Mary, Mother of our Lord

When he described life in his kingdom, Jesus often used to talk of a banquet. He rather liked feasts. Saint Luke tells us that "he ate and drank with tax collectors and sinners." We shouldn't be surprised then, to learn that the coming of Jesus is also heralded by feasting and singing and dancing. St Luke describes the joy of the night Jesus was born with angels in the heavens singing. "Glory to God in the highest."

Mary herself foresees the birth of her Son as bringing about the time when "the hungry will be filled with good things." And, when Mary visited her cousin, Elizabeth cried out, "Of all women you are the most blessed and blessed is the fruit of your womb. Why should I be honored with a visit from the mother of my Lord?" Mary, as Elizabeth recognized, was the Mother of the Lord. This led to the title which most effectively shows her greatness: Mary, Mother of God. It was to take another four centuries before Mary was recognized with this honor.

Just as Mary herself stored up the events of her Son's life in her heart, so it took that length of time for the Church openly to recognize the full significance of her part in Christ's life.

Flesh only allows one mother. But spirit allows another mother. Since Mary is the Mother of God she is the mother of every human person in whom Christ, her Son, is being born and formed.

We hear it said, "Jesus is enough for me, I have no need of Mary." But Jesus needed her - whether or not we do. And what is more, on the cross the Lord gave us his mother as our mother. This is something to celebrate. At Christmas we will celebrate in singing and feasting the coming of our Lord into our world. By this coming Jesus gave a new dignity to Mary, and through her, fresh hope to every Christian.

© Liguori Publications Excerpt from Advent
A Quality Storecupboard
The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

source: http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=16

Celebrate the Christmas and Advent Season

The Church has her own special liturgical year and calendar in which she presents again the history and unchanging mysteries of our salvation, from Creation to the Second Coming, together with the entire life of the Savior. The mysteries do not change, but we do. A little older and wiser, we have the opportunity to review and renew these mysteries. When the familiar feasts come around we grasp something more about them because we have lived another year and apply them more deeply to our lives. This is a year of formation, like a school in which we, like pupils, learn faith, hope and charity. We learn God's will and to do God's will. Each Sunday and feast will present a special lesson to us for our daily living.

Advent is an especially lovely season and we can make great use of it. With the beginning of the season of Advent, we begin a new liturgical year. The First Sunday of Advent is therefore the Church's "New Year's Day". In the Judeo-Christian tradition, Sunday begin at sundown of the day before when the faithful celebrate First Vespers. Advent begins the Christmas cycle.

Advent comes from the Latin word for an "arrival" or a "coming". Advent means that the Lord is coming. Jesus Christ, our brother in our humanity and our God in His divinity is about to arrive. But He is comes to us in different ways. First, Jesus came to us at a specific point in history at Bethlehem about 2000 years ago. But in the Church's great feast of Christmas He mystically comes again. Second, the Lord, Alpha and Omega, will come to judge the living and the dead in the Second Coming. Third, the Redeemer comes to us in grace. He speaks to us in our consciences, he comes to us in the Eucharist and in the Word of God proclaimed. He arrives in the person of the begger, the needy, the suffering, the oppressed. We must be ready to receive and welcome Him when He comes, however He comes.

Advent is a time of joy tinged with penance. Joy, because we can imagine nothing more sweet than the Christ Child and His Mother Mary's bliss at His coming to light. Penance because we must strive to be properly disposed to receive so great a gift of His presence. In the millennial tradition of the Church, we faithful have done penance before great feasts. Christmas and Easter each have their penitential seasons in anticipation, Advent and Lent. The liturgical color used in the Latin Church for the liturgy during both Advent and Lent is purple, a sign of penance. In some places people may see blue used, which is done without the Church's approval. The Latin Church also emphasizes the penitential dimension of the season by directing the use of sparse ornaments in church and by legislating that instrumental music should not be used, except to sustain congregational singing. This is a kind of liturgical fast, which makes the joy and celebration of Christmas all that much more powerful by the contrast of the lean and muted season of Advent. Advent is a time of great joy, because we look forward to the beautiful feast of the Nativity, but it is joy stitched through with somber and focused spiritual preparation by doing penance

source: http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=22

Jesus Family Tree

The genealogy of Jesus is traced through Joseph, but Joseph had nothing to do with Jesus' conception. The following explanation sheds light on what seems to be a confusing issue.

