There is perhaps no topic that St. Thomas Aquinas is more closely associated with than angels. Dubbed The Angelic Doctor, both because of his angelic purity, and because of his thorough compilation of the Church’s teachings on the angels, he is a reliable teacher on the topic. We can turn to him and find the necessary principles that will enable us to answer any question we might have, including the question as to why angels always appear as men in Scripture.
One of the things that St. Thomas does is to help us see beyond on modern prejudices because he appeals to universal principles. There is a modern tendency, especially in an age of exaggerated gender equality, to attribute it to patriarchal repression. But there is more to it than that and it begins by turning to Aquinas’ negative definition of an angel as that which is “understood to be incorporeal” (ST, q.51, art.1). Lacking bodies, are neither male nor female by nature. Nevertheless, because matter makes the invisible visible, the angels use a body to reveal themselves.
Where the Body Comes From
To say that they “use” a body leads us to a necessary digression. The angels do not rob a grave nor perform something like a good possession, but instead draw together the matter necessary to create the physical appearance of a human body. “Appearance” because it is not truly a human body because its proper form of the human soul. Although they do not have a body by nature, they do, by nature have the power to move matter in accord with their will (assuming Divine approval of course). Making a body then would be perfectly within their natural powers.
This “body” serves solely the purpose of revealing the angel and allowing him to communicate with humans on their level. In this way, the angels are in the image of God, given the power to use the material to make the non-material intelligible to us. This is why we can never look upon their choice of body as an accident of social convention or a concession to patriarchy. Instead it is chosen for a purpose, namely to reveal the angel, in both his nature and personality, to men. This purpose helps set the tone for an explanation as to why the bodies are always male.
Angels, because they lack materiality, also lack, philosophically speaking, potency. The angel is pure intellect, always being in act of knowing a loving. If they cease to think and love, they cease to exist. Likewise, being immaterial, they “live” outside of visible creation. This means that angels are always the initiators in their interaction with mankind. Men cannot beckon them (this is why the angel will not tell Jacob his name) nor conjure them up. They must always come on their own accord. In “coming” they enter into the physical world from the outside. They must come from outside of visible creation and enter into the physical world. Finally, angels are by their mission, the militant protectors of mankind. They are warriors assigned to battle the evil spirits in their assault upon mankind.
The Body Reveals the Personality
If the angel, in forming a body, wants to convey both his nature and his personality, then how should he present himself? To convey personality, he must choose one of the sexes and not just an amorphous blob or non-personal type matter. To convey his nature, he must choose one or the other. To see which one, another slight digression is in order.
The sexes, male and female, are meant to reveal masculinity and femininity. The masculine principle is always the initiator, always the one who comes from the outside. The feminine principle is always passive and receptive. The masculine is, viewed philosophically, acts as the efficient cause in reducing the feminine from potency to act. Likewise, the masculine is always the protector and warrior of the feminine.
Angels, by choosing to appear with men, are revealing that they have initiated the conversation with men, and that they have come from outside of visible creation. The Heavenly Host is an army arrayed in battle to protect us. This militancy is best portrayed by being a man. It is for these three reasons that angels always appear as men in Scripture and why we always speak of the angels that we don’t see as “he”.
In the book of Zechariah, there is a story of how the prophet was visited by an angel. In that regard, it is no different than many other cases in Scripture of similar visitation. It is unique however because at first glance it appears that a female angel (actually two) makes an appearance. There is reason to think however that these angels are actually demons.
The prophet is visited by an angel who points out to him a basket that contains a woman whom he identifies as “wickedness”. He closes the basket and then the angel raises Zechariah’s “eyes and saw two women coming forth with wind under their wings—they had wings like the wings of a stork—and they lifted the basket into the air. I said to the angel who spoke with me, ‘Where are they taking the basket?’ He replied, ‘To build a temple for it in the land of Shinar. When the temple is constructed, they will set it there on its base.’” (Zech 5:9-11). These “two women”, some posit, are angels. But the destination, Shinar, which is where the tower of Babel was built (Gen 11), later referred to as Babylon, tells us something different. Throughout Scripture, Babylon is always presented as the city of the devil and thus they are carrying wickedness back to its biblical home.
Devotion to the Angels and Angel Statues
All of that being said, why does it matter if they appear as both men and women or only as men? It matters because angels are not just hypothetical beings but real people who play an active role in the world of mankind. It becomes then a matter of discernment, giving us a principle by which to distinguish between an angel of light and an angel of darkness. Given all that we have said, it is not surprising that exorcists and demonologists find that only demons appear as women and that they caution us to avoid a feminine spirit. This is not to suggest that women are evil, (for the demons also appear as men) only that femininity does not properly convey the nature of the angel. The demons operate on deception and seduction and thus we should not be surprised that these is one of the means they use.
It isn’t just discernment that matters, but also devotion. Devotional art ought to portray the object of devotion as it truly is. It may abstract away certain pieces (like the excess blood of Christ on the Cross) but it must remain true to the object itself. In other words, devotional art ought to imitate nature because it helps to foster a deeper devotion. This is why we should be cautious in accepting the modern tendency to depict angels as female in art. The angels themselves are artists and they have chosen the male body to portray themselves. Masculine angel art helps to foster true devotion to the angels because it depicts their true characteristics more than a female art would. In this way, that is because it has claritas, the masculine angel is always more beautiful than the feminine.
If it is really true that only demons appear as women, then these aesthetic objects may in fact be idols, fostering devotion to devils instead. Devotion is always directed from the heart to the object. In this way it has a power of forming our hearts to love the object of our devotion. A poor depiction of angels, or even one that is really demonic, can eventually do harm to our spiritual life. This is why it is always better to foster devotion based on what we do know, namely that angels always take on masculine form, then to speculate, and risk offering devotion to something far more insidious.