During the forty days Christ spent in the desert, Satan approached him, quoting Psalm 90, specifically two verses about angels. “The devil,” we read in Matthew, “took him to the holy city and had him stand on the highest point of the temple.” He challenged Christ to prove he was the Son of God by throwing himself down, “for it is written: ‘He will command his angels concerning you,’ and ‘They will lift you up in their hands, so that you will not strike your foot against a stone.’”

Only God can invite us to jump from the heights. But His call will be: “Jump into my arms,” not “Throw yourself into the void.”

Angelic interventions are not always reassuring. Angels are not there to indulge our whims. In a popular prayer attributed to Reginald of Canterbury, a contemporary of St. Bernard, we ask our guardian angel to “enlighten, guard, guide, and govern” us. These are strong verbs. The angel is the guardian of holiness.

Monastic life was understood from very early on and presented as angelic because of its purpose of praise; but also because the monk is called to burn with the love of God and to be an envoy who brings that love to others.

The one “song of praise” of Christ, of which  Sacrosanctum Concilium speaks in a beautiful passage, resonates from the ends of the earth to the heights of heaven through a vibrant chain of mediation. Angels are essential in that chain, as we affirm in the final part of each preface within the canon of the Mass.

Saint Bernard emphasizes the role of angels as mediators of God’s providence. Mediation is not always necessary: ​​God can touch us directly, but He delights in allowing His creatures to be channels of grace to one another.

He urges us to observe what an angel does and do the same: “Descend and show mercy to your neighbor; then, in a second movement, letting the same angel elevate your desires, use all the  Cupid’s desires  of your soul to rise to the highest and eternal truth.” Today, Cupid is rarely mentioned in connection with the “highest and eternal truth.” Bernard’s choice of words is significant: he tells us that all natural human desires, even bodily ones, are meant to find their fulfillment in God and, therefore, must be directed toward Him.

The angels’ final and most decisive act of charity will take place at the hour of our death, when they lead us through the veil of this world into eternity. Then they will reveal their true nature: “They cannot be overcome or seduced, much less seduce.” At that moment, all appearances will crumble. Rhetoric will fail. Only the truth will remain and resound, in harmony with mercy.

Bernard preached prudently about these things in 1139. Seven hundred and twenty-six years later, a man of a very different temperament but of similar intelligence would make his intuitions explicit in an exquisite poem about death.

John Henry Newman reflected deeply on angels. I have considered the priestly ministry to be angelic. The priest feels at home in this world, unafraid to venture into dark woods in search of the lost. At the same time, he keeps the eyes of his mind raised to the face of the Father, allowing His radiance to illuminate all of present reality. Illumination is always a twofold process: intellectual and essential, sacramental and pedagogical.

Newman, now a Doctor of the Church, also invites us to rediscover the teacher as an angelic enlightener. This is a prophetic challenge, given that much of what is called “education” today is delegated to digital and artificial means, while young people yearn to find trustworthy teachers, capable of transmitting not only skills, but wisdom.

An angelic encounter is always personal. It cannot be replaced by a download or a chatbot.

Bishop Erik Varden of Trondheim, Norway, has been invited to preach the 2026 Spiritual Exercises for Pope Leo XIV, the cardinals residing in Rome, and the heads of Dicasteries of the Roman Curia, which will be held from Sunday, February 22, to Friday, February 27.

1. First meditation
2. Second meditation
3. Third meditation
4. Fourth meditation
5. Fifth meditation
6. Sixth meditation
7. Seventh meditation
8. Eighth meditation