We have two genealogies of Jesus- Matthew 1:1-17 and Luke 3:23-38. Because there are so many substantial differences between these two (for example, many of the ancestral names don't match), they have given scholars a headache through the ages. For example: Who was Joseph's father? Was it Jacob (according to Matthew), or Eli (according to Luke)?

One answer is: both lists are family records, but Matthew is giving us Joseph's record, and Luke is giving us Mary's. But that answer goes against the text - Luke makes it clear that he is tracing Jesus' descent through Joseph. Nor does it fit with what we know of ancient middle eastern peoples. A genealogy traced through the mother would not have been normal at that time and place in history.

We have to remember that Israel's origin was tribal. The clan leader was, of necessity, a dominant male. The individual's survival depended on being able to claim membership within the tribe. Since in real life many things could happen to a bloodline, a number of supplementary laws and customs developed. A person could become a member of a clan without actually being born into it. One way was by adoption. Another was to be born of a woman who was married to a man of that clan. Even when the husband was not the child's biological father, he was still officially the legal father, simply because he was husband to the child's mother.

In the Bible, genealogies can serve different purposes. Besides establishing identity, they can also be used to structure history into epochs and to authenticate a line of office-holders. That's why an individual can be accorded two or more genealogies according to the purposes for which they were drawn up. Rarely do ancient biblical genealogies afford us a list of strictly biological ancestry.

What were Matthew's and Luke's purposes in giving Jesus a genealogy? They list different ancestors but agree totally on the most important fact: Joseph was not the biological father of Jesus. To see how Matthew made a strong statement about this, read slowly Matthew 1:1-17. Let the repeated, rhythmic phrases "A the father of B," "B the father of C," and so forth, almost lull you to sleep. What happens when you get to verse 16? The lilting, fixed pattern is suddenly altered: "Jacob was the father of Joseph the husband of Mary. It was of her that Jesus who is called the Messiah was born." By using his genealogical list in this way, Matthew was able to proclaim both that Jesus was virginally conceived and that he was also legitimately a "son of David, son of Abraham" (1:1). For Matthew's Jewish Christian audience this was like calling Jesus the Messiah.

Luke proclaims our Lord's virginal conception when he speaks about Jesus as being - so it was supposed - the son of Joseph in 3:23. He then takes his genealogy back to Adam and even to God himself. In doing this he is stating that Jesus is nothing less than the Son of God. Because neither evangelist was principally concerned with Jesus' biological ancestry, the lists could differ, and each evangelist could present a different popular tradition suitable to his own specific purpose.

So we see that Joseph was not Jesus' biological father, but he was his legal father. The two genealogies make that point emphatically. Because of that, all of us can now proclaim with the Scriptures that Jesus was, indeed, son of David, son of Abraham, and Son of God.

© Liguori Publications Excerpt from Advent - A Quality Storecupboard The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

source: http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=11

Immaculate Conception

From the Catechism of the Catholic Church

Born of the Virgin Mary

487 What the Catholic faith believes about Mary is based on what it believes about Christ, and what it teaches about Mary illumines in turn its faith in Christ.

