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    Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us
    Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us
    Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us
    Ebook178 pages1 hour

    Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us

    By Melaine Ryther

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    About this ebook

    G.K. Chesterton once said, "Angels can fly because they take themselves lightly." Taking that notion to heart, this collection of short articles and essays seeks to inform, inspire, but also at times amuse.

    Topics range from the light-hearted (coffee and baseball) to the heart-wrenching (St. Edith Stein and St. Gianna Beretta Molla). And then, of course, there are the angels: Archangels, guardian angels, angels in disguise, and angels loud and proud. They are the glue that holds this book of seemingly disparate topics together, reminding us on each page they appear that they are our friends, our protectors, our teachers, and our guides.

    Based on the blog of the same name, Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us roughly follows a year's worth of Church celebrations with teachings from the saints, actions from the angels, and a few personal anecdotes from the author. All in all, an enjoyable reading experience that even an angel would approve of.

    LanguageEnglish
    PublisherMBM Books
    Release dateOct 16, 2014
    ISBN9781393326748
    Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us
    Author

    Melaine Ryther

    Melaine Ryther is a freelance writer whose articles, essays and short stories have been published in a variety of print and online media outlets. Many of her works have appeared in Catholic publications, including Columbia, Catholic Parent, Catholic Heritage, Catholic Digest, and The Liguorian. A native of Minnesota, she currently lives in Washington State with her husband and children.

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      Book preview

      Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us - Melaine Ryther

      Saint John Paul II and the Angels

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      [Author’s note:  This was the first post to the blog Angels and Saints and the Rest of Us. John Paul II had just recently been granted the title of Blessed, and so it seemed only fitting to let him have the first word on the subject.]

      According to author and noted angel authority Monsignor Marcello Stanzione, Pope John Paul II said on several occasions that he asked his guardian angel for help every day. That the Pope had a strong personal relationship with his angel is no surprise, given his public declaration:

      The Church is convinced that God has entrusted to the angels a ministry in favor of people. Therefore, the Church confesses her faith in the guardian angels, venerating them with appropriate feasts and recommending recourse to their protection by frequent prayer.

      In the summer of 1986, the Pope delivered a brilliant series of talks at his General Audiences entitled Catechesis on the Angels. These six speeches reflect the Church's teachings on the nature of angelic spirits, their importance and participation in salvation history, the fall of the rebellious angels, and finally, Christ's victory over evil. He concludes his lesson with this reminder to the faithful:

      "And while the existence of the wicked angels requires of us that we be watchful so as not to yield to their empty promises, we are certain that the victorious power of Christ the Redeemer enfolds our lives, so that we ourselves may overcome these spirits. In this, we are powerfully helped by the good angels– "

      Be not afraid! was the exhortation famously resounded by Saint John Paul II. Remaining mindful that our guardian angels are always at our sides, we can truly take the Pope's message to heart.

      The entire text of the Catechesis on the Angels is available on EWTN.

      Sing Choirs of Angels

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      There are nine groups, or choirs, of angels. The highest choir, the Seraphim, are believed to be nearest the Throne of God, loving, praising and glorifying Him ceaselessly. After the Seraphim follow the other eight choirs: Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels and Angels.

      The Tradition of the Church teaches that Guardian Angels are taken from the Angel choir, and, in certain cases, the Archangel choir. These angels are at the lower end of the ranking not because they love God any less, but because they are in more direct contact with human beings and other visible works of creation.

      During this resolution-making first week of January, we are reminded that not only do we all have our own place and duties, but that there's also always room for improvement.

      The angels have no such weaknesses. They have their assigned jobs and do them quite well. Okay, perfectly. So who better to ask for help in keeping our resolutions for the new year? Our angels, of course. In fact, maybe we should make that one of our top resolutions: Pray to the angels more! Sure, they have plenty of other stuff to do, but I think it's safe to say they can handle multitasking.

      As Mother Angelica once said in her inimitable style: The angels all have specific works to do. They are not just dilly-dallying up there.

