The names of angels are a matter of concern to many people who are interested in the problems of spiritual life. This article will talk in detail about what types of angels are, how they differ from each other, where these creatures came from.
History of Creation
But, before considering the question of the names of angels, you need to figure out who these unearthly creatures are.
From the Greek language, the name of these incorporeal entities is translated as "messenger", the same root can be found in the name of the holy book of Christians - the Gospel, which means "good news". Such executors of God's will were created even before the appearance of the entire material world. This can be argued based on an episode from the Old Testament, which says that the angels began to praise the Creator when he created the heavenly stars.
Thus, since this act preceded the appearance of the Earth and everything that is on it, it is safe to say that this happened before the creation of man.
The existence of angels and their various deeds are discussed as inNew and Old Testaments. In particular, the Revelation of the prophet Isaiah tells how this saint saw the Lord God surrounded by angels of various ranks.
Vision of Isaiah
This book of the Old Testament does not mention the names of the angels who were surrounded by the throne of the Lord, but some ranks of these creatures are named. Also, in the writings of some theologians it is said that there are only three angelic ranks, each of them has three varieties. Among these types of unearthly beings, one can name such as thrones, angels, archangels, forces, authorities, and so on. Each of these groups has its own purpose. The revelation of the prophet says that the archangels, who are closest to the throne of the Lord, continuously praise His name.
The literary creation of the ancient saint is also notable for the fact that it reveals the reason why God created man and other corporeal and incorporeal beings. The Almighty created the Universe and everything in it from an overabundance of love. He needed to send his grace to someone. Therefore, He created the universe, the earth, and eventually man.
Before creating our planet, the Creator said: “Yes, there will be a sky!”, and it appeared. Some theologians say that this passage from the Old Testament should be understood in such a way that the Creator created the invisible world before making everything that we can perceive with our senses. This is indicated in the Holy Scriptures by the word "heaven". Angels can also be counted as invisible entities, whose names are almost never mentioned inBibles, except for a few that belong to the highest rung of the hierarchy.
So, in Orthodoxy, nine archangels are revered. Four of them are mentioned in the books of the Old and New Testaments, the rest can only be learned from the sacred tradition of the Orthodox Church. The most famous of them are Michael and Gabriel. The first of these is the archangel, that is, the commander-in-chief of the entire heavenly army. For this reason, the question often found on the Internet about how to find out the name of an angel by date of birth is not entirely justified, since these names are not named in the holy books. However, in Russia, under this concept, it is customary to mean something else, namely, the patron saint of heaven. Several chapters of this article will be devoted to this phenomenon. Now it is worth considering the question of why the Lord created the invisible world, including the angelic one.
The Throne of the Most High
The book of the prophet Isaiah says that the Lord sits on the throne, which is guarded by archangels, constantly singing His glory. This throne, in turn, is upheld by His mighty hand. This fragment from the holy book Macarius the Great interprets as follows.
The Lord is in constant communication with His creation: archangels and angels, sitting on a throne supported by them, but at the same time, His hand serves as a support for this throne with all its surroundings. This also indicates that the Creator needs to give His love to everything created. Angels and archangels support the throne on which He sits, but the Lord himself at the same time does notleaves them without his care and constantly takes care of them, providing assistance.
In the same work, in the description of the structure of the Kingdom of God, there are such unusual creatures as a lion with a fiery mane and an ox, the whole body of which is covered with eyes. These two animals are also constantly accompanied by an eagle. Many interpreters say that these animals from the Creator's retinue are also heavenly angels. These characters are well known to admirers of Boris Grebenshchikov's work, since it was this work of spiritual literature that formed the basis of the plot of the song "City" from the repertoire of the Aquarium group.
There are numerous iconographic and other images of angels, in which the artists presented the main characters of their works not as humanoid creatures, but in a more fantastic guise. Often these servants of the Almighty, as well as the ox described above, are covered with many pairs of eyes. This unusual detail of the appearance of the helpers of the Lord God symbolizes their wisdom and ability to see the aspects of life hidden from the eyes of mere mortals. Also, this trait speaks of the boundless devotion of angels to their heavenly creator, since all their eyes are constantly fixed on him.
In his own image and likeness
Many believers are interested in the question of how to identify a guardian angel by name in Orthodoxy. Such curious people should be upset, because the Holy Scripture says that only the Lord knows about the essence of heavenly beings. Ordinary mortal people are not givenknow your intercessors by name.
The scripture reveals only a small part of how the invisible world works. However, in these books there are mentions of nine angels belonging to the highest legion, including such as Michael, Gabriel, Uriel. If your name matches these, then you can safely consider one of these representatives of the heavenly host as your intercessor.
