Catechesis · Inquirer
The Angels
Catechesis · Inquirer
The Angels
Angels are real personal beings — rational, free, and spiritual — created by God before or alongside the material world. They are not God, and they are not human. They are a disti…
Question
What are the angels?
Angels are real personal beings — rational, free, and spiritual — created by God before or alongside the material world. They are not God, and they are not human. They are a distinct order of creatures: beings of pure intellect and will, who serve God, worship Him ceaselessly, and are sent as messengers and ministers to human beings.
The Creed confesses God as "maker of heaven and earth, of all things visible and invisible." The invisible things include the angelic world. Angels are part of creation — dependent on God for their being, not co-eternal with Him. They are creatures who chose to remain in God's presence.
The teaching
Ministers of God — and witnesses to the order of creation
Angels are mentioned throughout Scripture as servants of God who carry His messages, execute His judgments, and protect His people. Gabriel announced the Incarnation to Mary. Michael contended with the devil for the body of Moses. Raphael accompanied Tobias. Each name is significant: Gabriel (God is my strength), Michael (Who is like God?), Raphael (God heals).
Each Christian has a guardian angel — a personal angelic companion appointed by God. This is not medieval folklore; it is the consistent teaching of the Fathers, grounded in Matthew 18:10: "their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." The guardian angel is a real intercessor and companion on the path to God.
The angels are secondary lights who have their brightness from that first light. They are ministers of the divine will, strong enough to accomplish what is given to them, swift as thought, ready for service.
Damascene is describing beings who are genuinely powerful and genuinely free — not robotic messengers but persons. They chose to remain in God's presence. They are "secondary lights" because they receive their light from God and communicate it further. They are a model, in this sense, for what human persons are called to become.
St. John Damascene
Exact Exposition II.3 · c. 730 AD
Holy Scripture
"Are they not all ministering spirits sent out to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?"
Hebrews 1:14
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I tell you that in heaven their angels always see the face of my Father who is in heaven."
Matthew 18:10
The Angelic World
How heaven and earth meet in the Divine Liturgy
When the Church gathers for the Divine Liturgy, it is not merely a community meeting to remember Jesus. It is the Church joining the unceasing worship of heaven. The Seraphim cry "Holy, Holy, Holy" before the throne of God (Isaiah 6). The Cherubim veil their faces before His glory. And the Church on earth takes up the same song. This is not poetry. It is what the Liturgy claims to be.