| IX. Choir | 9 January |
|---|---|
| The Strong One | Julian |
Even the holy angels can be bearers of burdens, as can be seen in the angel of this day. He stands with one foot on a bridge over a deep abyss, and with the other foot on the embankment. He is broad and massive, and yet his face has the expression of a child. He is passing the loads from one bank to the other, for the bridge is very weak. And over and across stand men and angels who give and take and give thanks and go again. The angel on the bridge is Saint Brial, the Strong One. He is one of the angels from the ninth choir who are not only in charge of certain areas, houses, or parishes; he is one of those who are set over the others by a supra-temporal, general task, just as a steward is set over a whole estate and not just over one work. Saint Brial is assigned to the Choir of Virtues, to the third of the seven angels of the virtue of hope, Saint Abariel, the angel of perseverance.
Saint Brial carries all of the essence and all of the graces of the bearers of burdens. In a steadfast loyalty to his Lord and God, he stands in his place wherever people cannot go on because of worries and burdens and fear. He gently takes away their sorrow, their worry, their distress, their burden. He hands them over the bridge to the guardian angel; now it is easier. The bridge is the symbol for a decision, for a stagnation and for “not being able to go on,” but also for a new, better beginning on the other side, which man finds easier if his burden does not prevent him from looking up.
He carries not only faithfulness, but also joyful courage and tenacity. He helps people to persevere and not to let their courage wane. He also widens man’s view of the needs of others and teaches him to become such a burden-bearer himself, helping others across the bridge.
Prayer: Holy Angel, Saint Brial, what a comfort it is for us to know that you are waiting for us when we cannot go on, that you help us to cross the dark bridge when we are in spiritual distress and fear and that through you we can again find our way to the Heavenly Father’s House. Amen.