Angelic

“ Through the impression of these rationes upon the angelic mind, an angel knows other angels as well as corporeal creatures. Their natures also yield them some knowledge of God. The angelic nature is a mirror holding the divine similitude. ”

“ The group of angels over the Last Judgment, flinging their mighty limbs about, and those that surround the descending figure of Christ in the Conversion of St. Paul, may be referred to here as characteristic examples. The angels, blowing their trumpets, puff and strain like so many troopers. Surely this is not angelic: there may be power, great imaginative and artistic power, exhibited in the conception of form, but in the beings themselves there is more of effort than of power: serenity, tranquillity, beatitude, ethereal purity, spiritual grace, are out of the question. ”

“ They are also in conjunction with the whole angelic heaven, and I might venture to affirm with all and each of the angels there; for they all are as the children and descendants of one father whose minds, manners, and faces are resemblant, so that they mutually recognize each other. The angelic heaven is harmoniously arranged in societies, according to all the varieties of the love of good; which varieties all tend to one most universal love, which is love to God. ”

“ But truth of corresponding purity and elevation is conjoined with this love in angelic minds, as the sun's light is conjoined with heat, or as the lungs are conjoined with the heart in our bodies. Therefore the angels are as wise as they are good. They act from love, and according to truth which is the everlasting law of love. ”

“ 17 If some people really see angels where others see only empty space, let them paint the angels; only let not anybody else think they can paint an angel, too, on any calculated principles of the angelic. ”

“ And by the fact that the concept of the angelic mind is ordered to be made known to another by the will of the angel himself, the concept of one angel is made known to another; and in this way one angel speaks to another; for to speak to another only means to make known the mental concept to another. ”

“ The cultivation of demonic, animal, or angelic qualities results in the production of corresponding characters, which in the Day of Judgment will be manifested in visible shapes, the sensual appearing as swine, the ferocious as dogs and wolves, and the pure as angels. ”

“ None of these vague, shadowy, and erroneous ideas do we find in the Bible. The angels seen by Abraham, Lot, Manoah, the prophets, and the Lord’s disciples, were all seen as men, and talked with as men. Our author writes thus explicitly on this subject. “The angelic form is in every respect human; angels have faces, eyes, ears, breasts, arms, hands, and feet; they see, hear, and converse with each other; and, in a word, no external attribute of man is wanting, except the natural body.” ”

“ Angels can fly because they can take themselves lightly. This has been always the instinct of Christendom, and especially the instinct of Christian art. Remember how Fra Angelico represented all his angels, not only as birds, but almost as butterflies. ”

“ Where is the girl so angelic as not to feel a slight curiosity to know how she shall look in a new and strange costume? Mary bent over the rock, where a little pool of water lay in a brown hollow above the fluctuations of the tide, dark and still, like a mirror,—and saw a fair face, with a white shell above the forehead and drooping wreaths of green seaweed in the silken hair; and a faint blush and smile rose on the cheek, giving the last finish to the picture. ”

“ Praise God, from whom all Blessings flow,
Praise Him all Creatures here below,
Praise Him above y' Angelick Host,
Praise Father, Son, and Holy Ghost. ”

“ The angels are so thoroughly honest, so perfectly free from all false modesty and pretended humility, and are so free from all formality and human ceremonies, that the presence of an angel is always elevating and refreshing. The Lord touches me consciously now through the medium of His Written Word... When I read the Scriptures my whole `spiritual body' can feel the touch and power of the Living Divine that flows through its words and sentences, just as plainly and unmistakably as my natural body can feel the touch and force of the wind. ”

“ Before he felt there was some one there!
He looked, and saw in the sun-lit air
An angel, floating on wings of white;
Nor did he wonder at such a sight:
For angels often had come to cheer
His soul, and he thought them always near.
Happy and humble, he bowed his head,
And listened, while thus the angel said:
"Go to the nearest town, and there,
To-morrow, will be in the market square
A mountebank, playing his tricks for show:
He is the man thou hast prayed to know;
His soul, as seen by the light divine,
Is neither better nor worse than thine. ”

