1. The A. were called the followers of an ancient Cretan sect, mentioned by St. Augustine (De Haeresibus, no. 38: PL 8, 32).
According to some, they were given this name because they paid divine worship to angels and maintained that, since God had given the Law to Moses through angels, the Mosaic Law had to be observed in order to obtain salvation. They also taught that the mediation of angels is indispensable for our prayers to be acceptable to God, since they are, in the presence of the Father, more effective mediators than Jesus Christ Himself. According to St. Augustine, however, these heretics would have received the appellation of A. because they claimed to lead an angelic life.
2. Another sect of this name was condemned by the bishops of Lombardy and Veneto in the 19th century.
It claimed to constitute a religious Order, founded by the Immaculate Mary and the Holy Spirit, to which one gained access through two stages: a preparatory one for the apostolic life, which was to be carried out under the exclusive direction of the angels; and a definitive one, of pure apostolic life, exercised under the guidance of the ecclesiastical hierarchy. The followers of this sect were convinced that angelic purity had been infused into their flesh and therefore claimed full freedom in their actions.