We must venerate them with great devotion, be thankful to them, and readily follow their admonitions.
'Behold I will send my Angel, who shall go before thee, Take notice of him, and hear his voice, and do not think him one to be contemned' (Exod. xxiii. 20, 21).
66. How are the fallen or wicked Angels affected towards us?
The wicked Angels, through hatred and envy, lay snares for us, in order to injure us in soul and body, and, by enticing us to sin, to plunge us into eternal perdition.
'Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about seeking whom he may devour' (1 Pet. v. 8). — Examples: Eve, Job, Sara, the demoniacs, Judas. See also Luke viii. 12, and Apoc. xii.
67. Why does God permit the wicked Angels to lay snares for us?
He permits it because He knows how to make their snares serve unto His own honor and to the salvation of men.
'And they talked among themselves, saying: "What word is this, for with authority and power He [Jesus] commandeth the unclean spirits, and they go out? And the fame of Him was published into every place of the country' (Luke iv. 36, 37). 'And the people with one accord were attentive to those things which were said by Philip, hearing and seeing the miracles which he did. For many of them had unclean spirits, who, crying with a loud voice, went out' (Acts viii. 6, 7).
68. What must we do on our part, in order that the snares of the wicked Angels may serve to our salvation?
We must fight against them full of faith and confidence, making use at the same time of the arms of prayer, and availing ourselves of the blessings sanctioned by the Church; and we must firmly resist all temptationsto evil.
'For our wrestling is not [only] against flesh and blood; but against the spirits of wickedness in the high places, i. e., in the air' (Eph. vi. 12). 'In all things taking the shield of faith, wherewith you may be able to extinguish all the fiery darts of the most wicked one' (Eph. vi. 16). 'Resist the devil, and he
