ANGELICI. - Two heresies bore this name. 1. A. were the followers of an ancient heretical sect, mentioned by s. Agostino (De Haeresibus, no. 38: PL 8, 32).
According to some, they were given this name because they paid divine worship to the angels and maintained that, since God had given the Law to Mosè through the angels, the Mosaic Law had to be observed in order to obtain salvation. They further taught that the mediation of the angels is indispensable if our prayers are to be acceptable to God, since they are, with the Father, mediators more efficacious than Gesù Cristo himself. According to s. Agostino, however, these heretics were called a. because they claimed to lead an angelic life.
2. Another sect of this name was condemned by the bishops of Lombardia and Veneto in the nineteenth century.
It claimed to constitute a religious Order, founded by Maria Immacolata and the Spirito Santo, to which one was admitted through two stages: a preparatory stage for the apostolic life, to be completed under the exclusive direction of the angels; and a definitive stage, of pure apostolic life, carried on 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 arrogated to themselves complete freedom of action.