CHERUBIM ~ The Second Celestial Choir of Angels

For $20,000. you will receive:

(1) A Framed Certificate of Appreciation.

(2) 2 Masses daily for one year will be offered for you, one by Father David valued at $100.

(3) Continually Re-lit, Blessed Votive Candles for you before The Original Miraculous Icon and all 125 Sacred First Class Relics valued at $200.

(4) An 8 inch x 10 inch copy of the Original Pencil Sketch of your "Angel" in a French Baroque Bright Gold Leaf Frame valued at $399.

(5) All 4 Marian Dogma Giclee Icons in 24 kt. Gold Plate Coated Waves and Rays of Graces Iconic Frames valued at $2,800.

THE VITALLY IMPORTANT WORKS YOU SUPPORT ARE: 

  [1] Meeting with Pope Benedict in a Private Audience for The Dogma of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces  -  (similar to Francis' meeting with Blessed Pope John Paul II in a Private Audience in 1999 in the Vatican) for Francis and Joyce Slinsky the Founders and Directors of Mary's Way Worldwide Apostolate and for the Cardinal who is arranging this all-important Private Audience with the Pope: for the purpose of meeting with His Holiness Pope Benedict XVI about the proclamation of the all-important Dogma of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces ! This will bring millions of favors, blessings, gifts, and graces, healings and miracles to the world which will save the world during these most needed times! 

  Holy Father and his Cardinal will each be presented with a Magnificent 40 inch by 52 inch glittering Gold Leaf Icon on Canvas Texture of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces on behalf of all the supporters who help us go to Rome and meet with Pope Benedict and whose names will be personally presented to the Pope! 

  EXTREMELY IMPORTANT NOTE: Pope Benedict XVI and Blessed Pope John Paul II, when they were Bishops, in 1962 during Vatican II, along with 99% of all of the then 2,400 Bishops of the World, all formally requested Pope Paul VI during Vatican II TO OFFICIALLY PROCLAIM OUR LADY MEDIATRIX OF ALL GRACES AN INFALLIBLE DOGMA! "Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces is already thought of as a Dogma by most of the Bishops of the world!" - His Emenence Alphons Cardinal Stickler, former Librarian and Archivist of the entire Roman Catholic Church.     

• We need your financial help for the following purposes:
• To give Pope Benedict XVI and the Cardinal the most exquisite Museum Quality, Gold Leaf Icon on Canvas Texture of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces, in a breathtakingly beautiful, custom-made, 40 inch wide by 52 inch long, 8 1/2 inch wide, Angels Frame - with 72 Raphael's Cherub Angels with hands folded in prayer and 2 Archangels, Michael and Gabriel and 2 Angels in the four corners. $9,000
• Gold plating two 40 inch by 52 inch "Mary’s Angels Frame" $ 3,000.
• For Customs, Duties, and shipping of the Icon to Rome $ 5,000.
• For All expenses for Air Travel and 12-Day stay in Rome $ 12,000.   

 TOTAL $29,000. 

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 [2] OUR SAINT PADRE PIO GOLD LEAF GICLEES ON CANVAS TEXTURE -  to be made available in 8 different sizes - from 2.5 inch by 3.5 inch up to 18 inch by 24 inch.    

 TOTAL $20,000  

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 [3] 500,000 GOLD LEAF, FOUR SIDED Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces PRAYER CARDS -  which have brought about thousands of favors, blessings, gifts, and graces and over a hundred of healings and miracles TO BE PRINTED IN 5 DIFFERENT LANGUAGES: English, Spanish, French, Italian and Polish. Additional languages can be added as funding permits. 

 TOTAL $40,000.    

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 [4] To build a small Chapel to Saint Padre Pio for Daily masses, healing masses, and prayer services; and to display Padre Pio’s Miraculous Gloves and other sacred Relics of Padre Pio - This is the necessary start and will be the heart of the Mary the Most Holy Mother of God Shrine Church©. After a period of time, the Shrine Church to Mary the Most Holy Mother of God will be built around Saint Padre Pio’s Chapel which will be central to the Shrine Church. Padre Pio’s Chapel can be erected very quickly and can be operating in a relatively short period of time while people are attending healing masses and services at our Saint Padre Pio Chapel.    

 Ongoing construction of the Shrine Church will be outside the walls of Saint Padre Pio’s Chapel for the expansive, exclusiveMary the Most Holy Mother of God Shrine Church©. This is a necessary beginning for the Shrine Church to be built. Saint Padre Pio’s Chapel, where healing masses and healing services are conducted will bring about many miracles. Over 200 miracles have been reported and documented to Mary’s Way in the last 15 years. People will come to the Saint Padre Pio throughout the northeast. Donations will be made daily through the love offerings and donations of those in attendance and those aspiring to see this exclusive, necessary Chapel and Church.   

