What are angels?
Angels are bodiless spirits, endowed with intelligence, will, and power, created by God before the visible world (cf. Job 38:7) to glorify him and to serve his economy: “Are not the angels ministering spirits, sent out to serve for the sake of those who will inherit salvation?” (Heb 1:14; see Q107, Q265).
Both the Hebrew (mal’akh) and the Greek (angelos) mean “messenger.” The word “angel” thus names the function, not the nature, of these beings.
For this reason, the title “angel” is sometimes applied to men, as to St John the Baptist (Mal 3:1; Luk 7:27; see Q192), and even to the Lord Jesus Christ himself, who is called the “Angel of Great Counsel” (Isa 9:6 LXX; see Q390), the title the Church sings in the Christmas services. St Athanasius explains:
None other did Jacob join to God in his prayer than God’s own Word, whom therefore he called ‘Angel,’ because it is He alone who reveals the Father. (St Athanasius, Orations against the Arians, III.12)
It is fitting that the word “angel” means “messenger” because angels are sent by God as heralds to announce his will. Thus, the Archangel Gabriel was sent to announce to the Most Holy Virgin Mary the conception of the Savior (Luk 1:26–38), the announcement the Church celebrates in the feast of the Annunciation, singing: “Today is the beginning of our salvation, and the revelation of the eternal mystery!” (Troparion of the Annunciation).
