Have men on this earth angels assigned to them as their guardians?Have men on this earth angels assigned to them as their guardians?
Yes; scripture, tradition, and theological reasoning tell us so.
Our Blessed Lord says: "Their angels always see the face of the Father in heaven." (Matthew 18:10) Saint Paul says: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?" (Hebrews 1:14) Many understand the following from the Psalms in a secondary sense of man, primarily, of course, of Christ: "He hath given His angels watch over thee, that they guard thee in all thy ways." (Psalm 90:11)
Tradition - Saint Clement of Alexandria says: "The divine virtue gives good things by the angels whether they are or are not seen."
Origen says: "Angels have the care of our souls, and to them from our infancy are we committed as to tutors and guardians."
Saint Ambrose: "An angel during lifetime belongs to man, whose care it is that no harm comes to him."
Saint Bernard: "These we believe to be called angels whom we suppose to be assigned to individual men."
The Church in sanctioning an office to our guardian angels on the 2nd of October at once testifies to its belief in them. Even ancient philosophers, as was shown in the commencement of this treatise, believed it.
Theological Reason - From what we have been saying about the angels the doctrine of angel-guardians all but necessarily follows. The first choir of angels enlightens the second, the second the third, the eighth the ninth, and the ninth mankind. Then again, and if it be true (Saint Peter tells us it is) that the demons have the power of tempting man, it seems but fitting that man would be excited to good by heavenly spirits.
"It is most suitable," says Saint Bonaventure, "that fallen man should be entrusted to angelic care, and that angels should be deputed to guide and direct men. God's power, God's wisdom, and God's mercy demand it: His power, because God wishes to be honoured, not alone in Himself, but even in His servants; whence it was not sufficient that angels should serve Himself, but that they should also minister to His creatures. Again, God had as His adversaries the demon and his followers, and it was more fitting that He should overcome them by His ministers than by Himself, that thus His power might be shown, and that not without reason He might be called the Lord of Hosts. His wisdom; for this is the order which the divine law follows and observes in all its operations - the lowest is brought by means of intermediaries to the highest. Now, the angels, by reason of their immortal nature and their consummation in grace, hold a middle place between God and fallen man; and it was therefore fitting that God should assist and guard man by means of angelic ministry. But, sweetest of all, it became His boundless mercy, that hath always opened its bosom to fallen man, and never was wanting in aught that was needful to his salvation; and hence, when fallen man was sold to do evil (3 Kings 21:25), He offered for him the price of the blood of His Son that he might do good; and because he had an enemy attacking him, He gave him a minister to be his shield, that so no part of human misery might remain unsuccoured by the divine assistance and protection. On these grounds, then, it was suitable that fallen man should be afforded angelic guidance."
Even in the state of innocence, and if man had not fallen, man would still have an angel guardian; for, says the same Saint Bonaventure, "man has a struggling, not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers of this world of darkness and against the spirits of evil in the high places; and this is the reason why the good angel is sent to guard us, that we might be defended against the violence of our oppressor, that we might be instructed and enlightened against his deceits, and that we might be exhorted and incited to do good contrary to his wiles and temptations. Now, in a state of innocence our enemy would still have been stronger, more deceitful, and more obstinate in his evil intention than we in our purpose of doing good, and would have harassed us, though not so terribly as now; and on account of this opposition of the demon, God would have given angels to defend, enlighten, and encourage us.
"Angels have not guardian spirits; for though one angel may be said to preside over another, yet one could not be strictly said to guard the other. Moreover, since their confirmation or their fall the guidance of a guardian angel was quite useless - the good do not need it, and the wicked could derive no benefit from it; and before that event there was none to attack, and no necessity, therefore, of one to defend.
"It follows very plainly, also, from this that Our Lord Jesus Christ had not a guardian angel; for, from the moment of His ineffable Conception, He was blessed and perfectly blessed, and it belongs to the blessed to guide rather than be guided. Moreover, the hypostatic union uniting His sacred soul and body to the Divinity brought His humanity at once under the immediate protection of God's unassailable power."
Is it the just only, or have sinners and even infidels guardian angels?
