St Michael and All Angels

The idea of angels is definately a Biblical one. Jacob and Abraham have messengers sent to them - Angelos - in Greek is a messenger and God's messengers are angels. By the time of the New Testament angels are mention by Paul as a rank of being existing in their own right in the heavenly realms. Mary is visited by an angel. They have both the function of interaction with humanity on God's behalf and their own existence.

Angels seem, somehow, to get a little confused with fairies and fairy godmother's in the popular mind. Angels become some sort of flitting, mystical being who are almost pets. But the order and rank of the heavenly host would speak against some of the populist use of angels. The sense of the battle between good and evil is a biblical one - but there is no record of the saints wandering around with a little figure whispering in their ear or using angels as a sort of mandala.

Michael, himself, is an archangel - the higher rank. If you are interested in more detail about traditional theology click here.

I would not claim to be any sort of expert in this area of theology - so I take a simple path. God sends and has sent messengers - angels. I do not claim to have a clear or precise answer to exactly how this works. My experience of God has not been particularly angelic in the heavenly sense - the function of messenger has been through other people and my knowledge of God seem to have come fairly directly. I am cautious about writing off other people's experience but I am also cautious about turning God's action with humanity into a cartoon.


We share the Angelos function - the messenger. Calling other people our angels is a great complement. But, angels, like saints, are only useful to us so long as we look beyond them, to the Throne of Grace and the source of our being. It is God who speaks, God who sends and we cannot make God or make God do by will - sent not sending - that is our place.