What are angels? There are at least 4 things that we know about angels. First, they were created by God and therefore they are creatures of God. Second, they are pure spirits; which means that they do not have physical bodies like human beings do. Third, they are intelligent and immortal creatures (CCC 330). The intelligence of angels far surpasses that of man, but unlike God, they do not know everything. For example, they cannot see the future.
Are all angels the same? Not all angels are the same. Angels are ranked according to the amount of gifts God gave each one and the work assigned to each one. There are 9 choirs of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels and Angels.
How many angels are there? We don’t know exactly how many, but scripture tells us that there are countless angels (cf. Heb 12:22, Dan 7:10, Rev 5:11).
Who are the angels that we know about? Michael = “One who is like God,” he led the good angels to battle against the dragon (Rev 12:7). Gabriel = “God is my strength” or “God’s strength,” he announced the birth of Jesus to Mary (Luke 1:26-33). Raphael = “God heals” or “God’s remedy,” he brought healing to the blind Tobit and helped Tobiah get rid of a demon (Book of Tobit).
The Book of Revelation tells us about the Great Battle in heaven: War broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. (Rev 12:7-9)
God gave the angels free will. The angels were given the free choice either to love and obey God, or not. Satan and the angels who followed him chose not to obey God and were driven out of heaven. Hence, they are called the fallen angels. Scripture speaks of a sin of these angels (cf. 2 Pet 2:4); this sin consisted of their radical and irrevocable rejection of God and His reign (CCC 392). That means that the fallen angels made the choice to reject God forever.
Some people may think that God was unfair to the angels in the sense that they were not given the chance to change their mind on that one decision, but there lies the great difference between the nature of angels and man. Given their superior intelligence, angels knew without question the consequences of their choice. On the other hand, man was created quite differently from angels, and therefore God gives man the chance to repent, but that chance does not last forever; just as there is no chance of repentance for the angels after that one decision, there is no chance of repentance for man after death. (CCC 393)
Satan and the fallen angels are no longer called angels, but demons or evil spirits. They tempt human beings and try to make us commit sin and draw us away from God. However, in His infinite wisdom, God also created the Guardian Angels. Each of these angels are assigned to care of each one of us, they protect us from harm, they guide us to be good and to do good, they offer our prayers and good works to God, they pray for us and they help us in our work and in our needs. We must not ignore our guardian angels; rather, we should acknowledge and thank them.
Here is the prayer to our Guardian Angel: Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here; ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.