From the Martyrologium Romanum (which you readers can put into perfect yet smooth and elegant English):
Memoria sanctorum Angelorum Custodum, qui, primum ad contemplandam in splendore faciem Dei vocati, a Domino etiam apud homines commissi sunt, ut iis invisibili sua, sed sollicita, praesentia adessent ac consulerent.
Because angels are not limited by matter, since they are purely spiritual persons, each angel is his own species. They are like in that they are angels, and unlike in that each one is particular to himself. There is, therefore, a hierarchy among the angels. But all of them always contemplate God, as angels can. They don’t have to be limited to any place, since they have no bodies. They simply are where they are in action. So aligned are they with the will of God that when they appear in Scripture and speak, sometimes it is hard to tell when God is speaking and when they speak.
Our angel guardians can be from the anywhere in the myriads and myriads of ranks of the angels. They could be from the highest of the high or even from the lowliest little angel at the bottom of the hierarchy. But even the lowliest of the angels is beyond any human conception of mightiness. The least of the angels, were God to will or permit, could mash the cosmos into a little pea and flash the Big Bang again. Provided that it falls within God’s will, from which it is impossible for them to stray, the material universe presents no obstacles to them. They know the essences of things directly, without having to figure them out.
Do you pray to your Guardian Angel? I sure do. I am constantly asking for help with problems and, especially, with other people. I will sometimes also ask the angelic guardians of other people to help me work something out when there is great need.
Even though I loath the pastels and the rather foofy portrayal of these fearfully beautiful beings, I love the old pious images made for children’s bedrooms of an bright and obviously invisible angel preventing some distracted little kid from plunging off a cliff as she tries to pick a pretty flower that is just out of reach, or guiding children back to a safer path. We all all get into trouble and we all need this help.
God, who knows us better than we know ourselves, sends us mighty help before whom the fallen angels of Hell withdraw in fear.
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“Memorial of the holy Guardian Angels, the first to be called to look upon the face of God in splendour, were also sent by the Lord to be with men, that as an unseen yet careful presence they might watch over them.”
I am truly surprised Father – that piece is replete with theological errors. I invite other commentators to identify them.
Actually, most of this article is right out of St. Thomas Aquinas’s Summa Theologica.
The guardian Angels are a big part of our home prayer life. I wasn’t really catechized at all (late 80′s, early 90′s) in the angels and had no idea that I had my own angel until I was an adult. My kids are very well taught on the Angels and talk and pray to them regularly.
When I was cleaning out my family home after my parents died, I found a book from my father a childhood. “The Story of the Guardian Angels” by Father Daniel A. Lord, S.J.
It is out of print now, but a beautiful book and beautifully illustrated. It does a better job of explaining the Angels than a lot of modern adult books. I was thrilled to find this treasure.
Father K, I see that you apparently don’t like a Thomistic view of angels, but I wouldn’t think that you could characterize that view as full of theological errors. You might possibly say that some Thomistic inferences are unproved but possible.
Now, maybe I’m missing some error, because I’m not a theologian nor do I play one on the Internet; but everything Father Z said is something I’ve seen Catholic sources say again and again. So if Fr. Z is misspeaking, he’s doing it in good company.
I wonder if Father K is referring to the existence of fallen angels…..who would not be doing the will of God ?
Perhaps the Good Father K could give us a hand in identifying the “errors”, rather than just insert a doubt regards Fr. Z’s comments.
I’m not in the mood for being theologically critical of people more educated in theology than myself at the moment. Too tired for that.
I would imagine, as my dog has frustrated me numerous times not listening to me, that I have left my guardian angel banging his spiritual head against a few walls and has made more than a few face palms.
I think devotion to our guardian angels is something we should promote more vigourously. Does anyone know the source for the belief that at ordination a priest receives a second guardian angel?
My children and I pray a plural version of the “Angel of God” prayer, praying to the angel of each one in the family.
