Saturday, August 01, 2009

Q112 A1: Whether the angels are sent on works of ministry?

Yes. Some angels are sent in ministry by God because whenever an angel has to perform any work concerning a corporeal creature, the angel applies himself anew to that body by his power, and in that way begins to be there afresh.

Aliqui Angeli in ministerium mittuntur a Deo quia cum aliquid est fiendum per aliquem Angelum circa aliquam creaturam corpoream, de novo applicatur Angelus illi corpori sua virtute, et sic Angelus de novo incipit ibi esse.

An angel's power, as a particular agent, does not reach to the whole universe, but reaches to one thing in such a way as not to reach another; and so he is "here" in such a manner as not to be "there."

Virtus autem Angeli, cum sit particulare agens, non attingit totum universum; sed sic attingit unum, quod non attingit aliud. Et ideo ita est hic, quod non alibi.

Yet the action performed by the angel who is sent, proceeds from God as from its first principle, at Whose nod and by Whose authority the angels work; and [the angelic action] is reduced to God as to its last end.

Sed actio quam Angelus missus exercet, procedit a Deo sicut a primo principio, cuius nutu et auctoritate Angeli operantur; et in Deum reducitur sicut in ultimum finem.