“ The "Angel of the Lord," visible, sure,
Known for the angel by his presence pure
Whereon was written love, and peace, and grace,
With beauty passing mortal mien and face.
So when the Angels were no more to see,
Re-entering those gates of space,—whose key
[Pg 165] Love keeps on that side, and on this side death—
Each shepherd to the other whispering saith,
Lest he should miss some lingering symphonies
Of that departing music, "Let us rise
And go even now to Bethlehem, and spy
This which is come to pass, shewed graciously
By the Lord's angels." ”

“ While, with simple innocence and humble piety, we meditate upon them, in common with the whole contents of the inspired writings, angels become our attendant ministering friends, the sweet companions of our thoughts,—infuse into them the chastening ray of divine intelligence, which springs direct from the sun of Heaven,—the sun of suns, and resplendent orb of everlasting day. ”

“ But a divine yearning filled all their hearts; they seemed to hear ten thousand thousand angels singing in choruses, Alleluia, Alleluia, Alleluia; they floated up on impalpable clouds of azure and silver, up through the blissful paradises of the uppermost heaven; their nostrils were filled with the odours of exquisite spices and herbs and smoke of incense; their eyes dazzled at splendours and lights and glories ”

“ Here is an Angel, a glorious Angel, who has quickened my soul to beauty and delight, who has opened my eyes to Wonderland, and something more than Wonderland, ... and I have promised to get rid of him in a week! What are we men made of? ”

“ The good we love, and sleep-our innocence. O hills of life, high hills! And higher than they, Our guardian spirits meet at prayer and play. Beyond pain, joy, and hope, and long suspense, Above the summits of our souls, far hence, An angel meets an angel on the way. ”

“ Oh, my angel, my angel, no word suits you but this—‘angel.’ I have this much of you, at least, and I will never part with it while I live—while I live—and then, afterwards, beyond this world, may there not be some realms of bliss where we may meet, as we met in guileless childhood and love, without a thought of any barrier of rank between us? ”

“ The angel was there with his divine face looking steadily at him, with eyes so piercing that no secret in the inmost soul could remain hidden from them, and the man upon whom they were turned could not even think without being sure that his thought was known. ”

“ I must ring the bell for my pupils. [He sees the Angel.] What are you? Who are you? I think I saw some that were like you in my dreams when I was a child—that bright thing, that dress that is the colour of embers! But I have done with dreams, I have done with dreams.
Angel. I am the Angel of the Most High God.
Wise M. Why have you come to me?
Angel. I have brought you a message.
Wise M. What message have you got for me?
Angel. You will die within the hour. You will die when the last grains have fallen in this glass. [She turns the hour-glass.] ”

“ And she said meekly, "Truly I find that one way to create beauty is to perceive it."
Then an angel, who was hovering near, on his way back from some message of mercy (for the angels never linger till their messages are given) , sang softly, "Love veileth a multitude of sins." And the old Rock answered in a chorus, through its moss-threads, and lichen-cups, and leaves, and blossoms, "And under the warm veil spring a multitude of flowers." ”

“ A white-robed angel stood at Heaven’s door,
⁠To catch earth’s floating tones of even song,
Then, kneeling low upon the crystal floor,
⁠Asks with uplifted hands, “How long, how long?
“I hear my child’s sweet voice from earth arise,
⁠I catch the fragrant incense of his prayer;
But missing him in these serener skies,
⁠Heaven’s fairest beauties seem to me less fair. ”

“ I saw another angel flying through the midst of heaven having the everlasting Gospel to preach unto those who dwell on earth, to every nation, kindred, tongue and people, crying with a loud voice, Fear God and give glory to him, for the hour of his judgment is come, and worship him that made the heaven, the earth, the seas, and the fountains of water. ”

