God, says the great preacher Bossuet, wished to create spirits like Himself, pure and immaterial, [pg 406] living by intelligence and love. Spirits that would know and love Him as He knows Himself and loves Himself, and who would be happy in simply knowing and loving this first great Being. For that very reason they bear on their natures a divine character, after God's image and likeness. O God, who can doubt that Thou could create spirits without a body? or is there need of a body that one might understand, love and be happy? Thou, O God, Who art Thyself a pure spirit, art Thou not incorporal and immaterial? Are not intelligence and love spiritual and immaterial operations, which can be exercised without a body? The creation of the angels, then, was a manifestation of God's omnipotence, as it is also omnipotence to call human individuals into existence, and to give them knowledge, so that they can serve and glorify God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Third Day.
The angels are part of the universal creation outside of God, and were created in the beginning of time. St. Thomas, the great theologian, says “The angels are a part of the universal creation, and form a regular grade in that creation.” Now no part can be perfect when separated from its belongings, and we are sure God's works are perfect; but the angelic world would have stood by itself, separated and isolated from the rest of creation, if it had been made before the sensible world. The number of angels is very great. God did not [pg 407] stint Himself in giving lavishly of His benefits. These pure spirits inhabit space, and move about in choirs of immense numbers. “Thousands upon thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before Him.”—Dan. vii. 10. These figures certainly point to an almost infinite number. Count if you can the sands on the seashore, the stars in the firmament, and when you think you have reached a definite calculation, you are far below the real existing number. God pours out lavishly the abundance of His omnipotence and love. Prodigality is a characteristic of all the divine works. We cannot meditate on the countless multitude of the angels without astonishment.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.