What do you think?
Rate this book
Beyond Space
From Scripture, Fathers & Doctors of the Church, St. Thomas, official pronouncements, holy writers. Their creation, test, fall, nature, powers, duties, Saints who conversed with, nine choirs, famous Angels, etc. 189 Pp. PB. Impr.(Formerly: Beyond Space).
Unknown Binding
First published January 1, 1961
67 people are currently reading
175 people want to read
About the author
Pascal P. Parente
17 booksRev. Dr. Pascal Prosper Parente was a Roman Catholic theologian, author and educator.
He was ordained in 1915, and he received Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Canon Law, and Doctor of Sacred Theology degrees from the Gregorian University in Rome.
Fr. Parente came to the United States in 1920 and was naturalized in 1930. He taught as professor of ascetical and mystical theology at Catholic University. He was the Dean of the School of Sacred Theology for two years before his retirement to Cambridge, New York.
He was ordained in 1915, and he received Doctor of Philosophy, Bachelor of Canon Law, and Doctor of Sacred Theology degrees from the Gregorian University in Rome.
Fr. Parente came to the United States in 1920 and was naturalized in 1930. He taught as professor of ascetical and mystical theology at Catholic University. He was the Dean of the School of Sacred Theology for two years before his retirement to Cambridge, New York.
Ratings & Reviews
Friends & Following
Create a free account to discover what your friends think of this book!
Community Reviews
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews
May 27, 2023
Parente’s The Angels: In Catholic Teaching and Tradition is what I’d call an authentic primer on Angelology or the Doctrine of Angels. It is well-footnoted, yet still basic and readable.
“The fact that God has created a realm of personal beings other than mankind is a fitting topic for systematic theological studies for it naturally broadens our understanding of God, of what He is doing, and how He works in the universe.” J. Hampton Keathley, III
As I was going to be attending an Opus Sanctorum Angelorum or, “The Work of the Holy Angels” mission, I picked up Fr. Parente’s book to prepare myself ahead of time, although I didn’t get to it. Compared to all the silliness you usually see and hear about angels, it’s exciting as well as a relief to have someone treat these highest-order supernatural beings in a serious manner. Parente was a lifelong scholar, professor and author with a long-standing reputation as the foremost authority on aesthetical and mystical theology in the United States. His secret was his ability to put profound ideas in simple everyday terminology. Here he pulls all the angelic Scriptural references and puts them together with what the early Church Fathers and saints wrote, thought and believed.
I didn’t read this book in any particular order, preferring to skip around, reading here and there just trying to answer my own questions. The Nine Choirs of the Angels, the guardian angels, what they do for us and angelophanies were the chapters which most interested me. Never knew there was so much about angels. It left me with profound respect for the angels, especially my own, and a deep hunger to do better both about listening to my angel and being an angel to others.
May 27, 2023: Referenced for questions about what angels do for communities.
“The fact that God has created a realm of personal beings other than mankind is a fitting topic for systematic theological studies for it naturally broadens our understanding of God, of what He is doing, and how He works in the universe.” J. Hampton Keathley, III
As I was going to be attending an Opus Sanctorum Angelorum or, “The Work of the Holy Angels” mission, I picked up Fr. Parente’s book to prepare myself ahead of time, although I didn’t get to it. Compared to all the silliness you usually see and hear about angels, it’s exciting as well as a relief to have someone treat these highest-order supernatural beings in a serious manner. Parente was a lifelong scholar, professor and author with a long-standing reputation as the foremost authority on aesthetical and mystical theology in the United States. His secret was his ability to put profound ideas in simple everyday terminology. Here he pulls all the angelic Scriptural references and puts them together with what the early Church Fathers and saints wrote, thought and believed.
I didn’t read this book in any particular order, preferring to skip around, reading here and there just trying to answer my own questions. The Nine Choirs of the Angels, the guardian angels, what they do for us and angelophanies were the chapters which most interested me. Never knew there was so much about angels. It left me with profound respect for the angels, especially my own, and a deep hunger to do better both about listening to my angel and being an angel to others.
May 27, 2023: Referenced for questions about what angels do for communities.
September 25, 2020
Therough, but it read like a term paper.
October 21, 2009
Succinct listing and description of angels. Essential reading for adults to truly review what was taught to you as a child.
December 5, 2012
The Angels is the second book I was required to read for my religion class, Angels and Demons. I must say that it is much better and more in-depth than Angels of God in that aspect. Fr. Pascal P. Parante goes into much depth and detail about angels and gives the reader a much broader understanding of them than Mike Aquilina did.
Parante goes into much depth about how and when the angels were created by God and what they do. While the book is a bit lengthier than one would expect from such a small book, it is very clear and concise in its teachings. He goes into detail about several things. The nature of the angels is firstly discussed and Fr. Parante talks about how they are spiritual beings and ruminates on the time when they were created. He touches on a lot of points that Thomas Aquinas also made about the angels’ power and locations. He also touches briefly on fallen angels and Lucifer himself, something which Aquilina didn’t do much of.
One of the most important things he touches on is the ranks of Angels, nine of them total. This was something Aquilina skimmed over very quickly, but Parante goes into much broader and in-depth detail of it. Even my girlfriend, a Buddhist with little interest in Christian teachings, was intrigued by this. My main complaint is that Parante has trouble distinguishing between the different ranks and what they do exactly. He gives a lot of quotes, but there is still little distinction between one class and the other.
He also goes into quite a bit of depth when it comes to Guardian Angels as well. He concludes that each person, once the soul is united in the body, receives a Guardian Angel who will stay by that person’s side until their death. He details several accounts of saints who have told their stories and memories of encountering guardian angels.
