This is a continuation of the last posting. Again, one starts with Scripture. Here is Revelation 1:11-20.
Revelation 1:11-20 DR
11 Saying: What thou seest, write in a book, and send to the seven churches which are in Asia, to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamus, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea.
12 And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks:
13 And in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet, and girt about the paps with a golden girdle.
14 And his head and his hairs were white, as white wool, and as snow, and his eyes were as a flame of fire,
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15 And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning furnace. And his voice as the sound of many waters.
16 And he had in his right hand seven stars. And from his mouth came out a sharp two edged sword: and his face was as the sun shineth in his power.
17 And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not. I am the First and the Last,
18 And alive, and was dead, and behold I am living for ever and ever, and have the keys of death and of hell.
19 Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are, and which must be done hereafter.
20 The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks are the seven churches.
Here is Christ revealing to St. John that there are angels over the seven ancient (now ALL gone) churches of the Middle East.
Each church had an angel. Each church was being given a message by Christ. This passage shows us that there were guardian angels over the churches.
Do we have guardian angels over our Catholic dioceses or churches?
I wonder at the spiritual warfare in some dioceses, like my own, which had one of the biggest sex-scandal settlements after Los Angeles and Boston. I wonder why I can never work in the churches there.
These angels of the seven now extinct churches, were they sent somewhere else?
These angels seem to be addressed as good angels. But, all those churches are now gone.
Those seven stars, could they have been driven out, or hindered, like Gabriel?
Nothing is an accident.
However, in a window of York Minster in England, the angels are interpreted as bishops. St. Augustine seemed to have this idea according to the Catholic Encyclopedia. But, the word angel in the Scriptures specifically means "angel" not bishop. The word star, according to this article, underlines the interpretation of bishop. But, angel means angel. This is interesting.
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St. John in the Apocalypse is shown seven candlesticks and in their midst, the Son of Man holding seven stars (Revelation 1:13, 20). The candlesticks represent the seven Churches of Asia; the stars, the angels of those Churches. He is bidden to write to the respective angels of those Churches and distribute to each his meed of praise or blame. Origen (Hom., xiii in Luc., and Hom., xx in Num.) explains that these are the guardian angels of the Churches, a view upheld by Dean Alford. But St. Epiphanius (Hær., xxv) explicitly rejects this view, and, in accordance with the imagery of the passage, explains it of the bishops. The comparison of a teacher to a star is quite Scriptural (Daniel 12:3). St. Augustine's reason for interpreting angels of the Churches as the prelates of the church is that St. John speaks of them as falling from their first charity which is not true of the angels [Epistle 43, n. 22].
One may see St. Augustine and others as the more "conservative" and ecclesiastical interpretation of the angels of the churches. One would like to know if churches have guardian angels, or if the bishops are being addressed.