It is the common belief that not only just persons have guardian angels, but even sinners and infidels. Indeed, it would appear that sinners and infidels should more certainly have them than just people, inasmuch as they stand in far greater need of them. Now, the Scripture does not seem to limit the attendance of the guardian angels to those only who are in the state of grace, neither do the Fathers, and therefore it is likely that all have ministering spirits. It is true Saint Paul seems to put a qualifying clause: "sent to minister to those who shall receive the inheritance of salvation." But this does not necessarily exclude others. It is believed that Adam and Eve had angel guardians even before their fall. Our Blessed Lady, it is believed, had an angel guardian. It is considered that those angels that sang over Bethlehem in the Christmas sky at midnight, and appeared to the sleeping shepherds, were some of the many guardian angels appointed to attend our Blessed Lord.
Is there appointed to each man individually a special guardian angel?
That is the general Catholic belief. The Scriptures make mention of several persons who were attended by a special angel. Thus (in Genesis 16:7) the angel of the Lord speaks openly to Agar, the angel, it is believed, that evermore was with her - her guardian angel. In Genesis also there are several mentions of an angel that accompanied Jacob. In Daniel we read of the angel of the chaste Susanna, and in the Acts of the Apostles of the angel of Saint Peter. More openly, however, do the Fathers speak on the matter. Saint Jerome says: "Great, therefore, is the dignity of the human soul, since each has an angel assigned to it as its attendant." The Council of Florence, in its twentieth session, approves of the epistle of Saint Basil, which declares the same doctrine. And lastly, much more fully is the munificence of God and His special interest in each one of us manifested by thus appointing to each of us a special angel to care and guard and inspire us.
When does this guardianship commence?
With the first moment of life. "Each soul," says Saint Anselm, "as long as it is in the flesh is in the custody of an angel." From the moment of conception, man is a wayfarer here below, as such is exposed to the assaults of the demon, long before he has attained the use of reason, or even left his mother's womb, and as such is consequently handed over to an angel's care. From the moment the soul, which is the image of the eternal God, vivifies and ennobles the body, from that moment an angel waits on that image of the everlasting God. Therefore, our Blessed Lord says: "Do not despise one of those little ones" - long before they have attained the use of reason - "for their angels always see the face of the Father in heaven." And that guardianship ceases not till death. After death, since man is no longer in a state of probation, the guardianship in the strict sense ceases, but it is piously believed that a relationship exists, especially if the soul be saved, between that soul and its attendant guardian angel for all eternity.
Saint Bonaventure asks the question, whether the guardian angel withdraws his protection on account of obstinacy in sin? and he answers it, by saying that the angel never deserts any person, no matter how obstinate in sin, so far at least as trying to withdraw him from sin; but he will not be as pressing in urging him to good. The wicked angel, he says, never gives up tempting a man, no matter how steadfast he may be in doing good; and since the good angel is no less ready and desirous than the wicked, it may be fairly concluded that he, on the other hand, never deserts the man who even continues obstinate in sin. The worse a man is, the more prone he is to fall into sin; but the more prone to fall into sin, the more in need of a hand to withdraw him; and therefore the more appealing is his claim on the angel's guidance. Again, a doctor never leaves his patient while there is life, although his case be hopeless; but our spiritual guide and doctor is God's angel, and he surely is more anxious for the welfare of our soul than the physician for the health of our body; therefore, it is to be expected that he too continues with us to the end. And even when all hope is past the doctor is still consulted as to food, and medicine, and advice - what will ease the body and soothe the pain - but the case of a soul can never be so absolutely hopeless, depending as it does on the bounty of God's grace; and it is therefore to be assumed, that no one, no matter how obstinate, will be deprived of the angel's protection while he is in this life.
Are guardian angels appointed for countries, and churches, and communities, etc.?
Yes; see Daniel chapters 10 and 11. Saint Denis, Saint Jerome, Saint Gregory, and Saint Augustine understand the Prince of the Greeks, the Persians, and the Jews there spoken of as the angel assigned to those countries.
Saint Epiphanius says: "Kingdoms and nations are placed under the guardianship of angels."
Saint Clement of Alexandria: "The governance of angels is distributed among cities and peoples."
With regard to churches, communities, persons in dignity, monasteries, it is believed that all these have a special angel. In Daniel (10:21) Saint Michael is called the Prince of the Synagogue. In the Office of Saint Michael, the Church calls him the patron and guardian of the Christian world. All the great doctors of the Church - Jerome, Isidore, Hilary - favour the opinion that each church has its guardian angel; and it is probable that communities, monasteries, parishes, sodalities, colleges, have each their guardian angel. In the case of persons holding offices of dignity, such as popes, prelates, rulers, it is even believed that they have two - one by reason of their office, and one because of their own person - inasmuch as they need a twofold wisdom and guidance.
