CONGREGATION
FOR DIVINE WORSHIP
AND THE DISCIPLINE OF THE SACRAMENTS
DIRECTORY
ON POPULAR PIETY AND THE LITURGY
PRINCIPLES
AND GUIDELINES
Vatican
City
December 2001
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"(280).
Tradition regards the angels as messengers of God,
"potent executives of his commands, and ready at the sound of his words"
(Ps 103, 20. They serve his salvific plan, and are "sent to serve those
who will inherit salvation" (Hb 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. Gen 3,24), they saved Hagar and her child Ishmael
(cf. Gen 21, 17), they stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice
Isaac (cf. gen 22, 7), they announce prodigious births (cf. Jud 13, 3-7), they
protect the footsteps of the just (cf. Ps 91, 11), they praise God unceasingly
(cf. Is 6, 1-4), and they present the prayer of the Saints to God (cf. Ap 8,
34). 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. Dan 3, 49-50), 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. Tb 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. Lk 1, 26-38), and that
an Angel revealed to Joseph the supernatural origin of Mary's conception (cf.
Mt 1, 18-25); the Angels appear to the shepherds in Bethlehem with the news of
great joy of the Saviour's birth (cf. Lk 2, 8-24); "the Angel of the
Lord" protected the infant Jesus when he was threatened by Herod (cf. Mt
2, 13-20); the Angels ministered to Jesus in the desert (cf. Mt 4, 11) and
comforted him in his agony (Lk 22, 43), and to the women gathered at the tomb,
they announced that he had risen (cf. Mk 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" (Mt 10, 10), and the consolation of his assurance that "there
is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner" (Lk 15, 10).
The faithful also realize that "the Son of man will come in his glory with
all his Angels" (mt 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"(281), venerates these heavenly
spirts 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(282) and commemorates
them on specific days: 29 September (feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel
and Raphael), 2 October (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"(283). 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)(284) invoking their assistance so that
the Eucharistic sacrifice "may be taken [to your] altar in heaven, in the
presence of [...] divine majesty"(285). The office of lauds is celebrated
in their presence (cf. Ps 137, 1)(286). The Church entrusts to the ministry of
the Holy Angels (cf. Aps 5, 8; 8, 3) the prayers of the faithful, the
contrition of penitents(287), and the protection of the innocent from the
assaults of the Malign One(288). The Church implores God to send his Angels at
the end of the day to protect the faithful as they sleep(289), prays that the celestial
spirits come to the assistance of the faithful in their last agony(290), and in
the rite of obsequies, invokes God to send his Angels to accompany the souls of
just into paradise(291) 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 honour 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"(292). 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"(293).
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(294) 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 daemons, 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.
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