Job 38, 4-7

Where were you when I founded the earth? Tell me, if you have understanding. Who determined its size? Surely you know? Who stretched out the measuring line for it? Into what were its pedestal sunk, and who laid its cornerstone, while the morning stars sang together and all the sons of God shouted for joy?

Teaching

By Pascal Ide, priest and physician:

Angels do not supersede the laws of nature. However, nature is not limited to what we can see and perceive. John Henry Newman, a great contemporary theologian, beatified in 2010, viewed the angels not only as the ministers of divine revelations but also as "Spiritual Intelligences which move those wonderful and vast portions of the natural world which seem to be inanimate."

Newman considered the angels as the underlying causes of movement, of light, of life, of the elementary principles of the physical universe. Or in other words, the angels are behind the very laws of nature. This wonderful thinker, precursor of Vatican II, affirmed that "every breath of air and ray of light and heat, every beautiful prospect, is, as it were, the skirts of their garments, the waving of the robes of those whose faces see God in heaven."

When I marvel at nature and its beauty, why not join my praise to the choir of the angels?

Prayer

Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord,

praise and exalt Him above all forever.

Angels of the Lord, bless the Lord,

praise and exalt Him above all forever.

You heavens, bless the Lord,

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

All you waters above the heavens, bless the Lord,

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

All you powers, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Sun and moon, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Stars of heaven, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Every shower and dew, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

All you winds, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Fire and heat, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Cold and chill, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Dew and rain, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Frost and chill, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Hoarfrost and snow, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Nights and days, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Light and darkness, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Lightnings and clouds, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Let the earth bless the Lord,

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Mountains and hills, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Everything growing on earth, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

You springs, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Seas and rivers, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

You sea monsters and all water creatures, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

All you birds of the air, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

All you beasts, wild and tame, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

All you mortals, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

O Israel, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Priests of the Lord, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Servants of the Lord, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Spirits and souls of the just, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

Holy and humble of heart, bless the Lord;

praise and exalt Him above all forever. 

[...]Give thanks to the Lord, who is good,

whose mercy endures forever.

Bless the God of gods, all you who fear the Lord;

praise and give thanks,

for His mercy endures forever.

Canticle of the Three Young Men in the Furnace, Daniel 3, 57-90