ACC ~ Hebrews 1 v14

SENT TO SAVE. THEODORET OF CYR: Whereas he sits at the right hand [he is saying], they are sent as ministers of salvation for the sake of human beings. INTERPRETATION OF HEBREWS 1.

THESE THINGS WERE DONE FOR OUR SAKE. AUGUSTINE: Now certainly in the epistle to the Hebrews, when a distinction was to be made between the dispensation of the New Testament and the dispensation of the Old Testament in regard to the fitness of the ages and times, it was written most plainly that not only those visible things but also the word itself were wrought by the mediation of the angels. For it speaks as follows: “To what angel has he ever said, ‘Sit at my right hand, till I make your enemies a stool for your feet’? Are they not all ministering spirits, sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” It is evident from this passage that all those things were not only done by angels but were also done for our sake, that is, for the people of God, to whom the inheritance of eternal life is promised. ON THE TRINITY 11.22.

THIS IS THEIR MINISTRY. CHRYSOSTOM: What marvel says he if [angels] minister to the Son, when they minister even to our salvation? See how he lifts up their minds and shows the great honor that God has for us, since he has assigned to angels who are above us this ministration on our behalf. As if, one should say, for this purpose he says he employs them; this is the office of angels, to minister to God for our salvation. So that it is an angelic work to do all for the salvation of the brethren; or rather it is the work of Christ himself, for he indeed saves as Lord, but they as servants. And we, though servants, are yet angels’ fellow servants. Why do you gaze so earnestly on the angels, says he? They are servants of the Son of God and are sent many ways for our sake and minister to our salvation. And so they are partners in service with us. Consider how he ascribes no great difference to the kinds of creatures. And yet the space between angels and humans is great. Nevertheless, he brings them down near to us, all but saying, “For us they labor, for our sake they run to and fro. On us, one might say, they wait.” This is their ministry, for our sake to be sent every way.

And of these examples the Old Testament is full, as well as the New. For when angels bring glad tidings to the shepherds or to Mary or to Joseph; when they sit at the sepulcher; when they are sent to say to the disciples, “Men of Galilee, why do you stand looking into heaven?”; when they release Peter out of the prison; when they discourse with Philip, consider how great the honor is. When God sends the angels for ministers as to friends; when an angel appears to Cornelius; when an angel brings forth all the apostles from the prison, and says, “Go and stand in the temple, and speak to the people all the words of this life.”And even to Paul himself an angel appears. Do you see that they minister to us on God’s behalf and that they minister to us in the greatest matters? Thus Paul says, “All things are yours, whether life or death, or the world, or things present, or things to come.” Well then the Son was also sent, but not as a servant or as a minister, but as a Son and only begotten, desiring the same things with the Father. Indeed, he was not “sent,” for he did not pass from place to place but took on him flesh, whereas these change their places, and, leaving those in which they were before, so come to others in which they were not. ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 3.4.

GOD’S MINISTERS MUST FIND A PLACE IN US. ORIGEN: On this account our heart must be kept with all carefulness both by day and night, and no place be given to the devil. But every effort must be used that the ministers of God—those spirits who were sent to minister to those who are called to be heirs of salvation—may find a place within us, and be delighted to enter into the guest-chamber of our soul. And, dwelling within us [they] may guide us by their counsel; if, so, they shall find the habitation of our heart adorned by the practice of virtue and holiness. ON FIRST PRINCIPLES 3.3.6.

WHERE THE MYSTERIES ARE BEING ENACTED. BEDE: It is no secret that angels are frequently present, invisibly, at the side of the elect, in order to defend them from the snares of the cunning enemy and uphold them by the great gift of heavenly desire. The apostle attests to this when he says, “Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?” Nevertheless, we should believe that the angelic spirits are especially present to us when we give ourselves in a special way to divine services, that is, when we enter a church and open our ears to sacred reading, or give our attention to psalm singing, or apply ourselves to prayer, or celebrate the solemnity of the mass. Hence the apostle advises women to have a veil over their heads in church on account of the angels.And a prophet says, “I will sing psalms to you in the sight of the angels.” We are not permitted to doubt that where the mysteries of the Lord’s body and blood are being enacted, a gathering of the citizens from on high is present—those who were keeping such careful watch at the tomb where Christ’s venerable body had been placed and from which he had departed by rising. Hence we must strive meticulously, my brothers, when we come into the church to pay the due service of divine praise or to perform the solemnity of the mass, to be always mindful of the angelic presence, and to fulfill our heavenly duty with fear and fitting veneration, following the example of the women devoted to God who were afraid when the angels appeared to them at the tomb, and who, we are told, bowed their faces to the earth. HOMILIES ON THE GOSPELS 2.10.

THEY ARE ALLOTTED AS GUARDS TO EACH ONE OF US. ORIGEN: With respect to the fact that both good and evil angels attend to humans—a doctrine we have often taught following the Holy Scriptures—it is not by chance and without a divine judgment that a given angel is assigned to a given soul. For example, one is allotted to Peter and another to Paul. … Therefore, there can be no doubt that by a judgment of God, who sees clearly their worth and the quality of our soul, they are allotted as guards to each one of us by a mystical lot directed by the economy of Christ. HOMILIES ON JOSHUA 23.3.

MYSTERIES TRANSMITTED BY ANGELS. ISAAC OF NINEVEH: Whenever the perception of the revelation of a mystery descends into the intellects of the saints, this is also from the angels. When it is permitted by God, a mystery is revealed from a higher angelic order to a lower one [even unto the lowest]; and in the same manner, when it is permitted by the Divine nod that a mystery should come even to human nature, it is transmitted by those [angels] who are wholly worthy of it. For by their intermediary the saints receive the light of divine vision, [leading] even to the glorious Eternal Being, the mystery which cannot be taught; and the angels receive from one another, “for they are ministering spirits, sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation” [through the awareness of true intuitions that are proper to them]. In the future age, however, this order of things will be abolished. For then one will not receive from another the revelation of God’s glory unto the gladness and joy of his soul; but to each by himself the Master will give according to the measure of his excellence and his worthiness, and he will not receive the gift from his comrade as he does here. Then there will be no teacher and no pupil, nor one whose deficiency must be filled up by another. For one is the Giver there, Who gives without mediation to those who receive; and those who win joy, procure it from Him. [[For they do not perceive Him through diverse intellections, but by [direct] revelation of Him, without departing from Him through thoughts.]] There the order of those who teach and those who learn ceases, and on One alone hangs the ardent love of all. ASCETICAL HOMILIES 28.

WE NEED TO KNOW THE NEED FOR ASSISTANCE. THEODORE OF MOPSUESTIA: That the angels were “ministering spirits” he has established from previous testimony, but now he finally renews the image of their service, saying that they do everything in service for the things needful for our salvation. For it is not a small thing to know the need for the assistance of their service. FRAGMENTS ON THE EPISTLE TO THE HEBREWS 1.14-2:1.