Posted on 09/29/2008 4:35:35 PM PDT by NYer
Vatican City, Sep 29, 2008 / 10:29 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI will complete his stay at the papal summer residence tomorrow, and as final preparations are being made for his return to Rome, he addressed the local bishop, religious, local civil authorities and security personnel on the topic of angels.
Today marks the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the Pope pointed out to Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano (the diocese in which Castelgandolfo is located) and the assembled crowd. With this Feast in mind, he prayed, "let us trustingly invoke their help, and the protection of the Guardian Angels, whose feast we will celebrate in a few day's time, on October 2."
Although angels are not visible, their presence "brings us great help and consolation: they walk at our side and protect us in all circumstances, they defend us from danger, and to them we can turn at any moment," Benedict XVI explained.
He further added that, "Many saints established bonds of real friendship with the angels, and numerous episodes testify to their assistance on particular occasions. Angels are sent by God 'to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation' as the Letter to the Hebrews says, hence they are a real help to us on the pilgrimage towards the heavenly homeland."
This afternoon, the Pope is due to bid farewell to the staff of the Pontifical Villas at Castel Gandolfo, before returning to the Vatican tomorrow.
Thank you, I’m already on the Catholic pinglists. Don’t have cable so I can’t watch the TV show you recommend, but the truth is that this is not about facts and having specific questions answered. This is kind of a big frightening step for someone raised Protestant and Episcopal, and a member of a conservative nondenominational church.
I do covet your prayers as I try to figure all this out.
Puhlease ... such an utterly childish attack, pope Iscool.
And as far as getting to 'know your guardian angel', how do you know it's not your gaurdian devil???
Satan's minions are not impressed by acts of charity.
You sound like a real pal. Notice nobody else got offended. I had a legitimate question and, thankfully, several people were kind enough to answer.
So much for your “Catholic charity;” of course, I’ve had enough conversations with the other RCs on here that I know you are the minority.
Thanks. I don’t have a big “issue” with the books that are called “Apocrypha” so if the name is in there, that works for me. I’ll have to share this with some of my friends.
I do have issue with the “personal guardian angel” thing though, which is an entirely different conversation.
I’m just thankful God has His angelic realm and that they protect us and do a host of other cool things.
Thanks again.
Thanks. I’d like to know a little more (like where the traditions are written or when they came about). I also believe that Michael and Gabriel are archangels but Raphael was a new one on me.
I just don’t believe in the personal angel thing. It’s way too much like the pagan beliefs. It is good enough for me to know that my Lord will send his angels to protect and guard me and I have faith in that.
BTW, how did you find out that names ending in -iel and -ael are archangels? If you have some kind of source, that’d be nice. Sometimes my bible study has discussed angels and it’d be nice to have some more info. Of course we don’t all agree either.
One time I fell on the ice at the edge of my driveway - it is on a slope an goes down onto a main road where the speed limit is 45 mph but people driver far faster. I am not kidding when I tell you that when I slipped and fell, I felt no hardness at all nor did I slide to the street. It was so eerie and felt like someone gently laid me down. I have no doubt it was an angel or two that God sent to help me.
I’ve had other similar things - no doubt. I also believe your son was protected. The real question is why some children are not kept safe.
God bless and I rejoice with you that your son is safe.
My Guardian Angel has bailed out!
For me it all comes down to John 6, especially verses 47-58.
EWTN has a very nice website in addition to their broadcasts, and they do stream many of their shows and important events live on the internet. You can pick that up here. Just go to the top left and pull down the menu "television" to "live tv" and it gives you a lot of choices.
And I don't see any reason that they would abandon us when we grow up . . . .
I would highly recommend C.S. Lewis, who said, "I couldn’t believe that 999 religions were completely false and the remaining one true. . . . We are not pronouncing all other religions to be totally false, but rather saying that in Christ whatever is true in all religions is consummated and perfected."
Many of the pagan religions have foreshadowings of Christ -- the Corn God who dies and rises again, the virgin birth, etc. In Christ all these hints and foreshadowings were made plain.
But of course we don't reject the Resurrection because it appears in Egyptian or Babylonian religion as well . . . nor should we reject guardian angels.
Just don't get all New-Agey about it! < shudder! >
We deal with a fair amount of anti-Catholic ranting on Catholic threads, and sometimes folks read too quickly and mistake an honest question for the type of partisan attack that you can unfortunately see elsewhere on this thread.
"Let us have peace!"
Actually, there is some truth in that. This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity; pagans, like Menander and Plutarch (cf. Eusebius, "Praep. Evang.", xii), and Neo-Platonists, like Plotinus, held it. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians, as their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, says: "He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub) of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed."
However, in the Bible this doctrine is clearly discernible and its development is well marked. In Genesis 28-29, angels not only act as the executors of God's wrath against the cities of the plain, but they deliver Lot from danger; in Exodus 12-13, an angel is the appointed leader of the host of Israel, and in 32:34, God says to Moses: "my angel shall go before thee." At a much later period we have the story of Tobias, which might serve for a commentary on the words of Psalm 90:11: "For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways." (Cf. Psalm 33:8 and 34:5) Lastly, in Daniel 10 angels are entrusted with the care of particular districts; one is called "prince of the kingdom of the Persians", and Michael is termed "one of the chief princes"; cf. Deuteronomy 32:8 (Septuagint); and Ecclesiasticus 17:17 (Septuagint).
This sums up the Old Testament doctrine on the point; it is clear that the Old Testament conceived of God's angels as His ministers who carried out his behests, and who were at times given special commissions, regarding men and mundane affairs. There is no special teaching; the doctrine is rather taken for granted than expressly laid down; cf. 2 Maccabees 3:25; 10:29; 11:6; 15:23. cf
Raphael was a new one on me.
The name of this archangel (Raphael = "God has healed") does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the Septuagint only in the Book of Tobias. Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". The story of the adventurous journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding "in the desert of upper Egypt" of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of Sara, daughter of Raguel, is picturesquely related in Tobit 5-11, to which the reader is referred. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tobit 12:15. Cf. Revelation 8:2). Of these seven "archangels" which appear in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, are mentioned in the canonical Scriptures. The others, according to the Book of Enoch (cf. xxi) are Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel, while from other apocryphal sources we get the variant names Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel instead of the last three in the other list. cf
I will agree with your last statement, but you guys aren’t the only ones who deal with it. I see some very nasty “anti” protestant stuff coming from “your” end too and, I don’t think it helps anyone, frankly.
I think we should be able to “reason together” as the Lord tells us to do; and for whatever it’s worth, I think if we would tighten ourselves together a little bit on the things we CAN agree on, we’d be much, much stronger. I know there are some serious issues among us but we do not disagree on Christ’s divinity, His role in salvation, the Trinity, and so much more....
Islam is growing by leaps and bounds and there is no discourse there - no freedom - nothing.
Anyway, just so you know. I love my Catholic brothers and sisters in Christ. They are dear to me and do so much good and are so strong in so many ways and are out there fighting the good fight.
I wish we were perfect . . . but we aren’t, just forgiven, as the bumper sticker says.
Artistic license (he was jokingly making a point about the sound). Faure wrote that Requiem to demonstrate to a little old lady in the congregation what Heaven would be like. The Angleorum being, "May the angels lead you into paradise..." is really supposed to be more of a cherubim sound than archangel.
Am I the only one to remember Uriel as being in the company of Archangels?
No. That's one I remember and I don't remember where I came by it, either.
OK...
I’ll add an Amen to that, my dear sister-in-Christ; and it goes for me as well. Forgiven and not even close to perfect.
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