The saints will take the place of the fallen angels When Satan and his followers were cast out of Heaven, it reduced the number of angels. The saints, says St. Augustine, will replace the angels who were lost, so that Heaven will have its full number of citizens, and maybe—in God’ s generosity—even more. Some of the angels, in their wicked pride, deserted God, and were thrown out of the brightness of their heavenly home into the lowest darkness. But the... Read more
Ten years ago this month Ralph Martin released a book entitled The Fulfillment of All Desire: A Guidebook for the Journey to God Based on the Wisdom of the Saints. The book has become one of the most popular books in the decade since. Catholic bishops, priests, scholars and laity have all spoken highly of it. In fact, the book has become a staple for courses in several universities, seminaries and novitiates. Needless to say this book comes highly recommended.... Read more
The mystery of the Seraphim St. Ephrem the Syrian poetically describes the mysteries of divine things. Even the six wings of the Seraphim is an idea too high and too deep for us to search out. In the beginning God created all things, and his Thought was with him without any beginning. He did not think as a human thinks; he was not moved in any new way, as a child of flesh is moved. His movement was not new, nor... Read more
When did God make angels? St. Augustine notes that Bible scholars don’t agree on what it meant when God said, “Let there be light.” The sun, moon, and stars were made later. Was this first “light” the spirits of the angels? We can’t know with certainty. But we can know that it was created, and God was the Creator. So, when darkness was over the deep, he who was Light said, “Let there be light.” From what Light this light came is clear;... Read more
The inner speech of spiritual beings When Scripture says that the Lord “speaks” to an angel, says St. Gregory the Great, we need to remember that angels don’t have lungs and throats and all the organs of speech. These things belong to human beings, who are mixtures of mind and body. We need to give this careful consideration: what it means to say that the Lord speaks to Satan, or Satan answers the Lord. We need to figure out what it... Read more
God speaks to angels in their contemplation God doesn’t really give verbal commands to the angels, says St. Gregory the Great. Instead, by contemplating God, which is their greatest delight, the angels understand what God wills them to do. But, again, we need to understand that, even when an incorporeal nature is said to “speak,” it does not always “speak” in the same way. There is one way in which God speaks to the angels, and another in which the angels speak... Read more
Angels speak to God in admiration How do angels “speak” to God? Their love and admiration are clear speech, says St. Gregory the Great. When they contemplate God, they feel in themselves the emotions that Revelation expresses in words: “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain.” But the angels speak to God in a different way. For example, in the Rev- elation of John they say, “Worthy is the Lamb who was slain, to receive power and wealth and wisdom” (Rev.... Read more
“Not even the angels in Heaven” As Scripture tells us, not even the angels in Heaven know when Christ will come to Earth again. St. Augustine sees Psalm 10 as a description of the world ready for the return of Christ as King. Now, after the hidden things of the Son, of which many things have been said in this Psalm, the end of the same Psalm will say a little about the apparent things of the Son. But the title... Read more
This week we have another TWO titles to give away! One lucky winner will receive a copy of The Way of Serenity: Finding Peace and Happiness in the Serenity Prayer by Father Jonathan Morris sponsored by HarperOne (you can read Michele’s review here) and one copy of Pope Francis Takes the Bus, and Other Unexpected Stories by Rosario Carello and sponsored by Servant Books (you can read my review here). I use Rafflecopter to run my giveaways which makes it simple for you and... Read more
Even angels don’t see the essence of God Angels are spiritual beings that live in the presence of God. Yet even they never saw God until Christ was manifested in the flesh, says St. John Chrysostom. Created beings simply aren’t capable of gazing on the Uncreated, but God loved us so much that he came to us in a way we could see and understand. Since his Son was about to appear in the flesh, God had been preparing the prophets... Read more
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