Angels

Guardian angel with a child, parc-des-chapelains Paray-le-Monial.

Angels are present in The Gospel as Revealed to Me at certain important moments, including the Annunciation. They are also occasionally interlocutors of Maria Valtorta in other volumes of the work, including Book of Azariah, which recounts teachings from her guardian angel.

The angels who rebelled against God, following Lucifer, were, like him, cast into hell and became demons.

The Archangel Gabriel

His name means: "Man of God" or "Strength of God".          

"The angel of all annunciations." He announces the birth of John the Baptist and of Jesus. He is present at the Nativity. He is one of the seven archangels who stand before the throne of God and intercede for the people; responsibility for the Paradise is said to have been entrusted to him.

"«Because the 'Strength of God' has always been the victorious archangel who brought joyful tidings to saints and prophets, he has been the unconquerable warrior who smashed even Satan’s great power as if it were the stem of withered moss, he is the intelligent spirit who with clever and bright intelligence warded off the snares of the other intelligent but wicked spirit, and thus had God’s command promptly accomplished.»"

Character and Appearance

"It must necessarily take a human appearance. But it is a transhuman appearance. Of what flesh is this beautiful and gleaming figure made? With what substance did God form it to make it perceptible to the senses of the Virgin? Only God can possess such substances and use them so perfectly. It is a face, a body, eyes, a mouth, hair and hands like ours. But they are not our dull matter. It is a light that has taken the colour of flesh, of eyes, hair, lips, a light that moves and smiles, looks and speaks. «Hail, Mary, full of Grace, Hail!» The voice is a sweet arpeggio as of pearls thrown on a precious metal plate."

In a vision of March 24, 1946 (Notebooks 1945-1950): Maria Valtorta describes the angel Gabriel thus:      

"I must tell you, though, that from the moment you went away an angel, who does not seem to be mine, has been constantly and visibly present for me. I say he does not seem to be mine because, whereas Azariah shows himself to me by materializing in beauty, as I described for you at one point, this one is completely spiritualized, in a very intense light that only a miracle of God allows me to fix my gaze upon, and he has the incorporeal beauty of spiritual beings and does not use his feet to move, but the two lights of his wings, and everything in him is light: his face, his hands crossed over his chest, and his extremely white, immaterial robe.... And I say "hands," "face," and "robe," because we poor mortals can express ourselves only materially to say what we see. But this very beautiful spirit, who never leaves me and with whom my soul embarks upon continuous loving conversations, has only the incorporeal condensation of his spirit in the form of a face, hands, and clothing, to present himself to my spiritual sight and is thus reduced to the minimum necessary to fulfill this purpose, which really involves using improper, very material words to speak of his face, hands, and robe. In short, he looks to me like the Angel at Gethsemane, who was 'light in the form of an angel.'

It looks to me like one of the many I have seen in the choirs in Paradise.... Oh, light, light singing in the boundless azures of Heaven ... ! He looks to me like one of the Christmas angels ... for the shepherds ... one of the angels at Compito. During one of the last nights of exile they lifted me into ecstasy as they skimmed over head, singing unrepeatable harmonies....

I don't know who it is. I know his presence is my comfort. To me, he is more than gentle moonlight for the solitary, lost traveller and gives me certainty that I am not alone, but in the best of company, with the best of guides, and on the best of ways: in the company of the angel of God and on the way the angels follow: God's. I don't know who it is. I delight in his presence, but he does not disclose himself."

Angels who serve Jesus

During the Flight into Egypt

"«An angel said to me: ‘Take the Child and His Mother and escape to Egypt.’ Don’t waste any time. I’m going to prepare what I can.» There is no need to tell Mary not to waste time. As soon as She heard Joseph mention an angel, Jesus and flight, She understood that Her Creature was in danger [...]"  

In the Holy Family

"And the angels dwelled there, because nothing drove them away from that house. And one of them, I might say, had become flesh and was Joseph, an angelical soul freed from the burden of the flesh, intent only on serving God and His cause and loving Him as the seraphim love Him."

In the Desert

"The sun has set in the west. He takes His empty haversack and in the company of the angels who, flying above His head emit a mild light while it is getting dark very rapidly, He starts walking eastwards [...]"   

