Part 3:  Section 2
THE ANGELS: AN OVERVIEW

4. The Angels who remained faithful to God behold the face of God continually and singe His praises.

Our Lord says of our Guardian Angels, "I say to you that their Angels always behold the face of My Father Who is in Heaven." [Matt. 18:10] The Angels at Our Lord's birth sang the praises of God. Their songs of praise are different, just as their knowledge and their love of God are different. The Angels are sometimes represented as children, because they are immortal and therefore forever young; sometimes with wings to express the swiftness with which they pass from place to place, and their promptness in carrying out the will of God; sometimes with lilies in their hands to show their perfect spotlessness; sometimes with harps to signify that the praise of God is their constant employment; sometimes without any body, but only a head and wings, to show that they are intellectual beings. The Holy Angels also possess also possess exceeding beauty and splendor. If an Angel were to appear in the firmament of heaven in his full glory the sun would disappear before his brightness, just as the stars now disappear before the brightness of the sun. When St. John saw an Angel in all his glory, he thought he must be God Himself, and fell at His feet to adore Him. [Apoc. 22:8] In appearing to men the Holy Angels hide their glory. The Angels will be our companions in Heaven. This is why they take so great an interest in us while we are on earth, and rejoice over the sinner doing penance. They often intervene to help us in our spiritual and temporal needs, if we do not, by our resistance to grace, put obstacles in their way.