Mary's Predestination

488 "God sent forth his Son", but to prepare a body for him,¹²⁵ he wanted the free co-operation of a creature. For this, from all eternity God chose for the mother of his Son a daughter of Israel, a young Jewish woman of Nazareth in Galilee, "a virgin betrothed to a man whose name was Joseph, of the house of David; and the virgin's name was Mary":¹²⁶

The Father of mercies willed that the Incarnation should be preceded by assent on the part of the predestined mother, so that just as a woman had a share in the coming of death, so also should a woman contribute to the coming of life.¹²⁷

489 Throughout the Old Covenant the mission of many holy women prepared for that of Mary. At the very beginning there was Eve; despite her disobedience, she receives the promise of a posterity that will be victorious over the evil one, as well as the promise that she will be the mother of all the living.¹²⁸ By virtue of this promise, Sarah conceives a son in spite of her old age.¹²⁹ Against all human expectation God chooses those who were considered powerless and weak to show forth his faithfulness to his promises: Hannah, the mother of Samuel; Deborah; Ruth; Judith and Esther; and many other women.¹³⁰ Mary "stands out among the poor and humble of the Lord, who confidently hope for and receive salvation from him. After a long period of waiting the times are fulfilled in her, the exalted Daughter of Sion, and the new plan of salvation is established."¹³¹

The Immaculate Conception

490 To become the mother of the Savior, Mary "was enriched by God with gifts appropriate to such a role."¹³² The angel Gabriel at the moment of the annunciation salutes her as "full of grace".¹³³ In fact, in order for Mary to be able to give the free assent of her faith to the announcement of her vocation, it was necessary that she be wholly borne by God's grace.

491 Through the centuries the Church has become ever more aware that Mary, "full of grace" through God,¹³⁴ was redeemed from the moment of her conception. That is what the dogma of the Immaculate Conception confesses, as Pope Pius IX proclaimed in 1854:

The most Blessed Virgin Mary was, from the first moment of her conception, by a singular grace and privilege of almighty God and by virtue of the merits of Jesus Christ, Savior of the human race, preserved immune from all stain of original sin.¹³⁵

492 The "splendor of an entirely unique holiness" by which Mary is "enriched from the first instant of her conception" comes wholly from Christ: she is "redeemed, in a more exalted fashion, by reason of the merits of her Son".¹³⁶ The Father blessed Mary more than any other created person "in Christ with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places" and chose her "in Christ before the foundation of the world, to be holy and blameless before him in love".¹³⁷

493 The Fathers of the Eastern tradition call the Mother of God "the All-Holy" (Panagia), and celebrate her as "free from any stain of sin, as though fashioned by the Holy Spirit and formed as a new creature".¹³⁸ By the grace of God Mary remained free of every personal sin her whole life long.

"Let it be done to me according to your word. . ."

494 At the announcement that she would give birth to "the Son of the Most High" without knowing man, by the power of the Holy Spirit, Mary responded with the obedience of faith, certain that "with God nothing will be impossible": "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord; let it be [done] to me according to your word."¹³⁹ Thus, giving her consent to God's word, Mary becomes the mother of Jesus. Espousing the divine will for salvation wholeheartedly, without a single sin to restrain her, she gave herself entirely to the person and to the work of her Son; she did so in order to serve the mystery of redemption with him and dependent on him, by God's grace:¹⁴⁰

As St. Irenaeus says, "Being obedient she became the cause of salvation for herself and for the whole human race."¹⁴¹ Hence not a few of the early Fathers gladly assert. . .: "The knot of Eve's disobedience was untied by Mary's obedience: what the virgin Eve bound through her disbelief, Mary loosened by her faith."¹⁴² Comparing her with Eve, they call Mary "the Mother of the living" and frequently claim: "Death through Eve, life through Mary."¹⁴³

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Endnotes

• 125 Gal 4:4; Heb 10:5.
• 126 Lk 1:26-27.
• 127 LG 56; cf. LG 61.
• 128 Cf. Gen 3:15, 20.
• 129 Cf. Gen 18:10-14; 21:1-2.
• 130 Cf. I Cor 1:17; I Sam 1.
• 131 LG 55.
• 132 LG 56.
• 133 Lk 1:28.
• 134 Lk 1:28.
• 135 Pius IX, Ineffabilis Deus (1854): DS 2803.
• 136 LG 53, 56.
• 137 Cf. Eph 1:3-4.
• 138 LG 56.
• 139 Lk 1:28-38; cf. Rom 1:5.
• 140 Cf. LG 56.
• 141 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A.
• 142 St. Irenaeus, Adv. haeres. 3, 22, 4: PG 7/1, 959A. 143 LC 56; St. Epiphanius, Panarion 2, 78, 18: PG 42, 728CD-729AB; St. Jerome, Ep. 22, 21: PL 22, 408.
• 144 Lk 1:43; Jn 2:1; 19:25; cf. Mt 13:55; et al.

