A Little Introduction to the Devotion to the Holy Angels

SO SPEAKS THE LORD GOD: "Behold I sent My Angel before you, to guard you along the way and to bring you to the place that I have prepared. Give him reverence and listen to all that he says. Offer him no defiance; he would not pardon such a fault, for My Name is in him. But if you heed his voice and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. And My Angel will go before you." (Ex.23: 20-23) If GOD speaks in this way of His angels then: It must undoubtedly be true, and it is certainly a proof, that the angels are His creatures, that He created them, and is their Lord. But it is also a proof that man is His creature, that He created him, and that He is the Lord of angels and men and of all creation. It is a proof of His trust in the angels, whom He called to be our guardians, admonishers and guides, and whom He likewise protects against us; He has clearly presented the angels as the bearers of His authority. It is proof of His great love and care for mankind, for these words are addressed not to a single individual, but to every man and especially to the individual members of the people of GOD. (Reading taken from the Mass of the Guardian Angels October 2nd) It is a proof that the angels have been equipped with higher powers of mind, ability and authority because GOD has placed them above man and orders man to listen to the angels for, "My name is in him" (the authority of GOD). It is proof that GOD has co-ordinated the respective orders of angels and men so that together they may fight the enemies of GOD. It is a proof of the actual help of the holy angels in their activity of encouraging, teaching, caring and fighting in the entire universe of man. But it is also a happy proof that if we fight for His kingdom with His angels, the True, Almighty and Faithful GOD will grant us victory, protect us, revenge us and take us into His heavenly dwelling. The guardian angels shall lead us to heaven! The angels are sent from GOD to man, for angels existed before man. The angels are the first creatures of GOD. In Scripture it says, "In the beginning GOD created heaven and earth."(Gen. 1:8) GOD created heaven first ,that is, the spiritual creatures together with their dwelling place, the spiritual, supernatural heaven (for the earthly sky which men call "heaven" was created only later, - Gen. 1: 8). And then GOD created the earth, the material creation. Lastly He created man. So at the beginning of all creation we meet the image of GOD, the angel - and the conclusion of creation we find the image of GOD, man.

But angels and men are quite different. The angel is pure spirit, his entire nature is immortal. Man consists of an immortal, spiritual soul and a mortal material body. So one might say the angel is ordered more towards GOD and the SPIRIT while man is ordered more towards GOD the SON, the Word and the Son of Man, JESUS CHRIST. The angel is not subject to growth and decline; man however is subject to his material nature in his "becoming" and "passing away". Both however, are the image of GOD, both had to undergo a period of probation, a test which they had to decide freely for GOD or against GOD; for the majesty of GOD is not love alone, but also justice. This justice demanded the free decision of angels and of men, in order to judge their worthiness of being GOD`S image. Each of these creatures, angel and man, was tested according to the knowledge and power of will proper to his nature. But already the host of angels had divided itself. Holy Scripture says, "And there was a battle in heaven; Michael and his angels battled with the dragon, and the dragon fought with the angels. And they did not prevail, neither was their place found anymore in heaven. And that great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he who is called the devil and Satan, who leads astray the whole world; and he was cast down"(Apoc. 12: 7-9) Here something new occurs; creature fights against creature. It is not the Lord GOD who single-handedly throws the rebellious angels into the depths. He lets the faithful angels fight the unfaithful ones. The great oppositions begin; the adversary places himself against GOD. From now on evil always assaults good, the devil will assault the angel. But the evil one cannot be victorious. When the good angel fights, he does not rely upon his own strength, but upon GOD`S; he fights "in the name of GOD", with the divine might and majesty. So the faithful angel next to GOD is the victor, the first creaturely bearer of GOD`S Triumph. In his fall, the dragon and his followers fell to the earth. Again it says in Holy Scripture, "As soon as the devil found himself thrown down to the earth he sprang in pursuit of the woman" and a few lines further, "but the earth came to her rescue; it opened its mouth and swallowed the river thrown up by the dragon's jaws. Then the dragon was enraged with the woman and went away to make war on the rest of her children, that is, all who obey GOD`S commandments and bear witness for JESUS." (Apoc. 12: 13-17) Man, too has to stand a test. He is called to respect the will of GOD; he is to defend GOD`S law against the serpent which was hurled upon the earth and who now goes about to corrupt mankind through woman. The first woman, Eve, falls victim to the serpent. The dragon's victory brings unutterable pain to mankind. Death, the result of original sin, is inflicted upon man. And yet GOD`S mercy lets the earth come to man's aid; due to his material body which is so cumbersome, impenetrable and passive, man is not immediately handed over to eternal damnation, to the waters of hell, to the sea of fire, which is the second, eternal death (Apoc. 20: 14). The earth opens its mouth and silently receives again mortal bodies and guards all

