The Guardian Angels
[The Feast of the Guardian Angels was on Sunday. I would like to have reposted this entry then, but due to circumstances could not.]
THE knowledge that distinct and individual angels watch over human beings has existed for thousands of years. Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, said: “He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub) of grace to go at my side; in everything that I did, he made my work to succeed.”
In the Bible this doctrine is clearly discernible and its development is well marked. In Genesis 28-29, angels not only act as the executors of God’s wrath against the cities of the plain, but they deliver Lot from danger; in Exodus 12-13, an angel is the appointed leader of the host of Israel, and in 32:34, God says to Moses: “my angel shall go before thee.” At a much later period we have the story of Tobias, which might serve for a commentary on the words of Psalm 90:11: “For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways.” (Cf. Psalm 33:8 and 34:5) Lastly, in Daniel 10 angels are entrusted with the care of particular districts; one is called “prince of the kingdom of the Persians”, and Michael is termed “one of the chief princes”; cf. Deuteronomy 32:8 (Septuagint); and Ecclesiasticus 17:17 (Septuagint). (Source)
This knowledge of angelic presences grew through the ages through the aid of divine revelation and apparitions, such as that of the Guardian Angel of Portugal who appeared to the children of Fatima 100 years ago and the Guardian Angel who appeared to Tundale the 12th century Irish knight after he fell into unconsciousness. Tundale was never the same again.

Angels, far more intelligent than human beings, are pure spirit and can travel as speedily as our thoughts. They number in the millions, both on earth and in heaven, where they ceaselessly adore God. They may be the best of friends but most don’t know it. With this in mind, we should rely less on our own powers and seek the protection and intercession of these holy friends. “The providence of God, always infinitely wise, infinitely holy, and infinitely gracious, vouchsafes to employ superior created beings in the execution of his will in various dispensations towards other inferior creatures.” (Butler’s Lives of the Saints)
From by Fr. Paul O’Sullivan’s book All About the Angels (TAN, 1945): (more…)


