God has given His Angels charge over thee, to keep thee in all thy ways.O God, Who in Thine ineffable providence has deigned to send Thy holy Angels to watch over us, grant to Thy suppliants always to find safety in their protection and in eternity to share their happiness.
Angels are not mere nice spirits who do good things for us or make feel nice, or even warm our hearts when afraid. They certainly have the inspiration to that when needed. As I mentioned to my 3rd graders on Wednesday at CCD, the Guardian Angels are God's messengers sent to us guard us, teach us and to protect us. The primary duty of angels after worshipping God, as you know, is to deliver messages. Hence, they these holy spirits are called angels. A few years ago it was popular to wear angel pins and certainly the printing companies made a fortune off angel pictures, cards and posters.
What do we know about angels? We know they don't have bodies, they are created by God and they worship Him at the His throne, they're sent to give us something (a message) or to protect us from evil. The Church has always held the presence of angels as a reality since they are present, that is, seen and experienced in the Old Testament and in the New Testament. The sacred Liturgy attests to the Catholic belief in angels especially when you consider the liturgical art, music, especially at Christmas, and poetic texts used in worship. And since 1608 the Church has included the feast of the Guardian Angels in the Roman Missal. The Catechism has a section on angels; review the paragraphs.
A perduring memory of my grandmothers is that of them teaching me the prayer "Angel of God, my guardian dear." Before bed each night when I slept over their respective homes, we would kneel by the bedside and say goodnight to God through His angels. Every day, right after Mass has finished, I pray the Saint Michael the Archangel prayer and the Angel of God prayer. Why? Because I believe God has given me these gifts and promises and I want to take advantage of the graces God offers through the angels. Do you pray to the angels?
Brush up on your knowledge of angels in a booklet published by the Catholic Information Service called, All About Angels. You can also listen to booklet as an audio file.
Say a prayer for the monks of the American Cassinese Congregation on this their patronal feast. As the founder of many monasteries, and since 1856 when official documentation from the Holy See came through, Archabbot Boniface Wimmer placed his monasteries under the care of the Holy Guardian Angels. His correspondence shows the confidence he had in the Guardian Angels. How more should we!
Leave a comment