The liturgy of St.John Chrysostom contains these beautiful words: ‘We thank You also for this worship which You have been pleased to accept from our hands, though there stand around You thousands of Archangels and ten thousands of Angels, the Cherubim and the Seraphim, six-winged and many-eyed, soaring aloft upon their wings’
The litany of the precious gifts contains a petition for ‘An angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and bodies’
The Western Rite service contains references to the Archangel Michael.
The Iconostasis in the Eastern Church always has icons, which depict the Archangel Michael and the Archangel Gabriel.
The word angel comes from the Greek word for ‘messenger’
Clearly angels are an important part of Orthodox belief. They are spiritual beings created by God. The angels are completely spiritual and have no body, though they are able to assume bodies, as we see in the Holy Scriptures. It is believed that they are assigned by God to oversee and guide all the powers and energies of the created world. Also, each individual Christian has a guardian angel assigned to guard, guide and pray for him/her.
The belief in angels is amply attested in the Bible, both in the Old Testament and the New.
In Genesis 32:1 the angels of God met Jacob and he said ‘this is God’s army’.
In Daniel’s vision he describes thousands of thousands serving the One on the throne and ten thousand times ten thousand standing before Him (Daniel 7:10)
In these references the angels are represented as an innumerable multitude of beings intermediate between God and man.
We see them on occasions with a specific mission, eg: To Hagar in Genesis 16:7 to tell her to return to her mistress and to inform her of her pregnancy with a son who was to be called Ishmael.
In Judges 6:11 Gideon is told that he is to deliver Israel from the Midianites. Even though his clan was the weakest he would succeed because God was with him.
In Isaiah’s vision {Isaiah 6) there is mention of the seraphim each with six wings, calling to one another and saying ‘Holy, holy, holy is the Lord of hosts; the whole earth is full of His glory’. We see here the angels singing praises to God and then touching Isaiah’s lips with a burning coal to cleanse and prepare him to speak to the people.
In Daniel 8:16 the Angel Gabriel is called upon to make Daniel understand a vision and in Daniel 9:21 the Angel Gabriel is again mentioned: ‘while I was speaking in prayer the man Gabriel whom I had seen in the vision at the first, came to me in swift flight at the time of the evening sacrifice.’
In Daniel 10:13 the Archangel Michael is mentioned. He is described as ‘one of the chief princes’ in this passage he comes to the aid of another angel.
The Archangel Raphael is found in the Apocryphal writings, (in Tobit 12:15 ), he is described as one of the Archangels who stands before God and enters into the presence of the Holy One to bring Him the petitions of holy men. The name in Hebrew means ‘God has healed’. Raphael is also referred to in connection with the healing of sight and the binding of a demon in Tobit 3:17.
In the New Testament the Angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah to announce the conception of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-20), in v.19 we read ‘I am Gabriel, who stands in the presence of God and I was sent to speak to you and to bring you this good news’
In Matthew 1:20-21 we hear of the angelic visitation to Joseph in which he was told to take Mary as his wife because the conception in her was of the Holy Spirit.
Luke I:26 tells us that the Angel Gabriel announces to Mary the birth of Christ.
(In the East the feast day for Gabriel is the 24th March the day before we celebrate the Annunciation).
In Luke 2:9 we read of the appearance of angels to the shepherds and the accompanying radiance of the glory of God that shone around them so underscoring the divine event that was taking place, the birth of the eternal Son of God in His human nature.
Christ’s Teaching about Angels Matthew 18:10 ‘See that you do not despise these little ones; for I tell you that in heaven their angels always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven’. This teaches us that angels continually enjoy the vision of God in heaven and that children have angels assigned to them.
One of the Orthodox Baptism prayers clearly expresses this belief:
Yoke unto his life a radiant Angel, who shall deliver him from every snare of the adversary, from encounter with evil, from the demon of the noonday, and from evil visions.
In Matthew 22:30 Jesus teaches that when we die we become like angels, ie: spiritual beings. In Matthew 16:27 Jesus foretells that angels will accompany Him at His second coming.
