Being made in his image and likeness, angels and humans were given the gift of free will. Our free will affords us the possibility of loving God with our whole heart, soul, and strength, or hating God, or simply being ambivalent toward God.
Our faith tells us that angels were created before man and woman. Some of these angels are found in the Holy Scripture and are given names. Michael, Raphael, Gabriel, and even Satan are just a few of the many angels created by God. They, like us, have free will.In the Catechism of the Catholic Church we read, "The devil and the other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by their own doing."4
It is a mystery why an angelic creature that lived in the heavens with an all loving God and had no tempter before him, would ever find hatred for God. However, for reasons unknown to us, the angel Satan freely chose hate instead of love. And, because he abides in a world that is non-temporal, he forever hates. This is his irrevocable lot of existence.
Again, the catechism teaches, "There is no repentance for the angels after their fall, just as there is no repentance for men after death."5
Nothing possessed Satan - also called Lucifer - to act contrary to God. His fall began with him and him alone.We see in Isaiah what was stirring in the mind of this angel Lucifer (meaning Light or Morning Star) who was created to be good:
"How you have fallen from the heavens, O Morning Star, son of the dawn!In your heart you said: "I will scale the heavens;above the stars of God I will set up my throne.I will be like the Most High!"
The church recognizes that all angels were created to be good. But, being a creature and not the Creator, Satan and all angels were given free will. This free will necessarily allows us, by our nature, to freely choose God who is Love. It stands to reason that one’s freedom to choose Love must include the freedom to choose hate.We read, that he chose to be like God. Was he envious of God’s power? Did he have a desire to defeat God? Why was he God’s adversary? There are no simple answers to these questions found in Scripture.
Nevertheless, Satan chose wrongly. And for his choice, he was banished from heaven and the banishment was irrevocable. Moreover, nowhere in Scripture do we find Satan ashamed of his desire to be like God. In fact, he urges Adam and Eve to also be like God. From the beginning of time on earth, the father of lies unleashed his shameful reign on earth by seducing us to become gods in place of God.
While Satan and other angels defied God, there exists in heaven a host of angels who adore the Lord. We are reminded in Scripture of guardian angels, angelic messengers, and angels who are given a proper name such as, Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael. Michael the Archangel is best remembered from the book of Revelation as the one charged to fight Satan:
"...There was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon and his angels fought back. But he was not strong enough, and they lost their place in heaven." (Rev 12:7-9)
This was foretold in the book of Daniel, where we read, "At that time Michael, the great prince who protects your people, will arise." (Dan 10-12)
In the Christian world, thousands of paintings, statues, poems and prayers depict the battle between Michael and Satan with Michael always having the upper hand. A familiar prayer in our Catholic tradition sums up Michael’s purpose:
St. Michael the Archangel,defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts,by the power of God,thrust into hell Satan, and all the evil spirits,who prowl about the world for the ruin of souls. Amen.6
Prowling about the world to seek the ruin of souls has been a preoccupation of Satan and other fallen angels since the beginning of humanity. We read in the first book of the Bible: "Now the snake was the most cunning of all the wild animals that the LORD God had made." (Genesis 3:1)
The last book of the Bible tells us who that serpent is, "He laid hold of the dragon, that serpent of old, who is the Devil and Satan, and bound him for a thousand years." (Rev. 20:2)
In Genesis, the snake brings the woman into his frame of mind by saying what he himself longed for before his own fall from grace, "God knows well that when you eat of [the tree] your eyes will be opened and you will be like gods, who know good and evil." (Genesis 3:5)
Once fallen, this enemy of God spews his venom wherever God creates, beginning with man and woman. His rage chases down humanity including the Son of Man himself and, according to Revelation, the Lord’s Mother:
"And the dragon stood before the woman who was about to bear a child, that he might devour her child when she brought it forth; she brought forth a male child, one who is to rule all the nations with a rod of iron, but her child was caught up to God and to his throne, and the woman fled into the wilderness..." (Rev 12:4-6).
Fortunately, we know how this story ends. Christ rules forever and saves all who come to know him through faith.
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NOTES:
4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, (CCC 391)
5. CCC 393
6. 1884, Pope Leo XIII ordered certain prayers to be said after Low Mass, in defense of the independence of the Holy See. The prayer to St. Michael was one of these prayers. In 1964, the requirement to pray to St. Michael was lifted, but private or public recitation was still encouraged.
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