A Study of Angels & Demons

Angel Prayer

Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.

Amen.

Angels Defined

• Angels are messengers for the Lord

• Hebrew = “mal’akh”

• Greek = “angelos”

• They have intellect, free will, were created by God before the material world, role as ministering spirits, organized into choirs/orders

• Role = adoration of God’s throne, messengers/instruments of God’s will

• Names of archangels - Michael, Gabriel, Raphael

• Demons/fallen angels = fell due to pride, envy, conquered by Christ

• An innumerable number of angels reflect God’s sovereignty over creation, reminding us of God’s presence

• Humans are between animals and angels

• Angels praise God - our praise during Mass is joined with the angels’ praise

• Every person conceived has a guardian angel

• Satan = “Dragon”, sweeps 1/3 of the stars from heaven, aka captures 1/3 angels on his side

Nine Choirs of Angels:

• Types = function

• Orders/choirs = rank

1. Angels - messengers, guardians

2. Archangels - carry major messages, lead angel armies

3. Principalities - oversee groups, nations, institutions

4. Powers - warriors against evil, maintain cosmic order

5. Virtues - channels of God’s grace, miracles

6. Dominions - Govern lower orders, administer divine will

7. Thrones - symbolic of God’s justice, support His throne

8. Cherubim - Guard God’s glory, presence, and throne

9. Seraphim - closest to God, continual worship of Him

Higher order serves God directly

Lower order serves in creation and humanity

Guardian Angels & Personal Protection

• Protect children and help with human tasks

• Do not get names from humans, but from God only

• Act by divine command, not independent power

• Assigned at conception

• Deliver messages

• Angels ascend and descend from Heaven - i.e., Jacob’s ladder

• Do not worship angels

Angels in Catholic Liturgy

• Play a role in worship

• Accompany Christ in the Eucharist

• Tradition holds that they are present at every Mass

• Present the prayers of the faithful to God (intercessory role) Tobit 12:12

• Foster a deeper prayer life in the human they guard

• Assist in the administration of the sacraments

  • Guide the baptised

  • Strengthen the faithful (confirmation)

  • Rejoice over repentance (confession)

  • Associated with healing (extreme unction)

  • Protect and guide those entering vocations (Holy orders and matrimony)

• The Sanctus in every Mass = Isaiah 6:3 Angels glorifying God

Demonology

• All angels were created good, had free will, underwent a trial of obedience during which Helel (“shining one, Lucifer) became Satan through sin

• Unlike humans, who have imperfect knowledge and can repent, angels had perfect knowledge and a spiritual nature and cannot undo their choice, unable to return to God and were expelled from Heaven, envious of God’s creation of man in His image

• Desired supernatural glory separate from God (pride & envy)

  • I will be like the most high

• Tradition says = Archangel Michael said to Satan, “Mi-cah-el”, = which means “You want to be like God?” or “Who is like the most High?” which brought Satan down

• The good angels who persevered were able to see God’s Beatific Vision

Demons in the Bible

• Trying to show authority, take dominion, tempt humans via deception, possession of people, and engage in spiritual warfare

• Christ has defeated them and restored humanity through grace

• Sacraments & sacramentals protect against demonic influences

• Idol worship is demon worship

• Hebrew for “devil” or : demon” is “Shedim” (false gods), “Se’irim” (goat-like demons), “ruach ra’ah” (evil spirits)

• Serve Satan, associated with sickness and sin

• Casted out in the name of Jesus

Attributes and Limitations

• Lacks independent power, can only act within God’s permissive boundaries, can tempt but not force humans to sin

• Power will be nullified in the final judgement

• Only here to help us become saints

• Have limited knowledge, can remember, can see humans receiving sacraments, have to watch patterns from outside, can’t compel free will

Demons in Catholic Mysticism and Visions

• Tactics

  • Physical torment

  • Psychological warfare

  • Counterfeit visions and false mystical gifts

  • Beasts, shadows, serpent imagery

  • Attempts to cause despair, pride, self-deception, worship of anything other than God

• #1 sin that invites demonic possession - occult activity

• Be able to discern clean from unclean

• By right of baptism, the soul belongs to God. Engaging in occult, addiction, and perversion is granting permission to Satan

• Go to confession to get clean

• All sacraments are sacraments of healing

• Inanimate things can convey power = holy water, ark of the covenant

• The devil hates virtue, wants to keep you in spiritual complacency

• Cannot separate yoga from spiritual practice, every body position has meaning, it’s like liturgy, an offering

• Catholics have their own prayer positions (kneel, pray, genuflect)

• Cannot separate meaning from the thing itself - not just stretching

• When anyone crosses themselves 9Catholic or not), they can’t do it without it being Catholic

• “Yoga” = yoked with divine

• Spirituality is not divorced from the body - fasting, incense, prayer, baptism

• People are hungry for spiritual movement, and rather than experiencing Mass, they fill the hole with yoga

• No on Harry Potter - signature of the devil in content

• When a child is most open to seeking God and beginning to discern vocation, this content is presented (cotton candy for the soul)

• Used to have a list of impious media that Catholics avoided

• Soak children in purity so when they come across the impure, they can tell - otherwise introducing them to falsity too early confuses them - what’s real? They are not able to discern yet, like an adult

• Our memories feed our imagination - give them the good stuff, good literature helps form good imagination, good memories = good adult formation, teaches you how ot use imagination for the good and confirming it to the 7 virtues

• Bad childhood memories often lead to a sinful/difficult adulthood

Day of the Dead

• All Souls’ Day = meditate on death, judgement, heaven, hell

• There are elements of truth to pegan practices, but this is not a reason to follow them

• Mary came in the 1500s to evangelise the Aztecs (Our Lady of Guadalupe), stepping on the serpent, which was the primary Aztec god

• The point is to focus on the souls that are preparing to meet God and pray for them

• Everything anti-Catholic has a fascination with death (usually child sacrifice too)

• Demons blind poorly formed minds and the minds of unbelievers

• Renounce, rebuke, and reject them in Jesus’ name - clean up right away, Act of Contrition, Confession, Adorn house with blessed Sacramentals - man of the house should do Epiphany blessing and St. Joseph protection prayer

• Churches are less holy now, and thus an exorcism takes longer

• No sin is private - all affect the sanctity of the body

• For protection, live as sacramentally as possible

• Guardian angels care for our souls, not just physical protection

Protection From Evil Snares

• Women are valued because they create life

• Priests wore veils (vestments)

• Mary is veiled

• The altar is veiled, same with the Eucharist

• Eucharist = “thank you” in Greek

• All good things come from the altar

• The church is a retaining wall that holds humanity back from collapse