Live with the help of our Guardian Angel. His power and his will
At the beginning of his book, the prophet Ezekiel describes the vision of an angel, which provides interesting revelations about the will of the angels. "... I watched, and here is a stormy wind advancing from the set-tentrione, a large cloud that shone all around, a fire from which flashes flashed, and in the center like the splendor of the electro in the middle of the fire. In the middle appeared the figure of four living beings, whose appearance was as follows. They were human in appearance, but each had four faces and four wings. Their legs were straight, and their feet resembling an ox's hooves, shining like clear bronze. From under the wings, on all four sides, human hands were raised; all four had the same appearance and wings of the same size. The wings joined each other, and in any direction they turned, they did not turn back, but each proceeded in front of him. As for their appearance they had the appearance of a man, but all four also had a lion face on the right, an ox face on the left and an eagle face. Thus their wings were spread upwards: each had two wings touching each other and two wings veiling his body. Each moved in front of them: they went where the spirit directed them, and moving they did not turn back. In the midst of those four living beings they saw themselves as burning coals like torches, which wandered among them. The fire shone and lightning flashed from the flame. The four living men also went and went like a flash. Now, looking at the living ones, I saw that on the ground there was a wheel alongside all four ... they could go in four directions, without turning in their movements ... When those living moved, even the wheels turned beside them, and when they rose from the ground, the wheels also rose. Wherever the spirit pushed them, the wheels went, as well as with them they got up, because the spirit of that living person was in the wheels ... "(Ez 1, 4-20).
"Lightning was released from the flame," says Ezekiel. Thomas Aquinas considers the 'flame' a symbol of knowledge and the 'lightness' a symbol of will. Knowledge is the basis for every will and our effort is always directed towards something that we previously recognized as value. Whoever does not recognize anything, wants nothing; those who know only the sensual only want sensuality. Whoever understands the maximum wants only the maximum.
Regardless of the various angelic orders, the angel has the greatest knowledge of God among all His creatures; therefore it also has the strongest will. "Now, looking at the living ones, I saw that on the ground there was a wheel alongside all four ... When those living moved, the wheels also turned next to them, and when they rose from the ground, they got up even the wheels ... because the spirit of that living was in the wheels ". The moving wheels symbolize the activity of the angels; will and activity go hand in hand. Hence, the will of the angels is immediately transformed into a pertinent action. Angels do not know the hesitation between understanding, wanting and doing. Their will is fueled by extremely clear knowledge. There is nothing to think about and judge in their decisions. The will of the angels has no counter currents. In an instant, the angel understood everything clearly. This is why his actions are eternally irrevocable.
An angel who has once decided for God will never be able to change this decision; a fallen angel, on the other hand, will remain forever damned, because the wheels that Ezekiel saw turn forward but never backward. The immense will of the angels is linked to an equally immense power. Faced with this power, man realizes his weakness. Thus happened to the prophet Ezekiel and so also to the prophet Daniel: “I raised my eyes and here I saw a man dressed in linen clothes, with his kidneys covered in pure gold: his body had the appearance of topaz, his eyes looked like fire blazes, his arms and feet shone like burnished bronze and the sound of his words echoed like the noise of a multitude ... But I remained without strength and I became pale to the point that I was about to pass out ... but as soon as I heard him speak, I lost consciousness and fell face down on my face "(Dan 10, 5-9). In the Bible there are many examples of the power of angels, whose appearance alone is enough to frighten and frighten us men. In this regard, he writes the first book of the Maccabees: "When the king's nuncios cursed you, your angel came down and killed 185.000 Assyrians" (1 Mk 7:41). According to the Apocalypse, the angels would be the powerful executors of the divine chaste ghoos of all times: seven Angels pour out the seven bowls of the wrath of God on the earth (Rev 15, 16). And then I saw another angel coming down from heaven with great power, and the earth was illuminated by its splendor (Ap 18, 1). Then a powerful Angel raised a stone as big as a maize, and threw it into the sea saying: "Thus, in one fell swoop Babylon, the great city, will fall, and no one will find it anymore" (Ap 18:21) .
it is wrong to deduce from these examples that angels turn their will and power to the ruin of men; on the contrary, angels desire good and, even when they use the sword and pour out the cups of anger, they want only the conversion to good and the victory of good. The will of the angels is strong and their power is great, but both are limited. Even the strongest angel is linked to the divine decree. The will of the angels completely depends on the will of God, which must be accomplished in heaven and also on earth. And that's why we can rely on our angels without being afraid, it will never be to our detriment.