      Aquinas on the Angels

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      Thomas Aquinas was known as, among other things, the Angelic Doctor. He wrote extensively about the nature and mission of the angels in his masterpiece, The Summa Theologica, devoting a substantial part of his massive tome to them.

      In keeping with the nature of this blog (i.e., brief and easy-to-read), I thought I'd post a Top Ten List of some of St. Thomas' points about the angels from the Summa.

      These tidbits aren't arranged in any particular order, nor do they purport in any way to adequately represent the whole of St. Thomas's teachings on the angels. Nonetheless, I think there's enough here for us mere mortals to ponder and appreciate for quite some time And if the spirit should move you to further scholarship, you can read the good Doctor's entire discussion of celestial beings at the Christian Classics Ethereal Library.

      So, here we go:

      The angels were created in heaven. And it is fitting that creatures of the most perfect nature should be created in the most noble place.

      Angels were created in grace, and by using this grace in their first act of charity (which is the friendship and love of God) they merited the beatific vision and heavenly beatitude.

      God gives the angels their knowledge of things when he brings them into existence…. Each receives what is fitting and necessary for its status and the service it is to render, and therefore some angels know more than others.

      Angels manifest knowledge to one another, and to this extent they speak to one another. But the speech of angels is not a matter of sounds or of uttered words. The speech of angels is a direct communication of knowledge from spirit to spirit.

      The faithful angels are a greater multitude than the fallen angels. For sin is contrary to the natural order.

      Angels, good or bad, can do wonderful things, but only such as lie within the power of angelic nature, and a miracle surpasses the powers of all created natures.

      Superior rules inferior; hence angels rule the bodily world. St. Gregory says that in this visible world nothing occurs without the agency of invisible creatures.

      God sends angels to minister to his purposes among bodily creatures . . . Angels sent in the external ministry are those whose names indicate some kind of administrative or executive office. These are, in descending rank, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels.

      Each human being, without exception, has a guardian angel.… In heaven a man will have an angel companion to reign with him, but not a guardian; no guardian is needed when the guarded journey has been successfully completed. In hell, each man will have a fallen angel to punish him.

      An angel can illume the thought and mind of man by strengthening the power of vision, and by bringing within his reach some truth which the angel himself contemplates.

      (The above translation and wording is courtesy of A Tour of the Summa by Msgr. Paul J. Glenn, Tan Books and Publishers.)

      St. John Bosco and the Big Gray Dog

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      On various occasions throughout his life, St. John Bosco found himself aided by a mysterious, yet gentle and loyal, large gray dog. The dog would appear unbidden when St. John was passing through dangerous neighborhoods, traveling on foot through the dark countryside, or, most famously, once when attacked by thugs. (The dog chased the thugs away after giving them a good scare with his not-so-little teeth.) St. John called his intermittent companion Il Grigio, Italian for The Gray One.

      A mysteriously as he appeared, the dog would trot away after accomplishing his duty. Not once did St. John ever see the dog take food or water. And on at least one occasion, the dog somehow disappeared from a cottage in which all the doors and windows were shut.

      St. John had no doubt as to the origin of his furry friend: It sounds ridiculous to call him an angel, yet he is no ordinary dog. Indeed, the saint firmly believed that had it not been for the big gray dog, his work would have been severely hindered, if not stopped altogether.

      John Bosco, of course, went on to institute and organize the Salesians, a religious order for men and women under the patronage of St. Francis de Sales. Il Grigio reportedly retained a fondness for the Salesians long after John Bosco left the world. Between 1893 and 1930, sisters of the Salesian order testified that they had received the gray dog's protection on at least three separate occasions.

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      The Catholic Connection to Coffee

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      I wouldn't survive most mornings without coffee. I'm an addict, I admit it. I have been since my freshman year of college, when I decided that downing a cup or two of my parents' Maxwell House was better than sleeping through my 8:00 a.m. chemistry class. My grades soon thanked my wise choice, and I have ever since enjoyed a warm and comfy relationship with the dark and bitter brew. (I take mine black, thank you.)

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      Several years back I came across an interesting tidbit of information about the Church's historical role in bringing coffee to the

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