Advent meditation: On the fifth day of creation, God created the birds and the sea creatures. One type of sea creature that is explicitly named is the tannins, Hebrew for “great monsters.” St. Thomas Aquinas tells us that these creatures are symbols of the devil. In Isaiah 27, the prophet Isaiah prophecies a day when God would slay the great sea serpent Leviathan, a symbol of God’s destruction of Satan.
Prayer: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly host, by the power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Scripture: And God said, “Let the waters bring forth swarms of living creatures, and let birds fly above the earth across the firmament of the heavens.” So God created the great sea monsters and every living creature that moves, with which the waters swarm, according to their kinds, and every winged bird according to its kind. And God saw that it was good. And God blessed them, saying, “Be fruitful and multiply and fill the waters in the seas, and let birds multiply on the earth.” And there was evening and there was morning, a fifth day. (Gen 1:20-23)
