The Guardian Angels

By Fr. Conor Donnelly

(Proofread)

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

My Lord and my God, I firmly believe that you are here, that you see me, that you hear me. I adore you with profound reverence. I ask your pardon for my sins and grace to make this time of prayer fruitful. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

We're told in the Book of Exodus, “Look, I am sending an angel to precede you, to guard you as you go and bring you to the place that I have prepared. Revere him and obey what he says. Do not defy him: he will not forgive any wrongdoing on your part, for my name is in him.

“If, however, you obey what he says and do whatever I order, I shall be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes.

“My angel will precede you and lead you to the home of the Amorites, the Hittites, the Perizzites, the Canaanites, the Hivites, the Jebusites, whom I shall exterminate” (Ex. 23:20-23).

Scripture speaks very clearly about the angels. If you go and try and count or identify the number of times angels are mentioned in Scripture, you'll find very many. They have a great presence in the history of salvation.

And possibly there's no aspect of Catholic piety as comforting to parents as the belief that an angel protects their little ones from danger, whether real or imagined.

Sometimes we see pictures of children being baptized, or cards, where an angel is holding the baby, or an angel standing behind the godparent. When the child is receiving his First Holy Communion, an angel is the one giving the Communion or standing behind the child.

But curiously, when people are getting married, all the angels seem to have disappeared. The angels often only appear again with the angel of death.

Yet guardian angels are not just for children. Their role is to represent individuals before God, to watch over them always, to aid their prayer, and ultimately to present their souls to God at death.

“See that you do not despise one of these little ones,” we're told in St. Matthew, “for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matt. 18:10).

It's a very beautiful idea that each one of us has an angel that is continually looking “upon the face of our heavenly Father.” It would be like a messenger for us to bring our petitions before God.

This concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety very much based on Scripture.

Devotion to the angels began to develop with the birth of the monastic tradition. St. Benedict gave it impetus and St. Bernard of Clairvaux in the 12th century was a very eloquent spokesman for the guardian angels. So devotion to the angels assumed its current form at that time.

We can think of our own personal guardian angels, but also the guardian angel of the house where we live, the guardian angel of the tabernacle looking after Our Lord in the Blessed Sacrament, the angels of other people with whom we meet every day.

It's a very good custom to teach your children from an early age to pray the prayer to their guardian angel: “Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God's love commits me here. Ever this day be at my side, to light and guide, to rule and guard.”

It's often those little prayers that children learn when they're small that will stay with them throughout their whole lives, which can bring great joy, comfort, and consolation in moments of fear, or anxiety, or uncertainty. There may be many of those.

A feast in honor of the guardian angels was first observed in the 16th century. Devotion to the angels is an expression of faith in God's enduring love and providential care extended to each person, day in and day out, until life's end.

The angels don't sleep. They're with us 24-7. We're told in the Furrow, “The Guardian Angel always accompanies us as our principal witness. It is he who, at your particular judgment, will remember the kind deeds you performed for Our Lord throughout your life” (Josemaría Escrivá, Furrow, Point 693).

It's another beautiful thought: that all the little nice deeds of charity, of kindness, of patience, on the road, in our home, in the office, in the classroom; little gestures that we've done for other people—millions of them that possibly we've forgotten about a long time ago—our angel is there to remember all those things and remind God of them at our particular judgment.

The point continues, “Furthermore, when you feel lost, before the terrible accusations of the enemy, your Angel will present those intimations of your heart—which perhaps you have forgotten—those proofs of love which you might have had for God the Father, God the Son, God the Holy Spirit.

“That is why you must never forget your Guardian Angel, and that Prince of Heaven shall not abandon you now, or at that decisive moment” (ibid.).

If one of the goals of parenthood is to help the souls of our children to get to heaven, it's very good to enlist the care of the angels, of that specific angel that has been there from the moment of conception and will be with that soul for always.

We're told also in the Furrow, “Your Communions were very cold: you paid little attention to the Lord: you were distracted by the smallest trifle…. But ever since you began to realize during an intimate dialogue with God that the angels are present, your attitude has changed... You say to yourself, ‘Let them not see me like this!’—And see how, as a result of thinking, ‘What will they say?’—this time, for a good motive—you have advanced a little towards Love” (J. Escrivá, Furrow, Point 694).