Have immaterial things a guardian angel?
The common opinion says yes. In the Apocalypse (14:18, 15:5) we read: "And another angel went out from the altar, who had power over fire. And I heard the angel of the waters saying," etc. Again (8:1): "I saw four angels standing on the four corners of the earth holding the four winds." "And I saw another angel ascending from the rising of the sun, and he cried to the four angels to whom it was given to hurt the earth and sea."
Saint Gregory says: "Nothing in this visible world is disposed but by the agency of invisible creatures."
Saint Thomas says: "All corporeal substances are ruled by angels, and this is the belief not of Christian divines alone, but even of pagan philosophers."
It is supposed that it is not to each individual thing, but only to the different species of material nature that angels are assigned.
What are the duties and acts of the angel guardian?
So far as they relate to persons, the six following are the principal:
(1) The angel guardian defends the person from evil, and obtains and promotes the good both of body and soul. This is their direct and immediate duty; and this they perform either by removing from our way, and all unknown to us, things hurtful and injurious, or by putting into our mind the thought of going where we would avoid harm, and meet with good.
(2) They oppose the wiles of the demons, and when the temptations of the infernal spirit would be dangerous, or when his destructive wrath might be enkindled and threatening, then they interfere by opposing good inspirations to the suggestions of the evil one, and by calling, as it is believed, on the aid of the choir of angels called Powers, when physical danger is threatened from hell below.
(3) They offer up to Almighty God all our prayers. In the book of Tobias we read: "I offered your prayer to the Lord" (12:12). In the Apocalypse it is written: "There was given to the angel much incense, and the smoke of the incense ascended from the prayers of the Saints, by the hand of the angel before God" (7:3). And Saint Augustine says: "The angels bear our sighs and groans before Thy Throne, O Lord, that we might more surely obtain the clemency of Thy forgiveness, and may be bedewed with the benedictions of Thy grace."
(4) Our angel guardian intercedes for us with God, as all the Fathers teach, with a personal and special interest beyond the intercession of the other angels.
(5) From time to time they are the ministers of God in inflicting on us punishments because of our sins. Punishments for sin, it is to be remarked, may be either simply and purely penal, or they may be corrective or medicinal. When simply and purely punitive, they are ordinarily inflicted by the demon as God's minister. Executioners generally are of the lowest rank, and so the fallen angels are fitly selected as the agents of God's punitive decrees. Occasionally, however, the guardian angel is the minister; just as, on the other hand, though the ordinary agent of God's corrective punishments is the angel guardian, yet, as in the case of holy Job, the infernal spirit is the agent appointed by Almighty God.
(6) The last hours of a man, his judgment and entrance into heaven, are the moments of the great and final duties of the guardian spirit; and if the soul be detained in purgatory, then the duty of the angel is to offer at the throne of God the charities performed on the earth for the good of that soul, and from time to time, according to God's desires, to visit and console it in its prison of fire. Our Blessed Lord (in Luke 16:22) says: "And it happened that the beggar died, and he was taken by angels into Abraham's bosom." Saint Ambrose says: "These holy spirits, that is, the angels of God, are the chariots of the saints." At the great accounting day they will once more come with the Son of Man in the clouds of heaven, and then they will testify before all mankind the good actions of the glorified, the evil actions of the damned, and thus will God's justice triumph when judged.
Saint Bonaventure says: "The great masters were accustomed to reckon twelve effects arising from this custody, and all these they found in the Scriptures:
"(1) To accuse of sin. The angel of the Lord ascended from Galgal to the place of weepers, and said: I have brought you out of the land of Egypt, and you have not heard my voice.' (Judges 2:1)
"(2) To absolve from the chains of sin. 'The angel stood, and the chains fell from his hands' (Acts 12:12); that is, the angel disposes.
"(3) To remove obstacles in the way of doing good. This is signified in Exodus (12:12), where the angel struck the first-born of Egypt.
"(4) To drive away demons, as we read in last chapter of Tobias: The demon he drove away from my wife Sara, says Tobias of Raphael.
"(5) To teach. 'Now I have come to teach you, and that you might understand.' (Daniel 9:22)
"(6) To reveal secrets. Genesis 18:17: The three angels have spoken of the Trinity and Unity, and continue: 'Can I conceal anything from Abraham?'
