Oct 02 2008
Witness of the Saints: The Archangels
From a homily on the Gospels by Saint Gregory the Great, pope (my emphases and comments):
You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have always indeed been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. [Conversely, we call the evil spirits "devils" because they are our adversaries.] Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.
And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.
Some angels are given proper names to denote the service they are empowered to perform. In that holy city, where perfect knowledge flows from the vision of almighty God, those who have no names may easily be known. But personal names are assigned to some, not because they should not be known without them, but rather to denote their ministry when they come among us. Thus, Michael means “Who is like God?”; Gabriel is “The Strength of God”; and Raphael is “God’s Remedy.” [Our knowledge of the good spirits is strictly practical: we know them only as they relate to us. But in heaven, when we are able to see them as they truly are, we shall know them in their essence, as they are in-themselves.]
Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. So also our ancient foe desired in his pride to be like God, saying: “I will ascend into heaven; I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven; I will be like the Most High.” He will be allowed to remain in power until the end of the world when he will be destroyed in the final punishment. Then, he will fight with the archangel Michael, as we are told by John: “A battle was fought with Michael the archangel.” [In other words, the angel who is named "Who is like God?" casts out of heaven and defeats the angel who aspired to be like God.]
So too Gabriel, who is called God’s strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God’s strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, might in battle.
Raphael means, as I have said, God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly called God’s remedy.
“You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature.”
I’m not sure I understand this statement. My understanding of angels is that they are individual natures created by God, much like our own souls, unless I’m misunderstanding ‘function’ and ‘nature’ as they’re used here.
How do our guardian angels fit into this? The Church has mentioned guardian angels, as has St Thomas Aquinas, as individual creatures. St Thomas’ portrayal describes individual angels being ‘assigned’ to each of us at birth to serve as protection to us throughout our lives–is that the functional meaning here, perhaps?
Hi Laura,
You’re understanding of what an angel is, is more or less correct. They are individual natures created by God. Their nature is very similar to our soul, yet, their powers of intellect and will are much, much greater than ours.
And yes, you pinned down where you’re getting hung up insofar as you’re misunderstanding the words “function” and “nature.”
What St. Gregory is doing here is trying to help us see that when we speak of the pure spirits God created as “angels,” we are speaking about them as they relate to us — the function or roll they have in salvation history. The word “angel” literally means messenger. Those pure spirits who have the role of communicating God’s message of salvation to us are called “angels.”
Our guardian angels are called an angels because they have the role of communicating God’s message of salvation to us. Only after our death will we see how many times our guardian angels helped us — either by whispering a thought into our ear, or prompting us to pick up a book, or to say a kind word to another person, and so forth. This is why every spiritual writer exhorts us to develop a devotion to our guardian angels — so that we may be able to understand how they acts in our lives.
Hope this helps.
God bless.
Jeff,
How encouraging to know just how much Divinity we have watching over us throughout our lives, and yet, while we live, we never know the names of those who’ve been so very close to us.
Thank you.
Laura,
Just a quick point. I’m not sure if I understand exactly what you mean by “divinity,” but we must not think that because the angels are pure spirits, they are divine.
Only God is divine.
The angels, though pure spirits, are still God’s creatures.Higher than us, yes, but much, much lower than God. Even the greatest of all the angels is nothing compare to God.