Posted on 05/20/2015 3:57:47 AM PDT by NYer
We all have guardian angels. Jesus told His disciples, “See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Mt 18:10, emphasis added). However, very few of us realize this or would even dare to converse with them on a daily basis. For most of us guardian angels are “cute” stories we tell children so that they are not afraid of the dark.
What we don’t realize is that our guardians angels are there right beside us, ready to help us and are continually knocking at the door, waiting for us to respond to their invitation.
So who are these heavenly beings? Well, here are 5 simple facts to get you started:
Saint Thomas Aquinas holds that, “from the very moment of his birth man has an angel guardian appointed to him” (Summa Theologica, I, 113, 5). Even more so, Saint Anselm states that at the very moment of the union of soul and body God appoints an angel to watch over him/her. This would mean that during pregnancy a woman would be surrounded by two guardian angels. They watch over us from the very beginning and it is up to us to allow them to fulfill their duties for the rest of our lives.
All of the angels in the world were created at one instance at the very beginning of creation. One theory that we are allowed to believe is that on the first day when God made “light,” the “light He made was the angels (Gen. 1:3). This is further confirmed when God “divided the light from the darkness,” referring to the rebellion of the angels led by Lucifer (Gen. 1:4). This is brought forth by Saint Augustine in City of God:
For when God said, “Let there be light, and there was light,” if we are justified in understanding in this light the creation of the angels, then certainly they were created partakers of the eternal light which is the unchangeable Wisdom of God, by which all things were made, and whom we call the only-begotten Son of God; so that they, being illumined by the Light that created them, might themselves become light and be called “Day,” in participation of that unchangeable Light and Day which is the Word of God, by whom both themselves and all else were made. (Book 11, Chapter 9, emphasis added)
This makes sense as the “Sun” and “Moon” were not created until the fourth day! As a result, angels are a separate part of God’s creation and we do not become an entirely new being when we die. We remain human and if we are granted the Beatific Vision, we will be transfigured and receive our resurrected bodies at the end of time.
Angels are spiritual beings and do not have bodies. They can sometimes take the appearance of a body and can even influence the material world, but by their nature are pure spirits. It then makes sense that the primary way they communicate to us is by offering to our intellect thoughts, images or feelings that we can either accept or reject. It may not be clearly evident that it is our Guardian Angel communicating to us, but we may realize that the idea or thought did not come from our own minds. On rare occasions (like those in the Bible), angels can take physical appearance and speak with words. This is not the rule, but the exception to the rule, so don’t expect your Guardian Angel to show up in your room! It may happen, but it only occurs based on the circumstance.
Holy Mother Church has instructed us that,
The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture. (Congregation of Divine Worship and the Sacraments, The Directory of Popular Piety, n. 217, 2001)
The reasoning behind this is that a name contains a certain amount of authority over another person. If I know your name I can call you whenever I want and can feel a certain amount of authority over you. We do not have authority over our Guardian Angels. They only report to one Commander: God Himself. We can ask for their assistance or help, but we should not feel like they are at our beck and call.
The Church then discourages us from naming our Guardian Angels as we may receive a name, but it may not be divinely inspired. It could be influenced by the devil or by our own human thoughts. We have only three names confirmed in Scripture and so any other name we receive is invalid as it is hard to confirm if it is from God or from some other source.
According to Saint Thomas Aquinas:
[T]he swiftness of the angel’s movement is not measured by the quantity of his power, but according to the determination of his will (Summa Theologica, I, 53, 3, ad 1)
Angels are not bound by a material body like we are and so they can move super fast, the speed of “thought”…much faster than Superman. So if you ask your Guardian Angel to help someone else out, they will be back at your side before you realize.
There is much more to write about concerning Angelic beings. Stay tuned!
This was when I was working . I am retired now. “I have personally met people asking for money. I give a couple of bucks. I looked down at business scanner that beeped then up again. They totally disappeared. I had this happen several times in my life. You could not explain it otherwise. it was milliseconds. Once I even debated in the eighties with a friend in my house about how we entertain angels unawares. He thought I was nuts. While we are debating a man appeared disheveled knocks at the door for food. I let him in made a sandwich gave some money. He left. The friend first thinks I am crazy letting the man in the house. Then I pointed out what are the coincides that he came while we debated. I never had any homeless come to the door before. He is a firm believer now. The Lord is amazing he loves us.”
Matthew 25:31-46
The Sheep and the Goats
31 “When the Son of Man comes in his glory, and all the angels with him, he will sit on his glorious throne. 32 All the nations will be gathered before him, and he will separate the people one from another as a shepherd separates the sheep from the goats. 33 He will put the sheep on his right and the goats on his left.