 The cost to build the Saint Padre Pio Shrine Church, would eventually include the purchase of up to 400 acres of farm land surrounding the small Chapel for the very expansive Mary the Most Holy Mother of God Shrine Church©. In the very heart of this 400 acres will be the very small chapel to Saint Padre Pio. Upon receiving donations after the chapel is built, the next priority is to purchase the 400 acre piece of land. The cost of the chapel will only be upwards of several hundred thousand dollars. NOTE: A very quick, efficient, economical way would be to acquire a small, unused Catholic Church and start masses and healing services there. Can you help us with this? 

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 [5] MARY'S WAY TO JESUS "500 TRAVELING MIRACULOUS ICONS PROGRAMS” - $250. buys one image of Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces or Saint Padre Pio on Canvas Texture, 11 inch by 13 inch in magnificent French Baroque Bright Gold Leaf Frame with booklets, prayer cards, and information about the program.  

 The Purpose of Mary's Way is to promote devotion to Our Lady Mediatrix of All Graces and to the intercession of Saint Padre Pio. ONE PILGRIM IMAGE PER BENEFACTOR BUYS ONE PILGRIM IMAGE THAT WILL TRAVEL AROUND your parish. Each image will be numbered, the name of the benefactors will be on the frame, if you desire - for prayers in their names by those hosting each pilgrim image. We will post (or communicate to the owner of the Image) the miracles, healings, graces received bt the host of the PILGRIM IMAGE.  

 TOTAL $125,000.   

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 [6] MARY THE MOST HOLY MOTHER OF GOD SHRINE CHURCH  - Plans for the magnificent Church for the Miraculous Icons, Saint Padre Pio's Miraculous Gloves and Miraculous Statue, and over 150 Sacred First Class Relics from Rome.  

 Total cost of the Shrine-Church Complex $100,000,000.   

 This vitally important work will be under auspices of The Most Holy Mother of God Shrine-Church Foundation and Mary's Way Worldwide Apostolate which will carry this work forward regardless of how many years it takes for the Church to be built.  

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 [7] YOUR SUPPORT COULD BE DISTRIBUTED TO ALL OF THE ABOVE.

The Cherubim

 … The nine Choirs of Angels in their descending hierarchical order are: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels (Parente 72).

 Cherubim, from the singular word KeRUBH.

 Scholars differ widely on the meaning and the origin of this word. It seems that this was originally an Assyrian word which was later given a definite meaning by the Hebrews. Assyrians, Persians, and Egyptians paid great honor to protective deities named in Accadian Kuribu, or Karubu (the probable origin of Kerubh and Kerubbim), represented as winged bulls, winged lions or sphinxes, with animal bodies and human faces of colossal proportions. These protective deities were the common guardians of temples and tombs, where some such statues can still be seen. Between these pagan deities and the Hebrew Kerubh, Kerubhim, there is nothing in common except perhaps the name, and a similarity of duties, but of a much higher order. In Sacred Scripture, the Cherubim appear as heavenly custodians and protectors of holy places and holy things. The Cherubim are the first among all the Angels to be mentioned in the Bible: “And the Lord God … placed before the paradise of pleasure Cherubim, and flaming sword, turning every way, to keep the way of the tree of life” (Genesis 3:23f). We find that the Lord commanded Moses to make images of two Cherubim in the Tabernacle, thereby representing them as guardians and protectors of holy places and of sacred things: “Thou shalt make also two Cherubim of beaten gold, on the two sides of the oracle. Let one Cherub be on the one side, and the other on the other. Let them cover both sides of the propitiatory, spreading their wings and covering the oracle: and let them look one towards the other, their faces being turned towards the propitiatory wherewith the ark is to be covered” (Exodus 25:18ff). Here the Scripture offers a description of images of Cherubim in beaten gold, whereas in Genesis reference was made to the heavenly spirits themselves, the real Cherubim. In both passages they are represented as protective spirits and custodians of sacred things.

