Do Angels Exist in the Life of the Church?
In the meantime, the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels. The Church joins with the angels in her liturgy to adore the thrice-holy God. She invokes their assistance (in the funeral liturgy's In Paradisum deduct te Angeli...["May the angels lead you into Paradise. . ."]). Moreover, in the "Cherubic Hymn" of the Byzantine Liturgy, she celebrates the memory of certain angels more particularly (St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and the guardian angels).
From the beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. The Christian life is shared here on earth by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God. Angels are spiritual creatures who glorify God without ceasing and who serve his saving plans for other creatures: "The angels work together for the benefit of us all".
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The angels surround Christ their Lord. They serve him, especially in accomplishing his saving mission for men. The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect every human being. God willed the diversity of his creatures and their own particular goodness, their interdependence, and their order. He destined all material creatures for the good of the human race. Man, and through him, all creation is destined for the glory of God. Respect for laws inscribed in creation and the relations which derive from the nature of things is a principle of wisdom and a foundation for morality.
