The third and final hierarchy consists of the last three choirs of angels - Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. These final choirs are used by God to care for men, kingdoms, countries, and anything else that concerns the good of people.

The Principalities: The Principalities head the last hierarchy of angels. They have been given the task of watching over the welfare of kingdoms, countries, states, and all those people who are in authority. They obviously have a very important job, for it is very important that those people who are in authority do God’s will. Those who are our leaders must make the laws of God their laws, and do what He wishes. They must set a good example to those who are under their leadership; and they should pray every day to God (and the Principalities) that they do their job well and make the right decisions. Sadly, many leaders in our world today do not act this way, so we should pray to the Principalities to enlighten our leaders with the Truths of God, so that they made govern our nations in a way that is pleasing to God.

The Archangels: The Archangels are in the middle of the third hierarchy. They are the Guardian Angels of important people: popes, bishops, kings, queens, and those Saints (and other persons) who have been given some special work to do for God’s glory while on the earth. Of all of the Archangels, we know only the names of three. There is St. Raphael, who was the Guardian Angel of Tobias (which we read about in the book of the same name). There is St. Gabriel, who the Tradition of the Church tells us was the Guardian Angel of Mary, the Mother of Jesus. We are also told by Tradition that St. Michael (the same Archangel who led the fight against Lucifer) was the Guardian Angel of Jesus. The Archangels also help watch over all forms of civil government, from small villages to grand empires. And they help St. Michael protect the Catholic Church from all her enemies. Remember to pray often to the Archangels to protect the leaders in our Church, especially our commander, the pope. Pray that they are not only protected from physical danger, but from all dangers to the soul, so that our leaders in the Church may do the same for us.

The Angels: The Angels are the last choir in the third hierarchy, and also the last choir of the nine choirs. Their main “job” is to make known God’s will to men. Most of the Guardian Angels that we normal people receive are chosen from this last choir. Guardian Angels are very special angels. They are angels who have been chosen by God to watch after us human beings, but not in just a general way. Each and every single person has a Guardian Angel that is always beside him, day in and day out - 24/7. They are ALWAYS beside us, protecting us from spiritual dangers, and even from physical dangers. There are many true stories of Guardian Angels protecting people under their care from physical harm. But more important than the physical is the spiritual. Our Guardian Angel is always looking out for us, reminding us time and time again not to sin. We should be very grateful to God for giving us a Guardian Angel; and we should thank our Guardian Angel for tirelessly looking after us. And don’t just thank your Guardian Angel for their service. Talk to him; pray to him when you are tempted to sin, ask him to help you with things, chores, jobs, homework, etc. He’s always there, so why not ask him to give you a hand? And you don’t have to talk to him only when you need something from him. He loves you very much, and would like nothing more than to see you in Heaven someday. Try to remember that he’s there with you.