The Glories of the Holy Angels
Venerable Henri Boudon, Archdeacon of Evreux
To make Novenas in honour of the holy Angels—to take certain days to honour them—and to celebrate their Feasts with particular devotion.
The Catholic Church teaches, that we should not superstitiously attach ourselves to certain numbers; but there are some mysterious ones, consecrated by the piety of the faithful, which she sanctions and authorizes as that of three, which is the number of the holy Trinity; that of forty, which is the number of days our Lord spent in the wilderness; that of nine, which corresponds with the number of the angelic Choirs.
Any devotion practised for nine days is termed a Novena. St. Teresa was very partial to this practice, as she herself tells us. It is most useful to perform such a one in honour of the Angels; we ourselves have seen miraculous things effected by it.
It may be as follows : the first day, honour the Angels of the last Choir by some prayer— nine Gloria Patris, for example—and ask them for the grace or favour you want; and thus ascend to all the choirs successively. If your object be the graces peculiar to each Choir, you can on the first day, ask the Angels to obtain for you a lively faith; on the second, beg of the Archangels holy zeal; on the third, honour the Principalities, and beg the extinction of the reign of sin; on the fourth, the Powers, for their support against the malicious efforts of hell; on the fifth, the Virtues, that they may facilitate the practice of that, perfection to which all Christians are by their baptismal engagement bound to aspire; on the sixth, honour the Dominations, that you may know the divine will; on the seventh, the Thrones, that, by a perfect subjection to this blessed will, you may obtain that peace which surpasses all understanding;” on the eighth, honour the Cherubim that, taught from on high, you may renounce in practice the maxims and doctrine of the world ; and, finally, on the ninth, honour the Seraphim, for the establishment of the reign of the love of God in the hearts of all.
This devotion of Novenas is also a useful preparation for the feasts of our Lord and his blessed Mother, as well as of the Angels. It may consist of any pious practice, as of nine acts of mortification, nine genuflections, nine visits to the Holy Sacrament, or nine Ave Marias, a devotion which our Lord revealed to St. Mechtilde. It is well to commence by receiving the Holy Sacraments, that our souls being cleansed from sin, God may be more ready to hear and grant our requests. Thus much for the devotion of the Novena.
Tuesday in each week (since there is no day or week in which we do not experience the protection of the angels) should be sacred to the angelic devotion—as also the 29th of September and the 8th of May, the feasts of St. Michael. In Normandy, they devote the 16th of October to honour the apparition of this glorious Archangel on the Mount of Tornbe, commonly called Mount St. Michael. The church built there in his honour is frequented by crowds of pilgrims on this day, and numberless miracles are operated by his intercession.
The 18th of March is the feast of St. Gabriel; the 24th of October, that of St. Raphael and the 2nd of the same month is consecrated to the Angels Guardians. All these days should be solemn feasts with the devotees of the holy Angels. They would do well to prepare for them by some act of mortification, (St. Francis fasted forty days to prepare for the feast of St. Michael,) or by the Novena, and to celebrate the feast itself by approaching the Sacraments, reciting the Office of and Litany and Beads of these blessed Spirits, each one according to his time and devotion.
Behold another way of honouring the Angels : when about to celebrate the festival of a Saint, form the intention of honouring his or her guardian; thus you will keep a perpetual holiday in honour of the Angels. Love to visit churches and altars dedicated to them; you will thereby obtain, through their intercession, the most precious gifts and graces.