Father K, I’ve read it in several places, but I will say that the first dozen books I read about angels did NOT mention a second guardian for priests, nor did St. Padre Pio (who could see his primary guardian angel from childhood) ever mention being able to see a second guardian. (But maybe the second one was extraordinarily humble. I don’t know.)
Having said that, page 145 of Joan Ball’s “Angels And Devils” says “It is the opinion of some theologians that a person is continually being given angels of a higher order as he advances in the spiritual life, while either retaining his original guardian, or receiving a replacement for the original guardian. It is also their opinion that a young man, on becoming a priest, is given an angel of a higher order, while in many cases retaining his original angel guardian.” There is no citation there even though she cites things just about everywhere else.
The replacement angels with the previous angels leaving — you see that in the life of St. Frances of Rome.
Okay, so moving forward, on the same page of Angels and Devils, Ball cites Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich as saying “I have often seen a man receive a higher and more powerful guardian when called to great things.” (That’s got a citation.)
Page 147: St Humilitas “lived in constant communion with two heavenly beings, ‘one of whom was her guardian angel and the other was a celestial spirit sent to her when she was thirty years of age, to guide and advise her in the difficult work with which she was entrusted.’” (Citation given in the book.)
The double-guardian effect is not church teaching. It’s also not in contradiction to any church teaching I’m aware of.
Four years ago this week, my husband fell 30 feet, slamming his head into hard Hill Country rock… an accident that could easily have resulted in his death or paralysis. He escaped with a broken cheekbone, sore neck, and some facial scratches. This may sound simple and child-like, but I imagine his guardian angel easing or breaking that horrific trip down, knowing he was still needed here to complete his God-given purpose.
I can’t remember where, but I once read that the Popes have TWELVE guardian angels!!
It’s kind of believable.
O Holy Guardian Angels, we can’t wait to see you and thank you for all you did for us – I know we can already thank you here below, but to be face to face will be heavenly!
Father K. The only thing I would have a question about is that most people can have angels assigned to them from all the choirs. I learned that our guardian angels are normally assigned to us from the lowest choir which is the Angels, but also God gives angels from the other choirs to individuals for whom he gives special missions. Maybe St Teresa or saints in transforming union may have one from the choir of Seraphim.
I have also read that priests have 2 angels and one of them was an Archangel, but can’t remember the source.
Our priest in today’s homily related a personal story while on a trip for the missions somewhere, residents approached him about a 12 year old girl who could see the angels and asked him to verify if she was authentic. So he dressed in lay clothes and when he met her in a crowd, commented to her about his “wife and children.” She told him that he was a priest. When he asked her how she knew she said that his angel was on his right and was walking behind him because of the dignity or the priesthood. The angels of laypeople protect them by walking before them. Interesting
I use to struggle with my two-year old son each time we go to Sunday mass (TLM). The kind of stuff they like to do (walking in and out of the church, being restless at the pew). One time, a thought occurred to me — why not try praying to his guardian angel for assistance? Gradually he tamed down, and nowadays, the good news is– he’s able to stay in the pew from the Asperges all the way until Communion!
I have just found my source for the “twelve guardian angels of the Popes”:
“The Pope and Angels” (I Papi e gli Angeli) by an Italian Priest Fr. Marcello Stanzione
“During Pope John XXIII’s five-year papacy, he spoke about angels about 40 times, and he always said that he convoked the Second Vatican council after being inspired by his own guardian angel.”
From then on, John XXIII said that every pope has about twelve guardian angels. A devotion which he cultivated, but was never declared as a truth of the Catholic faith.
http://www.romereports.com/palio/book-describes-how-angels-have-helped-popes-english-3488.html#.UGtZ1FEY1SE
“Memorial of the holy Guardian Angels. They were first called to contemplate the face of God in splendor, now they are sent among men, so that by their invisible and careful presence, they might stand by and advise mankind.”
Salutationes omnibus.
ad melius:
“…so that by their invisible and watchful presence, they may stand with and advise mankind.”