As you know, the Creator created man in his own image and likeness, but this should not be taken literally, that people are the only begotten of God and their body is like the flesh of the heavenly father. This is not true. To understand the words about the image and likeness should be a little different. Usually, interpreting this episode of writing, the holy fathers say that the Creator in this case manifested himself as an artist who draws a certain person, but his portrait is still not a complete copy of the original.
All people are essentially material beings, that is, made of flesh. It is interesting that angels, whose names by date of birth many believers seek to recognize, are also described by many theologians as created beings, that is, consisting of flesh.
How to understand the words about the incorporeality of angels
This definition can be interpreted in such a way that such creatures are incorporeal in relation to people. That is, their bodies are much thinner than those of mere mortals. They are so different from human flesh that they are invisible to the human eye. However, in the full sense of the word, angels are still not incorporeal. The only non-creature being is the Lord God.
Orthodox angels,whose names are mostly unknown to mere mortals, created by the Creator so that they are mediators between him and the world of people. There are numerous instances in the Old Testament of such beings appearing before man. Interestingly, many prophets described them not as beings resembling a person in their appearance, but as something completely different: sometimes like a fiery wheel, sometimes like a bush, and so on.
As for the Gospel, angels are described only as human beings. Almost all such episodes from the New Testament are connected with the message to people of some important news. So, an angel who appeared before the Most Holy Theotokos told her about the imminent appearance of the Savior. The same heavenly messenger met the myrrh-bearing women, informing them of the resurrection of Christ.
Speaking about the essence of these celestials, it is worth mentioning that they have a much more developed intellect than humans. However, the crown of God's creation is considered to be a person, for whose connection with God angels are intended.
Fallen Angels
As already mentioned in this article, the heavenly host appeared even before the birth of mankind. It is worth mentioning that the first beings who sinned against the Lord God were also angels. The Creator endowed them, as well as humans, with free will and a developed intellect. Chief among them was a warrior named Lucifer. But this representative of the invisible world was proud of his perfection and decided that he could be compared in his power with the Lord God himself and even surpass Him.
For this proud being, he was cast into hell along with all his brethren, who, at his instigation, also rebelled against their Creator. However, most of the retinue of the heavenly ruler remained faithful to him and did not depart from their master. Later, a grandiose battle took place between the fallen angels and the warriors of light, in which the servants of the Lord God won. Those who transgressed the will of the Creator were overthrown from heaven and imprisoned in hell. Now their leader, Lucifer, began to be called the devil or Satan, while the rest of his associates received the title of demons. The names of demons and their characteristics are almost unknown to people, except for the leader of this fallen kind.
Opposites of angels
The scripture mentions that just as angels are called to serve the Lord for the benefit of people, so demons are constantly trying to harm the human race. The first precedent for such intervention in the life of God's creation is described in the early chapters of the Old Testament, which tells of the temptation of Eve by the serpent, which was none other than the devil, who appeared to the woman in the form of an animal.
However, it is worth saying that these creatures, like angels, do not have any power over people. This means that without the will of the Lord God, they cannot harm a person. This can be confirmed by an example from the Holy Scriptures. This book contains an episode about how demons, cast out of a person, wanted to go out into a herd of pigs, but could not do this without the permission of the Lord God. Therefore, they began to beg the Creator to allow them to do this. When will Godgave his consent, they moved into the animals, after which the whole herd rushed from a high cliff.
Therefore, a person should not be afraid of these creatures, because if he has firm faith in his Heavenly Father, the demons will not be able to do him any harm.
If he doubts, and the intention to live according to God's law is not strong, then he may be seized by tormenting demons, manifesting themselves as various passions, that is, human sins that torment the soul of people. If we turn to Russian classical literature, then an example of such unbelief can be found in the story of Nikolai Vasilyevich Gogol "Viy". The protagonist of this work, seminarian Khoma, was killed by evil spirits precisely because he had lost hope in the Lord God and His intercession.
Many are concerned about the question why the Almighty, who foresaw the fall of the first people, did not save them from this step. The fact is that He created man, endowing him with free will. Thus, the Creator, knowing that the first people would deviate from the rules, did not violate their free will. He does everything to ensure that a person gradually returns to his original state, changing his fallen nature.
About guardian angels
As mentioned in previous chapters, the Lord created numerous angels to help Him in the salvation of Christians.
It has also been mentioned in previous chapters that there are various angelic offices. So, among other representatives of these incorporeal beings, they are especially close to people,because of their attachment to this or that person, guardian angels, by name unknown to anyone. Every person has such a patron, but not from birth, as many believe. He is “assigned” to him at the moment of baptism.
