Posted on 09/29/2008 4:35:35 PM PDT by NYer
Vatican City, Sep 29, 2008 / 10:29 am (CNA).- Pope Benedict XVI will complete his stay at the papal summer residence tomorrow, and as final preparations are being made for his return to Rome, he addressed the local bishop, religious, local civil authorities and security personnel on the topic of angels.
Today marks the Feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the Pope pointed out to Bishop Marcello Semeraro of Albano (the diocese in which Castelgandolfo is located) and the assembled crowd. With this Feast in mind, he prayed, "let us trustingly invoke their help, and the protection of the Guardian Angels, whose feast we will celebrate in a few day's time, on October 2."
Although angels are not visible, their presence "brings us great help and consolation: they walk at our side and protect us in all circumstances, they defend us from danger, and to them we can turn at any moment," Benedict XVI explained.
He further added that, "Many saints established bonds of real friendship with the angels, and numerous episodes testify to their assistance on particular occasions. Angels are sent by God 'to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation' as the Letter to the Hebrews says, hence they are a real help to us on the pilgrimage towards the heavenly homeland."
This afternoon, the Pope is due to bid farewell to the staff of the Pontifical Villas at Castel Gandolfo, before returning to the Vatican tomorrow.
Five pages from the Catechism of the Catholic Church on angels:
http://ccc.scborromeo.org.master.com/texis/master/search/?sufs=0&q=angels&s=SS
How about during the Mass?
Countless hosts of angels stand before you to do your will;
they look upon your splendor
and praise you, night and day.
United with them
and in the name of every creature under heave,
we too praise your glory as we say:
Holy, Holy, Holy Lord
God of power and might
Heaven and earth are full of your glory.
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest,
hosanna in the highest!
Blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord,
Hosanna in the highest, hosanna in the highest,
hosanna in the highest!
Oops
and in the name of every creature under heaven,
Thanks for your reply, Salvation.
Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael were created to do battle with the devil were they not?
My three year old son nearly drowned a week ago. I have no doubt that his guardian angels were with him that day. Not a doubt.
Ye holy Angels bright, Which stand before God's throne,
And dwell in glorious light, Praise ye the Lord each one.
You there so nigh Are much more meet
Than we the feet, For things so high.
You blessed souls at rest That see your Saviour's face,
Whose glory, even the least, Is far above our grace;
God's praises sound, As in his sight
With sweet delight You do abound.
All nations of the earth, Extol the world's great King;
With melody and mirth His glorious praises sing.
For he still reigns; And will bring low
The proudest foe That him disdains.
Sing forth Jehovah's praise, Ye saints that on him call;
Magnify him always; His holy churches all
In him rejoice;And there proclaim
His Holy Name With sounding voice.
I've never seen or heard my Guardian Angel -- but I'm sure he or she is seriously overworked!
When my daughter was tiny (could barely speak plain) she told me that she saw "a pretty lady" sitting in a tree outside her bedroom window, that she had golden hair and was dressed in white. Don't know if it was her guardian angel or not, but she's always been a very good child!
Ye holy angels bright,
who wait at God's right hand,
or through the realms of light
fly at your Lord's command,
assist our song,
for else the theme
too high doth seem
for mortal tongue.
Ye blessed souls at rest,
who ran this earthly race
and now, from sin released,
behold your Savior's face,
his praises sound,
as in his sight
with sweet delight
ye do abound.
Ye saints, who toil below,
adore your heavenly King,
and onward as ye go
some joyful anthem sing;
take what he gives
and praise him still,
through good or ill,
who ever lives!
My soul, bear thou thy part,
triumph in God above:
and with a well-tuned heart
sing thou the songs of love!
Let all thy days
till life shall end,
whate'er he send,
be filled with praise!
Darwall's 148th is a great hymn tune. The descant on the 4th verse is awesome.
St. Michael — Warrior
St. Gabriel — Messenger (See Nativity narritives)
St. Raphael — Healer
There are many more verses than the ones we have posted.
Pardon the lack of formatting, here is the complete text:
Ye holy Angels bright, Which stand before God’s throne, And dwell in glorious light, Praise ye the Lord each one. You there so nigh Are much more meet Than we the feet, For things so high.
