Monday, January 12, 2009

The ministry of angels

"... neither the Old Testament nor ancient Judaism ever established the clear-cut distinction which we make between the presence of the Angels and the presence of God himself. The 'Angel' makes God present in a particular place, while still preserving his transcendence ... in the eyes of the first Christians as for the Jews, the heavenly world was an inseparable whole. When the Angels came down to earth, the presence of the Shekinah came down with them, borne upon the wings of the Cherubim, the 'wheels' of fire that are the Ophanim, and glorifed by the flight and the singing of the Seraphim. Similarly, in the Gospel narratives, when the Son of God comes down on earth at the nativity, he is accompanied by all the angelic hosts."

Bouyer, Eucharist, p. 223

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