Tag: Guardian Angels

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Saint of the Day – October 2 – Feast of the Guardian Angels

The Story of the Feast of the Guardian Angels

Perhaps no aspect of Catholic piety is as comforting to parents as the belief that an angel protects their little ones from dangers real and imagined. Yet guardian angels are not only for children. Their role is to represent individuals before God, to watch over them always, to aid their prayer, and to present their souls to God at death.

The concept of an angel assigned to guide and nurture each human being is a development of Catholic doctrine and piety based on Scripture but not directly drawn from it. Jesus’ words in Matthew 18:10 best support the belief: “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”

Devotion to the angels began to develop with the birth of the monastic tradition. Saint Benedict gave it impetus and Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, the great 12th-century reformer, was such an eloquent spokesman for the guardian angels that angelic devotion assumed its current form in his day.

A feast in honor of the guardian angels was first observed in the 16th century. In 1615, Pope Paul V added it to the Roman calendar.

Reflection

Devotion to the angels is, at base, an expression of faith in God’s enduring love and providential care extended to each person day in and day out.

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Sermon Notes – Our Guardian Angels

“Our Guardian Angels”

Father Peter Fitzgibbons

October 3 – 4, 2020

Scripture: Matthew 21: 33-43

This past week Holy Mother Church celebrated two interesting feasts. All of the feasts are interesting, but you don’t usually get so much instruction from the pulpit nowadays. We celebrated the Feast of the Archangels – How many archangels are there? Protestants have two, because they don’t have the Book of Tobit in the scripture – they threw that out in the 16th Century. There are three archangels. We also celebrated the Feast of the Guardian Angels. We all have a guardian angel, but Saint Theresa had the privilege of seeing hers as did Saint Francis. So, I was trying to think of a sermon about guardian angels. Now, I’m not the brightest guy in the world, but I know bright people. So, I decided to borrow a sermon on guardian angels from Saint Bernard.

Saint Bernard writes:

‘He has given His angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.’ Let the Lord be thanked for His steadfast love, for His wonderful works to the sons of men. Let the nations praise Him and say that the Lord has done great things for them. Lord, what is man that You make so much of him; that You set Your mind upon him? You set Your mind upon him; You are solicitous for him; You care for him. Indeed, You send Your only Son to him; You infuse Your Spirit; You promise him the sight of Your countenance. And, that no being in heaven may rest from the work of caring for us, You send those blessed spirits to minister to us; You assign them to watch over us; You bid them be our guardians.

‘He has given His angels charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.’ What reverence this saying should instill in you; what devotion it should stir up; what trust it should inspire. Reverence for their presence; devotion on account of their loving care; trust in their protection. They are present, and present to you, not merely accompanying you, but watching over you. They are present in order to protect you, in order to help you. Nevertheless, though it is He who gave them this charge, we should not be ungrateful to them, for they obey with such love and help us in such great need.

Let us then be devoted and grateful to such guardians; let us return their love and honor them as much as we can and ought. But let all our love and honor be referred to Him from whom alone both we and they derive whatever enables us to show love and honor, or become worthy of love and honor ourselves.

In Him, therefore, brethren, let us love His angels with sincere affection; they will be our co-heirs at some future time and in this present time are the guardians and trustees placed in charge of us by the Father. We are now children of God, though it does not yet appear, because being children of God though it does not yet appear, because being children still we are under guardians and trustees and in no different condition from slaves.

Though we are children and the road that lies ahead of us is so long, and not only long but dangerous, what have we to fear with such guardians? They cannot be vanquished, nor led astray, still less can they lead us astray; these beings who guard us in all of our ways. They are faithful, they are wise, they are powerful; what have we to fear? Let us but follow them and cling to them, and we shall abide in the shadow of the Almighty.

How will you apply this message to your life? Will you follow your guardian angel so that you can abide in His shadow?