"I will put enmity between thee and the Woman and thy seed and Her seed,
She shall crush thy head and thou shall lie in wait for Her heel" (Gen. 3:15 Douay Rheims version)
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| Symbolic crushing of the serpent's head |
The angels were created in the empyrean heavens and in the state of
grace by which they might be first to merit the reward of glory. The will of
the Creator was propounded and intimated, and the law and command was given
them, to acknowledge Him as their Maker and supreme Lord, and to fulfil the end
for which they had been created.
Lucifer fell into a most
disorderly self-love, which arose from the consciousness of being endowed with
greater gifts and greater beauty of nature and grace, than the other inferior
angels. He tarried with inordinate pleasure in this consciousness; and thus
self-satisfied he became lax and remiss in the gratitude, which was due to God
as the sole cause of all that he had received. Turning again and again in
admiration toward himself, he took pleasure in his own beauty and grace,
attributing them to himself and loving them as his own. This disorderly
self-love not only caused him to exalt himself on account of the superior
virtues, which he had received, but
also induced him to harbour envy and covetousness for other gifts and for
excellencies not his own. Then, because he could not attain them, he conceived a
mortal hatred and indignation against God, who created him out of nothing, and
against all his creatures.
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| Lucifer was more beautiful than this angel, so he became arrogant |
Hence arose his disobedience, presumption, injustice, infidelity,
blasphemy, and perhaps also a certain
kind of idolatry, for he coveted for himself the adoration and reverence due to
God. He blasphemed the divine magnificence and holiness, he failed in
the trust and loyalty due to Him; he plotted to destroy all the creatures, and
presumed to be able to do all this and much more by his own power.
