The Intercessions of the Saints »
Posted on January 31, 2010 in Orthodoxy - 0 COMMENTS
Angels (Kairos, 01/31/10
by Rev Fr Chris Flesoras
In the eighth century, Saint John of Damascus explained: “God is Himself the Maker and Creator of the angels; for He brought them out of nothing into being and created them after His own image. They are an incorporeal race, a sort of spirit or immaterial fire, even as the divine David says that ’ His angels are spirits, and His ministers a flame of fire” (Ps 103:6).
The website of Saint George Greek Orthodox Church in Greenville South Carolina compiled and offers additional information on this incorporeal race. In one paragraph, the author writes:
Active spirits with intelligence, will and knowledge, angels serve God to carry out His will and glorify Him. The angels are bodiless and invisible to our physical eyes. They have no bodily needs or desires and passions, no cares about food, drink, clothes or shelter. Nor do they possess the impulse and cravings for procreation. They neither marry nor are given in marriage (Matt. 22:30). They have no worries about the future either, and no fear of death. For, though God created them before man, they are neither aged nor aging, but unchangingly youthful, beautiful and strong. They have no anxiety about their salvation and no struggle for immorality, being already immortal (Luke 20:36). Unlike men, they are not faltering between good and evil, being already good and holy as when God created them.
We learn through Holy Tradition that there exists a hierarchy of angels. In On the Heavenly Hierarchy, Saint Dionysios the Aeropagite, one of the Seventy Apostles, identifies nine ranks of angels: Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Angels, Archangels, and Principalities. Within the lowest ranking of angels, are numbered those angels, who, according to Saint Evargios the Solitary:
…encourage us to pray and stand beside us, rejoicing and praying for us. Therefore, if we are negligent and admit thoughts from the enemy, we greatly provoke the angels. For while they struggle hard on our behalf we do not even take the trouble to pray to God for ourselves, but we despise their services to us and abandoning their Lord and God, we consort with unclean demons.
Although not specifying the particular rank of angel, Dorotheos of Gaza offers a beautiful testimony regarding an angel’s blessed activity in relation to humanity:
Standing one day in church, as the brethren were starting the psalmody, he saw someone coming out of the sanctuary dressed in shining garments and holding a small vessel full of holy oil and a small stone cylinder. And he moistened the stone in the vessel and went round to every one of the brothers and set the seal on each of them. Some of the places which were empty were signed and some were passed by. Again they were about to be dismissed [after completing the office] when he saw the same splendid figure come from the sanctuary and repeat the same action. Filled with wonder the holy father cast himself at the feet of this mysterious visitor and begged him to tell the meaning of the actions, and who he was. And the resplendent visitor told him, ‘I am an angel of God, and am ordered to this assembly to place this seal on those found in the church from the beginning of the psalmody, and those who remained until the dismissal, because of their earnestness and zeal and by their own free and deliberate choice.’ And the old ma asked, ‘And why did you sign the place of those who were not to be found her? ‘ To this the holy angel replied, ‘All those who were zealous and had the generous intention of being there but were absent through some violent sickness and with the abba’s blessing, or those who were engaged in fulfilling a command given them under obedience – all these, although absent, received the sign since by their right intentions they were there; but those who were able to be there and through their carelessness were absent, I was commanded not to sign, since they had made themselves unworthy of it.
In addition to this angelic activity within the formality of services at a monastery, Elder Herman of Mount Athos explains:
When you are praying alone, and your spirit is dejected, and you are wearied and oppressed by your loneliness, remember then, as always, that God the Trinity looks upon you with eyes brighter than the sun; also all the angels, your own Guardian Angel, and all the Saints of God. Truly they do; for they are all one in God, and where God is, there are they also. Where the sun is, thither also are directed all its rays. Try to understand what this means.
So then, within this hierarchy of angels is a rank of angels that are given to Christians as guardians. Bishop Nikolai Velimirovich wrote, “God gives to each Christian an angel to care for him through his whole life, unless he drives him away by his evil doings. An angel guides every faithful man in every good work, while the demons exert their strength to disturb the faithful and deprive them of the heavenly kingdom.” With a similar thought, Saint Anthony the Great writes of these angels given to us at Holy Baptism:
When you close the doors of your dwelling and are alone, you should know that there is present with you the angel whom God has appointed for each man…This angel, who is sleepless and cannot be deceived, is always present with you; he sees all things and is not hindered by darkness. You should know, too, that with the him is God, who is in every place; for there is no place and nothing material in which God is not, since He is greater than all things and holds all men in His hand.
Even if Christians fall into sin be it in the day or in the night, St. John of the Ladder teaches: “Stand your ground bravely. And you may be sure that your guardian angel will respect your endurance.” No matter the respect that is given us by the angel, the greatest gifts we receive from them are their protection and intercessions. It is therefore imarparitve that we pray to our angel to safeguard and pray for us in this life.
I close with a prayer to a guardian angel:
O angel of God, my holy guardian, given to me from heaven, enlighten me this day, and save me from all evil. Instruct me in doing good deeds, and set me on the path of salvation. O angel of Christ, holy guardian and protector of my soul and body, forgive me everything wherein I have offended you every day of my life, and protect me from all influence and temptation of the Evil One. May I never again anger God by my sins. Pray for me to the Lord, that He may make me worthy of the grace of the All-Holy Trinity, and of the blessed Mother of God, and of all the saints. Amen