source:  http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=13

Advent

The word Advent derives from the Latin word meaning coming. The Lord is coming. We may reflect that every year at this time we celebrate his coming , so that in a sense we can lose the feeling of expectancy and joyful anticipation, because at the end of the season, everything seems to return to pretty much the same routine. If that is the case, then our preparation may have been lacking and we have therefore been robbed of much of the true meaning of this season.

During Advent we recall the history of God's people and reflect on how the prophecies and promises of the Old Testament were fulfilled. This gives us a background for the present. Today we can reflect on the past track record of God and so begin to understand what it means to us now for the sake of what is to come, in our own future and that of our world.

© Liguori Publications Excerpt from Advent - A Quality Storecupboard The Congregation of the Most Holy Redeemer

An acolyte lighting Advent candles

Advent (from the Latin word adventus meaning "coming") is aseason observed in many Western Christian churches, a time of expectant waiting and preparation for the celebration of theNativity of Jesus at Christmas. It is the beginning of the Westernliturgical year and commences on Advent Sunday, calledLevavi. The Eastern churches' equivalent of Advent is called theNativity Fast, but it differs both in length and observances and does not begin the church year, which starts instead onSeptember 1.^[1]

The progression of the season may be marked with an Advent calendar, a practice introduced by German Lutherans. At least in the Roman Catholic, Anglican, Lutheran and Methodistcalendars, Advent starts on the fourth Sunday beforeDecember 25, the Sunday from November 27 to December 3inclusive.

Latin adventus is the translation of the Greek word parousia, commonly used in reference to the Second Coming of Christ. For Christians, the season of Advent serves as a reminder both of the original waiting that was done by the Hebrews for the birth of their Messiah as well as the waiting of Christians for Christ's return.

Traditions

Advent wreaths are used to mark the passage of the season

The theme of readings and teachings during Advent is often to prepare for the Second Coming while commemorating the First Coming of Christ at Christmas. With the view of directing the thoughts of Christians to the first coming of Jesus Christ as savior and to his second coming as judge, special readings are prescribed for each of the four Sundays in Advent.

The usual liturgical colour in Western Christianity for Advent is purple or blue.^[2] The purple colour is often used for hangingsaround the church, on the vestments of the clergy, and often also the tabernacle. On the 3rd Sunday of Advent, Gaudete Sunday, rose may be used instead, referencing the rose used onLaetare Sunday, the 4th Sunday of Lent. In some Christian denominations, blue, a colour representing hopefulness, is an alternative liturgical colour for Advent, a custom traced to the usage of the Church of Sweden (Lutheran) and the medievalSarum Rite in England. In addition, the colour blue is also used in the Mozarabic Rite (Catholic and Anglican), which dates to the eighth century.^[2] This colour is often referred to as "Sarum blue". TheLutheran Book of Worship lists blue as the preferred colour for Advent while the Methodist Book of Worship identifies purple or blue as being appropriate for Advent.^[2] There has been an increasing trend to supplant purple with blue during Advent as it is an hopeful season of preparation that anticipates both Bethlehem and the consummation of history in the second coming of Jesus Christ.^[2][3]Proponents of this new liturgical trend argue that purple is traditionally associated with solemnity and somberness, which is fitting to the repentant character of Lent.^[2] During the Nativity Fast, red is used among the denominations of Eastern Christianity, although gold is an alternative colour.^[4]

In Advent, the Advent Prose, an antiphonal plainsong, may be sung. The "Late Advent Weekdays",December 17–24, mark the singing of the Great Advent 'O antiphons'. These are the antiphons for theMagnificat at Vespers, or Evening Prayer (in the Roman Catholic and Lutheran churches) and Evensongin Anglican churches each day and mark the forthcoming birth of the Messiah. They form the basis for each verse of the popular Advent hymn, "O come, O come, Emmanuel".