You blessed souls at rest That see your Saviour’s face, Whose glory, even the least, Is far above our grace; God’s praises sound, As in his sight With sweet delight You do abound.
All nations of the earth, Extol the world’s great King; With melody and mirth His glorious praises sing. For he still reigns; And will bring low The proudest foe That him disdains.
Sing forth Jehovah’s praise, Ye saints that on him call; Magnify him always; His holy churches all In him rejoice; And there proclaim His Holy Name With sounding voice.
My soul, bear thou thy part! Triumph in God above! With a well-tuned heart Sing thou the songs of love. Thou art his own Whose precious blood, Shed for thy good, His love made known.
Though human help depart And flesh draw near to dust, Let Faith keep up my heart To love God true and just; And all my days Let no disease Cause me to cease His joyful praise.
Though sin would make me doubt, And fill my soul with fears, Though God seem to shut out My daily cries and tears, By no such frost Of sad delays Let thy sweet praise Be nipped and lost.
Away, distrustful care! I have thy promise, Lord. To banish all despair, I have thy oath and word. And therefore I Shall see thy face, And there thy grace Shall magnify.
Though sin and death conspire To rob thee of thy praise, Still towards thee I’ll aspire, And thou dull hearts canst raise. Open thy door; And when grim death Shall stop this breath I’ll praise thee more.
With thy triumphant flock Then I shall numbered be; Built on the eternal rock His glory we shall see. The heavens so high With praise shall ring. And all shall sing In harmony.
The sun is but a spark From the eternal light; Its brightest beams are dark To that most glorious sight. There the whole Chore With one accord Shall praise the Lord For evermore.
As we have discussed, I’m giving serious consideration to converting to Catholicism and all this is a little new and, um, different for me. So forgive the uninformed questions, please.
My own guardian angels must be exhausted by my insistence on dealing with the animal(s) from whom I’ve taken my user name.
“I would encourage all of you to get to know your guardian angel.”
How?
I hold a slight unfair advantage because I was a High Church Episcopalian before I converted -- which is Catholic in All But Name as opposed to Catholic In Name Only. And I also read medieval history in college -- I think it was Cardinal Newman who said that to be deep in history was to become Catholic.
Ask me as many questions as you like! If I don't know the answer, I'm sure I can find it -- this house is so full of books it's ridiculous. And as I used to tell my law students, the only dumb question is the one you don't ask!
If you want a good informative general overview that might answer a lot of questions, there are a couple of books that are favorites of mine and very instructive -- Catholicism for Dummies despite the hokey title is an excellent and very readable book, by Fr. John Trigilio and Fr. Kenneth Brighenti, both of whom are good, orthodox and faithful priests. And for something a little more old-fashioned, This Is the Faith by Canon Francis Ripley, first published back in the 50s. It's aimed specifically at Anglicans, so I found it very interesting and it answered particular questions I had as an Episcopalian (which is just the American brand of Anglicanism).
AAM has posted a simple, yet beautiful prayer. You can also acknowledge your guardian angel by prayers of thanking to God for your angel's assistance.
On several occasions, when I could not be somewhere to help another person, I have sent my guardian angel in my place. Not only do they watch over us but pray for us before God.
You are in good company here. Rest assured of our assistance whenever you have a question. Might I suggest that you consider joining the catholic ping lists. Freeper Salvation maintains the Daily Mass Readings while I maintain a list for articles of interest to catholics.
Some other places of interest - EWTN - Catholic television available in most countries via cable or satellite. Monday evenings, Marcus Grodi hosts The Journey Home. Each week he welcomes a convert to share their journey and callers may ask questions. Grodi also has his own web site: Coming Home Network .
My prayers for you on this journey.
Angels were certainly visible in the scriptures...I'm thinkin' your pope wouldn't know an angel if he saw one...
Heb 13:2 Be not forgetful to entertain strangers: for thereby some have entertained angels unawares.
And as far as getting to 'know your guardian angel', how do you know it's not your gaurdian devil???
Your conductor obviously doesn't read the bible...Every appearance of an angel in the bible is that of a 'male'...The bible does away with a lot of religious superstition...
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