 Another specific duly of the Cherubim seems to be that of being the throne-bearers of Almighty God. In speaking of God, the sacred writers often describe Him as sitting upon the Cherubim: “Thou that sittest upon the Cherubim, shine forth” (Psalms 79:2). The prophet Isaias addresses our Lord by using three of the most common titles reserved for the Divinity: “O Lord of hosts, God of Israel, who sittest upon the Cherubim” (Isaias 37:16). David describes the Cherubim as the living chariot of God: “And he [God] ascended upon the Cherubim, and he flew; he flew upon the wings of the winds” (Psalms 17:11). Yet, it was centuries later that this idea of the Cherubim as a living chariot of Yahweh became more elaborate. The author of Ecclesisticus tells us that “it was Ezechiel that saw the glorious vision, which was shown him upon the chariot of Cherubim” (Ecclesiasticus 49:10). The entire chapter 10 of Ezechiel deals with this vision: “And I saw, and behold in the firmament that was over the heads of the Cherubim, there appeared over them as it were the sapphire stone, as the appearance of the likeness of a throne. And he spoke to the man that was clothed with linen, and said: Go in between the wheels that are under the Cherubim and fill thy hand with the coals of fire that are between the Cherubim, and pour them out upon the city … And the sound of the wings of the Cherubim was heard even to the outward court as the voice of God Almighty speaking … And there appeared in the Cherubim the likeness of a man’s hand under the wings. And I saw, and behold there were four wheels by the Cherubim; one wheel by one Cherub, and another wheel by another Cherub, and the appearance of the wheels was to the sight like the chrysolite stone … And when the Cherubim went, the wheels also went by them. And when the Cherubim lifted their wings, to mount up from the earth, the wheels stayed not behind, but went with them. When they stood, these stood, and when they were lifted up, these were lifted up, for the spirit of life was in them. And the glory of the Lord went forth from the threshold of the temple and stood over the Cherubim … This is the living creature which I saw under the God of Israel by the river Chobar, and I understood that they were Cherubim. Each one had four faces, and each one had four wings, and the likeness of a man’s hand was under their wings” (Ezechiel 10:1-21). A similar vision is reported in chapter 1 of Ezechiel where these “living creatures,” the Cherubim, are described more in detail.

 Just as the Seraphim are popularly regarded as the spirits of divine love, so are the Cherubim considered as spirits of heavenly wisdom. Commenting on Ezechiel’s tenth chapter, Saint Gregory the Great defines the Cherubim as “the plenitude of knowledge.” “These sublime hosts,” he writes, “are called so, Cherubim, because they are filled with a knowledge which is most perfect since they are allowed to behold the glory of God most closely.” Even before the days of Saint Gregory, Dionysius had stressed the light of knowledge as characteristic of the Cherubim: “The name Cherubim denotes their power of knowing and beholding God, their receptivity to the most high gift of light, their contemplation of the beauty of the Divinity in its first manifestation. They are filled by participation in divine wisdom, and bounteously outpour to those below them from their own fountain of wisdom.” “The Cherubim,” writes St. John Chrysostom (c.347 – 407 AD), “appeared on earth, yet, they are heavenly. And why do I say ‘appeared’? nay rather they dwell on earth, as indeed in Paradise; but this is nothing, for they are heavenly” (Homil. On Heb. XVI, 23) (Parente 77).

 Parente, Fr. Pascal P. The Angels – The Catholic Teaching on the Angels: Rockford, Tan Books, 1973.

THEOLOGICAL/BIBLICAL BACKGROUND TO THE CELESTIAL NINE CHOIRS OF ANGELS

 The Angels, the first creatures of the universe, were created to God’s own image and similitude. “The Angel,” writes Saint Thomas, “is the most excellent of all creatures because among all creatures he bears the greatest resemblance to his Creator. The glossa on Ezechiel, 28, Thou was the seal of resemblance, says: The more subtle their nature (the Angelic nature) the better is the image of God found expressed in them” Opusc. 60 I.   The Lord bestowed on them marvelous gifts of nature and grace: wisdom, power, beauty, holiness. With the supernatural gift of sanctifying grace, He infused in them all the virtues of faith, hope, and charity and the gifts of the Holy Ghost. Thus their natural life of created spirits was divinely perfected. Thus their natural life of created spirits was divinely perfected. The Angels became sharers and participants of the Divine Life and were given the opportunity to merit the reward of eternal bliss in the face-to-face vision of God in heaven. Thus the morning stars of creation became the first adoptive sons of God.

 Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274 AD) believes that the Angels were given all these supernatural virtues and gifts of grace (which are absolutely necessary to every intelligent creature who would attain Beatific Vision) in exact proportion to their individual natural aptitude and perfection (Summa Theo. I, Q. 52, art.6) … to this vision they could be admitted only because they had been previously sanctified and had persevered in grace (Parente 43).