34 “Then the King will say to those on his right, ‘Come, you who are blessed by my Father; take your inheritance, the kingdom prepared for you since the creation of the world. 35 For I was hungry and you gave me something to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me something to drink, I was a stranger and you invited me in, 36 I needed clothes and you clothed me, I was sick and you looked after me, I was in prison and you came to visit me.’
37 “Then the righteous will answer him, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry and feed you, or thirsty and give you something to drink? 38 When did we see you a stranger and invite you in, or needing clothes and clothe you? 39 When did we see you sick or in prison and go to visit you?’
40 “The King will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did for one of the least of these brothers and sisters of mine, you did for me.’
41 “Then he will say to those on his left, ‘Depart from me, you who are cursed, into the eternal fire prepared for the devil and his angels. 42 For I was hungry and you gave me nothing to eat, I was thirsty and you gave me nothing to drink, 43 I was a stranger and you did not invite me in, I needed clothes and you did not clothe me, I was sick and in prison and you did not look after me.’
44 “They also will answer, ‘Lord, when did we see you hungry or thirsty or a stranger or needing clothes or sick or in prison, and did not help you?’
45 “He will reply, ‘Truly I tell you, whatever you did not do for one of the least of these, you did not do for me.’
46 “Then they will go away to eternal punishment, but the righteous to eternal
6. I am the reason my guardian angel used to drink. Hopefully not so much anymore.
Beautiful name! (and also my middle name ;-) Have entrusted Therese (and you) to my guardian angel who serves as List Secretary.
How I made it off that bike in one piece must be due to my guardian angel, even though at the time I did not pray much. The next time I saw the driver of that bike, he was without one of his legs....
No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.
Psalm 91: 10-12
Send your angel a hug, albeit belatedly. What a frightening experience. Have you gone riding, since?
Consider it done.
A group of Hatians brought over a homeless man who was near death. They took him in and lay him in a bed to care for him.
The man overheard the sisters talking about the riots and how, praise God, their home was not being attacked. He rose up and told them. "Of course nobody's attacking your house! You've got all those big scary-looking men outside, driving the demons away with their giant swords!"
The sisters looked at each other, unsure of what to make of the comment. Was he hallucinating, or in his dying moments, did he actually see the Guardian Angels protecting their home?
Not exactly a traditional guardian angel, my story about having an Indian Spirit attached?
A couple of years ago after I had gotten to know B in the frame work of the Spirituality Realm, we met for a detachment session. During it, he found an Indian warrior attached to me. He was from the Shawnee Nation. The warrior said that he had been with me, protecting me from harm for many, many years. He was not a guardian in the sense of his making decisions for me, but a body guard or sentinel, keeping me from harm.
B asked if he wanted to join his brethern in the light. He said yes. B then asked for someone to come and get him. That was when I saw the brightest light I have ever seen. It was a worker for the Lord coming to get him. B, who could see from the side, recognized the messenger as the Shawnee Shaman/Medicine Man whom led his people to the Light in B’s story Spiritual Rescue of a Tribe of Indians.
In later research, I discovered that the Shawnee tribe he was a member of was that led by Tecumseh and The Prophet. I had been at the Tippecanoe Battleground in northwest Indiana for the 150th anniversary of the battle in 1962 (I was 15). There was a re-enactment of the battle. I roamed all over the battle site and went to where the warriors listened to The Prophet before they attacked. He probably attached to me then. It is interesting because I never came to any physical harm during my military career.
Wow! What a story!
Leonard Porter St. Thérèse of Lisieux. I have a copy on prominent display in my home.
I've had one of these not long ago. I was walking to my truck from the grocery store and was feeling, almost to the point of tears, profound guilt, remorse, etc. due to a recent event that had gone badly, on top of all of the other recent life altering events, injuries and losses. I guess it was too much for me and, in that long walk back to the no door-ding place I parked, emotion hit me all at once...hard.
As I was putting the groceries in my truck, from out of nowhere this guy shows up from behind me telling me about his car trouble and his and his girlfriend's long drive back to Chapel Hill. There was something a bit different about him, a "brightness" sort of quality I can't explain. You'd know what I mean if you saw him.
In my guilt-ridden, beat down emotional state, I gave him more than he asked for and went back to putting the groceries in my truck. When I looked up again, he was gone.
I have since had another similar but different encounter at that same store.
I wonder sometimes what those encounters are about. Maybe a bit of testing or a rescue and a bit of healing or somethings else? All seem plausible to someone who believes in the supernatural and realms beyond the one we see with our God given senses and with the tools we build.
Amen. Dear Brother or Sister. It was encouragement from the Lord. Remember what Christ said. Love the Lord your God and your Neighbor as your self. By doing what you did you loved the Lord your Good and your neighbor. It is in giving we recieve. Our lives in Christ are an action not just a confession of faith. So true.
LOL! Correction you probably know but “ Lord your Good and your neighbor” is Lord your God and your neighbor.
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