While the book itself isn’t remarkably entertaining, not that it’s meant to be, it’s rather informative and well-researched. Parante quotes several philosophers and theologians, most notably Aquinas, Augustine and Origen. The book is a small one but still brimmed cover to cover with several facts and ideas about the angels of God.
Parante goes into much depth about how and when the angels were created by God and what they do. While the book is a bit lengthier than one would expect from such a small book, it is very clear and concise in its teachings. He goes into detail about several things. The nature of the angels is firstly discussed and Fr. Parante talks about how they are spiritual beings and ruminates on the time when they were created. He touches on a lot of points that Thomas Aquinas also made about the angels’ power and locations. He also touches briefly on fallen angels and Lucifer himself, something which Aquilina didn’t do much of.
One of the most important things he touches on is the ranks of Angels, nine of them total. This was something Aquilina skimmed over very quickly, but Parante goes into much broader and in-depth detail of it. Even my girlfriend, a Buddhist with little interest in Christian teachings, was intrigued by this. My main complaint is that Parante has trouble distinguishing between the different ranks and what they do exactly. He gives a lot of quotes, but there is still little distinction between one class and the other.
He also goes into quite a bit of depth when it comes to Guardian Angels as well. He concludes that each person, once the soul is united in the body, receives a Guardian Angel who will stay by that person’s side until their death. He details several accounts of saints who have told their stories and memories of encountering guardian angels.
While the book itself isn’t remarkably entertaining, not that it’s meant to be, it’s rather informative and well-researched. Parante quotes several philosophers and theologians, most notably Aquinas, Augustine and Origen. The book is a small one but still brimmed cover to cover with several facts and ideas about the angels of God.
December 26, 2014
Excellent review of traditional Catholic teachings on the Angels. Very clear explanations extensively backed up by teachings of the Church Fathers. However, there was very little original thought or commentary on these traditional teachings. I would have liked to read more contemporary thoughts on the subject, not instead of, but in addition to the quotes from the Church Fathers. Overall, a great read if you are interested in the Angels, and want to learn about them devoid of any superstition or un-Biblical speculation.
January 4, 2019
Fr. Parente did an excellent job in noting various scripture and fathers and doctors of the Church in support of the information compiled to substantiate the belief in the existence of angels. Whether you believe in angels, or not (personally, I do believe in their creation and existence) the information given in this book is interesting, and actually very thought-provoking. The descriptions of the nine choirs of angels, and the subsequent explanation of the division into three hierarchies, give the reader a clear picture of the author's understanding of angels, and the place of this belief within the realm of the Catholic Christian Church. I enjoyed this book very much. It brought me to a better understanding of this subject, again, in accordance with the support of Scripture and Tradition. There is one problem I have with this book (don't know if it's valid, but it is a problem for me) which is the inclusion of "Angelophanies or Angelic Manifestations" in chapter ten. I enjoyed reading these stories, however, they're accounts of private revelations and experiences of angelic manifestations that are not supported by Scripture and/or Tradition, which is not within the titled subject matter of this book. Again, this chapter was interesting reading, however, I don't feel this should have been included here and possibly might be included in a separate publication. All-in-all, though, I really enjoyed this book, and learned some things I'd not known before on the subject of angels. I'd definitely recommend this book to others.
December 13, 2022
Very informative. I really didn’t know any of the information in this book before, even though I went to several years of Catholic school and attend mass regularly. But other than the section about specific saints, overall a pretty dry read.
January 16, 2018
Fr. Parente offers a good, concise, and scripturally rooted treatise on the angels. This book is excellent for fostering greater devotion to those who often go unknown.
April 27, 2020
Short and concise summary of the angelic teaching of the Catholic Church.
July 17, 2020
Amazing book about the Holy Angels rooted deeply in the Bible! Fantastic read for anyone interested in what Catholics believe about Angels and Guardian Angels.
June 23, 2022
Probably the most comprehensive book on the angels currently both in print and in English.
May 22, 2023
A great book of all collected instances of angels in the Bible and in saints works.
The angels are very mysterious beings so having all of these accounts of them with the interpretations of Fr Pascale make it a digestible trove of information.
The angels are very mysterious beings so having all of these accounts of them with the interpretations of Fr Pascale make it a digestible trove of information.
June 4, 2024
A really enlightening read on the subject of angels, but be aware that it is not a light read and is written very much like a research paper. If you go into it prepared for that, there is a lot to be gained from reading this book.
August 23, 2023
Good information but bored me to death.
January 20, 2018
A clear discussion of scriptural and church teachings on angels; however, its slavish devotion to dogma and inability to see or discuss ironies in its descriptions make this a difficult discourse to take too seriously.
September 4, 2025
A solid introduction on the angels, what they do, and who they are. This was my first book dedicated to the topic, and I definitely learned some interesting things.
The only things I didn't like was the author making some speculations here and there without giving much backing support for them, things such as: supposing that the angels of Jerusalem and Persia who fought and opposed each other were still on the same side - this didn't make much sense to me, given how heaven and those who inhabit it are said to be in perfect harmony with God (and therefore, with each other). I think the other explanation which suggests that the "Prince of Persia" was a fallen angel who had rebelled in his principality seems more plausible. But I digress.
Overall, it's a good book for supplemental reading on angels, but perhaps not as the primary way of learning about them.
The only things I didn't like was the author making some speculations here and there without giving much backing support for them, things such as: supposing that the angels of Jerusalem and Persia who fought and opposed each other were still on the same side - this didn't make much sense to me, given how heaven and those who inhabit it are said to be in perfect harmony with God (and therefore, with each other). I think the other explanation which suggests that the "Prince of Persia" was a fallen angel who had rebelled in his principality seems more plausible. But I digress.
Overall, it's a good book for supplemental reading on angels, but perhaps not as the primary way of learning about them.
Displaying 1 - 16 of 16 reviews