This helper is with the person under his charge all his life, directing him to the true path of salvation. The presence of such a heavenly intercessor in every baptized is said, including in the Gospel, by the words of Jesus Christ himself. He mentions that the angel of each of the children is close to God the Father.
Guardian Angel Mission
Such a creature is assigned to a person in order to help his soul be saved. However, a Christian, by his actions, can either strengthen his connection with the guardian angel, by name unknown to him, or break it. The first can be achieved if you lead a life worthy of a true Christian, fight your vices and pray to the Lord God for salvation.
If a person who received a guardian angel at baptism moves away from the church, leads an impious lifestyle, and so on, then his guardian angel ceases to serve him, since the Christian himself expresses his desire for this.
However, if the sinner returns to a righteous life, then the heavenly protector again begins to assist him.
Name day
Not a single Christian knows the name of his heavenly intercessor. Moreover, the vast majority of people throughout their lives have never seen their heavenly intercessor. However, this does not mean that concernChristian is terminated. The angel takes care of the person whom he is appointed to help by the Lord God himself constantly.
Do not confuse the concept of a guardian angel by date of birth and name, and what is given by God at the time of baptism. In the Orthodox tradition, each believer has two personal heavenly intercessors. One of them is a guardian angel by name and date of birth. In other words, that saint, on the day of whose memory a person was born, or whose name was given to him.
Such a heavenly patron, strictly speaking, is not an angel, but is called so in the Russian tradition. It is believed that the righteous in their afterlife are in a bodiless state until the second coming of Jesus Christ. This property makes them look like heavenly warriors.
The second intercessor is a guardian angel by name and by birth, not given, but appearing to a Christian at the time of baptism.
Such a being is indeed God's herald and in her righteousness surpasses all the righteous who have ever lived on earth, except for the Blessed Virgin Mary, who, as they say in laudatory hymns, "the most glorious cherub and the most honest seraphim."
The saint, after whom the man is named, is a real historical figure who actually lived on Earth and became famous for his pious deeds and charitable life.
How to find out the name of your guardian angel
Since the names and all other characteristics of incorporeal beings are known only to the Lord God, then a person cannot in any waycall. And if we are talking about a holy heavenly intercessor, then there is a rule, following which, you can not only determine the name of the saint, but also the day that the Orthodox Church has set aside for his veneration. So, how to find out the name of your angel? First of all, it is worth saying that he, as a rule, is the namesake of the person protected by him. That is, he bears the same name as his ward. It is no coincidence that in the Orthodox tradition, the Day of the Angel of both female and male names is otherwise called namesake. That is, on this day the Orthodox Church glorifies a saint named the same as this or that person. The name of an angel by date of birth can only be recognized if the person was named according to the church calendar.
If the parents were guided by other principles, then the name day may not coincide with the date of birth. In order to determine the day of an angel in Orthodoxy, you need to look at the church calendar. If a saint with a similar name is glorified on the date you were born, then he is your angel. If such a coincidence was not found, then the memory day of the saint with a similar name, which is closest to the birthday, is chosen as the name day. The problem can be considered solved.
The saint revered on this date is your guardian angel by name and date of birth.
About baptism
Most often, if a baby is baptized before the moment when he is given a name, then the priest calls him in honor of the guardian angel by birth (after the name of the saint who is revered on this day).
It happens thatthe sacrament of a person's acceptance of the Orthodox religion is carried out at an older age. In this case, the priest, as a rule, leaves the person the same name that he bears. If it does not correspond to the Orthodox tradition, then the Christian has a so-called baptismal name. This is either the closest sounding option, or a different transcription of the same word.
For example, if a woman's name is Agnia, then the priest can name her Anna. And if the man is George, then he is christened George.
According to baptism, it is worth determining the names of angels. The list of names is given in church calendars, which are called differently as saints.
What to do on Angel Day
On this day it is customary to pray to the saint after whom the person is named. Ideally, it is best to visit the church, especially since during the service on this date, as a rule, your heavenly patron is mentioned. You can also, in addition to praying to the saint, read at home a special church song dedicated to the life and deeds of the saint, which is called an akathist.
However, it is worth remembering that you can only worship the Lord God, since only He has power over the whole world. Heavenly patron saints only serve Him in saving people.
