“By envy of the devil, death entered the world.”
With this verse, the book of Wisdom (2:24) gives a deep glimpse into the mystery of the Fall. Genesis tells us why Adam and Eve sinned—the deception of the serpent—but it doesn’t say why the serpent would tempt the ancestors of the human race in the first place. Wisdom gives an answer: envy.
However, this answer raises another question. Even the least angel is a creature far superior to a human being. How much more so one of the cherubim like Lucifer? What could man possess that an angel could possibly envy? Certain theologians, starting in the late Middle Ages, offered a possible answer, and it has to do with the devil’s own fall, with the choice that forever separated the good angels from the bad.
The Catechism of the Catholic Church (391-395) speaks briefly about the fall of the bad angels, calling it a “free choice of these created spirits, who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign” (392). The Catechism assumes an analogy between the fall of the angels and the fall of man, and many theologians posit that as man was tested, so were the angels.
The Catechism does not specify the exact nature of the test, so what follows is a theological speculation, subject always to the final say of the Church. If we ask how the angels were tested, certain late scholastic theologians give a very interesting answer. They suggest that the angels were given a glimpse of God’s intention not only to create humanity but even for the Second Person of the Trinity to become incarnate as man.
The good angels accepted this plan of God. But Lucifer knew his superiority over humanity. If God were to assume the nature of a creature, certainly it would be more fitting for Him to assume an angelic nature. Out of envy about this plan, Lucifer and the angels that followed him decided that they would not worship or serve the Incarnate Word and thus fell.
Certain mystics take this theological opinion a step further. Meditating upon the Woman clothed with the Sun in the book of Revelation, Venerable Maria of Agreda teaches that the angels were given a foreknowledge of the Virgin Mary. They saw her in the mind of God and were informed that the Word would become incarnate through her. The fallen angels chose to reject God because that would have meant serving Mary.
These two opinions on the nature of the angels’ test are, of course, not contradictory. To reject the Incarnate Word is to reject Mary. To reject Mary is to reject the Incarnate Word. I believe (again, subject always to correction by the Church) that the knowledge given to the angels was of the Whole Christ–Head and members. The angels saw that the Word would become incarnate in an immaculate Virgin, and by so doing would call every human being to become united to Him.
This is what the devil could not stand. The thought of beings made of matter, of flesh and blood, raised up through the Incarnation to the dignity of adopted children of God.
All these ideas probably come across as high-flying theological speculations. Why would it matter? If the angels’ test involved a vision of Christ, Head and members, what difference does it make?
Let’s shift our focus a little and look at the angelic test for a moment, not from the point of view of the fallen angels, but of the good angels. The devils fell by choosing not to serve. That implies that the good angels were confirmed in grace because they chose to serve. They saw the place in the economy of the Incarnation in which God was calling them to act, and they accepted that calling with their entire being.
St Michael passed by standing up to the pride and envy of Lucifer. With his cry of “Who is like God?” he became the warrior-protector of the people of God. St Gabriel passed by consenting to be the herald of the Incarnation. St Rafael passed by consenting to bring healing to God’s people on their pilgrim journey to heaven.
And if all the above is true, consider finally our guardian angels. Is it not possible that our angels, they who “always behold the Father’s face” in heaven, were given a vision of the Whole Christ and, in looking at the Body of Christ, they saw you and me? Your angel, shortly after his creation, saw who you are called to be in the Body of Christ, and he pledged his entire being to assist you in that calling.
Your guardian angel passed his moment of trial and became confirmed in grace because he glimpsed who you are supposed to be in God and chose to do everything in his power to bring that vision into reality. His activity never overwhelms the choices of your free will, but he remains ever ready to offer what aid he can. This is who God has called him to be from the beginning of time. How dear indeed should these guardians be to us. Let us always keep ourselves open to their ministry.
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Suggest that the Guardian Angel and St Michael the ArchAngel Prayer be made a part of daily prayers. The Opusangelorum.org site provides a lot of information regarding angels.
“Genesis tells us why Adam and Eve sinned–the deception of the serpent–but it doesn’t say why the serpent would tempt the ancestors of the human race in the first place.”
What fruit gets eaten? They disobey the commandment–their first commandment–to “be fruitful and multiply [in the Garden]” before donning the infamous telltale fig leaf aprons after they become one flesh incorrectly by eating the allegorical forbidden fruit of pleasure from the allegorical wrong tree in the allegorical Garden’s center. Some would say they make a joke out of their marriage and God responds accordingly. Adam and Eve in the Garden of Eden may just as well have been Adam and Steve.
2 Samuel 23:3
The God of Israel spoke; of me the Rock of Israel said, He that rules over men in justice, that rules in the fear of God, Is like the morning light at sunrise on a cloudless morning,…
Lucifer, New Advent Catholic Encyclopedia
The name Lucifer originally denotes the planet Venus, emphasizing its brilliance. The Vulgate employs the word also for “the light of the morning”…
… Metaphorically, the word is applied to the King of Babylon (Isaiah 14:12) as preeminent among the princes of his time…
…finally to Jesus Christ himself (2 Peter 1:19; Apocalypse 22:16…
Quoted from New Advent Encyclopedia, Lucifer
A ‘Morning Star’ is a world ruler. In the Book of Revelation, Jesus refers to the rulers of His Church, Morning Stars of His Church, Catholic Bishops, as ‘angels’. Example: Revelation 2 “To the angel of the church in Ephesus, write this:”, “To the angel of the church in Smyrna, write this:”, “To the angel of the church in Pergamum, write this:”.
