A Vision of Angels

(Luke 13:10-17) (27th Sunday after Pentecost)

Among other things, today is the day the Church remembers the martyr Cecilia. She was born in Rome. Her parents were wealthy and prominent citizens; and they forced their daughter, who had become a Christian, zealous for the faith, and given to ascetic disciplines to save her soul, to marry a pagan. As her new husband took her to the bridal chamber, she told him of her vow of perpetual chastity; and then told him of the angel of God who was present to defend her, warning him that if he touched her, the angel would kill him.

Now, most of us, if someone said such a thing to us, would probably reply, “Yeah, right,” and not be deterred. But the response of Valerian, her husband, was to ask her to show him the angel. Cecilia told him that it was not possible for him, an unbeliever, to see the angel until he was cleansed of the foulness of his unbelief, and knew God. Valerian was baptized; and saw the angel in great light and incredible beauty. This led him to bring his brother, Tibertius, to baptism; and afterwards he also saw, and spoke with, angels. The two brothers were arrested and led to execution, becoming martyrs for Christ; and, as they were brought to the scaffold, the testimony of their lives was such that the captain of the guard, Maximus, believed in Christ. When he was to be put to death, he declared to those listening that he, too, saw angels in a great light, bearing the souls of the martyrs to a blessed repose in heaven. St. Cecilia buried their bodies; and continued to bear witness to the faith; in one night, she led four hundred people to believe in our Lord Jesus Christ. She, too, was arrested, and taken for execution. She was struck three times in the neck with a sword, but she did not die; and the faithful caught the blood flowing from her wounds in bowls and handkerchiefs, and it healed many people. She died three days later, a martyr and virgin. All this took place in the year 230.

The lives of the saints are meant to instruct, inspire and encourage us to strive to do more. Let me underline something from the life of St. Cecilia. These Christians saw the angels because of the purity of their faith, and the purity of their lives. The angels were invisible to the unbelievers and the impure. So, if we are not striving to grow in faith and in purity, our labors are misdirected, and gain us nothing. From this, there are at least two lessons we should learn. First, we who are sinners are not likely to see an angel; and, if we do, it is more likely that this will be a demon masquerading as an angel of light. Beware! Second, we must be aware of how the ways we think and understand have been shaped by our culture; and that we must, in many cases, learn a new way of thinking and understanding. This leads us to the healing of the crippled woman, as described in the reading from the Gospel of St. Luke.

As our Lord was teaching in the synagogue, He sees a woman with a “spirit of infirmity.” She has been crippled with this affliction for eighteen years, until she is healed by the Lord. Now, this is a hard lesson for us to hear, because we prefer to believe that physical ailments have physical causes, but no connection to spiritual matters. The Fathers tell us otherwise: there are times when the sicknesses and diseases that afflict our bodies are the actions of Satan. We don’t want to hear that, but our Lord says it plainly, speaking of this crippled woman as having been bound by Satan. Let me stress here that not all sickness is the result of sin. Sometimes, God allows us to experience affliction to reveal to us our weakness, and to encourage us to turn to Him; or to remind us of our mortality, so that we will begin to prepare ourselves for the time when we will depart from this life, and enter into eternity. But we have to realize that there is always the possibility that there is a connection between our sins and sickness. If we think about it, this makes sense: why shouldn’t the sickness of our souls, given over to sins, produce sickness of some sort in the body to which our soul is joined, and which is a partner with the soul in acting in a sinful way?

When sickness shows us our weakness, we can get an idea of how we’re doing by looking at the way we respond. If the ailment causes us to complain, or to be demanding of others, well, that’s not good. If it leads us to bear its afflictions with patience, and with prayer, we can have some hope that we are traveling on the way God has appointed for us. When sickness reminds us of our mortality, we need to beware of becoming despondent, of thinking that nothing matters, that it all has been a tragic waste of time and effort. However, if we are moved to deeper reflection and confession, and renewed efforts to be transformed in the image of Christ, our sickness can, in a way, become a great blessing. And the same is true when it is our sins that cause us to be sick. We should consider our lives, and look careful for any sins of which we have not repented. We should examine our behaviors, and the things we desire, and work to uproot those desires that bind us to this world, or to things that are not pleasing to God.

Brothers and sisters: There is no power in heaven or on earth that is not subject to the power of our Lord Jesus Christ. No matter what it is that binds us, He has the power to set us free. No matter what it is that blinds us, He has the power to let us see. With faith in God, and trust in His love, let us strive for purity of faith and life; that we, with the holy martyrs Cecilia, Valerian, Tibertius, and Maximus, may behold the wondrous glory of God; and bear witness to Him with our lives each day.

Through the prayers of the holy martyrs, O Savior, save us.