We also see in the scriptures that angels announce His incarnation (Matthew 1:20,24) as well as His birth Luke 2:9-15).
They minister to Him in the desert (Matthew 4:11) and strengthen Him in His agony (Luke 22:43).
We read in Matthew 26:53 that at His arrest He said “Do you think that I cannot appeal to my Father, and He will at once send me more than twelve legions of angels”.
Angels are the first witnesses of the resurrection (Matthew 28:2-7)
The book of Hebrews addresses the superiority of Christ over the angels as there were heresies developing which advocated the worship of angels. Hebrews 1:14 describes them as ‘ministering spirits sent fourth to minister for those who will receive salvation’.
In the book of Revelation we have a description of the worship in heaven, which is to be the prototype of the worship of the Church.
In an Orthodox Liturgy we believe that the angels are really there and that the Liturgy is our real entrance, passage and ascension to the Throne of God. To quote Fr. Schemann, a well-known Orthodox writer, “Holy is the word, the song, the reaction of the Church as it enters into heaven, as it stands before the heavenly glory of God”.
In the words of the Cherubimic Hymn (part of the Liturgy) we mystically represent the Cherubim and sing the Thrice-Holy Hymn to the life-giving Trinity.
A word about the Sacramental Fans: In years gone by the altar fans were used by the Deacons to drive away insects from the Holy Altar and mainly from the Holy Gifts. At that time they were made of feathers, linen or leather.
Now they are two circular banners of gold or silver having engraved on both sides the six-winged angels called Seraphim and images of the Cherubim.
Present-day liturgical use of the Fans is symbolic, and reminds us that the angelic hosts are with us and serve at the Divine Liturgy with us, and go with us in procession and worship before the Altar of God. The Sacramental Fans stand behind the Holy Altar Table, for as the seraphim guard the Throne of God in heaven so too they guard the Altar Table, which is the Throne of God here on earth and as the Cherubim worship God in heaven so they worship Him with us before His Holy Altar on earth. In the Great Entrance you will notice these two round metal designs on a pole carried by the altar boys.
The question of Angelic Orders was raised by two of St. Paul’s writings.
In Ephesians 1:21 Christ is described as being above all rule and authority and power and dominion and above every name. In Colossians 1:16 Christ is described as the image of the invisible God in whom all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities. The writings of the mystical theologian, Dionysius, (6th century) state that there is a hierarchically graded series of beings, the nine choirs of angels. They are divided into three orders: 1. Seraphim, cherubim and Thrones. 2.Dominations, virtues and powers. 3.Principalities, Archangels and angels. Of these only the last two choirs have an immediate mission to men. There are also other angels who through pride fell under the leadership of the Devil who is called Satan. These angels are evil spirits and seek the destruction and corruption of man. They are called demons.
In the icon called ‘The Ladder of Divine Ascent’ demons are pictured trying to pull the pilgrims from the ladder, which they are climbing, towards heaven. This is a description of personal demonic activity in picture form.
The Archangel Michael is of particular interest. He is presumed to be the leader of the angels. There are four references to him in scripture: Daniel 10:13 and 12:1 where he is represented as the helper of the chosen people, in Jude 9 he is disputing with the devil and in Revelation 12:7-9 fighting a dragon.
In apocryphal writings he appears as the great captain who defeated the rebellious Archangel Lucifer and his followers. In connection with the scriptural and apocryphal writings he was regarded in the Churches as the helper of Christian armies against the heathen and as a protector of individuals against the devil especially at the hour of death when he conducts souls to God. His feast day in the West is September 29th known as Michaelmas Day. The Roman Church commemorates St. Gabriel and St.Raphael at the same Feast. The Book of Common Prayer commemorates St.Michael and All Angels. (The ‘Michaelmas Daisy’ flowers in late September in England, so named because of the Feast Day!)
In the East the feast is celebrated on November 8th.
Michael has been known as the patron of the sick, of sailors, soldiers, and grocers and also as the patron saint of Germany. In his icon he appears with a sword.
In the east each Monday is devoted liturgically to commemorating the angels as the unseen protectors of our lives in Christ.
Tags: Angels
