At Holy Trinity we really love angels. We must do - there are
almost 50 of them around the church! There are angels and archangels in
quite a few of the stained glass windows; we have golden angels on the
top of the 4 High Altar riddle posts; three archangels on the High
Altar reredos; stone angel roof bosses, carved wooden angels on the
clergy and choir stalls, and last but not least Handel Edward's large
angel at the back of church.
On the last Sunday of September we will have an opportunity to
celebrate the ministry of the angels - the real ones this time - as we
keep the great Feast of St Michael and All Angels (Michaelmas).
But what exactly will we be celebrating on that day? Are angels
actually real spiritual beings or should we think of them as purely
mythological - lumped in with the likes of fairies, goblins, mermaids
and suchlike? Perhaps they should just be seen as metaphors for God's
desire to communicate with us (the word 'angel' means a 'messenger')
protect us and defend us from evil. And when we pray: Therefore with
angels and archangels and all the company of heaven' perhaps we are
just using 'angelic' language to talk about something which is really
beyond our understanding - the mystery of the life of heaven.
And yet although for many people belief in angels is just part of
humanity's superstitious past, for many others angels are very real.
There has actually been a great rise in interest in angelology in
recent years and if you go to the 'spirituality' section of a bookshop
you will almost certainly see several books on the subject.
You are probably wondering by now where I stand on all this. Well I
believe angels are indeed real spiritual beings. For one thing they
play such an important role in the biblical story that it is difficult
to 'write them out' even if one wanted to do so. And if there is a
spiritual world beyond the material one we now inhabit then it is quite
logical to believe that spiritual beings
of various kinds inhabit that world. In addition there is the evidence
of many sensible, level-headed, men and women who claim to have seen
angels. For all these reasons I am persuaded of their reality, though I
respect the views of those who take the opposite view.
Angels appear in many places in Holy Scripture and have a variety of
roles. In the Old Testament God is often known as The Lord of Hosts' -
'a host being an angelic army which fights evil and also performs other
functions in the cosmos: guarding places and people, punishing
wrongdoers, communicating the will of God, and revealing God's word'
('Angels' by Linda Proud, Pitkin Guides). And we are all familiar with
the roles of the three Archangels mentioned by name in the Bible -
Michael, who tramples down Satan, Gabriel who brings God's message to
Mary that she is to be the mother of the Lord, and Raphael who brings
healing to God's people.
The Church eventually came to believe that there were nine 'choirs' of
angels, grouped into three orders or hierarchies: First order:
Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Second Order: Dominions,
Powers,Virtues;Third Order: Principalities,Archangels,Angels.
All this seems very complicated and needn't worry us too much, and
there isn't space here to go into great detail about the matter. But as
we approach the Feast of St Michael and All Angels I invite you to open
your hearts and minds to the ministry of the angels - God's messengers
- who are sent to guide and protect us.