Causa patientiae gratias vobis ago.
downyduck, my father had a similar experience, in that while steeplejacking (i.e. repairing a steeple, repointing, replacing rotted wood, and so forth) his safety harness failed and he fell from the very top of a steeple in such a way that he should have fallen on the sidewalk; however, as he fell past the stained-glass windows, all of a sudden his descent changed abruptly closer to the wall of the church, and he fell into some bushes instead. He cracked three vertebrae but walked away; the well-known chiropractor who treated him for some lingering pain called him ‘my walking paraplegic’. Observers said it looked like an invisible hand gave him a slight push–there was no wind, there was nothing visible–which moved him the 2′ or so from falling on the concrete to falling into bushes. He said he felt a gentle push and went from terrified to peaceful, and he was certain that his guardian angel was on the job.
JKnott says:
‘Father K. The only thing I would have a question about is that most people can have angels assigned to them from all the choirs.’
Correct – the Seraphim and Cherubim, at least, do not have direct intercourse with mankind. I leave aside the designation of the Choirs of angels – St Gregory the Great had his own way of describing them as did St Thomas and others – no problem with that. The most egregious error was this – ‘The least of the angels, were God to will or permit, could mash the cosmos into a little pea and flash the Big Bang again. Provided that it falls within God’s will, from which it is impossible for them to stray, the material universe presents no obstacles to them.’ That is simply nonsensical from a scriptural, philosophical or theological point of view. I invite Fr Z to provide sound sources and authorities for such a statement. I do not have to as I am not making the assertion. I would say there is a rather large dose of hyperbole in that statement.
A rather more nuanced and beautiful expression was the Venerable Fulton J Sheen’s commentary on the cosmos – he said the grandeur, the breadth, the size, the breathtaking beauty of the cosmos and its laws, and its inherent intricasy [as we are discovering more and more, since his death], Why, all of this? ‘His answer -” to impress the angels.’” How beautiful is that, from a man who lived in close contact with his Guardian Angel[s].
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Father K,
As 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, ‘spirit’, from what they do, ‘angel’”.
I think what Father Z means is that the good angels in Heaven would always obey God instantly and that they are infinitely more powerful than human beings.
Perhaps one needs to understand Fr Z in this case in the allegorical sense rather than the literal. Also, he has just been to the good old UK and picked up a good dose of English humour!
Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us!
‘infinitely’ – no.
I once woke up in the middle of the night, feeling terrified. I was so scared I could not run. I could not move though I wanted to get away and hide. It was dark and light at the same time, and the whole ceiling of my room was on fire. I mean a serious fire, it looked like a stormy sea. Things got more surreal from there, for one, it was unnaturally cold, and I could not smell smoke at all. Also, there was no wind, and the fire moved as if there was.
Looking into the fire I saw eyes (of different sizes and colors) and flexing wings… and a remote but intense voice told me, “Be not Afraid.”
This voice cleared away my roiling anxious thoughts. Instantly I felt calm and relaxed for no apparent reason. I as able to notice that the house was not burning down, that nothing else appeared on fire. Not even a slight burning smell hit my nostrils, instead it was the smell of fresh brisk mountain air, with a touch of the sea. This, while I was indoors during winter in the Midwest about 75 miles from the nearest large (fresh water) lake.
I lay there marveling for a while, and then, slowly, it disappeared. This was around the time I realized what it was… an angel. No wonder those poor shepherds in Bethlehem were scared when the angels announced with joy the arrival of Our Lord! I can’t imagine what it would be like to hear one singing. My limbic system was convinced that if it came any closer, or even *talked* to me, that my head would explode from the pressure of it’s presence. It would not have to do anything at all to crush me, simply *be* too close by. I do not know why it appeared and then did not say anything. I was a teenager at the time, and I dismissed it as a dream.
But ever since then, I always took/take angels *very* seriously. I wasn’t even a Christian at the time. I could not get near that woman (whose last name is Brown), who’s all gaga about cute, fluffy angels? People of good will should be aware that she’s very much a New Age practitioner.
Some “alternative spirituality” folks like to use angels as a gateway to turning one toward other philosophies.
VLL your account sent gave me chills. May God bless.