In the book of Daniel, we read that thousands of thousands of Angels ministered to God, and ten thousand times an hundred thousand stood before him. The number of the Angels is in fact so great that the Angels themselves cannot count it. It is a number that only their Maker knows. Today is dedicated not only to St. Michael, but all these Angels. We venerate them today as our fellow beings, beings who are creatures just as we are, immaterial beings rather than physical bodies. While we have souls, they are souls, pure spirits who have never known the defilement of original or actual sin. Their higher intellect is so much greater than ours that once they make a choice, it is done with such determination that no change of mind is possible. When the good angels chose God over Lucifer, it was an irrevocable decision that for them is impossible to regret or improve on.
The riches of our material world include all manner of created beings. We have inanimate objects like minerals, liquids, and gases. At a higher level the plant life is rich with diversity, from the humble mustard seed to the mighty redwood. Animals are a step higher, and range from the lowliest of plankton all the way up to Man himself. For yes, Man is an animal. The classic definition of a man is that he is a “rational animal,” one endowed on the natural level with reason, and in the supernatural realm with an immortal soul.
And then there are the Angels. In the hierarchy of beings they stand between Man and God. Angels are rational like Man but they are not animals like we are. They do not have the same animal instincts we have, the same bodily functions and appetites that are the cause of so many problems for us poor mortals. They are higher than Man and closer to the nature of God by virtue of being pure spirits. They conclude the perfection of this great hierarchy of creation.
Just as plants and animals each have their own hierarchy—the horse, for example, is a higher being than a hornet—so too are there various ranks of angels in Creation’s great patchword of diversity. Holy Scripture divides the angels into nine distinct ranks, the so-called Nine Choirs of Angels. These are further split into three distinct levels. So three levels of three choirs each. The highest level of Angels are those who see and adore God directly. Highest of them all are the Seraphim, who comprehend God with maximum clarity, whose love for him burns the brightest. Lucifer was once one of them, which is why he’s so powerful and dangerous. The Cherubim contemplate God too, but less in himself than in his providence. Next come the Thrones who contemplate God’s power and judgments (thrones, of course, symbolizing justice and juridical power.)
The next three choirs fulfill God’s providential plans for the universe. The Dominions have the greatest authority, commanding the lesser angels below them. The Virtues receive their orders from the Dominions and are responsible for the running of the universe, especially the synchronization of the heavenly bodies (the word “virtue” comes from the Latin word virtus, meaning might or strength). Last in this second group of choirs are the Powers. They serve the Virtues by fighting against evil influences that oppose the Virtues’ providential plan.
The last three choirs directly order human affairs. The Principalities care for earthly principalities, that is, cities, nations, kingdoms and other institutional societies. We should, for example, entrust the upcoming presidential election to the protection of the Principality responsible for the United States. The next rank is comprised of the Archangels, who communicate between God and man, conveying the most important divine messages to those chosen to hear them. We know three by name, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Finally, there are the ordinary Angels, “guardian angels,” one for each individual.
I should point out, however, that there are some angels who once made their single and irrevocable decision not to humble themselves before God. We call them demons. They come from all ranks, creating mayhem in the very same realms where the good angels do God’s work. Take Principalities for example. The Principalities of Hell are responsible for fostering warfare, as well as mayhem and anarchy within nations and governments. They work their evil in the highest places of society. Think of Nazi Germany, the French Revolution, the Cultural Revolution of Chairman Mao, the Stalinist massacres in the Soviet Union. And let’s not forget the present evils our own nation faces. For every choir of angels there is a choir of demons. On the individual level of the Guardian Angel, let’s not neglect that little demon with his pitchfork, constantly whispering temptations in our spiritual ear!
Finally, a word about the great St. Michael himself. This prince among angels challenged the angelic revolution in heaven, reminding the rebellious Lucifer that there are none like unto God. To him has been entrusted not a mere nation, not a secular society of men formed under a united government to rule over its people. No, to St. Michael has been entrusted with God’s holy Church, the Mystical Body of Christ. This prince of the heavenly host, who once cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits, this Michael is the powerful protector of our Church, guarding it from those who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. If we are saddened by what has happened to our Church, turn to St. Michael. If we fear for the future of the Church and the Papacy, if we are tempted to despair over the watering down and perversion of our dogmas, or the unraveling of our society’s morals, then turn to St. Michael. It is he who drove Satan out of heaven, and it is he who has the task of driving the same smoke of Satan from the Church of God.
On this great feast of Michaelmas, therefore, let us turn to this prince of the heavenly host, humbly asking him for the strength and patience needed to fight on while remaining steadfast in the faith. Let us rely on St. Michael and all the legions of angels under his command, putting our trust in the divine Providence of Almighty God, the God who, according to the 90th Psalm, “has given his Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways. And they shall bear thee in their hands, that thou hurt not thy foot against a stone.”