"(7) To console. Tobit 5:13: 'Be brave in mind, for soon you will be cured by God.'
"(8) To strengthen in the way of God. 3 Kings 19:7: 'Arise and eat, for a long way is before thee.'
"(9) To convey and bring back. Tobit 5:15: 'I will lead and restore him.'
"(10) To overthrow our enemies. Isaias 37:36: 'And the angel of the Lord going out struck the Assyrians in their camp.'
"(11) To mitigate temptations to concupiscence. This is typified (in Genesis 32), where Jacob, after struggling with the angel, receives from his hands a benediction, and forth with the sinew of his thigh becomes withered.
"(12) To pray for us, and to bear our prayers before God. In the last chapter of Tobias we read: 'When you were praying with tears . . . I was offering them. . .' These are the effects of the angels custody, for all of which we ought to be grateful both to God and to His holy angels."
Saint Bonaventure asks two further questions: (1) Whether the angels joy is increased when the guarded soul is saved; and (2) whether there is grief or pain or loss when the soul is damned? He answers: Essentially there can be neither increase nor diminution of their joy in God the ever-blessed; accidentally, however, not alone extensive but even intensive, it is probable there may be increase. There is a joy wherein consists their substantial reward, a joy in some uncreated good - that is, their joy about God and in God; there is another joy in a created good, in themselves or others that is, their accidental reward. Their substantial reward can not be increased or lessened, since they have been confirmed in glory but their accidental glory or joy, whether extensive (regarding many) or intensive (more copiously with regard to one) may be increased, it is probable; but from man's damnation the angels conceive no compassion or sorrow, nor do they incur any loss of glory.
What, on the other hand, ought to be the reciprocal actions of man towards their guardian angels?
Saint Bernard says that man ought to show to his guardian angel -
(1) Reverence for his presence. He does this by recognising the presence of the angel every place whithersoever the man goes, and by doing nothing in his presence which, were the angel visible to his mortal eye, he would not dare to do.
(2) Devotion and affection for the angel's benevolence. The angel is to be beloved, says Saint Bernard, because presently he loves us more than parent or friend, and guides towards heaven with a love that is inferior only to that of Jesus Christ who died for us, or His Blessed Mother, and because hereafter in heaven we will be brethren and co-partners in the same inheritance of glory.
(3) Unbounded confidence in his protection. We can have no fear when such a guide is by. He cannot be seduced. He cannot be overcome. The young Tobias called in terror to his guide, when the huge fish with its open jaws rushed towards him. The holy guide from heaven told him at once what to do. He did it and was saved; and not only saved himself, but he saved others also.
Saint Bernard sums up thus beautifully: "They are powerful, they are prudent, they are faithful. Why, then, do we fear? Only let us follow them, only let us cling to them, and we will ever remain in God's protection." All their devotion to us, and all our indebtedness to them, is sweetly told in that little hymn which we were taught when children, and which we, in our turn, ought never fail to teach to little children:
"Dear angel, ever at my side,
How loving must thou be,
To leave thy home in heaven to guide
An erring child like me!"We ought also to teach little children to say the prayer to our guardian angel, and often to repeat it ourselves: "O angel of God, to whose holy care I am committed by the divine clemency, enlighten, guard, guide, and govern me. Amen!"
Do angels grieve over the evil deeds of those they guide?
Strictly speaking, angels cannot grieve; for they are always in the possession of the Beatific Vision, and no sorrow can therefore come to them. In human conversation, however, we sometimes speak of them as afflicted with sadness and full of shame. But about the good acts of those they guide there seems no reason to doubt their gratification. Our Blessed Lord says: "There is more joy in heaven over one sinner that does penance than over ninety-nine just"; and if the angels in heaven rejoice over a poor penitent's act, much more the angel guardian of that penitent.
In respect of the irrational and material world, what are their duties?
To preserve them according to the intention of God in creating those things; to see that demons do not injure them, or make use of them for wicked purposes, and finally to direct and preserve them for their destined end in creation.
What is the duty of those angels who have guardianship of the universal world?
Their duty is (to use a homely figure) a sort of stewardship, to see that subordinate angels carry out God's designs, and that no clash or rupture happens in the order and harmony of the world.
Can the angels be described, or can they be seen by human eyes?