 The sanctity of the Angels, no less than that of man, is not a quality of nature, nor anything demanded by nature, but a supernatural gift of God, freely bestowed out of that same divine love which had freely given them all the gifts of nature and nature itself. “The Powers of heaven (the Angels) are not holy by nature, but they possess the measure of their sanctification from the Holy Spirit, according to the rank by which one excels another” St. Basil (329-379 AD), De Spiritu Sancto, XVI,38 (Parente 44).

 The exact time of the sanctification of the Angels is not a matter of faith. But Saint Augustine’s (354-430 AD) opinion on this has become the prevailing one, especially since the time Saint Thomas defended it against some medieval theologians who maintained that the Angels remained for some time in the pure state of nature and were elevated to the supernatural order some time later. Saint Augustine’s opinion has been adopted by the Roman Catechism.

 Just like man, the Angels had to undergo a period of probation during which they were free to choose between good and evil. They were not yet confirmed in grace and they did not enjoy the Beatific Vision during this time. This was a period of existence like that of our first parents before their fall, insofar as they were wayfarers, living in faith and hope of those supernatural truths and promises that God had revealed to them. During this time the Angels had the great opportunity to merit heaven and eternal life with God, but in the meantime they were exposed to the danger of committing sin and thereby losing God and heaven for all eternity. The Fathers and the theologians are unanimous in admitting a period of probation for the Angels. Gennadius (d. 416 AD), who disagreed with them, asserted that the Angels were created in a state of grace and glory. His opinion would suppose that sin is possible for those who enjoy Beatific Vision. The freedom of choosing what is evil or wrong does no longer exist in the state of glory.

 It is matter of faith that during their period of probation some of the Angels sinned and were condemned to hell. The fact that they did sin proves that there was a time in their existence when sin was possible. Since they could not sin in statu termini (the state of final consummation which excludes the possibility of further merit or demerit) they must have sinned in statu viae (the state of wayfaring or probation). The state is necessarily a state of faith and not of vision, of merit not of reward. Hence the existence of such a state of probation for the Angels is a firm theological conclusion.

 How long did this probation last? Divine Revelation offers no answer to this question.

 Considering the great difference existing between the Angelic nature and the human, and between their respective modes of operation, it would seem a priori that the Angels would require a much shorter period of probation than man. Man is relatively very slow in his physical development and in his mental operations. The Angel is in full possession of his natural gifts from the very beginning, and his mental process is instantaneous and perfect …

 One thing distinguishes man’s probation from that of the Angels. The first act of love of God elicited by an Angel is a final choice; he will love God forever. We may say that thereby he is practically confirmed in grace, for he who will never deflect from the love of God will never lose His grace. On the other hand the Angel who sins will sin forever …

 Another outstanding difference between the period of probation of the Angels and that of man is this, that all the Angels were individually and personally subjected to their probation, because they were all there at the time; whereas only the first parents, the first father and mother, were personally present when all mankind was subjected to a test. With the fall of Adam all mankind fell, because all mankind was virtually present in him and actually represented by him through a divine decree (Parente 44-47).

 Saint John Damascene (c.676 – 754 AD) seems to attribute the final decision on the matter of Choirs and Hierarchies to his predecessor Dionysius (d.c. 544 AD): “As the most holy and venerable man and excellent theologian Denis the Areospagite says, the entire theology, that is Sacred Scripture, has listed nine celestial substances which our master theologian has divided in three orders (hierarchies) De Fide Ortho., 2, 3. It is evident that the merit of Dionysius is limited to the division of the nine Choirs onto three Hierarchies. The Choirs themselves and their names are found in Sacred Scripture, and they had been grouped together long before the time of Dionysius by, for example, Saint Ambrose (c. 340 – 397 AD). With the translation of his works into Latin his theory of the nine Choirs and the three Hierarchies became the commonly accepted opinion also in the West. Beginning with the most perfect Hierarchy and the highest Choirs of Angels, the Angelic world is thus divided according to Dionysius:

                                I.             The Supreme Hierarchy

                                                Seraphim-Cherubim-Thrones

                                II.            Middle Hierarchy 

                                                Dominations-Virtues-Powers 

                                III.           Lower Hierarchy

                                                Principalities-Archangels-Angels

 These nine orders of Angels are commonly called Choirs. Because the word choir means a band of singers, it is liable to create a wrong notion about the number and the duties of the Angels. Singing the praises of the Most His is indeed one of the most pleasant and desired occupation of all celestial spirits, but certainly not the only duty and occupation. Their vast number of countless millions and myriads in each Choir would be better expressed by other terms, like Order, Rank, Hosts, etc.   Yet the accepted name should be retained because of its antiquity (Parente 51-52).