A child lighting candles on an Advent wreath in Serbia.

From the 4th century the season was kept as a period of fasting as strict as that of Lent (commencing in some localities on11 November; this being the feast day of St. Martin of Tours, the fast became known as "St. Martin's Lent", "St. Martin's Fast" or the "forty days of St. Martin"). The feast day was in many countries a time of frolic and heavy eating, since the 40-day fast began the next day. In the Anglican and Lutheran churches this fasting rule was later relaxed, with the Roman Catholic Church doing likewise later, but still keeping Advent as a season ofpenitence. In addition to fasting, dancing and similar festivities were forbidden in these traditions. The third Sunday in Advent was a Rose Sunday, when the color of the vestments was changed and a relaxation of the fast was permitted. The Eastern Orthodox and Oriental Orthodox churches still hold the tradition of fasting for 40 days before the Nativity Feast.

In many countries Advent was long marked by diverse popular observances, some of which still survive. In England, especially in the northern counties, there was a custom (now extinct) for poor women to carry around the "Advent images", two dolls dressed to represent Jesus and the Blessed Virgin Mary. A halfpenny coin was expected from every one to whom these were exhibited and bad luck was thought to menace the household not visited by the doll-bearers before Christmas Eve at the latest.^[5]

In Normandy, farmers employed children under twelve to run through the fields and orchards armed with torches, setting fire to bundles of straw, and thus it is believed driving out such vermin as are likely to damage the crops.^[6] In Italy, among other Advent celebrations, is the entry into Rome in the last days of Advent of the Calabrian pifferari, or bagpipe players, who play before the shrines of Mary, the mother of Jesus, the Italian tradition being that the shepherds played these pipes when they came to themanger at Bethlehem to pay homage to the infant Jesus.^[7]

In recent times the commonest observance of Advent outside church circles has been the keeping of anadvent calendar or advent candle, with one door being opened in the calendar, or one section of the candle being burned, on each day in December leading up to Christmas Eve.

End of the liturgical year

Censing during solemn Advent vespers

In Anglican churches the Sunday before Advent is sometimes nicknamed Stir-up Sunday after the opening lines of the Book of Common Prayer collect for that day. In the Roman Catholic Church since 1969, and in most Anglican churches since at least 2000, the final Sunday of the liturgical year before Advent has been celebrated as the Feast of Christ the King. This feast is now also widely observed in many Protestant churches, sometimes as the Reign of Christ. In consequence, the collect for the first Sunday of Advent in the Episcopal Church USA is no longer "stir up". Since the 1979 revision of the Book of Common Prayer that collect is read on the third Sunday of the season.





source: http://www.catholic.org/clife/advent/advent.php?id=5

Angels

What are angels?
An angel is a pure spirit created by God. The Old Testament theology included the belief in angels: the name applied to certain spiritual beings or intelligences of heavenly residence, employed by God as the ministers of His will. 
The English word "angel" comes from the Greek angelos, which means 'messenger'. In the Old Testament, with two exceptions, the Hebrew word for "angel" is malak, also meaning 'messenger'. The prophet Malachi took his name from this word. He was himself a messenger, and he prophesied about the coming of "the messenger of the covenant", Jesus Christ (Malachi 3:1). 
Although the word "angel" in the Bible, meaning a messenger, nearly always applies to heavenly beings, it can occasionally apply to human messengers. Malachi himself said a priest was a messenger (malak) of the LORD of hosts (Malachi 2:7), and in the Book of Revelation the elders of the seven churches of Asia were called angels (1:20; 2:1 etc.). But when we meet messengers doing supernatural things, there is no doubt they are heavenly beings - God's messengers, working for Him and for the ultimate benefit of mankind.


