If you don't mind, I kinda need just the Catholics to answer this question.?

Question

Ok, so I e-mailed this Brother with a question about guardian angels, asking him if there were any female angels (this is the first question I need you to answer) because all I hear about are men angels. Here's what he said:

They do not have bodies. Therefore they are neither male nor female, neither men nor women. Angels are mentioned frequently in the Bible. In Matthew 18 Jesus speaks of children's angels continually seeing his Father's face in heaven. The angels are not specifically called guardians, but it is from sayings such as that the the belief in guardian angels came about.

So if angels don't have "genders" then how come we have St.Micheal the Arcangel and St. Gabriel. Plus St. Gemma Gelgotti (hope I spelled that right) was able to see her guardian angel and it was a man! Can somebody set me straight! PLEASE

Answer 1

God and angels are spiritual beings and transcend the concepts of male and female.

Some Bible verses that reference "guardian" angels are:

See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. (Matthew 18:10)

When the poor man died, he was carried away by angels to the bosom of Abraham. (Luke 16:22)

The angel of the LORD, who encamps with them, delivers all who fear God. (Psalms 34:7)

No evil shall befall you, no affliction come near your tent.
For God commands the angels to guard you in all your ways.
With their hands, they shall support you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. (Psalms 91:10-12)

If then there be for him an angel, one out of a thousand, a mediator, To show him what is right for him and bring the man back to justice, He will take pity on him and say, "Deliver him from going down to the pit; I have found him a ransom." (Job 33:23-24)

Then the angel of the Lord spoke out and said, "O LORD of hosts, how long will you be without mercy for Jerusalem and the cities of Judah that have felt your anger these seventy years?" (Zechariah1:12)

The Catechism of the Catholic Church, section 336, states: From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. "Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life." Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.

With love in Christ.

Answer 2

Angels are purely spiritual beings. As such, they are not in need of masculine or feminine physiology. That is why they do not have a gender.

People have genders because it is necessary for some to be male and female. When our earthly bodies die and our soul (presumably) go to heaven, our souls will not have a gender. We will not need to eat, sleep, go to the bathroom - all that stuff which goes along with having a physical body will become irrelevant in heaven.

The angels, unlike us, were never physical. They were created by God as angels, always to be angels. Many times, God has sen them down to earth as Intercessors. Some were noted as having names; Michael the Archangel; Gabriel; and Lucifer the devil was once an angel too.

Assuming we've established that angels do not have gender, let's consider this question - what difference does it make what the angel's names are if they do not possess gender? Why does such a trivial detail matter so much to you?

Only a select few angels are known by name. There are millions of angels. The fact that they all have masculine names does not mean all angels possess masculine names.

Besides, aren't there names that are embody both the feminine as well as the masculine? Adrian, Alex, Leslie, etc. What if the Bible refered to the angels by those three names? Which gender would your mind automatically presume the angels were, and what dictates that presumption? The answer, of course, is an earthly predisposition to gender identity.

We must focus our minds less on earthly predispotition and more on spiritual dispotition. Do that and I promise you will learn that the names of the angels are not as important. The point of bothering to name the angels is not to imply a gender-indentity where none exists but to demonstrate the gravity of the event those particular angels are taking part in. That's what's important.

Hope this helps.

Answer 3

To be honest, I don't completely understand it fully either. But, saints and angels are not always the same. There are several saints that are female ex: St. Joan of Arc, St. Jude, St. Monica, St. Elizabeth Ann Seton, and many more. Now, as far as angels go, yeah they don't really have a gender even though they do have gender-specific names. (Michael, Gabriels, Raphael, Daniel). I have a web site though that you can go to because there's differences between the arcangels and guardian angels and stuff.

http://www.catholic.org/saints/

Answer 4

angerl are pure spirits and have no gender. Michael and Gabriel are names- that can be for men or women. They are simply names. The names come from tradition.

Now, when angels appear, they may take a familiar form to ease the mind of the person they are appearing to, but I wouldn't read anything beyond that into it.

Angels have no gender, they are angels.

Answer 5

He answered you correctly. I'm a devote Catholic and the Catholic church teaches that angels are spiritual beings. They do not have physical bodies/humna bodies. But when God sends them to earth to talk to us, He makes them seen as in human form. Like when St. Gabriel appeared to Joseph and Mary to announce the birth of Jesus to her. Any times the Bible talks about the Spirit of God or an angel of God appearing to a man, it's angel seeming to be in human bodily form.

Angels are genderless, no male nor female. But it's us people that call them male or female. Just so when we talk about Gabriel we can talk about him wihtout constantly saying 'Gabriel', we say 'him' or 'his'. There are 4 archangels, the first angels that God created. Lucifer, Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Lucifer disobeyed God and was thrown out of Heaven and was named Satan in hell because Lucifer was a holy name that God gave him. Michael is the archangel that fights Satan and the demons, our protector. Gabriel is a messenger from God to humans. Raphael is our protector on travels and when we are in a harmful situation. The Bible talks about 7 archangels but these are the only ones given names. I've always heard these archangels be referred to as males.

The other angels that God created after the 7 archangels aren't named in the Bible or by the Catholic church. We don't know if God has even given them names. These angels were created to serve man after man enters Heaven. Not like a slave but to guide our soul to Heaven and throughout Heaven. I've read that there are millions of angels in Heaven, maybe one for each soul but I can't remember where I read that. Even the archangels are to serve man. That's one thing that Lucifer didn't like. He didn't want to serve a mortal. That's why he hates us so much as well.

The only thing I haven't been able to understand yet is why the Catholic Church calls the archangels saints. Saints are the people that have entered Heaven. So I don't know if all angels are also saints or not. I've been trying to figure this out. I've read things but I don't understand it.

Guardian angels are around us, whether we ask them to be with us or not. There are different levels of angels and guardian angels are the 3 type of angels that God created. This is all that I know for now. If you are interested in learning more about what the Catholic Church teaches, you can visit the websites for EWTN, New Advent, and Catholic Answers.

Answer 6

He is right. And, don't think that Gabriel, etc. are gender specific names, either. They can appear as humans (I've never seen one!) - but - I think they appear in a fashion that makes us the most comfortable.

And yes...as someone who rode motorcycles through Los Angeles freeway traffic for 25 years - I definitely believe in guardian angels.

Answer 7

i'm assuming you are Catholic or this was asked of a CAtholic brother, hence your asking another Catholics point of view?! well, here's mine....Gabriel & Michael - for example - were "male" when they were to show themselves - maybe as a sign of authority or God 's power - in those days in partiular - mascuinity was a sign of power - women were not "powerful". the brother is right - angels are just that - angels - they are neither male nor female. i believe that God allows them to take on a "humanly" form in a manner best suited for that individual's needs. i hope that helps a little.

Answer 8

Saints are holy role models, humans. Angels are non-human messengers of God. Artists have long depicted angels as having human form, and being like men or women, but there is no evidence to support this. Its just artistic license.

Answer 9

They can present themselves as anyway they want. Prolly she subconsciously thought a man would be better protection. Remember the names of the Archangels came first so as far as them being a male or a female name -- we put that gender on them. The el suffix means "of God" so the name originally was Mica then el, Gabri el

Answer 10

I think we assign genders to spiritual beings in order to personify them. It's much easier to imagine a man/woman with wings and a halo than it is to imagine an ethereal spirit with no form. Likewise, it's easier to imagine god as a man with a white beard up in the clouds than as an unfathomable, almighty being (also with no body or form), which is what Christians are taught god is. It allows humans to visualize and thus make "real" these beings which by definition take no physical form.