Days of an angel by name - this is the date when a person should glorify his intercessor in prayers, and also turn to him for help in spiritual matters. That is, a Christian on this day, as a rule, prays for the intercession of his heavenly patron, who is in the Kingdom of Heaven and in close proximityfrom the Lord God. However, it is worth remembering that petitions and praises can be addressed not only to those righteous people on whose day you were born, but also to all others, since the saints are equally pleasing to the Creator.
Many Internet users in various forums ask questions about the Days of angels of female names. Usually Orthodox priests comment on them as follows. There is no special rule for angels of female names. They are defined in exactly the same way as in the case of men. That is, the saint who bears your name and is glorified on your birthday is revered as a heavenly patron. If a guardian angel by date of birth is not found in the church calendar, then the saint whose memory is sung on the next date and which bears your name is considered such an intercessor.
Heavenly patrons
What names are the intercessors belonging to the winged army of God, that is, who are angels, is unknown. However, there is a special day when all representatives of the invisible world who serve the Creator are glorified during the church service. It falls on the first Sunday after Holy Trinity Day for Orthodox Christians, and November 1 for Catholics. It's All Saints' Day.
On this date, as a rule, Orthodox Christians remember their invisible heavenly patrons and pray to them, as well as to the Lord God, thanking Him for giving them such helpers in the matter of spiritual salvation.
It is also worth remembering that every Monday the Russian Orthodox Church remembers all beings belonging to the invisible world. Therefore, the priests urge to pray to these intercessors at the beginning of each week. Here it is worth saying that prayer to such an intercessor is not only not prohibited on other dates, but is also highly welcomed. The church service, where collective prayer takes place, is only a reminder of the existence of the angels of God.
The Holy Fathers warn
Many righteous people, including the Apostle Peter, in their appeals to Christians warned against imagining any invisible beings and even more so communicating with them. Prayer should take place without the use of any image that appears in the mind of a person. There is a similar warning about dreams and other cases when angels or any other creatures of the non-material world appear to a believer. The Holy Fathers emphatically say that, first of all, it is worth doubting the truth of such visions. Many righteous people who saw angels and other beings said that they were not worthy of such communion with the upper world. The Keeper will definitely meet the person under his care after death, but in earthly life he rarely appears to people in any guise.
There is a known case when one monk saw demons in the form of angels and was told that he would soon meet Christ and would have to bow to Him. The minister of the church believed in this phenomenon and did according to their word. This circumstance so upset his mind that he was not himself for several years. Only thanks to the prayers of other monks who led a righteous life, hemanaged to recover, and subsequently he became famous for his spiritual exploits and was canonized as a saint.
Other people who were more experienced in matters of faith, at the time of their encounter with demons, as a rule, did not believe their tricks. So, one of the righteous, when the angels appeared to him and said that he should soon see Jesus Christ, objected to this, answering that he did not believe in this, because he was not worthy of such mercy. At these words, the servants of hell, who appeared in the guise of the winged messengers of the Lord, immediately disappeared.
There is another similar case. Angels appeared to one elder, known for his righteous life, and also promised him a quick meeting with the Savior. To this, this wise man replied that he was not worthy and did not want to see Christ in this life, but he would certainly contemplate Him after he died. Therefore, one must be more careful when inquiring about the names of angels and demons. Moreover, in most cases they are unknown.
The holy fathers recommend doing the same to all those who think that they are certain representatives of the heavenly world.
This is because people who imagine they are worthy to have the saints or the Savior himself appear before them are delusional. That is, they are overly proud of their spiritual merits, which, in fact, do not exist.
The nature of an angel and its description
About angels (including guardians) and their hierarchy is known, first of all, from the works of the disciple of the Apostle Paul, who bore the name Dionysius the Areopagite. This saint expounds in his workheavenly hierarchy, and also gives a description of each of the types of servants of the Lord God. You can learn a lot about angels from the writings of Ignatius Brianchaninov and other holy fathers.
Conclusion
From all of the above, we can conclude that the names of holy angels are not given to ordinary mortal people. This is explained by the fact that the Lord communicated to Christians through the prophets, as well as through the appeared Jesus Christ, only the most important information that is needed to save their souls and restore the damaged nature that was damaged due to the fall of the first people - Adam and Eve.
How to call the name of the guardian angel according to the church calendar is quite simple to find out. This was the subject of several chapters of this article. Also in this material a lot of words were said about when to pray to heavenly intercessors and how to do it.
The article also contains interesting facts about the incorporeal messengers of the Lord contained in patristic literature and church traditions.
A Christian can turn to guardian angels in prayer when difficult life situations arise. Along with this, one must not forget to thank God and heavenly patrons for the unceasing care for people that they show thanks to their love. When is Angel Day, what names can you find out from the church calendar.