How do we know angels exist?
The Scriptures give us no indication of the precise time of the creation of angels; their existence is assumed at the earliest times. Our Lord often spoke of angels; in the New Testament they are numerous and seven orders are mentioned: Angels, Powers, Principalities, Dominions (ations), Thrones and Archangels the Old Testament specifically mentions two others Seraph (im) and Cherub(im). God bestowed upon angels great wisdom, freedom, and power, and their many appearances in the New Testament are indication of the lead role assigned to them. Both the New Testament and Old Testament refer also to the fallen angels. The Temptation of Adam and Eve presupposes the existence of bad spirits or demons who were cast into hell from which they have no hope of redemption. Angels are purely spiritual or bodiless persons (Mt 11:30), some of whom behold the face of God and thus are in bliss (Mt 18:10). These spiritual beings comprise the celestial court and are called angels (from the Greek for "messenger") because, according to the Bible, they carry out missions at God's command. In order to complete these missions, they can at times assume bodily form. According to the Bible, their missions are sometimes of great importance - eg, the Annunciation (Lk 1:26; 2:9-14). Like us , the angels are the objects of God's grace and love. But because, unlike us they are non-bodily creatures, their response to God's love did not require time and reflection to grow and mature. As soon as they were created and received grace, they had the opportunity to respond to God's love and thus be welcomed into bliss. While many did so, some did not. Perhaps the most significant continuing activity of the good angels is to be the agents of God's particular providence for mankind. Thus, the Church teaches that everyone has a guardian angel, based on references to them throughout the Bible.

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Why did God Create Angels?
The Creator Himself is so powerful and glorious that He cannot be approached in person by human beings. He alone "hath immortality, dwelling in the light which no man can approach unto: whom no man hath seen, nor can see (1 Timothy 6:16). Angels do not have man's shortcomings, and can therefore act for God and represent Him when communicating with men and women. They bridge the huge gap between the holiness and perfection of God in heaven and the shortcomings of dying people on this planet. Angels were made immortal (that is, never to die). Their eternal quality was spoken of by Jesus when he said: 
"They which shall be accounted worthy to obtain that world, and the resurrection from the dead, neither marry, nor are given in marriage: neither can they die any more: for they are equal unto the angels; and are the children of God. being the children of the resurrection." (Luke 20:35.36) 
Jesus was saying that, in the same way as the angels (the children or "sons" of God) live for ever and are of one gender, so those who will be called the "sons" and "daughters" of God when Jesus returns will also live for ever and will not marry.

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Angels with Names
Only occasionally are the angels given names. "Michael", for instance, was "the great prince which standeth for the children of thy people (Israel)" (Daniel 12:1). Undoubtedly, among the most significant of angelic appearances were those by the angel whose name was "Gabriel". He was sent twice to the prophet Daniel. On the second occasion Daniel was at prayer, and Gabriel, "being caused to fly swiftly, touched me ... and talked with me" and proceeded to prophesy the date of the first coming of the Messiah, Jesus Christ (Daniel 9:21-27). There was therefore great expectation among the Jews at the time when Jesus Christ was about to be born, and this was heightened by the personal appearance ofGabriel again, firstly to Zacharias the priest while on duty in the temple, and then to Mary, who was betrothed to Joseph. To Zacharias, the angel announced. "I am Gabriel, that stand in the presence of God: and am sent to speak unto thee" (Luke 1:19). We notice that angels can stand in the glorious presence of the LORD. whereas men cannot. and angels are sent to do whatever God wishes. His mission here was to announce the miraculous birth of John the Baptist. 

Six months later, Gabriel appeared to Mary, who was in the royal line of King David. Her prayer, said the angel, had found favour with God, and she would be the mother of the expected Messiah. Gabrieltold her that she would conceive through the power of the Holy Spirit and her son would be Jesus, the Saviour, and he would be the Son of God and would occupy the royal throne of David (Luke 1:26-33). It was an extraordinary meeting because Mary was not yet married. Nothing is impossible with God! Joseph, her husband-to-be, also received angelic messages advising him what steps to take in this unique situation. 

