“Christianity recognizes the existence of the higher classes of Intelligences under the general name of Angels, and teaches that they are ‘ministering spirits, sent forth to minister’; but what is their ministry, what the nature of their work, what their relationship to human beings, all that was part of the instruction given in the Lesser Mysteries, as the actual communication with them was enjoyed in the Greater; but in modern days these truths have sunk into the background, except the little that is taught in the Greek and Roman communions. For the Protestant, ‘the ministry of angels’ is little more than a phrase.” – Annie Besant

(Annie Besant, Esoteric Christianity. Wheaton, IL: Theosophical Publishing House, 1953; c1901, 191-2.)