material "becoming" and "passing away", and will one day return everything again to the Almighty Creator. But this woman who makes the dragon so angry is the other Eve; it is MARY. She is the purest human creature, the Immaculate Queen of the Angels, the Mother of GOD. Since the serpent cannot come close to MARY, it "pursues her heel" namely all her (spiritual) descendants (in CHRIST JESUS, those who "follow the commandments of GOD and bear the mark of JESUS - baptism"). Thus mankind is divided into the people of GOD, of the Holy Church, and those who oppose GOD, and in the shadow of death, and adore the beast (Apoc. 14: 4). The battle extend itself over the angels and men, good against evil, and will continue until the end of time. But the person who fights for GOD will always have the faithful angel at his side, who is enlightened by the grace of GOD and who will lead him to victory. MAN CAN COME TO KNOW THE ANGELS Man can come to know the angels; Holy Scripture speaks of them in hundreds of passages. In heaven, around the throne of the Almighty are gathered the three highest choirs of angels, who jubilantly and continually adore Him: the Seraphim, angels of love; the Cherubim, angels of power and the wisdom of the Word; and the Thrones, angels of life which proceeds from GOD and returns back to Him. We see the next three choirs distributed over the whole of creation: THE DOMINATIONS, who in GOD`S love mediate his gifts of the SPIRIT and who at the end of time will secure victory for GOD`S justice; THE POWERS who carry the laws of GOD and of all nature into creation, and GOD`S covenant with men; and THE PRINCIPALITIES, the stewards of all creation, whether continents or countries, winds, clouds or seasons, nations or communities, whether building materials of the earth such as stone or wood, or the individual person with his abilities and strivings for virtue. In the redemptive work on earth man is served by three choirs which are closest to him, THE VIRTUES (of faith, of hope, of love and of the Church), THE ARCHANGELS the great fighters and special servants of MARY - as well as the millions of Angels. And among these millions of Angels, THE GUARDIAN ANGELS are also to be found. That they do not form a choir of their own is due to the fact that the office of guardian angel is an honourary office. The loving GOD allows all angels at one time or another to carry out this office, which for the angel is an imitation of CHRIST. And so even the highest Seraphim can become a guardian angel. Only in this role does he really become aware of the greatness of Christ's redemptive act, when he himself has to descend to the earth from the highest place before the throne of GOD, where he served GOD in happiness. Now he must assume the stature of an angel of the ninth choir, in order to accompany man along his way of life, seemingly powerless. And he must observe man sinning, because neither GOD nor angel may force the free will of man.

*Since the time of Pope Gregory the Great (604) the teaching of the nine choirs of angels has been generally accepted by the Church. Were it not an easy matter for Almighty GOD, with a mere sweep of His hand to wipe from the earth the entire sinful race of man? Could not GOD with a single breath simply annihilate all the demons who oppress man and bring him to his downfall? Why does GOD permit these deeds of His creatures to continue for thousands of years? No creature, not even MARY, can measure and exhaust the powerful, infinite love of GOD. It is the innermost fire of divine being. It seeks for a "you" that participates in GOD`S blissfulness even though GOD in His Trinity is infinitely happy, and as such requires no further happiness. Still He desires to draw the creature in love to Himself, this creature which He created in His infinite love, wisdom and power. He wants it to serve His majesty and glory, to glorify Him and be always with Him. For this reason He created His highest creatures, angels and men, in His own image giving them a free will and an immortal spirit (the spiritual soul). And now He awaits for them, that they, by means of their free will completely and perfectly commit themselves to Him and that, free of compulsion, they freely serve Him, so that in His justice GOD can take His creatures up to the Heaven of beatitude, where the reward of the single denarius is waiting for them. God's justice is just as great as His love and so the creature which has been formed in His image has to go through the test of love, in order to receive from His justice the reward of blissful, eternal union with GOD. THE ANGELS WENT THIS WAY FIRST IN A SINGLE TEST Due to their great perception, which suited their immortality, a single test was decisive for all eternity. Man, too, follows the path by the way of a test. But because he is bound to the earth, he is not, as the angels were, faced with a single decisive test of knowledge, God lets him be tested by creatures (the fallen angels) and warned and helped by creatures (the faithful angels). Man has already the laws of GOD within himself; in addition he hears them proclaimed by GOD and the Church. The guardian angel reminds him to keep these laws. The devil oppresses him and plays up to him the power of freedom, the power of money, the power of knowledge, "All this I will give to you if you fall down and worship me" (obey me) (Matth. 4: 9). Now since the pressing temptations of the serpent are a factor in most of man's sins (excepting sins against the SPIRIT), GOD`s love gives precedence to GOD`s mercy and remits the guilt of sin through the redemptive action of CHRIST, insofar as man is sincerely contrite. Through GOD`s mercy the guardian angel is sent to man`s aid, and in this way he co-operates in the redemptive work of JESUS CHRIST. Many people do not understand this correctly and say: "The angel stands beside us as the mighty power of GOD and will not forgive any of our sins; rather he will appear as accuser since he has knowledge of all our deeds."

