Yesterday my students were asking about the apparitions of angels in the visible world and how that could happen since angels did not have physical bodies. No doubt, the apparition of Saint Gabriel to the Blessed Virgin Mary at the Annunciation was miraculous. However, how did it happen? Angels don’t have bodies, eyes, mouths, wings, or anything physical that we typically imagine. 

How then can people see angels?

Saint Thomas Aquinas addresses the question directly at Summa theologiae I, q. 51, a. 2.

Some have maintained, Thomas explains, that the angels appeared only in the imagination of the human mind perceiving them. Saint Augustine and Saint Thomas reject this theory. Saint Gabriel was not a phenomenon of Mary’s imagination incited by God or Gabriel himself. No. Somehow Gabriel was “out there” and being perceived by Mary’s physical eyes and ears.

Saint Thomas goes on to explain:

Yet Divine Scripture from time to time introduces angels so apparent as to be seen commonly by all; just as the angels who appeared to Abraham were seen by him and by his whole family, by Lot, and by the citizens of Sodom; in like manner the angel who appeared to Tobias was seen by all present. From all this it is clearly shown that such apparitions were beheld by bodily vision, whereby the object seen exists outside the person beholding it, and can accordingly be seen by all. Now by such a vision only a body can be beheld. Consequently, since the angels are not bodies, nor have they bodies naturally united with them, as is clear from what has been said (1; 50, 1), it follows that they sometimes assume bodies.

Thomas teaches that the angels take surrounding matter and arrange it so as to look like a human that talks and moves. Thomas explains how he thinks this works: “Although air as long as it is in a state of rarefaction has neither shape nor color, yet when condensed it can both be shaped and colored as appears in the clouds. Even so the angels assume bodies of air, condensing it by the Divine power in so far as is needful for forming the assumed body.”

One might even speculate that an angel could use little pieces of green grass to make for itself green eyes or arrange dust or dirt to make hair. Perhaps even bend light to make a brilliant breast plate of armor like the one Saint Michael is seen to be wearing. All this is an illusion. Angels do not have bodies. Angels do not really hold swords or spears. Still, it is very interesting to consider and contemplate how we humans perceive them and honor them.

Isn’t God awesome?

Question: When the Blessed Virgin Mary appears, it’s for real. She has her glorified body. But not so with the saints. That is when Saint Peter or Saint John appear, it’s not really their bodies. Would it be accomplished the same way? Please leave a comment about this or any other question.