The Communion Antiphon of the Votive Mass of the Holy Angels says, “In the presence of the angels I will praise you, my God” (Ps. 138:1).

Not a bad little phrase to add on to our Morning Offering, or a little aspiration to say as we start our day's work. Or all the other moments of the day to turn and see the angels.

“The existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels’ is a truth of faith” (Catechism of the Catholic Church, Point 328).

It's very good to think of the angels, to imagine them. At Christmastime, if you have a crib, place many angels around the place. Little children love angels. They love to see angels.

We're invited to become like little children: “Unless you become like little children, you cannot enter the kingdom of heaven” (Matt. 18:3).

St. Augustine says, “‘Angel’ is the name of their office, not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, they're ‘spirit’, from what they do, they're ‘angel.’”

“With their whole beings, the angels are servants and messengers of God. Because they ‘always behold the face of my Father who is in heaven’ they are the ‘mighty ones who do his word, hearkening to the voice of his word’” (Matt. 18:10; Ps. 103:20; Catechism, Point 329).

There may have been many times in your life when you were about to have crossed a road and you pulled back at the last minute, and suddenly a car came flying along and missed you by inches. You may have said, ‘Oh, that was close.’ Well, probably it was your angel.

Or a whole pile of other little occasions when we missed death or injury by inches. Possibly it was our angel who was helping us in those moments.

If you can't find something that you're looking for—your glasses, a paper clip, your pencil—then ask your guardian angel to perform those little favors for you. You may be surprised at the results.

Some saints have talked about how they use their guardian angel as their alarm clock, asking their guardian angel to wake them up at a certain time. But sometimes you need to give the angels a little bit of notice.

A man told me once how he had a visiting business colleague from another country who was not a Catholic. This man who was entertaining him had a great devotion to the angels.

They had to make three visits to offices downtown on a busy morning. He told his visiting friend, ‘You'll see, I'll get a parking space because my guardian angel always gets me parking spaces.’

They arrived in the first place and there was a parking space right outside the door. He said to his friend, ‘You see, my angel never lets me down.’

They did their business, and they went on to the second office, and this time the parking space wasn't exactly outside the office. It was up the street a little bit, but it was there. And so, he was feeling very confident.

But then they went to the third office and this time the cars were parked triple deep. There was no sign of a space anywhere.

This man began to complain to his guardian angel saying, ‘Look, you've been playing a blinder all morning. Don't blow it now. I almost have this guy converted.’

But then he remembered that one of the goals he had for his spiritual life during those days was to try and grow in patience in all the little moments of each day.

He said to his guardian angel, ‘Okay, I remember, so have it your way. I will sit here quietly waiting for the next parking space to come.’ As soon as he said that, a car pulled out and there was his parking space.

Our angels can do all sorts of things for us. “As purely spiritual creatures, they have intelligence and will” (Catechism, Point 330). They have a mind and they have a heart with which they love God.

They can't necessarily read our heart or read our mind, because we're told that only God reads the heart (cf. Luke 16:15). We have to tell our angel what we want, and what we need.

“They are personal and immortal creatures, surpassing in perfection all visible creatures” (ibid.).

Christ is with His angels. They're on a higher level.

There are different levels of creation: there's pure matter, like stones; there's matter with some sort of life-giving principle, which is the animals, but they don't have intellect or will. They just have instinct.

And you have human persons. We have matter and spirit, body and soul. But then the higher beings are the angels who are pure spirits. And ultimately, God is a pure spirit. So they're on a higher level than man.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that Christ is “the center of the angelic world” (Catechism, Point 331). What a beautiful phrase.

The angels lead us to Christ. He is their king. “They are his angels. ‘When the Son of man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him...’ (Matt. 25:31). They belong to him because they were created through and for him: ‘for in him all things were created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominions or principalities or authorities—all things were created through him and for him’ (Col. 1:16).

“They belong to him still more because he has made them messengers of his saving plan: ‘Are they not all ministering spirits sent forth to serve, for the sake of those who are to obtain salvation?’ (Heb. 1:14).