The holy angels are in fact mighty powers of GOD. Their power is greater than any earthly power since GOD`s power works through them. Likewise the faithful angel exclusively supports GOD, so that by his very nature he would want to take revenge with all his power for every offence against GOD. But since the Incarnation of JESUS CHRIST, love is victorious not only on earth, but even more so in heaven. If our heavenly FATHER has mercy on us because of His SON, should then the angels not likewise have mercy? For Holy Scripture says, "There is joy among the angels of GOD over one sinner who repents..." (Luke 15: 10). This does not mean that the angels are not affected by our sins, but that through our Lord JESUS CHRIST they have come closer to us as co-helpers ("fellow-servants"Apoc. 22: 9) and through and with their Queen MARY they have become our intercessors. The guardian angels assume an especially close position: GOD has sent the angel to man as a helpful doctor and brother in order to guard him from his first to his last breath - not in order to take revenge. For this reason the guardian angel will likewise be our intercessor and not our accuser at the Last Judgement. "One angel is much like the next in the great caregory and has little in common with us. Ofcourse, he has to accompany us, praying the while, but will be only too happy when this service has ended." In order to better point out the personality of the angel one has to start with the lower creation. No crystal is precisely like another. No tree exactly matches another. Similarly no two animals are precisely the same. On the whole earth there are no two persons identically alike. Each man is a personality unto himself, and the greater his spiritual abilities, the stronger his personality is formed and stands out against his surroundings. Should the angels then, as the first creatures of GOD and of the highest spiritual abilities, bear a mass imprint? Is not each angel on the contrary, an outstanding personality? Yes, the higher an angel ranks in the heavenly hierarchy, the greater also is his descent in his service to man and the more he will be aware of the condescension and humiliation of GOD in His Incarnation and Redemption. Further, he will experience the quiet and courageous greatness of MARY, our Mother and intercessor. For now he experiences in his service as guardian angel, what poverty and tribulation, what sacrifice and expiation, what humility, silence and suffering mean in the human realm for the sake of saving souls. The service as guardian angel is an angelic imitation of CHRIST, a service which he carries out more seriously and faithfully and unconditionally than man. And what jubilation there is among the angels each time a person has been saved! But if a guardian angel, in spite of all his efforts is not successful in saving his ward, he will surely have gone through a period of "martyrdom" and will now have the more helpfully intercede for the salvation of other men. It is true enough that the guardian angel will love the person so long as he is still a child and in need of help. But the mature person has little contact with his angel; he is of the age and knows how to help himself, and so the angel is probably necessary and therefore, close to him only during certain periods of his life. The help of the guardian angel is given to man from the beginning to the end of his life. Certainly the angel can help the child more, for through its sinlessness it does