At the Nativity

"But nothing could have happened to Me. I felt no jolts. I seemed to be moving along a starry path, among snow-white clouds, supported by angels… And I smiled… [...] I am living that hour again and I can find every place because I see everything through a bright angelical light. Perhaps the angelical group is here once again, invisible to our bodies, but visible to our souls with its brightness [...]"

During the fast of Aczib

"As I did when I began My mission, so I did now. Then, at the end, I was assisted by angels. I am assisted by you now. And believe Me, it is a double joy to Me. Because the ministry of charity is unbreakable by angels. But it is not so easily found among men."

At the Resurrection

"When He moves, coming towards the exit, and the eye can see be­yond His brightness, two most beautiful brilliances, but similar to stars compared with the sun, appear to me, one on this side, the other on the other side of the threshold, prostrated in the adoration of their God, Who passes by enveloped in His light, beatifying with His smile [...]"        

Public Life angels

"The angel of My life of man and the angel of My sorrow are prostrated before Me and worship My Glory. Both My angels are here. One to delight in the sight of Him Whom he guarded, and Who now no longer needs angelical protection. The other, who saw My tears, to see My smile; who saw My struggle, to see My victory; who saw My grief, to see My joy."  

The angel of "Divine Suffering"

"[The women disciples] see a bright light come out of the open Sepulchre. Their fright increases and reaches its climax when, hold­ing each other’s hand to pluck up courage, they peep in from the threshold and in the dark sepulchral cave, they see a bright most beautiful creature, that smiling kindly greets them from the place where it is standing: leaning on the right hand side of the anoint­ment stone, which, grey as it is, disappears behind so much incan­descent brightness. They fall on their knees, utterly astonished. But the angel speaks to them gently: «Be not afraid of me. I am the angel of the divine Sorrow. I have come to rejoice at its end.»"        

In Gethsemane, the angel of consolation

"And I leaned there and the angel of the Lord hovered here to comfort Me in My will to do the Will of God. Because, remember this, if you always wish to do the Will of God, where the creature cannot persist, God comes with His angel to support the exhausted hero."        

At the Ascension

"[...] they remain there, as if they were waiting, until two snow-white angelical lights, in human form, appear repeating the words mentioned in the first chapter of the Acts of the Apostles."

The angels of the Nativity

"The young ones are on their knees, looking at the angel who is coming nearer and nearer, and then he stops mid-air above the enclosure wall, waving his large wings, a pearly brightness in the white moonlight surrounding him.

«Do not fear. I am not bringing you misfortune. I announce a great joy for the people of Israel and for all the people of the world.» The angelic voice is the harmony of a harp and of singing nightingales. [...]

But from the Heavens many angels - oh! how many! - come down, all like him, a ladder of angels descending and rejoicing and dimming the moonlight with their heavenly brightness. They all gather round the announcing angel, fluttering their wings, exhaling perfumes, playing notes in which the most beautiful voices of creation find a recollection, but elevated to uniform perfection.

"

«Have you seen the angels?» and he looks at Matthias opening his big eyes wide.

Guardian angels

"Can you believe that the angels will watch them faithfully?"

"I think that the guardian angels of men have led them to the Son of God, as they were desirous of God. And I do not think I am telling an idle story. If we consider with what prompt and shrewd perseverance Satan led enemies to God and to His Word, every time his diabolical spirit could exhibit to men the semblance of a fault in Christ, it is admissible to think, rather than admissible it is indeed just to think also that the angels were no way inferior to demons and they led non-demoniacal spirits to Christ."

"[...] your angel is ready to implore God with you and for you."

"But the flowers of virtuous wreaths do not wither. God’s angel, whom every man has at his side, picks up these daily wreaths and takes them to Heaven. And they will be there in the throne for the new blessed soul when it enters the nuptial house as the bride."

The angels of Heaven

Imitate the angels

"The angels, who are superior to the weaknesses of mankind, do not cease singing their “Sanctus” not even for an instant, and their supernatural beauty increases with each invocation of the holiness of our God. Imitate the angels."

Sermon on the Mount

"Do not allow your tongue to be urged by pride and thus become an object of scandal in the angels’ eyes. It would be better for you to become mute at once [...]"