6. Angels in grace
Grace is the absolutely unconditional benevolence of God and above all the effect of the same, addressed to the creature in person, with whom God communicates his glory to creation. it is the cordial intimate relationship between the Creator and his creature. Said in the words of Peter, grace is to become "partakers of the divine nature" (2 Pt 1, 4). Angels also need grace. This “is their proof and their danger. The danger of being satisfied with oneself, of rejecting a beatitude for which they should thank only the benevolence of the Most High, of finding happiness in themselves or in their own nature, knowledge and will and not in a blissful
tudine offered by God merciful-God. " Only grace makes angels perfect and allows them to contemplate God, because what we call 'the contemplation of God', no creature possesses it by nature.
God is free in the distribution of grace and it is He who decides when, how and how much. Theologians support the theory that, not only among us men but also among angels, there are differences in the distribution of grace. According to Thomas Aquinas, God linked the measurement of the grace of each angel directly to the nature of this. This does not mean, however, that angels who received less grace underwent unfair treatment. To the contrary! Grace is perfectly suited to the nature of each angle. In a metaphorical sense, an angel of high nature hands the deep vessel of his nature to fill it with grace; the simpler angel of nature happily hands the smallest vessel of his nature to fill it with grace. And both are happy: both the upper and lower angel. The nature of angels is far superior to ours, but in the kingdom of grace a kind of compensation has been created between angels and men. God can give the same grace to a man and an angel, but he can also raise a man higher than a Seraphim. We have an example with certainty: Maria. She, Mother of God and Queen of angels, is more radiant than grace of the highest Seraphim.
"Ave, Regina coelorum! Ave, Domina angelorum! Queen of the heavenly hosts, Lady of the angelic choirs, ave! In reality it is right to praise you, the always blessed and immaculate Mother of our God! You are more venerable than the Cherubim and more blessed than the Seraphim. You, Immaculate, gave birth to the Word of God. We exalt you, you true Mother of God! "
7. The variety and community of angels
There is a very high number of angels, they are ten thousand tens of thousands (Dn 7,10) as it is once described in the Bible. it's incredible but true! Ever since men lived on earth, there have never been two identi-ties among billions of men, and so no angel is identical to the other. Each angel has its own characteristics, its well-defined profile and its individuality. Each angel is unique and unrepeatable. There is only one Michele, only one Raffaele and only one Gabriele! Faith divides the angels into nine choirs of three hierarchies each.
The first hierarchy reflects God. Thomas Aquinas teaches that the angels of the first hierarchy are the servants before the throne of God, like the court of a king. Seraphim, cherubim and thrones are part of it. The seraphim mirror the highest love of God and dedicate themselves completely to the adoration of their Creator. Cherubs mirror divine wisdom and thrones are the reflection of divine sovereignty.
The second hierarchy builds the kingdom of God in the universe; comparable to the vassals of a king who administer the lands of his kingdom. Consequently, Holy Scripture calls them domi-nations, powers, and principalities.
The third hierarchy is placed directly at the service of men. Its virtues, archangels and angels are part of it. They are the simple angels, those of the ninth choir, to whom our direct custody is entrusted. In a certain sense they were created as `` minor beings '' because of us, because their nature resembled ours, according to the rule that the highest of the lower order, that is man, is close to the lowest of the order superior, the angel of the ninth choir. Of course, all the nine angelic choirs have the function of calling men to themselves, that is to God. In this sense, Paul in the letter to the Hebrews asks: “Instead, they are not all spirits in the service of God, sent to exercise an office. in favor of those who must inherit salvation? " Therefore, each angelic choir is a domination, a power, a virtue and not only the seraphim are the angels of love or the cherubim those of knowledge. Each angel has a knowledge and wisdom that far surpasses all human spirits and each angel could bear the nine names of the different choirs. Everyone received everything, but not to the same extent: "In the heavenly homeland there is nothing that belongs exclusively to one, but it is true that certain characteristics belong mainly to one and not to another" (Bonaventura). it is this distinction that creates the particularity of the individual choirs. But this difference in nature does not create a division, but forms a harmonious community of all angelic choirs. Saint Bonaventure writes in this regard: “Every being desires the company of his fellow men. it is natural that the angel seeks the company of beings of his kind and this desire does not remain unheard of. In them reigns love for companionship and friendship ".
Despite all the differences between the individual angels, in that society there are no rivalries, nobody closes themselves to others and no superior looks proudly at the lower. The simplest angels can call the seraphim and insert themselves into the consciousness of these much higher spirits. A cherub can reveal himself in communication to an inferior angel. Everyone can communicate with others and their natural differences are an enrichment for everyone. A bond of love unites them and, precisely in this, men could learn a great deal from angels. We ask them to help us in the struggle against super-bia and selfishness, because God has also imposed on us: "Love your neighbor as yourself!"