Angels cannot be seen such as they really are by human eyes. We in this world can have no idea of substances that are without form and occupy no space. Such are the angels of God. At times, however, they have assumed corporal shape and have appeared to men, and occasionally these outward shapes testify to their innate grandeur and power. In the book of Daniel (8:15) we read: "And it came to pass when I, Daniel, saw the vision, and sought the meaning, that behold there stood before me the appearance of a man. And I heard the voice of a man between Ulai, and he called and said: Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision. And he came and stood near where I stood. And when he was come, I fell on my face trembling; and he said to me, Understand, O son of man, for in the time of the end the vision shall be fulfilled. And when he spoke to me I fell flat on the ground, and he touched me, and set me upright."
This was merely when the angel stood near, and did not make himself visible, and yet the Prophet adds: "And I, Daniel, languished, and was sick for some days; and when I was risen up I did the king's business, and I was astonished at the vision, and there was none that could interpret it." But in chapter 10 he describes the angel as he appeared at another time: "In the third year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, a word was revealed to Daniel. . . . In those days I, Daniel, mourned the days of three weeks. And I ate no desirable bread, and neither flesh nor wine entered my mouth, neither was I anointed with ointment till the days of three weeks were accomplished. And in the four-and-twentieth day of the first month I was by the great river which is the Tigris. And I lifted up my eyes, and I saw and I beheld a man clothed in linen." He described his several parts. He describes his loins: "His loins were girded with the finest gold." "His body was like the chrysolite; his face as the appearance of lightning." It must be remembered what lightning is, and how terrific, in the Eastern countries; "and his eyes as a burning lamp." He describes his arms and feet: "His arms and all down ward even to the feet like to glittering brass"; "and the voice of his word like to the voice of a multitude" - a thousand voices put in one. He describes the effect of the vision: "And I, Daniel, alone saw the vision; for the men that were with me saw it not, but an exceeding great terror fell upon them, and they fled away and hid themselves"; although they had not seen it. He tells of its effect on himself: "And I being left alone saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me, and the appearance of my countenance was changed in me, and I fainted away and retained no strength." The Prophet continues: "And I heard the voice of his words; and when I heard, I lay in a consternation upon my face, and my face was close to the ground. And behold he touched me, and lifted me upon my knees, and upon the joints of my hand. And he said to me: Daniel, thou man of desires, understand the words that I speak to thee, and stand upright. . . . And when he said this word to me I stood trembling. And he said to me. . . . And when he was speaking such words to me, I cast down my countenance to the ground and held my peace. And behold, as it were the likeness of a son of man touched my lips, then I opened my mouth and spoke, and said to him that stood before me: O my Lord, at the sight of Thee my joints are loosed, and no strength hath remained in me. And how can the servant of my Lord speak with my Lord? for no strength remaineth in me; moreover, my breath is stopped. Therefore, he that looked like a man touched me again and strengthened me. And he said: Fear not, O man of desires, peace be to thee, take courage and be strong. And when he spoke to me I grew strong."
Milton, with his eagle imagination, thus paints the Archangel Raphael, whom God is sending to our first parents in Paradise to warn them against the wiles of Satan:
So spake the Eternal Father and fulfilled
All justice, nor delayed the winged saint
After his charge received; but from among
Thousand celestial ardours, where he stood,
Veiled with his gorgeous wings; upspringing light,
Flew through the midst of heaven . . .
. . . six wings he wore to shade
His lineaments divine. The pair that clad
Each shoulder broad came mantling o er his breast
With regal ornament. The middle pair
Girt like a starry zone his waist and round
Skirted his loins and thighs with downy gold,
And colours dipped in heaven. The third his feet
Shadowed from either heel with feathered mail
Sky-tinctured grain.
. . . Straight knew him all the bands
Of angels under watch; and to his state,
And to his message high, in honour rise.
. . . . .
Him through the spicy forest onward come
Adam discerned, as in the door he sat.
. . . . .
