by Fr. John A. Hardon, S.J.
Part One : Chapter III :: Grace to the Angels
“Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought, 8 but they were defeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.”(Revelation 12:7-8)
We might ask many questions about the angels. Did all angels have grace? Did they have these “big” graces we have mentioned? Which graces do the angels in heaven have now? This last question is perhaps most easily answered. For if they have the Beatific Vision it seems they have: The Indwelling Trinity – sanctifying grace – light of glory – charity – moral virtues – gifts of the Holy Spirit.
Did all the angels have grace before the fall? Theologians seem agreed that all had sanctifying grace (and hence the Indwelling Trinity) and the infused virtues and the gifts of the Holy Spirit and actual grace, so that they could freely merit the Beatific Vision. Neither angels nor we could merit heaven by natural powers: grace is needed. For condign merit of the Beatific Vision, love and enjoyment, there must be sanctifying grace, for it is the radical principle of condign merit. It is the remote principle, but it does not do the work of merit by itself, so to speak – it has “henchmen,” the infused virtues. These are the proximate principles of condign merit. Sanctifying grace of itself gives a title to the Beatific Vision, love and enjoyment, but also gives the power to merit more of the Beatific Vision, its love and enjoyment. And God wanted the angels to merit heaven. He did not create angels in heaven, nor man. Deprived of heaven at first, creatures should desire Him and heaven. He wants us to realize what it is to be “outside” and therefore desire to be “inside.”
Fall From Grace
Could the angels sin with all this battery of grace? Yes, many did, for they were only in the “vestibule” of heaven and they were free, their sin probably was one of pride (Tob. 4,14; Eccl. 10,15), perhaps a proud desire to be like God, or proud complacency in self, or proud rejection of grace or refusal to bow down before Our Lord – or Lady.
How would you apportion grace to the angels? To which angel would you give the most grace? “To each one of us grace was given according to the measure of Christ’s bestowal” (Eph. 4,11). But to each angel it seems grace was given according to (not because of) the measure of his natural perfection. St. Thomas said: “It is reasonable to suppose that gifts of graces and perfection of beatitude were bestowed on the angels according to the degree of their natural gifts…for they differ specifically, while men differ only numerically.” Thus the highest Seraphim would get the most grace. Note well that no angel has any claim to grace by the perfection of its nature, for every grace is wholly gratuitous. Grace is above the power, merit, exigence of every created nature: No creature has any claim to it.
Scotus would not admit the necessity or existence of infused moral virtues – for man or angel. But with St. Thomas we prefer to think that there are infused moral virtues; and to angels we assign all those that do not connote a sensitive appetite.
Angels likewise receive actual graces, it seem to us, just as Christ did (with the Beatific Vision). These actual graces take the form either of divine “premotions” or of “septiform inspirations” of the Holy Spirit (proportioned to their gifts of the Holy Spirit) or of both.