The biblical term ‘morning star’ aka ‘Lucifer’, means a, good or bad, world ruler. From the Exodus till the fall of Israel in 587 B.C., God was King and Ruler over Israel. Upon the fall of Israel, God then authorized, ‘morning star’, ‘Lucifer’, world dominant secular power, starting with king Nebuchadnezzar, as king and ruler over Israel. God ruled over the Jewish Church, through his ‘morning star’ Jewish Priests; until they crucified Jesus. Upon Jesus’ Resurrection, Jesus took over as Ruler of God’s Church, the Catholic Church, on earth. Jesus Rules over His Catholic Church on earth through His Catholic Bishops/Morning stars/Angels. Jewish Priests, upon Pentecost, lost their ‘morning star’, ‘Lucifer’, authority from God to rule over God’s Church on earth, or in other words, they ‘fell from heaven’, as fallen angels, and you can also think of them as fallen ‘Lucifers’.
So you can think of our Holy Catholic leaders as Guardian Angels, or at least Guardian Morning Stars. On the other hand, if Catholic Leaders are not so Holy:
The reason Jesus calls our first Pope, St. Peter, ‘Satan’, is because Peter is talking and thinking like the secular world talks and thinks. Matthew 16:23 He turned and said to Peter, “Get behind me, Satan! You are an obstacle to me. You are thinking not as God does, but as human beings do.”
“It is I, Jesus, who have sent my angel to give you this testimony about the churches. I am the Root and Offspring of David, the Morning Star shining bright.
Upon the Second Coming of Jesus, He takes over as, Morning Star, King and ruler of the world. It is at this future apocalyptic time that ‘morning star’, ‘Lucifer’, world dominant secular power, starting with king Nebuchadnezzar, is cast down from heaven as God’s no longer selected ‘morning star’ to rule the world. This is what is being depicted in Isaiah 14:12.
Isaiah 14:12 The King of Babylon.
How have you fallen from the heavens, O morning star, son of the dawn! How are you cut down to the ground, you who mowed down the nations!
Morning Star, Jesus Christ, Ruling the world will make a great Guardian Morning Star/Angel over Christ’s Church, the Catholic Church, on earth!
God Ruled over Israel from the Exodus till the Fall of Israel in 587 BC. Upon fall and exile of Israel, God placed world dominant secular power, starting with king Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon as morning star, king and ruler over Israel. God has Promised that He will once again be Morning Star, King and Ruler over Israel and the world. Jesus taking over as Morning Star, King and Ruler of the world, will be the fall of morning star, Satan/Lucifer/world dominant secular power from heaven.
In Daniel 2 we see the fall of Babylon, which is the fall of all secular power ruling over Israel from the time of Fall and exile of Israel to our present day. “But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth”, is Jesus Ruling the world, initiated upon His Second Coming.
Daniel 2:31 Nebuchadnezzar’s Dream.
‘In your vision, O king, you saw a statue, very large and exceedingly bright, terrifying in appearance as it stood before you. The head of the statue was pure gold, its chest and arms were silver, its belly and thighs bronze, the legs iron, its feet partly iron and partly tile. While you looked at the statue, a stone which was hewn from a mountain without a hand being put to it, struck its iron and tile feet, breaking them in pieces. The iron, tile, bronze, silver, and gold all crumbled at once, fine as the chaff on the threshing floor in summer, and the wind blew them away without leaving a trace. But the stone that struck the statue became a great mountain and filled the whole earth.
Luke 20:17
‘The stone which the builders rejected has become the keystone of the structure’? The man who falls on that stone will be smashed to pieces, It will make dust of anyone on whom it falls.”
Daniel 2 continued: This was the dream; the interpretation we shall also give in the king’s presence. You, O king, are the king of kings; to you the God of heaven has given dominion and strength, power and glory; men, wild beasts, and birds of the air, wherever they may dwell, he has handed over to you, making you ruler over them all; you are the head of gold. Another kingdom shall take your place, inferior to yours, then a third kingdom, of bronze, which shall rule over the whole earth. There shall be a fourth kingdom, strong as iron; it shall break in pieces and subdue all these others, just as iron breaks in pieces and crushes everything else. The feet and toes you saw, partly of potter’s tile and partly of iron, mean that it shall be a divided kingdom, but yet have some of the hardness of iron. As you saw the iron mixed with clay tile, and the toes partly iron and partly tile, the kingdom shall be partly strong and partly fragile. The iron mixed with clay tile means that they shall seal their alliances by intermarriage, but they shall not stay united, any more than iron mixes with clay. In the lifetime of those kings the God of heaven will set up a kingdom that shall never be destroyed or delivered up to another people; rather, it shall break in pieces all these kingdoms and put an end to them, and it shall stand forever. That is the meaning of the stone you saw hewn from the mountain without a hand being put to it, which broke in pieces the tile, iron, bronze, silver, and gold. The great God has revealed to the king what shall be in the future; this is exactly what you dreamed, and its meaning is sure.
Forgot what saint it is that stated she offers up her holy communion for the angels because it gives them great delight to receive such a gift. I offered my holy communion on the feast of the guardian angels as a thank you gift for my guardian angel.
Saint Cyril of Jerusalem said the one lost sheep is humanity and the 99 is the multitude of angels. There are 9 choirs of angels. “The Seraphim are first. Their name means ardor, and they are consumed with the fire of Divine Love.” “No two angels are alike; no two are equal. God’s perfections are infinite and countless millions of angels reflect these perfections and in a divinely marvelous way.”
“Angel choirs on high are singing
To the Lord their praises bringing
Yielding Him in royal beauty
Heart and voice in love and duty
None that grieveth or complaineth
Every voice in concord joining
Holy praise to God combining
Cherubim their reverence showing,
Bowing low, their pinions folding
God’s majestic throne beholding
Oh, what fair and heavenly region
Oh, what bright and glorious legion,”
(from the book: St. Michael and the angels, compiles from different sources, Tan books)