What angels do we know by name?

  • Thread starter Thread starter St_Redemption
  • Start date Start date
Status
Not open for further replies.
S

St_Redemption

Guest
My wife just asked me this question and I could only name two, St Michael and Gabriel. What are some of the others which are mentioned Biblically or through Church teaching/doctorine?
 
I think that Catholic teaching only names three: Sts Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael.
 
And Eastern Catholics, which means he is recognized by the Church.

Here we go again…:rolleyes:
 
babochka said:
And Eastern Catholics, which means he is recognized by the Church.

Here we go again…:rolleyes:
Click to expand...
Good point. I sincerely hope that this doesn’t get into a nit-picky dialogue.

Thanks be to the Lord for all His angels and saints!
 
Can anyone tell me what the angels are known for? I know Gabriel came to Mary. Was Michael guarding the gates of heaven?

Thanks
 
Blessedwithfive said:
Can anyone tell me what the angels are known for? I know Gabriel came to Mary. Was Michael guarding the gates of heaven?

Thanks
Click to expand...
Gabriel is known for being God’s primary messenger - I read somewhere that after Lucifer fell (and became Satan), he took Lucifer’s place. Regardless, Gabriel first appears in the Book of Daniel, announcing the “Seventy weeks (ie, 490) of years” before the coming of the messianic age following the return of the exiles. Seriously. And then, he announces to Mary that the fulfillment of said prophecy will start with her - close to the number of years put forth in the Book of Daniel (and Jesus quite often uses Daniel’s language “Son of Man” to refer to Himself).

Michael is the highest ranking general in God’s army of angels. His name means “Who can compare with God?” His job is to lead the heavenly host into battle against Satan and defend the Church. He only appears in the Book of the Revalation of John.

Raphael only appears in the Book of Tobit. He is known for being the healer of Tobit and Sarah in the book.
 
Blessedwithfive said:
Can anyone tell me what the angels are known for? I know Gabriel came to Mary. Was Michael guarding the gates of heaven?

Thanks
Click to expand...
St. Michael the Archangel stood up to Lucifer who did not want to serve, and said “Who is like God?”

Lucifer, wanted to be like God, not wanting to serve God.

St. Thomas Acquinas, called “the Angelic Doctor” has a lot of insightful theology about the angels. They were given a test, and could see at a glance what the outcome would be, and Lucifer and his followers fell by the sin of Pride. Now Lucifer is known as Satan.
 
I read on a Jewish site that in Jewish folklore the three visitors to Abraham were Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. Each had a single mission. Michael announced the coming of Isaac and returned to Heaven. Gabriel destroyed Sodom, Raphael escorted Lot and family to safety.
 
porthos11 said:
Interesting how Lucifer still crops up.

Where is Lucifer mentioned as the name of an angel?
Click to expand...
Lucifer was his name before he fell and took some angels with him for refusing to serve Jesus. His name changed as he changed from an angel of incredible beauty, intelligence and light to Satan.
Throughout Sacred Scripture, we find mention of Satan, the devil. The word Satan comes from the Hebrew word , meaning to oppose, to harass someone; so Satan would be the tempter, the one to make up trip and fall, the one to turn us from God. The word devil is derived from the Greek , meaning an accuser, a slanderer. Other synonyms for Satan in Sacred Scripture are the Evil One, Beelzebub, the Accuser, the Tempter, the Great Dragon and the Ancient Serpent. Even Lord of the Flies.

We believe that in the beginning, God created Satan as a good angel: (Lucifer) the Lateran Council IV (1215) stated, “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.” These angels irrevocably chose through their free will to rebel against God and not to serve Him. For this rebellion, they were cast into hell. Sacred Scripture attests to this belief. Our Lord, speaking of the final judgment, said, “Then (the Son of Man) will say to those on His left, ‘Out of My sight, you condemned, into that everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Mt 25:41).

here’s another article:
tanbooks.com/doct/angels.htm
 
pianistclare said:
Lucifer was his name before he fell and took some angels with him for refusing to serve Jesus. His name changed as he changed from an angel of incredible beauty, intelligence and light to Satan.
Throughout Sacred Scripture, we find mention of Satan, the devil. The word Satan comes from the Hebrew word , meaning to oppose, to harass someone; so Satan would be the tempter, the one to make up trip and fall, the one to turn us from God. The word devil is derived from the Greek , meaning an accuser, a slanderer. Other synonyms for Satan in Sacred Scripture are the Evil One, Beelzebub, the Accuser, the Tempter, the Great Dragon and the Ancient Serpent. Even Lord of the Flies.

