Angels Abound!

It’s Michaelmas Day this Friday!  A day of great celebration in medieval times, Michaelmas has sadly lost its import in our modern times.  There is a mystical, magical atmosphere associated with Michaelmas—a sort of crisp and golden “corner-of-your-eye” quality.  Perhaps this is due to the impact of the autumnal equinox and the changing of seasons.  Golden leaves, chilling temperatures, the changing of the constellations in the starry night sky…Or perhaps it is the celebration of beings most people consider mythical creatures.  Michaelmas Day, also known as the Feast of St. Michael and All Angels, celebrates the archangels (Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Remiel, Raguel and Saraquael) in particular and all the heavenly hosts in general.  And if Michaelmas weren’t enough, a few days later on October 2, we celebrate the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.  Angels abound.  

Seraphim, cherubim, and ophanim, dominions, virtues and powers, principalities, archangels and angels—these make up the choirs of heavenly hosts.  Dionysius the Areopagite  wrote a text called De Coelesti Hierarchia (Of the Celestial Hierarchy in English) that describes the ranks of heaven.  These heavenly hosts are ranked in spheres.  

S. Botticelli's Assumption of the Virgin shows the three spheres of angels.

·         The first sphere of hosts are closest to God and serve in adulation and guardianship. 

o   Seraphim, who hide their presence from God with their six wings, surround his throne incessantly singing praise to God. They shine with a light so bright that no being, not even other heavenly hosts, can look upon them or see through them to God’s face.  (If they would just move out of the way…)

o   Cherubim are the guardians of God’s throne and the “Tree of Life” in the Garden of Eden.  Thomas Aquinas imagined Satan was a fallen cherub.  Lucifer, who’d been so concerned about his status with God, neglected his guardianship and thus lost all.  The Cherubim are the guards of the Ark of the Covenant.

o   Ophanim are truly bizarre beings.  Remember the “wheel within a wheel a-rolling way in the middle of the air” that Ezekiel saw?  That was ophanim.  They are God’s watchers.  Covered with hundreds of eyes, they see all and report all back to God and his messengers.  

·         The second sphere are the heavenly governors.

o   Dominions are the regulators of the lower orders of angels.  In the Jewish tradition, they are called “hashmillim” and are the presiders over nations.  

o   Virtues are primarily responsible for cosmic order.  They make sure all the heavenly hosts are in their proper place, doing their proper thing.  It is this order of angels that is supposed to be in charge of weather, planetary revolution and the like.

o   Powers are the keepers of conscience.  They are the warrior angels utterly loyal to God and unable to fall from grace.  Powers maintain the border between Heaven and Earth.  They were the frontline in the war of the angels when Lucifer left Heaven.  

·         The third sphere is the closest and most familiar to people.  They are God’s messenger service. 

o   Principalities are the overseers of this messenger system.  They determine need and dispatch archangels and angels at their own discretion.

o   Archangels serve in the more important missions to mankind and acts as guardians of great persons in sacred positions.  They are the leaders or generals of the divine army, led by this week’s hero, St. Michael.  

o   Angels are the lowest order of heavenly hosts—furthest from God’s presence and closest to humanity. The word “angel” derives from the ancient Persian word “angaros” meaning courier.  They intercede between God and humanity.  They act as couriers between the ranks of angelkind as well.  It is from this choir that we find our own guardian angels.

So, St. Michael and All Angels are feted on September 29.  Michaelmas today has been relegated to little more than the name of the first term of study in English schools.  But had we lived in Europe in medieval times, this Friday would be a great day of celebration.  Partly because Michaelmas falls on a “quarter day” and serfs were paid on quarter days.  But partly because the angels played a more significant role in the Christian story in those days.  Consider the significance of great literary works as Dante’s Divine Comedy that describes, even defines the medieval understanding of Hell, Purgatory and Heaven, or Thomas Aquinas’ Summa Theologica that is considered by many to be one of the greatest works of theology ever written.  In both of these works, the ranks of Heaven are discussed with a seriousness of intent that suggests an abiding belief in angels as God’s interveners.  The stories of angelic intervention go far beyond those mentioned in the Bible.  