not place any obstacles in the way of the angel`s help. In it`s innocence the child is, so to speak, transparent for the angel, who can hold the child in front of himself towards the FATHER in heaven and can see the FATHER through the child. ("Their angels in heaven always see the face of My FATHER Who is in heaven" Matth. 18: 10). The more, however the maturing person sins, the less the angel can look through him, for sin darkens the soul and makes it impenetrable. The angel, therefore places himself in front of the person so that man can look up to GOD through the angel. The angel is for man - if only he would look up - like binoculars through which man can see GOD much more closely and clearly. However, the more conceited man is, and the more he thinks of himself and what he can do on his own power, the less he will experience the assistance of the angel, and the more will the evil enemy, the master of deceit, present false ways to him. The angel does not obtrude himself. But he is always there. The lack of contact between man and angel is not due to the fact that the angel does not want it. "For one person it is easy to be good because he has a strong guardian angel. For another person, in whom one observes little improvement, the guardian angel must be too weak to help." GOD`s justice has already taken care of this, for all angels, irrespective of the choir to which they belong, receive the power of the ninth choir. Therefore no one has a stronger angel than another. It is true, though, that the effectiveness of the angels varies, not in the degree of their power but in their mode. One can imagine that every angel bears his great non-temporal responsibility so intimately, that it totally permeates his being. An angel of love will therefore also bring love to his service as guardian angel and will encourage his ward to grow in love of GOD and neighbour. An angel of the power of the word will enlighten his ward that he, too, may be able to share good, useful and valuable words. An angel who otherwise serves before the tabernacle will always try to lead his ward there. For in His wisdom the most kind GOD has pre-ordained the guardian angel who best suits a person and who can best help him on his way to GOD. Therefore, man should listen to the voice of his good angel. He who listens will make quick progress along the path of virtue. He who does not listen will make little progress, for we call the voice of the angel "our conscience", and the person who has silenced his conscience can no longer be lead by the angel. "Surely the child has a different guardian angel than the grown-up. Also the angel will leave an unrepentant sinner to himself or will send an angel of punishment." The office of guardian angel is built on helping love and not punishing justice. Man always has the same guardian angel, and he is quite capable of adapting himself to every period of life in his reminding and guiding. Every guardian angel loves his ward and does not leave him; the human being is his "talent" which he longs to return successfully to the Lord and GOD. THROUGH SIN MAN DRIVES THE ANGEL FROM HIS SPHERE OF ACTIVITY; THE ANGEL CAN NO LONGER BE EFFECTIVE IN MAN`s

INTERIOR LIFE, THENCE THE NOTION ARISES THAT THE ANGEL LEAVES THE SINNER. In spite of sin the angel follows the sinner and waits until repentence again grants him entry. Certainly, GOD may also decree punishment; but this is intended to shake the sinner up, to lead him back to GOD, and in this way punishment can be a grace. "The veneration of the guardian angels is so fairy-tale like; so fantastic; it is simply poor taste. A sincere, direct service of CHRIST leads to much quicker contact with GOD." "The veneration of the angels may never substitute for, nor diminish the devotion to GOD but it is a means to a more profound and intimate devotion to GOD through a greater knowledge and love of GOD which man can to attain through the help of the angel. Whoever thinks that the veneration of angels is fairytale-like or fantastic is on the wrong road. During the last century the enemy has sown these "weeds" of a fairy tale-like veneration of the angels amid the true veneration of the angels, and these weeds have sprouted everywhere to the detriment of the efficacy of the holy angels. Through works of art the naked cherubs and sweetly languishing angel statues have penetrated into the very halls of the church and the people have been fed with children`s stories of the "dear little angels". But whoever looks back to the time of the Old Testament and to the to the of CHRIST realizes the serious and important position the angels hold there. The angel who slew the first-born of Egypt (Ex. 12: 29), who wiped out 185,000 men (4 Kings 19: 35), the angel who acted as messenger at the Annunciation (Luke 1: 26), the angel at the Mount of Olives (Luke 22: 43) and on the morning of the Resurrection (Matth. 28: 2), are anything but fairy-like characters. Our Lord Himself frequently draws the angels into His talks and parables and will come with His angels at the End of Time. These are the ones that will partake of the office of judging and separating between good and evil (Matth.13: 39-42, Luke 12: 8-9). Thus He wants to bring us also to draw the angels into our lives and activities. The angel will never disract from the vision of GOD for man, nor will he be an obstacle in that contact. Only the one who concerns himself with the importance and infallibility of his own ego instead of turning to his good angel and thus holds on to the promptings of the evil one, only he will be robbed of GOD`s opponent of his humility and respect. Finally, this spiritual haughtiness will rob him of his obedience and fidelity. To refuse the assistance of the angel is similar to a mountain climber who maintains, "I don`t need a rope or mountain shoes," or a sailor who says, "I don`t need a compass," or a student who says, "I don`t need a teacher; I learn by myself." If GOD created the angels to aid us, then surely in His wisdom He will know better than we what is necessary for us. Let us not forget that in this world there is not only GOD and the good. THE ENEMY OF GOD