Haste hither, Eve, and with thy sight behold
Eastward among those trees what glorious shape
Comes this way moving; seems another morn
Risen on mid-noon; some great behest from heaven
To us perhaps he brings, and will vouchsafe
This day to be our guest.In the book of Tobias in the Old Testament - that book so full of human life, human interest and romance - is to be found a most singular instance of the protection which God's beautiful angels ever tender towards man. In the early annals of the Church also, in the life, for instance, of that young virgin and martyr, Saint Cecilia, to whom in our devotion we dedicate the sacred music of the altar, we find an enchanting episode where the angel of God acts a prominent and even a visible part. The young virgin, trained up in the Christian religion, with all that earnestness and tender piety which we ascribe to the early ages of Christianity, had dedicated her stainless body and soul, her heart and her affections to her God. In the interior of her own house, whether at her needlework, or among her slaves, or amid her flowers, she sang her sacred hymns, often accompanying herself on the lyre; but ever the refrain came in whether the burden of the song was glad or sorrowful, there was ever the one refrain, that which the Church in Cecilia's sacred office sings: "Grant, O Lord, that not alone my heart, but my body also be immaculate, so that I be not confounded in thy sight." Beautiful prayer, indeed, for a virgin saint! And she clothed herself in sackcloth and subdued her body. But her parents gave her away in marriage. Now this was not with her own will, and therefore she said to her husband: "I have a secret to tell you, Valerian. Listen! There is a beautiful angel and he guards me, and he will permit no one to harm me. I am a Christian." And filled interiorly with wonder, Valerian said: "Show me the beautiful angel and I will be a Christian too!" And she replied: "You cannot see him till you are first baptised." And when he still was longing, she desired him to go out on the Appian Road, and where the sepulchres of the Saints were, he should there meet a man blind and begging, and on giving the blind beggar a signal, the white-haired old man would rise and lead him to where the holy Pontiff, Urban, was hid. And he went and was baptised, and on his return he found Cecilia praying on her knees in her bed-chamber, and beside her was the beautiful angel, and a divine light filled the whole apartment. Thereupon Valerian was so struck, that he went immediately and sought out his brother, Tiburtis. Him he brought to Cecilia, and when she saw him, she cried out: "Today I acknowledge thee my brother, because the love of God hath led thee to despise idols," and having taught him the truths of Christianity she sent him also to be baptised; and when he returned, he too saw the face of the beautiful angel, and the divine light filling the room. Now, the two brothers were so filled with the holy spirit of God, that they went out into the public streets and openly preached the Divinity of Christ. They were immediately taken up and brought before the judge, Almachius, and confessing themselves Christians, they endured a glorious martyrdom for the sake of their Divine Lord and Master. But Almachius, being corrupt and covetous, thought to become master of the possessions of these two brothers, for they were both very rich; and having learned that Cecilia was espoused to one of them, he sent for her, and demanded an account of their treasures and belongings. But she replied that they had already been distributed among the poor. Whereupon, being incensed, he commanded her to be taken to his own house, where he ordered a furnace to be lighted, and the slaves to cast her body into the fire. For a day and a night she remained in the fire, but not a hair of her head, nor a bone of her body, nor even the hem of her dress, was touched by the flames. As with the three children in the book of Daniel, the angel walked with her through the fire. Then Almachius ordered the common executioner to come and strike off her head Three times he awkwardly struck, and then desisting, left her neck all mangled and bloody and her head hanging, and she suffering thus for three days further, and praying all the time, slept in the Lord. - Roman Breviary
To sum up with regard to the choirs of angels, those of the first hierarchy - namely, Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones - never leave the presence of Almighty God, and are called assistant angels. Their duty primarily is to honour God and praise Him; their secondary duty is to make known the will of God to the angels of the subsequent ranks. The first choir in the second hierarchy - that is, the Dominations - are called ministering angels, because they (as it were) order and get performed the great works of the external world, but they themselves are not employed in the performance. The remaining five choirs or orders - that is, the Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels - are called messenger angels, because through them and by them all the external works are executed and all the guidance performed.
Of what rank was the Archangel Gabriel who was sent to our Blessed Lady?
It is against our preconceived notions to consider the Archangel Gabriel as belonging to any of the inferior ranks of angels, both because of the dignity of our Blessed Lady, as well as of the solemn, tremendous, and absolutely unique mission on which he came. The question arises, then, Is any member of the higher choirs ever sent on a message to earth? Saint Athanasius, Scotus, Molina say yes. Great names say no - Saint Dionysius, Saint Bonaventure, Saint Thomas. Suarez, however, says that God does sometimes dispense with the laws that guide the angelic kingdom, as He does in the case of miracles on earth; and the common belief is that Gabriel must be one of the highest of the order of Seraphim, if not the very highest, because of our Blessed Lady and the unspeakable mystery of the Incarnation.