What is an angel? Is it that cute little baby with wings that shoots arrows at couples so that they fall in love on Valentine's Day? Are they just some mythological creatures like dragons, and elves that were made up by the human imagination?

If you ask a person what an angel is you often get the reply "It's what I am going to be when I die and go to heaven."

Well let me put this nicely: angels are not humans, were never human, and will never be human. Angels are as different from humans as cats are from dogs. And nobody in the right mind can say that a cat is a dog or that a dog is a cat. Dogs were never cats and they will never become cats, and vice versa. So if angels are not humans what are they?

Angels are pure spirits created by God to be messengers of his saving plan. A spirit is a being without parts and a being that does not occupy any space. A Spirit is immortal, meaning that they have no end. Most people cannot understand this concept because those are two things that no human is. Humans are made of matter and all human bodies come to an end.

If angels are 100% spirit why are they often portrayed like humans with wings? Well the ones to blame for this misconception are the artists. But then again it is not their fault because it is a quite a challenge to paint a picture of a creature without any physical parts, a creature that is more intelligent than humans, and a creature that has no end. Angels are often represented with wings to denote their greatness. It is impossible for a human to paint a picture of something that is more intelligent than a human because we do not have any knowledge of anything with a material body with more intelligence then the human race itself. In other words there is no image other then the human image to portray intelligence. Angels are painted with wings to show that they are different then humans, or that they possess different abilities. It would be a very confusing painting if the angels and humans looked exactly the same, so the artist needed to come up with a way to differentiate between them. And the best that they could come up with was humans with wings. Remember angels are pure spirit so they do not need physical wings to get around.

Angels came into existence before the first man or women. In the creation story we are told of how Adam and Eve are tempted by the devil who is a fallen angel, which means that angels already had to be around in order to tempt humans.

But why were the people tempted by an angel if angels were created originally good? Like humans, the angels had to undergo a test of love of God. Many theologians tell us that this test that the angels went through involved worshiping God in His human form. There were some angels that were too proud to worship God in His human form so they rejected God, and thus were separated from him. Lucifer a.k.a Satan or the devil was one of these angels. Since angels have perfect knowledge of every choice that they make because they do not have any bodies to distract them, they were only given one chance. There is no repentance for angels just like there is no repentance for humans after death.

After Satan was separated from God he came to earth alongside all of the rebellious angels with the goal to try to associate man to revolt against God. As we read in the book of Revelations "But woe to you, earth and sea, for the Devil has come down to you in great fury, for he knows that he has but a short time." (Rev 12:12-13) Satan has full knowledge that he will never be able to get back into heaven, but the humans are able to come into Gods glory through his grace. Satan is jealous that the human race is given the chance to have something that he will never be able to have... a chance to get to heaven, so he tempts humanity to turn away from God like he once did.

Fallen angels are able to tempt human beings because we have a fallen nature from our original sin. The fallen angels are able to control humans if they are given consent and if God allows for it. They are also able to control the physical elements of the earth. Here is also a good time to mention the powers of humans possessed by angels. Once a person is possessed by a spirit many parapsychalogical phenomenon may take place within the person and in their surroundings. In many instances the person has the ability of mental telepathy, clairvoyance, precognition, and psycho kinesis. But even with such great powers both the human and the angels are still under the control of God, because without God there would be no power or existence of either.

Another important point about humans and angels is the fact that every human has their own angel appointed to enlighten, defend, and guard them throughout life. Even though Angels surpass all physical creation in perfection they see us as souls of priceless value since God came to earth redeemed us with his own blood. They ward off dangers to both body and soul, foster holy thoughts, help us at the hour of death, and lead our souls to heaven or purgatory.

There are nine choirs of angels, and each choir of angels is in charge of specific roles in the service of God. The nine choirs of angels are as follows:

Seraphim - they are the highest ranking and they are the guardians of God's throne. This is the choir of angels that praises God by singing "holy, holy, holy is the lord of hosts."

Cherubim-the second highest ranking choir of angels. They have a great knowledge of God, and praise him.

Thrones- are the angels of peace, humility, and submission.

Dominions- are the angels that make God's commands known. They are angels that lead.

Virtues- control the physical elements and govern all of nature.

Powers- also known as the warrior angels. Their role is to protect humanity and the universe from evil spirits.

Archangels- God's messengers to people at critical times

Principalities- the guardianship of the human race or good spirits belongs to this choir.

Angels- are the closest to the human race. They deliver prays to God, and messages to other humans

Angels are all around us and they constantly tempt us, and protect us. If we are ever in need of protection we should call upon the intersession of our guardian angels because their goal is to get our souls into heaven. Our guardian angels will do everything in their power to guide and protect us during this brief earthly life. So let us unite our spirits of those of the angels and sing to God "holy, holy, holy" for God brought both humans and angels from nothingness.