 Every Angelic Choir has its own specific unity, a unity based upon something common to all the Angels of that Choir that is not found in others. This constitutes the specific difference between Choir and Choir. This specific difference does not exclude other differences between the individual Angels pertaining to the same Choir.   These would have to be regarded as individual differences between members of the same species, or better, quasi-species. We have already remarked once before that individual differences between Angels of the same Choir are themselves specific, because every Angel, according to Saint Thomas, differs from another Angel of the same rank according to form, and not according to matter or quantity; hence the individual difference is itself specific as every difference according to form must necessarily be. In order to distinguish between these two specific differences found in every Angel, we call the first hierarchical, the second individual. The hierarchical difference distinguishes the members of one choir from those of another, whereas the individual difference distinguishes between one Angel and another within the same Choir.

 … The nine Choirs of Angels in their descending hierarchical order are: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones; Dominations, Virtues, Powers; Principalities, Archangels, Angels (Parente 72).

 Parente, Fr. Pascal P. The Angels – The Catholic Teaching on the Angels: Rockford, Tan Books, 1973.

Saint Thomas Aquinas (1225-1274AD) incidentally gives us another proof of angelic strength. He teaches that each great star, planet and sun, every heavenly body, even the greatest, has its own Guardian angel to keep it in its course and to prevent any possible aberration. What prodigious energy and power does not such control demand! It is true that the stars and heavenly bodies by the natural direction given them by God pursue their several courses; but these great worlds are material and, therefore, as the Angelic Doctor points out, are liable to decay and deterioration. To prevent disorder and confusion in the thousands of heavenly bodies whirling through space with inexpressible speed, God gives each one, in His all-wise Providence, an angel to keep it in its course and avert the dire calamities that would result were it to stray from its allotted orbit.

 Few people think on this when on beautiful, starlit nights they gaze on the heavens and the myriads of stars …

 … Every breath of air and ray of light and heat, every beautiful prospect are, as it were the skirts of their garments, the waving of the robes of those whose faces see God in heaven” (Cardinal Newman).

 But the special object of the angels’ care is the human race which they are appointed to guard. In the opinion of Saint Clement (d.98AD), Saint Gregory the Great (540-604 AD), Origen (185-232 AD) and other holy writers, every country, every city, town and village, and even every parish and family has a special Guardian angel …

 So, too altars, churches, dioceses and religious institutions have their own Guardian angels …

 Lastly they guard each one of us. “Every man has a Guardian angel appointed to enlighten, defend and guide him during the whole course of his mortal life. This consoling truth is, next after dogmas expressly defined, one of the best founded in Scripture and Tradition.” Even pagans seemed to have retained something of the original Tradition on that subject and one of the earliest Greek poems contains this remarkable passage:

Upon the thickly-peopled earth,
In ever ceaseless flow,
Full thrice ten thousand deathless beings
Pass lightly to and fro.
Keepers, unseen of mortal men,
In airy vesture dight,
Their good and evil deeds they scan,
Stern champions of the right.

 Saint Paul the Apostle expressly states that the specific mission of the angels is to minister to men who have not yet attained the heavenly kingdom: “Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister to them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?” (Hebrews 1, 14).

 The lives of the saints reveal that many of them had devotion to their Guardian Angels. Some were even privileged with the familiar companionship of their angels and received visible proofs of the services which the holy angels render to those under their charge.

 Saint Rose of Lima (1586-1617AD), the first American blossom of sanctity upon whom Holy Church conferred public veneration, lived a life of great purity and innocence … From numerous difficulties and dangers she was delivered by her holy angel and she once declared that her Guardian Angel did whatever she asked him to do.

 Pope Saint Gregory the Great (c. 540 – 604 AD) was tenderly devoted to his Guardian Angel. It was to him that he owed the obtaining of the Papal dignity. During the time the saint was Abbot of a monastery he had built in Rome, his Guardian Angel frequently appeared to him, disguised as a poor merchant, and begged for alms. After he became Pope, Saint Gregory adopted the custom of daily feeding twelve poor persons. Among these he beheld one whose virtuous bearing impressed him deeply. Upon inquiring of this person who he was, he received the reply: “I am the poor merchant to whom you gave, besides twelve dollars, the silver dish of your mother. This act of charity which I caused you to perform prepared you for the dignity of high priest. I am your Angel. Fear not, Gregory. God sent me to tell you that you would obtain everything you asked for through my service. As I was the cause of your being raised to the Chair of Peter, I shall also protect and preserve you in this position until death.” (Precious Blood 15-20)

 The Precious Blood and the Angels: South Bend, Marian Publications, 1977.