Angels--Their Nine Choirs--The Cherubim

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Angels--Their Nine Choirs--The Cherubim

The Cherubim are the second in dignity of the Angelic Choirs. The
faculty by which they are specially distinguished is their intimate
knowledge of God, and clear perception of His infinite beauty.
Something of this appreciation of the Divine perfections is granted to
the Saints. God reveals Himself to them because their eyes never dwell
with delight on mere earthly beauty and attractiveness. If I know
little of God, it is because so many earthly affections hide His face
from me.

The Cherubim are always represented as little children. At first we
are inclined to wonder that those who possess the deepest knowledge of
God are represented not as venerable sages, but under the form of
simple childhood. But what dearer indication can there be than this,
that the capacity for knowing God depends, not on intellectual power
or elaborate study of theology, but simply on purity of heart?
"Blessed are the clean of heart, for they shall see God."

The Cherubim are described by the Prophet Ezechiel as covering their
faces and their feet with their wings in the presence of God, as if in
dread lest some impurity should be found in them. They know that if He
shall mark iniquity none can abide it, and that the very Angels are
not pure in His sight. If they have this fear, how much more should I,
full as I am of imperfection and sin! How can I dare to appear before
Him? How can I hope to be ever admitted to gaze upon His unveiled
majesty?

by the Rev. R.F. Clarke, S.J.

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October 9th - Bl. Gunther

d.1045
The first part of the life of Gunther, cousin of St. Stephen of
Hungary and related to the Emperor St. Henry was by no means inspired
by the holiness of his relatives, for until his fiftieth year he was a
worldly and ambitious nobleman, and none too scrupulous at that. He
then came under the influence of St. Gothard of Hildesheim, at that
time abbot of Niederaltaich and engaged in reforming the monastery of
Hersfeld. This prelate succeeded also in reforming Gunther, who made
up his mind to expiate his sins by becoming a monk. He devoted all his
property to the endowment of Hersfeld, with the exception of an
endowment for the abbey of Göllingen in Thuringia, of which house he
retained the ownership in spite of the protests of St. Gothard.
Gunther then went on pilgrimage to Rome, with great results, for they
were animated with charity and breathed a spirit of sanity and on his
return entered Niederaltaich as a monk. But his conversion had not
full sincerity and humility. His humble position did not satisfy his
ambition, and he insisted on being allowed to be made abbot of
Göllingen. The experiment was not successful: there was friction
between him and his monks, and the monastery began seriously to
suffer. Aided perhaps by an illness which overtook Gunther, St.
Gothard succeeded by persuasion and rebuke in inducing him to resign
his abbacy, and he returned to Niederaltaich. His turning to God was
at last wholehearted, and whereas formerly the status of a simple monk
had been too modest for him he now wished for an even more humble and
retired life. Accordingly in 1008 he went to live as a hermit in the
forest of Lalling, where a reputation of sanctity soon brought him
disciples. Later he moved with them to the neighbourhood of Rinchnach
on the Regen in Bavaria, where cells were built and a church. This
foundation developed into a regular monastery.

Bl. Gunther in the meanwhile continued his eremitical existence, going
from place to place to beg alms for the poor, and encouraging his
cousin Stephen in the christianization of his realm. It is said that
Gunther received the gift of infused knowledge and became a powerful
preacher though deficient in ordinary ecclesiastical learning: he
could probably neither read nor write. He atoned for the excesses of
his earlier years by severe mortification, and he exercised a rigid
discipline over his followers, to the extent of rationing the amount
of water which each of his monks might have at their disposal. Bl.
Gunther died at about the age of ninety, on October 9, 1045, at
Hartmanice in Bohemia. He was buried at Brevnov, near Prague, and the
reputation of the last thirty-five years of his life together with the
wonders that were reported at his tomb led to a popular cultus. It is
recognized liturgically at Passau and elsewhere.

The main facts in the Latin biography printed both by Mabillon and the
Bollandists are probably reliable. This compilation seems to be based,
at least in part, upon statements taken from the writings of Wolfher,
a canon of Hildesheim, who was a contemporary. See also Grauert, in
the Historisches Jahrbuch, vol. xix (1898), pp. 249-287 Oswald, Das
Kloster Rinchnach (1902) MGH., Scriptores, vol. vi, p. 672, vol. xi,
pp. 276-279 and the early lives of St. Stephen of Hungary.


Saint Quote:
Let us detach ourselves in spirit from all that we see and cling to
that which we believe. This is the cross which we must imprint on all
our daily actions and behavior.
-- Saint Peter Damian

Bible Quote:
8 The precepts of the LORD are right, rejoicing the heart;
the commandment of the LORD is pure, enlightening the eyes;
9 the fear of the LORD is clean, enduring for ever;
the ordinances of the LORD are true, and righteous altogether.
10 More to be desired are they than gold, even much fine gold;
sweeter also than honey and drippings of the honeycomb.
14 Let the words of my mouth and the meditation of
my heart be acceptable in your sight,
O LORD, my rock and my redeemer. [Psalm 19:8-10, 14]