| VI. Choir | 13 July |
|---|---|
| Angel of God’s clemency | Saint Margaret of Prz. |
When we speak of the opposites of God, we are referring here to the opposing concepts created by the Lord, both as creations (day-night, fire-water, embers-ice) and as tensions (vastness-constriction, fullness-emptiness, etc.), not to the polarity of the highest love and mercy and the completely incorruptible justice, the highest wisdom and omnipotence and the foolishness of the Cross, which rests in God Himself and appears to us as an antithesis.
The Choir of Powers, which stands at the centre of all the choirs and is the bearer of God’s will both in its static nature and in its harmony and wisdom, but also in its contrariness, reflects these divine contrarieties most strongly after the three Thrones of Saint Schemmajim, Saint Malachim and Saint Ophajim. In the Choir of Principalities we find them strongly in the Sealed Princes, not at all in the Silent Princes, and among the High Princes especially in the three: Saint Raphael, Saint Michael and Saint Hamaliel.
Saint Raphael, known as God’s Arrow of Love, the angel of love and pain, also bears the horn of the spiritual battle against the infernal superpower. He is also the patron saint of sacrificial souls, doctors and travelers.
Saint Michael, Strength of God, is as much the angel of humility as he is the conqueror of Lucifer and possesses the highest creative power. With his tongued sword, he is the saviour from the worst enemy whilst at the same time the servant of God and the most caring patron of the dying.
Saint Hamaliel,
who stands before God’s Throne today as our intercessor, is known as the Mildness of God and yet his symbol is the open seal, which means that he is the Angel of the Last Things. When the seals of all the angels shall be loosed, and the smoke and fumes of the perishing world shall rise to Heaven, then, O Angel Saint Hamaliel, what will you still achieve with the mildness of God? And yet it is so.
We can never measure the Thoughts of God. His mercy, kindness and clemency are without limit, and it is so wonderful to know that God’s clemency will last until the last moment.
Saint Hamaliel is one of the twenty-four High Princes. They are appointed by God as stewards of creation. They have visible, large areas of creation to administer, but they also have spiritual areas under their care.
Saint Hamaliel is the angel of contemplation, the angel of the vigil. Before every great feast, the Holy Church celebrates the vigil, the original evening sacrifice, the night celebration. Thus, before the great feast of the general return of the children of God to their Father’s House, Saint Hamaliel will also hold the last night celebration in the mildness of God, not in wrathful judgement. O goodness of God, who can exhaust you?
Prayer: Mild Prince of retreat, Saint Hamaliel, send us your light in the darkness of the days, that with the burning lamp of readiness in our hands, we may find the right path and leave all fear, focusing only on God as our goal. Amen.