“Angels have been present since creation and throughout the history of salvation, announcing this salvation from afar or near and serving the accomplishment of the divine plan” (Catechism, Points 331-332).

“Do not be afraid for behold, we bring you tidings of great joy.” The angels are often messengers of joy. “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to all men of goodwill” (Luke 2:10,14).

They fulfilled their function in many places. “They closed the earthly paradise; they protected Lot; they saved Hagar and her child; they stayed the hand of Abraham; they communicated the law by their ministry; they led the People of God; they announced births and callings; and assisted the prophets. …

“Finally, the angel Gabriel announced the birth of the Precursor, John the Baptist, and that of Jesus himself (Luke 1:11,26).

“From the Incarnation to the Ascension, the life of the Word Incarnate is surrounded by the adoration and service of angels.

“When God brings the firstborn into the world, he says: ‘Let all God's angels worship him’ (Heb. 1:6). Their song of praise at the birth of Christ has not ceased resounding in the Church's praise: ‘Glory to God in the highest!’ (Luke 2:14).

“They protect Jesus in his infancy, they serve him in the desert, and they strengthen him in his agony in the garden when he could have been saved from the hands of his enemies as Israel had been.

“Again, it is the angels who ‘evangelize’ by proclaiming the Good News of Christ's Incarnation and Resurrection” (cf. Luke 2:8-14, Mark 16:5-7). ‘He has risen, as he said; he is not here’ (Matt. 28:6). They will be present at Christ's return, which they will announce, to serve at his judgment” (Catechism, Point 333; cf. Acts 1:10-11; Matt. 13:42, 24-31; Luke 12:8-9).

So, in the whole life of the Church, the angels have been present. We see them depicted on altars, in paintings, in all sorts of places.

“The Church has benefited from their mysterious and powerful help” (Catechism, Point 334). And each one of us, as we journey along our pilgrimage of faith, we're also called to benefit from their powerful help.

“In [her] liturgy, the Church joins with the angels to adore the thrice-holy God” (Catechism, Point 335). Holy, holy, holy Lord God of hosts.

We celebrate the memory of the angels on October 2 and September 29, the archangels and the guardian angels.

“From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. ‘Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life’ (St. Basil, Adv. Eunomium III, I). Already here on earth, the Christian life [shares] by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God” (Catechism, Point 336).

And in heaven, they're always glorifying God “without ceasing. … St. Thomas says, ‘The angels work together for the benefit of us all’ (Thomas Aquinas, Summa Theologiae, I, Question 114). The Church venerates the angels who help her on her earthly pilgrimage and protect each human being” (Catechism, Points 350-351).

And there was the fall of the angels. “Behind the disobedient choice of our first parents, there lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which makes them fall into death out of envy.

“Scripture and the Church's Tradition see in this being a fallen angel called ‘Satan’ or the ‘devil.’ The existence of the devil is very much a truth of our faith.”

The Church invites us to pray to St. Michael each day to protect us against the wickedness and snares of the devil. It’s a very good prayer to know and to pray. Because we know that the devil, St. [Peter] says, is “like a lion ready to pounce” (1 Pet. 5:8).

“The Church teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God. … They were indeed created good, but they became evil by their own doing.”

The angels have freedom. They can make a choice. They make a choice once and for always.

“The ‘fall’ of the angels consists in the free choice of these created spirits,” we're told, “who radically and irrevocably rejected God and his reign. We find a reflection of that rebellion in the words of the tempter to our first parents: ‘You will be like God’ (Gen. 3:5).

“The devil has ‘sinned from the beginning’ (1 John 3:8), and he is ‘a liar and the father of lies’’ (John 8:4).

Whenever we get a temptation to say any sort of untruth, it can be helpful to remember that the devil is “the father of lies.”

We have to try and have a hatred for the devil and a hatred for all lies, to live in the truth.

“Satan and the other demons are fallen angels who have freely refused to serve God and his plan. Their choice against God is definitive. They try to associate man in their revolt against God” (Catechism, Points 391-395, 414).

They want to enlist us in their army.

