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O ye incorporeal angels who stand before the throne of God, luminous with the brilliance thereof and everlastingly shining with radiance. As secondary luminaries, entreat Christ, that He grant unto our souls peace and great mercy. O immortal messengers of the truly incorruptible Life, ye most blessed ones who received life from the first Life, ye have become holy beholders of the eternal Wisdom, full of light, and reflecting lamps shown forth as is meet. O ye archangels and angels, principalities, thrones, dominions, six-winged seraphim, and divine, many-eyed cherubim, instruments of wisdom, virtues and powers most divine. Pray ye to Christ, that He grant our souls peace and great mercy. Archives:
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HOLY RESURRECTION BYZANTINE CATHOLIC MISSION
PASTOR: REV. THOMAS O'CONNELL
HOLY FAMILY CATHOLIC CHURCH 307 BLACK OAK RIDGE ROAD PO BOX 817 SEYMOUR, TN 37865 PHONE: 865-609-1081 www.hrbcc.org
GLORY TO JESUS CHRIST! GLORY FOREVER!
Welcome!
To all who are tired and need rest, to all who mourn and need comfort, to all who are friendless and need friendship, to all
who are discouraged and need hope, to all who are hopeless and need sheltering love, to all who sin and need a Savior, and to
whosoever will, this church opens wide its doors in the name of the Lord Jesus Christ. To all who are worshipping with us
today — welcome!
DIVINE LITURGY BEGINS AT 4 P.M. EVERY SUNDAY
November 2, 2003
Divine Liturgy Intention: If you would like the Divine Liturgy offered for a loved one, deceased or living, please give your offering to Father and obtain a Liturgy intention card from William Gogar. Please write down the intention so it can be put in the bulletin.
OUR OFFERINGS
Feast Day — Archangel Michael and All Angels — November 8
A readers service — vigil — including vespers, matins, and first hour, will begin at 7:30 p.m. Friday,
Nov. 7, here at the church.
The Veneration of Holy Angels:
The Feast of St. Michael and All Angels — November 8
Before the Lord God created man, He created the holy angels, who are invisible, immortal, perfect beings and pure spirits,
possessing a keen intellect and free will. Their number is immeasurably great, as we know from the vision granted to the
prophet Daniel, who saw the throne of God where “thousands upon thousands were ministering Him, and myriads upon myriads
attended Him” (7:10). In the Book of Revelation, St. John says: “In my vision I heard the sound of an
immense number of angels gathered round the throne and living creatures and the elders. They were countless in number,
thousands and tens of thousands” (5:11-12). Christ Himself speaks of legions of angels (Matthew 26:53).
Since the fifth century, it has been customary to divide the Angels into three orders, each comprised of three choirs, giving
a total of nine angelic choirs: the Seraphim, Cherubim, and Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; Principalities,
Archangels, and Angels.
The Lord God, after creating the Angels, put them to a test and a great number of the angels rebelled against Him.
St. John speaks of a war in heaven (Rev. 12:7). At the head of the good angels stood the Archangel Michael, who
overcame Lucifer and his angels. Hence, in the veneration of the angels, the Church gives first place to St. Michael.
The holy angels have a twofold task: one in relation to God and the other in relation to man. The chief task of the angels in
heaven is to continually praise and glorify God. The prophet Isaiah saw how the Seraphim cried out: “Holy, Holy, Holy is
the Lord of hosts; all the Earth is full of His glory” (6:3). Our Divine Liturgy speaks of this noble task of the
angels in several places: “O Lord, Our Master and God,” says the prayer of the Little Entrance, “You, who in
heaven have established orders and armies of angels and archangels for the service of your glory.” In the Prayer of the
Trisagion the priest prays: “O holy God, Who abide in the Saints, who are praised by the thrice-holy voice of the
Seraphim, and are glorified by the Cherubim, and are adored by all the heavenly powers.” The second task of the angels
in relation to God is their zealous and immediate service. The word “angel” is a Greek word meaning messenger, or
herald, one who announces. Thus the angels are God’s heralds. Many examples of their role as heralds of God are given in
Scripture.
According to the will of God, the angels are our guardians and protectors. In Psalm 90 it is affirmed: “For he has
given his angels charge over you, to keep you in all your ways.” The angels whose task is to protect men, we call
guardian angels. The Fathers teach that every person has his own guardian angel. St. Basil the Great says: “No one
denies that each of the faithful has his or her own angel” (Against Eunomius 3,1). St. John Chrysostom
similarly affirms, “Each and every one of us has an angel” (Sermon 26, on Acts 12:1-3). In the
Divine Liturgy we beg God for a guardian angel: “For an angel of peace, a faithful guide, a guardian of our souls and
bodies, let us beseech the Lord.” Using Scripture as a foundation, the Fathers teach that not only every person, but
every community, church, and nation has its own guardian angel.
From what has been said above, it is clear why holy Church cultivates and commends the cult of the angels, and why they occupy
a special place in our liturgies. The veneration of Angels in the Eastern Church had its beginning in the third century; in
the fourth century it became widespread. Proof of this is the church in honor of St. Michael the Archangel, which
Constantine the Great built in the suburbs of Constantinople (c. 274-337). According to the historian Sozomen, numerous
miracles occurred there. During the Divine Liturgy our Church prescribes that a special particle of the prosphora be placed on
the discos in honor of the “holy heavenly and bodiless powers.” In our Octoechos there is a service dedicated to
the angels for Monday, the first day of the week, perhaps because they were the first creatures created by God, and next to
the Blessed Mother, they stand nearest the throne of God.
The feast in honor of St. Michael the Archangel and all the other angelic hosts was established in the fourth century.
This feast is called a synaxis (or assembly) because on this day the Church celebrates the assembly of all the bodiless powers
together with St. Michael the Archangel, chief of the heavenly hosts, and the assembly of the faithful on earth who
gather to pay homage to these heavenly powers.
—A Byzantine Liturgical Year
Last updated: 5-Nov-2003 |