Of the seven named archangels in the Christian tradition, only four of them appear in the canonical Bible.  The others are named in the book of Enoch and other theological writings as well as in Judaic scriptures.  The archangel Michael is known for his warrior skills.  Remember the scene in the movie where John Travolta charges a bull in the field because he needs to battle? That’s Michael.  Michael slays dragons, battles demons, protects and defends.  Michael defeated Lucifer.  Michael is the favored one of God who has rank over all the other archangels.  He is the angel who claims the body of Moses from Satan (Jude 1:9).  Gabriel is the epitome of the messenger angel.  When one thinks “angel” one usually pictures the archangel Gabriel.  Gabriel is the interpreter of God’s words.  Gabriel announced impending parenthood to Mary and to Zechariah (Luke 1:19, 26).  Raphael is the archangel of healing.  It is Raphael whose name is invoked in times of physical or health needs.  Raphael is sent to remove the blindness from Tobit’s eyes and cast out the demon Asmodeus from his daughter-in-law, Sarah (Tobit 3:17, 5:4). Uriel is the archangel of wisdom and light.  The name actually translates as “the light (or flame) of God”.  Uriel is the archangel that is said to be in the midst of the Cardinals as they call a new Pope.  Uriel is the patron guardian of teachers and students.  Uriel is the lighthearted, fun one.  All joy and light and wisdom and understanding.  Uriel is sent to the prophet Ezra to show him that it is impossible for him to understand all that God knows (2 Esdras 4:1). Raguel, Remiel and Saraquel are the other three archangels whose names can be found in the book of Enoch. Raguel denotes justice, fairness and harmony.  Remiel is the angel of hope, for he guides the souls of the faithful to heaven.    Saraquael is the angel of death.  Saraquael is the messenger of the final breath of life. 

 

There are some truly epic stories to be told regarding angels and archangels.  And if for no other than that, Michaelmas is a feast day that ought not be relegated to the annals of forgotten memories.  So roast a goose stuffed with apples and make some St. Michael’s bannock with blackberry syrup and enjoy the day!

The Tax Collector Saint

During the life of Jesus, taxes were the bane of the Roman citizenry.  The Roman government left the burden of administration upon shoulders of provincial governments which answered to appointed Roman officials.  An office of the censor was established in each province, and it was this office that was responsible for ensuring the province taxes were collected for Rome.  It did not matter how these taxes were collected, just that they were.  Rome issued no rules or laws about tax collecting other than the fees assessed per province.  So taxes were farmed out.

Tax farming looked like this: the Censor needed to procure a flat amount of taxes per year from his province.  So and he accepted bids from local Publicans willing to buy the tax debt.  This way, the Censor was guaranteed the full amount owed to Rome and his position was secure for another year.  Now, the competition for the right to collect taxes was high as this was a potentially lucrative business.  So the Censor was not above tacking on an additional bidder’s fee in order to make his own profit.  Plus, he would owe his own income taxes.  Rome would expect its Censors to claim a 10% profit from the region’s taxes.  (So if the Censor charged his Publicans 15% each, he would make a tidy, tax-free profit after he paid taxes on his own expected income.)  The Publicans who were awarded their bids would then farm out the right to levy and collect taxes to his employees.  The tax collectors themselves would buy this right, most of the time at twice the cost of the Publican’s fee to the Censor.  Since there were no laws or rules governing tax collecting, the tax collectors themselves could and would use whatever means necessary to not only collect the taxes, but to recoup their losses and to collect their own profit.  So an itemized list of a man’s tax bill might look something like this: 1% (standardized by Rome) income tax, 10% grain crop tax, 15% liquid crop tax (olive oil, wine, etc.), 1% security tax, 6% emergency tax, 5% standing tax (a warehouse tax for merchandised stored longer than the designated timeframe for moving produce) and any other tax that the collector might choose to levy.  Needless to say, this was a system ripe for corruption and extortion.  To enforce payment of these taxes, collectors would hire mercenary soldiers that doubled as body guards (hence the security tax).

