Thursday, January 19, 2006
Saints & Angels: The TLB Prime series!
With the myriad holy ones -men and women- to choose from, I simply had to go with some sort of patriotic pride as my first saint here ~ hence, a fellow countryman of my ancestors who, like myself actually, accomplished nothing in the land of his ancestors but all of his life's work was on foreign soil instead.
St. Antonio de Padua was born in Portugal in 1195 A.D. ~ he spent most of his life in Italy though, first as an Augustinian and then, for the last ten years of his life, as a Franciscan.
He died a martyr in 1231 ~ as he had foreseen it happening too. He was only 36 years of age (which is, incidentally, my current age.)
St. Anthony of Padua would preach the gospel fervently and innocently - and this, ceaselessly. He was canonized less than a year after his death. His martyrdom, constant preaching (which earned him the title of “hammer of the Heretics”) and the miraculous apparition of the Infant Jesus to him were ample evidence to build his "case" with the Church... More evidence would be found three centuries after his death, as "his body was found to be corrupted, yet his tongue was totally incorrupt, so perfect were the teachings that had been formed upon it, upon exhumation of his body some 336 years after his death."
Angelology was always a fascinating subject for me ~ and the sources for studies on that subject are many! All three major faiths have them ~ angels abound in many ways and in all senses of the word "abound" too!
Who to pick as the first "subject-case" in this series...?
I will go with Metatron ~ the powerful archangel with no less than 76 names and maybe more than 100 (and that is aside from this most popular and vaguely super-heroic monicker here...)
Metatron is immensely powerful and one of the angelic order of the Seraphim, along with Michael, Seraphiel, Gabriel, Uriel, Nathanael, Jehoel, Chamuel (Kemuel, Shemuel) and, once upon a time but no longer, Satan (before his fall - evidently).
Metatron, like all archangels, is a "very large and radiant spiritual being". If Ah-nold was, selon Linda Hamilton, "larger than life" back in those days when he still made movies... surely Metatron is beyond "larger than life" status too...!
The Seraphim are said to have six wings of light and those wings have eyes...! If some basketball players (Bob Cousy, Larry Bird) were reputed to have eyes "all around their heads" ~ certainly angels can have multiple pairs too... even on their wings!
For all his power, though, (Metatron is one of few elite angels to be named as a member of more than one angelic Order) Metatron is NOT one of the nine angels "at the World's End"... A group of nine that we shall see mentioned here again - assuredly!
A group and not an Angelic Order per say - need it be precised.
Blessings!
+++
Labels: Saints And Angels
Link
