Angels-ACTS OF THE HOLY ANGELS

A traditional theme for Catholic artists is a series of eleven biblical
incidents collectively referred to as the Acts of the Holy Angels.
These eleven acts are as follows:
1. The Fall of Lucifer. No detailed account is given in the Bible
concerning the fall of Lucifer, however the Revelation of John (Rev.
12:3–4) alludes to Lucifer taking with him one-third of the stars of
heaven: “And there appeared another wonder in heaven; and behold
a great red dragon, having seven heads and ten horns, and seven
crowns upon his heads. And his tail drew the third part of the stars of
heaven, and did cast them to the earth.”
2. Adam and Eve’s Ejection from the Garden. After Adam ate from
the Tree of Knowledge, “the Lord God banished him from the Garden
of Eden to work the ground from which he had been taken. After he
drove the man out, he placed on the east side of the Garden of Eden
cherubim and a flaming sword flashing back and forth to guard the
way to the tree of life” (Gen. 3:23, 24).
3. Abraham’s Visitation by Three Angels. In chapter 18 of Genesis,
Abraham is visited by three angels who announce that his barren,
elderly wife Sarah will conceive and bear a son
called Isaac.
4. The Angel Who Prevents Abraham from
Sacrificing Isaac. Chapter 22 of Genesis tells the
story of the Lord ordering Abraham to sacrifice
his son, Isaac. An angel intervenes.
5. Jacob Wrestling with an Angel. “And Jacob
was left alone; and a man [an angel] wrestled
with him until the breaking of the day. When
the man [angel] saw that he did not prevail
against Jacob, he touched the hollow of his
thigh; and Jacob’s thigh was put out of joint as
he wrestled with him” (Gen. 32:25).
6. Angels Moving Up and Down “Jacob’s Ladder.”
“And he dreamed, and behold a ladder set
up on the earth, and the top of it reached to
heaven; and behold the angels of God ascending
and descending on it” (Gen. 28:12).
7. The Three Princes Delivered from a Fiery
Furnace. Three young men who refuse to bow
down to King Nebuchadnezzar are cast into
the fiery furnace and saved by the hand of
God. Nebuchadnezzar responds in Daniel
3:24–28, “Blessed be the Lord God of Shadrach, Meshach, and
Abednego who hath sent his angel and delivered his servants that
trusted him, and have changed the king’s word, and yielded their
bodies, that they might not serve nor worship any god except their
own God.”
8. The Army of Sennacherib Slain by an Angel. As reported in chapter
19 of Kings, after King Sennacherib of Assyria threatened Hezekiah,
King of Judah, Hezeziah prayed to Yahweh:
“O Lord, God of Israel, enthroned between the Cherubim,
you alone are God over all the kingdoms of the earth. You
have made heaven and earth. Give ear, O Lord, and hear;
open your eyes, O Lord, and see; listen to the words of
Sennacherib has sent to insult the living God. It is true, O
Lord, that the Assyrian kings have laid waste these
nations and their lands. They have thrown their gods into
the fire but only wood and stone, fashioned by men’s
hands. Now, O Lord our God, deliver us from his hand, so
that all kingdoms on earth may know that you alone, O
Lord, are God!”The Lord, who listened to Hezekiah’s prayer, sent him a message
through Isaiah, who prophesied Sennacherib’s fall:
That night the angel of the Lord went out and put to death a
hundred and eighty-five thousand men in the Assyrian camp.
When the people got up the next morning, there were all the
dead bodies! So Sennacherib king of Assyria broke camp and
withdrew. He returned to Nineveh and stayed there. (Kings
19:35–36)
9. Raphael Protecting Tobias. About to embark upon a dangerous
journey into unknown lands, “Tobias went out in search of one who
knew the road so that he might accompany him into the land of the
Medes. He went out and saw before him the Angel Raphael, without
in the least suspecting that this was an angel of God” (Tobias 5:4).
10. The Punishment of Heliodorus. The story of Heliodorus is found
in 2 Maccabees 3. Heliodorus was an official of the Seleucid court, and
was sent by Seleucus IV Philopater to confiscate funds from the Temple
in Jerusalem. Seleucus was convinced to seek funds deposited in the
Temple by Simon, the administrator of the Temple, who conspired
with Apollonius, the Seleucid governor of Coele Syria and Phoenicia.
Once in the Temple, Heliodorus encountered an apparition: a
rider wearing golden armor on a horse, and two youths, who stroke
Heliodorus repeatedly. Heliodorus was then saved by the prayers of
the high priest Onias III.
11. The Annunciation. According to Luke (1:26–38), “In the sixth
month, God sent the angel Gabriel to Nazareth, a town in Galilee, to
a virgin pledged to be married to a man named Joseph, a descendant of
David. The virgin’s name was Mary. The angel went to her and said,
“Greetings, you who are highly favored! The Lord is with you.” Mary
was greatly troubled at his words and wondered what kind of greeting
this might be. But the angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, you
have found favor with God. You will be with child and give birth to a
son, and you are to give him the name Jesus. He will be great and will
be called the Son of the Most High. The Lord God will give him the
throne of his father David, and he will reign over the house of Jacob
forever; his kingdom will never end.”