The Calling of Matthew by Henrik Terbrugghen, c. 1616

In the province of Judea, most of the Publicans and tax collectors were Jews who worked under the jurisdiction of Herod Antipas.  These men were reviled and outcast as criminals.  Publicans, by virtue of their wealth and power, had a more respectable social standing in spite of being generally spurned.  But tax collectors who had daily contact with the people were social pariahs.  These men would have had to develop pretty thick skins, or be prone to solitude as they were treated on par with the unclean.  The apostle Matthew was one such man.

From what might be extrapolated from the Gospel of Luke, Matthew most likely was a Publican as well as a tax collector.  (To be sure, many interpretations view Publicans and tax collectors as one and the same.) He was sitting in the tax collector’s booth in Capernaum when Jesus found him and asked him to become a follower.  But when Matthew invited Jesus to dinner that night, it was to a banquet that had been planned for other tax collectors, implying that Matthew had others working for him.  Matthew (who was known as Levi until Jesus gave him his new name which means “gift from God”) was surely testing Jesus’ resolve to include him as a follower by inviting him to that dinner, because no law-abiding Jew would be caught dead at a banquet for tax collectors!  Jesus defended his decision to attend saying he came not for the righteous, but for the sinners.  Of course, such a statement concurs with the general consensus that tax collectors by their very profession were sinners. Because Matthew was more than merely a despised tax collector in his social standing, one might speculate that Jesus’ calling him had been an attempt to appeal to those with a higher social standing.  Matthew as an apostle had the potential to reach a whole new level of people.

Being a tax collector and a Publican, Matthew would have been well educated and able to speak all the local languages (or know others who could translate what he was unable to).  He would have direct contact with a wide spectrum of society including Herod Antipas himself.  Jesus acted with a cunning shrewdness when he asked Matthew to follow him, for he knew Matthew could reach a level of society previously inaccessible to his teachings.  In Matthew, he had the ideal role model of someone whom all of society regarded as clearly sinful.  Yet if Matthew could be saved, the message would have that much more influence.  Matthew was most often paired with Thomas, another clever maneuver by Jesus.  Thomas, the resident skeptic and Matthew with his depth and breadth of knowledge would make a formidable team.  One could speculate it would be difficult to counter their arguments.

Matthew spent most of his apostolic life in his own country, preaching to those for whom Jesus called him.  Encouraged by the successes of fellow Christian apostles, he is believed to have spent time on missionary visits to Persia and Egypt.  According to Heracleon, an ancient gnostic and historian, Matthew may have been one of the only apostles who died from old age rather than persecution and martyrdom, although others say he was martyred in Parthia or Egypt.  Yet there is little evidence of his death by violence.   In spite of considerable scholarly debate, Matthew is recognized at the author of the first Gospel.  Today in our Anglican tradition, we celebrate and commemorate St. Matthew on September 21.

The Joy of the Holy Cross

During Holy Week, the cross is venerated on Good Friday and at the Stations of the Cross, which is usually observed during Lent.  But this veneration is solemn, recalling the tragic death of Jesus and the instrument of torture that the cross was.  One does not revere and celebrate an instrument of death.  Does one?  It seems that Christians do, for no symbol is more instantly recognizable than: …

But the impression one has of the cross is not that of grief and sorrow for the cruel and inhuman torture to death by crucifixion.  Instead, it is one of joy and hope!  How’d that happen?  

Church of the Holy Sepulcher

A few weeks back, this blog discussed St. Helen and her contribution to the Christian story (see Sainted Kings and Queens published in August 2012).  Helen, you recall, is purported to have found the true cross of Christ while on pilgrimage in the Holy Land.  She gathered the pieces of wood and nails and enshrined them, commissioning the building of the Church of the Holy Sepulcher over the alleged site of Jesus’ tomb.  Bishop Cyril of Jerusalem consecrated the church in 335a.d. on September 13 (our calendar) and raised the true cross to its position of veneration on the following day.  Thus, September 14 became the Feast of the Exhaltation of the Holy Cross in both the Catholic and Anglican traditions.  (Actually, Holy Cross Day appears on the liturgical calendars of both Eastern and Western Christian traditions, but not all fall on September 14.)

