| V. Choir | 15 January |
|---|---|
| Angel of Abraham | Paul, Maurus |
He is the guardian angel and helper of Abraham, our forefather, and we can read about many an act of help from him and the holy angels throughout the ages in the Holy Scriptures.
Some will ask, “How is it that there is so much about the holy angels in the Holy Scriptures, but that there has been very little heard of them throughout the centuries? We have hardly learned anything about them.”
Let us take the example of our own life: in early childhood our young lives were filled with a firm belief in our holy guardian angel. We never forgot to pray for his help and he often visibly intervened in our lives, protecting and helping us, and saving us from distress. As we grew up, however, circles of ideas in our mind grew up as well, which were more and more concerned with the ego. Somewhere we lost the childlike view of our silent companion because we were too busy with ourselves and were enough for ourselves. Then he quietly stepped back. He never left our side… but we never called him again and never consulted him. The silence around the holy angel is our fault.
And this is exactly how it has been throughout the history of mankind: When mankind was young, he faithfully looked up to the sky, to the heavenly helpers, and the holy angels were also happy to help in the love and will of God. We only need to open the Holy Scriptures in many, many places.
Over time, mankind became more and more self-sufficient and the evil enemy busied himself by portraying the image of the angel as heretical and unnecessary, and finally as a kind of triviality of faith that is only tolerated in the art domain. This is where we are now. If the evil around us was not becoming so dangerous and threatening, perhaps we would still not have heard God’s call to secure more help from His mighty servants.
Even the angel who stands before God’s Throne today as our intercessor,
Saint Semiel,
was once a silent guardian angel who led our forefather Abraham over steppes and dangerous paths from the land of Ur via Egypt to southern Palestine. Today we see him in his choir section of High Powers, full of majesty and virtue, bearing God’s covenant with Abraham and all of the patriarchs, and with his outstretched hand pointing into the distance, where the Chosen People are still scattered over the whole earth and are only slowly, after almost 2000 years, beginning to gather again.
Prayer: Holy Angel, Saint Semiel, teach us how to have the unshakeable faith of Abraham, the faithfulness never to waver one step from God, so that God’s blessing may remain with us always! Amen.