The faith of angels and that of men

"But every being needs more than such bare, pure, incorporeal faith, which is fit and sufficient for the angels who see and love God spiritually, as they share with Him a spiritual nature and can see God. We have to create a “picture” of God [...]"

The scribes of deeds and words

"[...] the angels of the Lord listen to the words of men and record them in the eternal books and it might not be pleasant one day to be told: 'Let it be done to you according to your own judgement'."

The revolt of the angels

"God had created the angels. And some of them, who did not want to believe that the level of glory at which they had been placed was good, rebelled and with their minds parched by lack of faith in their Lord, they attempted to assail the unreachable throne of God. They opposed their discordant unjust pessimistic thoughts to the harmonious reasons of the faithful angels, and pessimism, which is lack of faith, changed them from spirits of light into spirits of darkness."

The creation of the angels

"'The angels, spiritual creatures, servants of the Most High and His messengers, were created by Him, as man, as animals and everything that was created. But they were not begotten by Him.'"

Angels who serve the Virgin Mary

Mary's Testament before her Dormition

"'Because angels, one or many, have always been near Me, when I have been in a special moment of My life. They were at Nazareth, when the Spirit of God made My virginal womb prolific. And they were with Joseph, when he was upset and uncertain about My state and how to behave with Me. And at Bethlehem a first and a second time, when Jesus was born, and when we had to flee to Egypt. And in Egypt when they ordered us to come back to Palestine. And – if not to Me, because the King of the angels Himself had come to Me, as soon as He had risen – and angels appeared to the pious women at the dawn of the first day after the Sabbath and gave them the order to tell you and Peter what you had to do. Angels and light always at the decisive moments of My life and of Jesus’. Light and ardour of love that, descending from the Throne of God to Me, His maid, and ascending from My heart to go God, My King and Lord, united Me to God and Him to me, so that what was written that was to be accomplished, should be accomplished, and also to create a veil of light spread over the secrets of God, so that Satan and his servants should not be aware of the accomplishment of the sublime mystery of the Incarnation, before the right time. Also this evening I feel the angels around Me, although I do not see them.'"

Assumption

"Then in this paradisaic light, angelic creatures show themselves, a light even brighter in the already strong light that appeared first. As it already happened when the angels appeared to the shepherds, a dance of sparks of all shades bursts forth from their gently moved wings, which emit a harmonious murmur, as sweet as if it were played by a harp. The angelic creatures place themselves around the little bed, they bend over it, they lift the immobile body, and flapping their wings more vigorously, which increases the sound existing previously [...]"  

"'Bending over Her rest, the angel of Mary was anxiously waiting for the climax of the ecstasy to separate that spirit from the flesh, for the time decreed by God, and to separate it forever from the Earth, while the sweet inviting command of God was already descending from Heaven.'"

In other works by Maria Valtorta

Notebooks 1944

• Catechesis of January 10, 1944

  "[...] I see my angel [Azariah]. He is kneeling, facing towards Mary, whom he seems to venerate. Dressed in white. His arms are crossed over his chest, and his hands are touching his shoulders."

Notebooks 1945-1950

• Catechesis of July 16, 1947: Lesson of Azariah on the mission of the guardian angel
• Catechesis of August 20, 1947: New lesson of Azariah on the mission of the guardian angels.

In fundamental Christian texts

In the Catechism of the Church Catholic

• The existence of angels is a truth of faith. The testimony of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.
• The fall of the angels.
• The angel's announcement to Joseph.
• The angel announces Jesus as "the Anointed".
• The "lust" of angels.
• The fall of the angels and the sin of man were only permitted by God as occasion and means to display all the strength of His arm, all the measure of love He wanted to give to the world.
• Jesus will send His angels.
• The name of Jesus announced by the angel.
• The justification of sinners surpasses the creation of angels.
• Man is, after angels, capable of recognizing that great is the Name of the Lord throughout the earth.
• The The "Hail Mary" (Ave Maria).
• Satan, the angel who opposes God..

Notes and references

Note: Quotations from the work of Maria Valtorta on this page currently use machine-translated text and will gradually be replaced by the official English translation. Until then, the official translation may be consulted through the reference link provided with each quotation.

That leads to nothing, is useless, wastes time. (Example: to ask an idle question).