We believe that in the beginning, God created Satan as a good angel: (Lucifer) the Lateran Council IV (1215) stated, “The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing.” These angels irrevocably chose through their free will to rebel against God and not to serve Him. For this rebellion, they were cast into hell. Sacred Scripture attests to this belief. Our Lord, speaking of the final judgment, said, “Then (the Son of Man) will say to those on His left, ‘Out of My sight, you condemned, into that everlasting fire prepared for the devil and his angels’” (Mt 25:41).
Click to expand...
Yes, I’ve heard this all since I was a child.

I accept that the Devil is a fallen angel. This is affirmed by both Scripture and Tradition and is of the faith.

But where is it stated this angel’s name was Lucifer?
 
porthos11 said:
Yes, I’ve heard this all since I was a child.

I accept that the Devil is a fallen angel. This is affirmed by both Scripture and Tradition and is of the faith.

But where is it stated this angel’s name was Lucifer?
Click to expand...
Lucifer means Light…perhaps that name was given to him because he was so beautiful and full of the Light of God at his beginning?
 
Dorothy said:
Lucifer means Light…perhaps that name was given to him because he was so beautiful and full of the Light of God at his beginning?
Click to expand...
It still doesn’t answer the question as where we even got that name.

Lucifer means “light-bearer”, and the Church uses the word to refer to Jesus Christ himself. Where then did we ever get this name as a name for the devil?
 
porthos11 said:
Yes, I’ve heard this all since I was a child.

I accept that the Devil is a fallen angel. This is affirmed by both Scripture and Tradition and is of the faith.

But where is it stated this angel’s name was Lucifer?
Click to expand...
I believe the link I provided mentioned it.
 
pianistclare said:
I believe the link I provided mentioned it.
Click to expand...
I checked, but it didn’t give a source. It just repeated the claim as fact, that the devil’s name before the fall was Lucifer. But there’s no backing from either Scripture of Magisterial pronouncements.

And no, Isaiah 14:12 doesn’t count because that’s a reference to the king of Babylon, not the devil, the word comes only through the Vulgate, and as a common noun, not a name.

And as I said, the word, also as a common noun, refers to Christ himself, as used in the Church’s own liturgy.

So how we can just unquestioningly accept that “the devil was once named Lucifer” is beyond me.
 
Catholic Encyclopedia: Lucifer
The Syriac version and the version of Aquila derive the Hebrew noun helel from the verb yalal, “to lament”; St. Jerome agrees with them (In Isaiah 1.14), and makes Lucifer the name of the principal fallen angel who must lament the loss of his original glory bright as the morning star. In Christian tradition this meaning of Lucifer has prevailed; the Fathers maintain that Lucifer is not the proper name of the devil, but denotes only the state from which he has fallen (Petavius, De Angelis, III, iii, 4).
Click to expand...
Catholic Encyclopedia: Devil
In the Old Testament we have a brief reference to the Fall in Job 4:18: “In his angels he found wickedness”. But to this must be added the two classic texts in the prophets:
Click to expand...
How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? how art thou fallen to the earth, that didst wound the nations? And thou saidst in thy heart: I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. But yet thou shalt be brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15)
Click to expand...
This parable of the prophet is expressly directed against the King of Babylon, but both the early Fathers and later Catholic commentators agree in understanding it as applying with deeper significance to the fall of the rebel angel. And the older commentators generally consider that this interpretation is confirmed by the words of Our Lord to his disciples: “I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven” (Luke 10:18). For these words were regarded as a rebuke to the disciples, who were thus warned of the danger of pride by being reminded of the fall of Lucifer. But modern commentators take this text in a different sense, and refer it not to the original fall of Satan, but his overthrow by the faith of the disciples, who cast out devils in the name of their Master. And this new interpretation, as Schanz observes, is more in keeping with the context.
Click to expand...
Demons are the Angels Who Fell by Their Disobedience to the Will of God, by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
The study of the evil spirit is the science of demonology. As we enter this dark ocean, it is important to understand our vocabulary. Since the dawn of revealed history, believers in the one true God have used four principal names for the angels who fell from Divine friendship. They are called demons, or devils, or Satan, or Lucifer.
Click to expand...
Lucifer. In the common teaching of the Fathers of the Church, the name “Lucifer” is identified with Satan, the leader of the fallen angels. In the Church’s writings, Lucifer is the “Prince of Darkness,” who before he fell was an angel of light. The name comes from the Latin lucifer, “light bearer.”
Click to expand...
 
Status
Not open for further replies.
Back
Top