ANGELICI. - Two heresies bore this name. 1. The followers of an ancient heretical sect, mentioned by St. Augustine (De Haeresibus, n. 38: PL 8, 32), were called A.
According to some, this name was given to them because they paid divine worship to the angels and maintained that, since God had given the Law to Moses through the angels, the Mosaic Law had to be observed in order to obtain salvation. They also taught that the mediation of the angels is indispensable for our prayers to be acceptable to God, since they, with the Father, are more effective mediators than Jesus Christ himself. According to St. Augustine, however, these heretics would have had 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 the Veneto in the 19th century.
It claimed to constitute a religious Order, founded by Mary Immaculate and the Holy Spirit, which was entered through two stages: one preparatory to the apostolic life, which was to be accomplished 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 they arrogated to themselves full freedom of works.