirms St. John Chrysostom.
CONCLUSION
What prohibits us from living like angels, if the angelic life is granted for every true sincere faithful member of the Church? Many people ask why they cannot see angels, and why the angels do not help them, but they do not question if they are really free from the passions that darken the soul and the heart. The main goal is to free ourselves from passions. We must ask of God for an angel of peace, who will direct and protect our life and spirit and body.
Through the intercessions of our Holy Angels, may our God enlighten us and save us. Amen.
Taken from Mystagogy: The Weblog of John Sanidopoulos, (http://www.johnsanidopoulos.com/2009/11/angels-according-to-orthodox-tradition.html).
FOOTNOTES
17. Taken from “Les anges et leur mission, d’apres les peres de l’Eglise,” Chevetogne, Jean Danielou; Periodical No. 8, Archangel Monastery, Lebanon.
18. Periodical No. 7, Archangel Michael Monastery, Lebanon.