“Angels and men, as intelligent and free creatures, have to journey towards their ultimate destinies by their free choice and preferential love.”

But we can go astray. That's why we need the help of the good angels. Every time there may be a good angel whispering something good into one ear, there may be a bad angel whispering something bad into the other ear.

And we know that mankind has sinned. “Moral evil, which is incommensurably more harmful than physical evil, enters the world through the devil and his angels.

“God is not the cause, directly or indirectly, of moral evil. He permits it, because he respects the freedom of his creatures, and mysteriously knows how to bring good out of it” (cf. Catechism, Point 311).

Good can come from our temptations. We can learn to be more humble. We can learn to realize that ‘I need more and more the grace of God to strengthen us. On my own I am weak.’

Heaven is the place where the good angels live. They surround God.

Hell is the place where the bad angels live. “Jesus speaks of ‘the unquenchable fire’ reserved for those who to the end of their lives refuse to believe and be converted, where both soul and body can be lost” (Catechism, Point 1034; Matt. 5:22, 29; 10:28, 13:42, 50; Mark 9:43-48).

“There is a hell,” we're told in The Way, “Echo it for me...into the ear of one friend, and of another, and another” (J. Escrivá, The Way, Point 749).

If you have some friend that you're trying to bring closer to God, enlist the help of his or her guardian angel. Pray to his or her angel about this particular soul that you're trying to help.

Our Lord “solemnly declares that he ‘will send his angels and they will gather...all evildoers and throw them into the furnace of fire’ (Matt. 13:41-42), and that he will pronounce the condemnation: ‘Depart from me, you cursed ones, into the eternal fire!’” (Catechism, Point 1034, Matt. 25:41).

“There will be a Last Judgment at the resurrection of all the dead, ‘of the just and the unjust’ (Acts 24:15). This will be ‘the hour when all who are in the tombs will hear the Son of Man's voice and come forth, those who have done good, to the resurrection of life, and those who have done evil, to the resurrection of judgment’ (John 5:28-29).

“Then Christ will come ‘in his glory, and all the angels with him. … Before him will be gathered all the nations, and he will separate them one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats, and he will place the sheep at his right hand, but the goats on the left. ...They will go away into eternal punishment, and the righteous to eternal life (Catechism, Point 1038, Matt. 25:31, 32, 46).

It's very proper that we try to grow in our devotion to our particular angel. Some people give them a name. We're told in The Forge, “Get used to thanking the guardian angels in advance, thus putting them under an obligation” (J. Escrivá, The Forge, Point 93).

We're also told in The Forge (Point 271) to “remove the dark shadow of pessimism which hung over you that morning. You again appealed to your Angel, as you do every day. But this time you were more thorough. You said a few nice words to him, and you asked him to teach you to love Jesus at least as much as he loves him. And with that, you recovered your calm.”

It's a very beautiful thing to live in the presence of the angels. To ask them for little favors. To help you to do this little thing and that little thing. To turn to them occasionally during the day.

When you go into a church, do try and see the angels surrounding Our Lord in the tabernacle. “Ask your Mother Mary,” we're told in The Forge (Point 272), “ask St. Joseph and your Guardian Angel to speak to the Lord and tell him the things you can't manage to put into words because you are so dull.”

The angels can teach us how to pray. “Whenever you are in need of anything,” we're told in The Forge (Point 931), “or are facing difficulties, whether great or small, invoke your Guardian Angel, asking him to sort the matter out with Jesus, or to carry out the particular service you may require.”

There may be times when we need something big from our angel to help us to find something important or to get us to a certain venue on time; or to help something to go our way that we need, something where we see that all our human efforts may be in vain or insufficient. We need our angels to swing into action and bring things out for the good.

We can turn to Our Lady, the Queen of the Angels, that she might lead us to a greater childlike devotion to our guardian angel and all the angels and archangels, so that, as we're told in the liturgy, we may truly live in the presence of the angels all the days of our life.

I thank you, my God, for the good resolutions, affections, and inspirations that you have communicated to me during this meditation. I ask your help to put them into practice. My Immaculate Mother, Saint Joseph, my father and lord, my guardian angel, intercede for me.

In the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. Amen.

MVF