There are two equal and opposite ways to devalue something. One way is to ignore it, which says that it is unimportant. The second way is to give it lots of exposure but in trivial ways, which teaches that it has no significant value. Angels have in recent times been devalued in both these ways.
Angels have been dismissed as religious fairy tales by those who consider themselves too intellectually sophisticated to believe such notions. On the other hand, angels have been trivialized in visual renderings (which almost always seem to be very bad art) as well as being the subject of non-theological myths and fantasies. For example, human beings do not, in fact, become angels when they get to Heaven. Angels are a completely different order of God’s creation. It is like saying oranges become apples when they die. We all know this is wrong: oranges become orange juice.
What is an angel? An angel is a spiritual creature and part of God’s great unseen world. The word angel means “messenger”: messenger of God and His will.
Why are angels important to us? Beyond being messengers of God they are guardians to human beings against danger and temptation, and they especially watch over children. They remind us that we are part of a great spiritual world that is bound up with our material world.
Is belief in angels scriptural? Yes, without question. Mention of angels is found frequently in both the Old and the New Testaments. The Bible refers to cherubim, seraphim, archangels, guardian angels, and more. Saint Paul lists nine kinds of angels, what are often called the nine orders of angels. Angels played a significant role in the life and teaching of Jesus Christ.
The doctrine about Angels of the historic, sacramental traditions of Holy Church—that is, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox, Oriential Orthodox, Anglican, and Old Catholic—teaches that:
* Christ is the center of the angelic world. They are His angels. They belong to Him because they were created through and for Him. They belong to Him still more because He has made them messengers of His saving plan. They are present with Christ in heaven.
* In the Liturgy of the Church—both Mass and the daily Offices—we join in our worship with the worship of the angelic choir. This choir is ever singing Holy, Holy, Holy. Worship on earth that is holy and sacramental participates directly in the angelic singing: we singing with the Angels, and the Angels singing with us. The Liturgy is an immediate participation in the heavenly reality, which is why ancient Liturgy proclaims: “Therefore with Angels and Archangels, and all the company of heaven [meaning the Saints], we laud and magnify Thy glorious Name; evermore praising Thee, and saying, “Holy, Holy, Holy.”
* Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan. In the Gospel accounts, Angels are everywhere. From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of Jesus Christ is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels. They protect Jesus in His infancy, serve Him in the desert, strengthen Him in his agony in the garden. It is angels that proclaim the Good News of Christ’s Incarnation and Resurrection.
* From its beginning, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. Everyone has a Guardian Angel.
* Angels are a real part of God’s creation. They are not physical; they do not have material bodies; but they are quite real. Like all of God’s gifts, however, we must cooperate with God’s will in order to receive the guidance and protection God promises us through their ministry.
In light of all this, let us hear the words Our Lord Jesus Christ told His disciples: "I say unto you that their angels ever behold the face of my Father who is in heaven." By these words it is shown that an angel is appointed for every believer as a guardian, who shields him against the devil’s plotting and supports him in holy virtues. As the Psalmist says of every righteous person: “God commanded his angels about you, that they should hold you and bear you in their hands, lest you strike your foot against a stone.” It is a great honour for Christians that each person, from birth, has an angel assigned to him as a guardian. Just so it is written of the Apostle Peter that the angel led him out of prison and he came to his companions and asked for entrance, knocking, and the faithful ones said, "It is not Peter who is knocking, it is his angel."
Truly, the angels whom God has appointed as guardians for his chosen never leave his presence, because God is everywhere, and wherever the angels fly they are ever in his presence, and enjoy his glory. They take news of our words and deeds to the Almighty, although to Him nothing is hidden; as the Archangel Raphael said to the man of God, Tobias, "When you prayed, I offered your prayers before God."
The Old Testament tells us that archangels are set over every nation, above the other angels, so that they may protect the peoples, as Moses, in the fifth book of the Old Testament, reveals in these words: "When the high God separated and scattered the offspring of Adam, he set the boundaries of the peoples according to the numbers of his angels". The prophet Daniel agrees with this in his prophecy: a certain angel of God spoke to Daniel concerning the archangel who guided the Persians, and said, "The archangel came to me, the leader of the Greek people, and none was my helper but Michael, leader of the Hebrews. Even now Michael, one of the foremost of the leaders, came to support me, and I remained there with the king of the Persians." With these words, when he said that Michael came to help him, it is shown what great care the archangels take in their authority over mankind.
The archangel Michael has care of Christian people, as he had for the Hebrew people of old while they believed in God. It is arranged by God’s dispensation that the glorious angel of heaven Michael is continually the helper of Christians on earth and their advocate in heaven before Almighty God, and His Son Jesus Christ, Who lives and reigns with the Father and the Holy Ghost, ever one God, world without end. Amen.