“ When man upon earth reads a verse in the letter humbly and believingly, spiritual angels instantly perceive it in the spiritual sense, celestial angels in the celestial sense, the Lord hears and feels it, and the Divine Truth runs the whole scale of thought from centre to circumference. Thus we are consociated with angels and conjoined to the Lord by means of his Word. ”

“ When they reached the Gates of Heaven the Lord stopped short and, turning to the angels, said:
“You can no longer enter the heavenly abode. You are bringing tidings of the ways of the world which must not be heard by the other angels. And as you liked the world, you shall continue to look at the soul’s doings.” Thereupon the Lord changed the angels and made them into stars, which he scattered all over the heavens, and from there they smile joyfully and kindly upon the earth. ”

“ Strange as it may seem, this angel spoken of, has flown from heaven to earth, parting asunder the vail of superstition, ignorance and doubt, and bringing with him from his celestial abode, glad tidings of great joy, duly authorizing man on the earth to preach the same to all peoples of every nation. ”

“ The Three Angel Messages, Ch. 14:6-11 These are distinct notes of divine warning, prelusive of the End, which are given by the mouth of three different angels, showing their separate and individual importance; they are three in number, the symbol of the spiritual, indicating the nature of their contents; and they are introduced as preparatory to the scenes of anticipated judgment in verses fourteen to twenty, and are premonitory of the End. The End is an ever-recurrent note that always finds place in the deeper strains of Apocalyptic literature. ”

“ These angel children were the first point on which my mind rested, in its struggle to overcome its disappointment, and bring itself en rapport with the artist. In order fully to appreciate their spiritual beauty, one must have seen an assortment of those things called angels, which occur in the works of the old masters. Generally speaking, I know of nothing more calculated to moderate any undue eagerness to go to heaven than the common run of canvas angels. ”

“ Sweet emotions, smiles and tears,
Lived amid her numbers;
Let their tender memory
Sanctify her slumbers.
Angels claim the angel one;
Fling the palm above her;
Too late, with a fond regret,
We find how much we love her. ”

“ The angels, with their harps, on clouds, are now presented to the eyes, even of faith, in vain; they are still appreciated on canvas by an old master, but to become one of them is no longer the common aspiration. ”

“ Since the angels are spiritual, and each and all things of their bodies are held in their connection, form, and order, by atmospheres, it follows that those atmospheres also are spiritual; and they are spiritual because they originate from the spiritual sun, which is the first going forth of the Divine love and Divine wisdom of the Lord. ”

“ Angels He calls ye: be your strife
To lead on earth an Angel’s life.
Think not of rest; though dreams be sweet,
Start up, and ply your heavenward feet.
Is not God’s oath upon your head,
Ne’er to sink back on slothful bed,
Never again your loans untie,
Nor let your torches waste and die,
Till, when the shadows thickest fall,
Ye hear your Master’s midnight call?
Third Sunday in Advent.
What went ye out into the wilderness to see? A reed shaken with the wind? . . . But what went ye out for to see? A prophet? yea, I say unto you, and more than a prophet. St. Matthew xi. 7, 9. ”

“ May the angels in heaven have no other! Forever, too, and equally, the perpetual loves, thoughts, and melodies of men! Let them come out of their own mystical, ineffable haunts,—let them, that is, be real,—and we ask no more. ”

“ The angels are spirits; God is also a Spirit, but there is an infinite difference between Almighty God and the highest angel. The angels have a sublime understanding, great wisdom, and much knowledge, but their understanding, wisdom, and knowledge are finite. Their wills are holy, and are much more powerful than ours, but they are not infinitely holy, nor are the angels almighty. ”

“ ANGELS OF THE SACRED STAIR. Father, whose goodness none can know, but they Who see thee face to face, By man hath come the infinite display Of thine all-loving grace; But fallen man—the creature of a day— Skills not that love to trace. It needs, to tell the triumph thou hast wrought, An angel's deathless fire, an angel's reach of thought. It needs that very angel, who with awe Amid the garden shade, The great Creator in his sickness saw, Soothed by a creature's aid, And agonized, as victim of the law Which he himself had made ”