But this still doesn’t explain the non-morbid joy one experiences at the sight of the cross symbol.  September 14 celebrates the literal “exhaltation” of the cross—exalt derives from the Latin roots meaning “to raise up or elevate”.  But the word as we recognize it from psalms and hymns also refers to a kind of praise and glory that transcends duty or obligation.  There is an implied bliss connected with the word (probably confused from “exultation” whose stems means “to leap up or dance with joy”).  Yet when the true cross was raised in 335a.d., feelings toward the symbol changed.

Chi-Rho, ichthus, anchor symbols of early Christians

As a matter of fact, the cross was not used as a symbol for Christianity until 335a.d.  Up to that point, Christianity was illegal and hidden.  Symbols such as the ichthus (fish), the vine and branch, the good shepherd image, the anchor and the Chi-Rho were representations of Christians and their secret meetings.  The Chi-Rho is a very early symbol using the first letters of the word "Christ" to represent Jesus.   

celestial chi

Feria Days

This week’s liturgical calendar is a light one as far as feast days for saints and martyrs.  On September 5, we might honor St. Boris and Gleb, princes of Kiev.  Or we might celebrate the nativity of the Blessed Virgin Mary on Saturday, September 8 (in case we don’t get enough of her throughout the year).  Alexander Crummell, whose feast day is September 10, is another possibility for discussion.  (He’s actually rather interesting--read briefly about him below.)  But if you look at the liturgical calendar, you will notice three days this week labeled “feria”.  This, I think, will be the greater topic of this week’s essay.  But first, let’s give a tip of the hat to the week’s saints.

Boris and Gleb, also known as Saints Romanus and David, were two of the many sons of Vladimir I of Kiev.  They lived in the late 10^th century and were both assassinated in between 1015 and 1019a.d.  Christianity was officially established in Russia in 988a.d. when Vladimir I of Kiev instituted Eastern Orthodoxy largely for political benefits.  His sons Boris and Gleb, who were city-state rulers in their own right, were baptized and became strong proponents of Christianity.   When their father, Vladimir the Great, was assassinated, his numerous sons violently vied for power.  Boris and Gleb both not only renounced whatever claims they had to the Kievan throne, but abdicated from their current holdings in order that they might better serve God as evangelists and baptizers.  But their brother Sviatopolk did not trust his brothers’ faith and had them assassinated.  They were canonized together in 1071.

Alexander Crummell was a free-born African-American who became an ordained Episcopal priest in 1842. His mother, also free-born, and his father, a manumitted slave, instilled in him a strong sense of racial solidarity that developed into a more general consideration of all human rights or “natural rights”.  He spoke tirelessly as an abolitionist not only in America, but in England and Liberia as well.  While attending Oneida Institute, he made the decision to become an Episcopal priest.  He was denied admission to General Theological Seminary due to his race, but eventually earned his Holy Orders.  He traveled to England and enrolled in Queen’s College at Cambridge University where, because of racial discrimination, he had to take his final exams twice in order to receive his degree. He was the first black student to study and graduate from Cambridge.  Crummell spent time as a missionary in Liberia (a nation developed by freed American slaves).  He was reputed to be a stern man whose very high standards of morality made him unpopular with many of his congregations.  He founded St. Luke’s Episcopal Church in Washington, DC, which is listed as a National Historic Landmark.  Alexander Crummell is remembered on September 10.

Most of this week consists of “feria” days.  In ecclesiastical language, feria is a week day where there is no feast day.  Now, this is curious since the Latin word feria had come to mean “festival day” directly because of the Church’s influence.  In actuality, feria is the Latin term for “free day.”  In ancient Rome, a feria day was a day in which people—especially slaves—were not obligated to work; it was a holiday.  As Christianity spread, the Church capitalized on these legal free days and obligated the faithful to attend Mass.  These special feria days became ideal times to celebrate specific saints.  Hence, “feast days” really were celebrated with feasts.