The enemy of GOD with his army of millions is also at work more than ever in order to deceive man`s intellect, to confuse him and draw him away from GOD. We cannot see the evil spirit. But the angel sees him. He can warn us and ward off the evil one. He can always hold the direction "GOD" before our eyes and he can explain the Word of GOD to us. He will enkindle in us love and veneration for MARY. Just as GOD wills that one person help the other, or that one be the test for the other, so does he also will that we be tried by the tempter in order to prove our steadfastness. At the same time he wills the help of the faithful angels. Surely we can refuse the angel as helper, but then our way through the darkness and difficulties of these times is all the more dangerous, and we ourselves will have to bear the responsibility. GOD offers His help but He does not force it upon us. NOW SOME PEOPLE WILL ASK: "How do I recognize the voice of the guardian angel and with it GOD`s will? "Before GOD, man shall always remain a learner and a listener. This means that one must knowingly and deliberately train oneself to be so. Two things are then initially required, one must learn to be silent and to obey out of love. When man is filled with interior disorder, with disquietude and hasty thoughts, with the desire for external noise and change, then he is incapable of hearing any interior voice, other than the serpent`s. And this voice serves only to excite the more excessive intemperate desires. GOD speaks to us through His word, which we receive in listening and reading. He also speaks to our hearts in Holy Communion, in quiet meditation, but He is always majestic. HE does not shout. The angel, too, speaks to our heart and, therefore, we hear the voice of our conscience from within us and not from without. We can hear the angel when we are interiorly calm and receptive. Experience teaches us how to distinguish between the voice of the angel and the voice of the devil. The angel always points to GOD, to His word and to His teachings, to His commandments and to resolutions which we have made, to the possibility of proving to GOD our love and fidelity. In doing this, he does not consider so much our personal habits and likes, but always directs our view to the great values of eternity. When he reminds us and we do not follow, then his reminding becomes weaker and weaker and finally ceases altogether. The enemy works just the other way round, he shows a great love and concern for our ego, our wishes, our comforts and for our own profit, that we may gain wealth and power and protect our rights, suffering no injustice, but rather striking back. In doing so, he makes us believe that this or that action will not even be noticed, that it counts for nothing, that others do the same, that one has to join and not make a fool of oneself. He blurs the notions of truth and falsehood, of good and evil. In this undertaking he cannot be swayed, but always seeks to find a listener by attacking from another angle (fear of man, ambition, dispute). Once we have learned to differentiate between the two

voices, then the guardian angel leads us a step further. We ourselves shall become guardian angels in our surroundings. We shall learn to think ourselves into the situation and the needs of other people and to effectively help them. Externally, they do not have to be heroic deeds, but deeds of everyday life which have heroic value before GOD. Through our guardian angel we learn then not only to listen to what GOD wants of us but we also learn to see where our help and our task in GOD`s kingdom for the salvation of souls is required. Once we have made it a habit to talk over our day`s work, our plans and worries with our guardian angel, then he will always lead us to greater fidelity and a more ardent love of GOD. Our whole life would change radically if only we could understand and practise this. We would learn to be simple, to see what is essential and thus acquire much greater peace and strength; for the complicated man divides himself. We would grasp the greatness and strength of sacrifice brought out of love, and the beauty of giving out of love. No more would our ego sit on the throne of our hearts but instead, GOD! `My angel and I shall serve him with joy.` Holy guardian angel, you who have been given to me by GOD as my companion throughout my life, save me for eternity and fufil in me your duty given to you by the love of GOD. Shake off my indifference, strengthen me in my weakness, block for me every wrong way, open my eyes to GOD and the Cross, but close my eyes to the promptings of the wicked adversary. Watch over me when I sleep and let me one day be your joy and your reward in heaven. AMEN LITANY OF THE HOLY ANGELS LORD, have mercy CHRIST, have mercy LORD, have mercy CHRIST, hear us CHRIST, graciously hear us GOD the FATHER, Creator of the Angels, have mercy on us GOD the Son, Lord of the Angels, have mercy on us GOD the HOLY SPIRIT, Life of the Angels, have mercy on us HOLY TRINITY, delight of the Angels, have mercy on us Holy MARY, pray for us