When Jesus came to be born in Bethlehem, the birth was the signal for a glorious witness of divine approval, seen by shepherds: 

"An angel of the Lord (could this have been Gabriel?) appeared to them, and the glory of the Lord shone around them, and they were filled with fear ... And suddenly there was with the angel a multitude of the heavenly host praising God and saying, 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace among men with whom he is pleased!'" (Luke 2:9-14, RSV)

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Who are our Guardian Angels?
No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Psalm 91: 10-12 A heavenly spirit assigned by God to watch over each of us during our lives. The doctrine of angels is part of the Church's tradition. The role of the guardian angel is both to guide us to good thoughts, works and words, and to preserve us from evil. Since the 17th century the Church has celebrated a feast honoring them in October throughout the Universal Church. Since the last calendar revision this feast is Oct 2. 

He has charged His angels with the ministry of watching and safeguarding every one of His creatures that behold not His face. Kingdoms have their angels assigned to them, and men have their angels; these latter it is to whom religion designates the Holy Guardian Angels. Our Lord says in the Gospel, "Beware lest ye scandalize any of these little ones, for their angels in heaven see the face of My Father." The existence of Guardian Angels, is, hence a dogma of the Christian faith: this being so, what ought not our respect be for that sure and holy intelligence that is ever present at our side; and how great our solicitude be, lest, by any act of ours, we offend those eyes which are ever bent upon us in all our ways!
Prayers to our Guardian Angels

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Angels of the early Church
Revelations the Lord addresses each of the seven Churches by means of instructing angels to record His dictation. These 'secretary' angels are the angels of the Churches:

• Church of Ephesus (Rv 2:1)
• of Smyrna (Rv 2:8)
• of Pergamum (Rv 2:12)
• of Thyatira (Rv 2:18)
• of Sardis (Rv 3:1)
• of Philadelphia (Rv 3:7)
• of Laodices (Rv 3:14)

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Man Made Lower than the Angels
When the first man was being created: 

"Let us make man in our image. after our likeness ... So God created man in his own image, in the image of God created he him: male and female created he them." (Genesis 1:26-27) 

This does not mean that the first of the human race had exactly the same physical nature as the angels, for the angels were made to live for ever. Adam and Eve were not made never-dying: they did sin, and they suffered death as the punishment for it. That is why the whole human race has been dying ever since. 

Psalm 8 is a Psalm in which the creation of the earth is extolled. Here we are told that man's position is lower than the angels: 

"What is man, that thou art mindful of him? ... For thou hast made him a little lower than the angels, and hast crowned him with glory and honour." (Psalm 8:4,5) 

The New Testament quotes this passage, and tells us that mankind - including the Lord Jesus himself - was made a little lower than the angels, "for the suffering of death" (Hebrews 2:9). Angels do not die, but men and women do. Even Jesus, the Son of God, was a mortal man, but has now received the glory and honour which was his due when, as he said after his resurrection, "all power is given unto me in heaven and in earth" (Matthew 28:18). 

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The Fallen Angels (Demons)
These beings, because of pride, did not return God's love. God did not destroy them, but permits them a limited scope of activity. Their condition is permanent for no creature can turn away from the perfect good of the beatific vision once he has come to enjoy it, and no additional reflection could change the mind of a purely spiritual being who has turned away. 

Demons are fallen angels under the command of Satan, those who are still free after the Gen. 6 affair. Satan is called the Prince, or Ruler, of all demons in Matthew 9:34; 12:24; Mark 3:22; Luke 11:15. Demons are also called the ministers, or ambassadors of Satan, Luke 4:35; 9:1,42; John 10:21. Satan is brilliant, an administrative genius. He has an excellent organization, mentioned in Eph. 6:10-12 (READ) The Bible also makes a distinction between demon possession and demon influence. 

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source: http://www.catholic.org/saints/angel.php