“Hark!” the herald angel sings, but what does that even mean? What even are angels? Are there different types of them? In this lesson, you will learn all about these special beings and how they interact with us in God’s great plan.
Introduction
Go Deeper!
Note: Parents of young children, especially those with children still learning to read, are welcome to summarize and adapt lesson texts rather than reading them verbatim. Feel free to creatively adapt, supplement, and/or omit certain lesson materials to better meet your children’s educational level.
So What are Angels?
Angels are spiritual beings created by God who live with him in Heaven. When we think of angels, we often think of human looking beings with halos and large wings who fly around singing, or appearing on people’s shoulders, or occasionally playing baseball! However, angels are much different than we typically imagine them.
To begin with, angels are different than people who have died and gone to heaven. Remember, we refer to human beings who have gone to heaven as saints. Angels are not human. In fact, they don’t technically even have bodies! They are pure spirits, created by God, who live forever with him in Heaven.
You may be saying to yourself, “Now wait a minute! Doesn’t the Bible talk about people seeing angels? How is that possible if they are in Heaven and don’t have bodies?” You are correct, people throughout history have seen and interacted with angels. In fact, talking to us is a very important part of what angels do. God allows angels to visit us and to appear in forms we can understand. This is why in Scripture, angels often (but not always!) appear looking like human beings.
The word “angel” means messenger. Angels are God’s messengers to us. When angels interactThey teach us about God, watch over us, and protect us from all those things which could separate us from God and His truth.
There are many angels and many different types of angels. Each angel has a unique task given to it by God. Some are called to watch over human beings, some fight against fallen angels (Angels that have rejected God, often referred to as demons), some surround God’s throne in Heaven praising Him without ceasing, and some reveal the truths of God to us.
Guardian Angels: Our Personal Angelic Friends!
Above, I mentioned that there are different types of angels. One of the most important types of angels are guardian angels. Each one of us has a guardian angel. God assigns them to us to help guide us to Heaven. When we get there someday, our guardian angel will be our heavenly friend!
Watch the video below to learn more about these special angels:
After you watch the video, open your bible and read Mt 18:10. How does it make you feel knowing that God has given you a special angel to take care of you?
We are so lucky to have guardian angels; after all, God wouldn’t give them to us unless He knew that we needed them! Our guardian angel should be one of our best friends, but too often, we forget to ask for their help. Try to get in the habit of saying the following prayer everyday:
“Angel of God, my Guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide.”
We can also pray to each other’s guardian angels. For example, when I was a teenager and learning to drive, my Mom said a prayer to my guardian angel every time I left the house. She knew she couldn’t always be there to protect me, so she made sure my guardian angel was.
Where do angels sing? In choirs of course!
Tradition tells us that there are 9 choirs or ranks of angels. Each one is mentioned in Scripture, but truthfully we don’t know much about all of them. If you want to learn more, read the following article:
Featured Saint
Our featured saint this week is St. Michael the Archangel. Have you ever wondered how an angel can be a saint? The word saint means holy, and refers to someone in Heaven with God. Because angels are holy and live with God in Heaven, this means they are also saints. To put it another way, not all saints are angels, but all angels are saints!
St. Michael is one of the few angel’s names we know from the Bible. He is the head of the heavenly army, and is often depicted fighting the devil in artwork. He is a powerful friend of ours in heaven and is someone we can all admire. He shows us that by trusting God, we can overcome incredible obstacles.
The prayer to St. Michael the Archangel is one of Mr. Kenny’s favorite prayers! Try to see if you can memorize it! (Warning: Very young children may find this prayer a bit scary. They may prefer trying to learn the guardian angel prayer.)
“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil; May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”
Let us pray!
As we have learned already, angels are God’s messengers. Almost 2000 years ago, the archangel Gabriel was given a very special message. Gabriel was the angel who told MAry she would give birth to Jesus! There is a very special prayer that recalls this important moment in history – the Angelus. It is named after the first latin word of the prayer’s opening line: “The angel of the Lord declared unto Mary…”
The video below will teach you more about this special prayer. After you have watched, you will then have a chance to pray it yourself.
Pray the Angelus together:
Live it out! Weekly Activity.
Option 1: In your destined journal, draw a picture of you and your guardian angel. Write about how having a Guardian Angel makes you feel. Take a picture of your drawing and share it down below in the comment section.
Option 2: Choose one or two crafts from the following website. Post pictures in the comments of your completed project.
When I was in the Seminary and was asked to go do street evangelization, I would pray asking my guardian angel to go to the people I would meet and prepare the way with their guardian angels. There were some very blessed moments in that ministry and I’m sure my angel deserves a lot of the credit! I didn’t start praying to my guardian angel until I was in college, I wish I had started sooner!
Looking forward to this year!
Hi Josh!
we enjoyed some family table time crafting angels & discussing this lesson. Merry Christmas StMM families! 👼🎄
we found studying the choirs of angels fascinating!
We made the cupcake liner angels. We made enough for each member of our family and a couple to send to our grandparents.
Awesome lesson! We loved learning all about Angels today. We did not know that Angels didn’t look like humans!