Queen of Angels, pray for us All you Choirs of blessed spirits, pray for us Holy Seraphim, Angels of Love, pray for us Holy Cherubim, Angels of the Word, pray for us Holy Thrones, Angels of Life, pray for us Holy Angels of Adoration, pray for us Holy Dominations, pray for us Holy Powers, pray for us Holy Principalities, pray for us Holy Virtues, pray for us Holy Archangel Michael, pray for us Conqueror of Lucifer, pray for us Angel of Faith and Humility, pray for us Guardian of the Anointing of the Sick, pray for us Patron of the Dying, pray for us Prince of the Heavenly Hosts, pray for us Guide of the souls to the judgement seat of GOD, pray for us Holy Archangel Gabriel, pray for us Angel of the Incarnation, pray for us Faithful Messenger of GOD, pray for us Angel of Hope and Peace, pray for us Protector of all servants and handmaids of GOD, pray for us Guardian of Baptism, pray for us

Patron of Priests, pray for us Holy Archangel Raphael, pray for us Angel of Divine Love, pray for us Conqueror of the hellish fiend, pray for us Helper in great distress, pray for us Angel of suffering and of healing, pray for us Patron of physicians, wanderers and travellers, pray for us All Holy Archangels, pray for us Angels of service before the throne of GOD, pray for us Angels of service for mankind, pray for us Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us Helpers in all our needs, pray for us Light in all darkness, pray for us Support in all danger, pray for us Admonishers of our consciences, pray for us Intercessors before the throne of GOD, pray for us Shield of defence against evil spirits, pray for us Our constant companions, pray for us Our safest Guides, pray for us Our truest friends, pray for us Our wisest Counsellors, pray for us Our models of prompt obedience, pray for us Comforters in abandonment, pray for us

Mirrors of humility and sincerity, pray for us Angels of our families, pray for us Angels of our priests and pastors, pray for us Angels of our children, pray for us Angels of our home and country, pray for us Angels of Holy Mother the Church, pray for us All you Holy Angels, pray for us During life, assist us In death, assist us In heaven we shall be grateful to you! Lamb of GOD, Who take away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord! Lamb of GOD, Who take away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord! Lamb of GOD, Who take away the sins of the world, have mercy on us! CHRIST, hear us CHRIST, graciously hear us Lord, have mercy P. GOD has given His Angel charge over you, C. To guard you in all your ways. Let us pray:Almighty, eternal GOD, grant us the help of Your heavenly Hosts that we may be preserved from the terrible assaults of the evil one by the Precious Blood of our Lord JESUS CHRIST and the intercession of the most Blessed and Immaculate Virgin MARY, so that free from all adversity we may serve You again in peace. Through CHRIST our Lord. Amen. PROMISE TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL

HOLY, HOLY, HOLY, LORD GOD OF HOSTS, HEAVEN AND EARTH ARE FULL OF YOUR GLORY. Kneeling before Your MAJESTY we thank You, O GOD that You have given each of us a heavenly companion to be at our side, one who leads us according to Your will, directs us in Your paths, and manifests to us Your love. We resolve here in Your presence to love our holy companion as a brother and to obey him when he speaks to us through the voice of conscience. He will surely lead us to heaven. Lord JESUS CHRIST, our Saviour, take my hand and place it in the hand of my Guardian Angel and make the sign of our Redemption over it, Your blessing, for our salvation. In the name of the FATHER and of the SON and of the HOLY SPIRIT. Amen. PRAYER TO ST MICHAEL Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle;

be our safeguard against the wickedness and snares of the devil, may God rebuke him we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God, cast down into hell Satan and all the other evil spirits who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen ST JOHN CHRYSOSTOM When Mass is being celebrated, the sanctuary is filled with countless angels who adore the Divine Victim immolated on the alter. The efficacy of the Mass is so wonderful, GOD`s mercy and generosity are then so unlimited that there is no moment so propitious to ask for favours as when Jesus is born on the alter, what we then ask for we will almost certainly receive, and what we do not obtain in the Mass we may scarcely hope to receive by all other prayers, penances or pilgrimages. The angels know this full well and come in multitudes to adore GOD and make their petitions at this hour of mercy. What an example to us.