What is an archangel?

The Catholic teaching on angels

Catholic doctrine teaches that angels are pure spiritual creatures, created by God, gifted with intellect and will. They have no bodies; they are personal beings; they exist in vast numbers. The Fourth Lateran Council (1215) defined that God created "the spiritual and corporeal" creatures together, "the angelic and the worldly."¹

The Catechism of the Catholic Church states: "The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls 'angels' is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition" (CCC 328).

The nine choirs

The Catholic theological tradition, drawing primarily on the works of Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite (sixth century, De Coelesti Hierarchia) and Saint Thomas Aquinas (Summa Theologiae I, q. 108), distinguishes nine orders or "choirs" of angels, arranged in three hierarchies:

First hierarchy (closest to God):

1. Seraphim
2. Cherubim
3. Thrones

Second hierarchy: 4. Dominions 5. Virtues 6. Powers

Third hierarchy (closest to humanity): 7. Principalities 8. Archangels 9. Angels (in the narrow sense)

The archangels are the second-lowest order in this hierarchy, those whose ministry is most directly toward human history and individuals. The order immediately engaged with humanity in the present world is the lowest order, "angels" in the narrow sense (the order of the guardian angels).²

The three named archangels

Three archangels are named in canonical Catholic Scripture:

• Saint Michael (Hebrew Mikha'el, "Who is like God?"): the chief of the angels, the prince of the heavenly host, the defender of the people of God against the dragon (Revelation 12:7-9). Patron of soldiers, police officers, and the Catholic Church in spiritual battle. The Saint Michael Prayer of Pope Leo XIII (1886) invokes his protection.
• Saint Gabriel ("God is my strength"): the messenger of the Annunciation (Luke 1:26-38; see the Annunciation). Also appears to the priest Zechariah at the announcement of the birth of John the Baptist (Luke 1:11-20). Patron of communication and broadcasting.
• Saint Raphael ("God heals"): the angel who guides the young Tobiah on his journey, drives away the demon Asmodeus, and heals the elder Tobit's blindness (the Book of Tobit, especially chapters 5-12). Patron of travelers, the sick, and the medical profession.

The joint feast of the three archangels is celebrated in the Catholic Church on September 29.

A fourth archangel, Uriel ("God is my light"), is named in the deuterocanonical Book of Enoch and in the Second Book of Esdras (4 Esdras / 2 Esdras), but neither of those books is in the Catholic biblical canon. Uriel is sometimes invoked in the Eastern liturgical tradition but is not formally named or feasted in the Latin Rite.

The fallen angels

A portion of the angelic hosts, in the original test of their will, refused to serve God. They became the fallen angels, of whom the chief is Satan ("the accuser") or the Devil ("the slanderer"). The Catholic Church teaches that the fall of the angels was an irrevocable choice: the angelic intellect, unlike the human, sees clearly and chooses with full knowledge, so that an angelic act of refusal admits of no subsequent repentance. The Catechism: "It is the irrevocable character of their choice, and not a defect in the infinite divine mercy, that makes the angels' sin unforgivable" (CCC 393).³

Catholic devotion to angels

The Catholic tradition includes:

• The feast of the Holy Guardian Angels on October 2.
• The feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael on September 29.
• The traditional Saint Michael Prayer ("Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle..."), composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1886.
• The Angel of God prayer, often taught to children: "Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here..."

Sources

Footnotes

1. Fourth Lateran Council (1215), constitution Firmiter Credimus. See also Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 328 to 336. ↩

2. Saint Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, Prima Pars, Question 108, articles 1-8, on the hierarchy of angels. ↩

3. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 391 to 395, on the fall of the angels. ↩