The Holy Guardian Angels
This past Monday, we celebrated the Feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. The Church has taught from very early on that each one of us has been given a guardian angel to protect us while we journey through life on earth. We are not obligated to believe in guardian angels; the teaching is not part of Catholic doctrine and therefore is not necessary for salvation. But Sacred Scripture has many, many stories of people encountering angels! We ourselves might have experienced intercession that we believe came from our guardian angels.
What are angels? While human beings are spiritual and corporeal, angels are spiritual creatures only. God gave them the gifts of intelligence and a will. We are often aided by angels, physically and spiritually. They can protect us against fallen angels (demons) who seek our souls. St. Thomas Aquinas says, “the angels work together for the benefit of us all.” Furthermore, the Catechism says, “the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels,” (334).
As I mentioned, since the early Church, the position has been held that we each have a guardian angel. This tradition comes from sacred scripture. We know about the archangels, who are present in both the Old and New Testaments. The Catechism (332) brings up the angels who protect Lot (Genesis 19) and Hagar (Genesis 21:17). And Abraham was stopped from sacrificing Isaac by an angel (Genesis 22:11). The mother of Samson was visited by an angel in Judges 13. The prophet Elijah was woken from slumber by an angel, (1 Kings 19:5). Think, too, of Saints Peter and Paul, who both had experiences of an angel in Acts (Acts 12 - Peter; Acts 27:23 - Paul).
In the New Testament, Matthew, 18:10 reads, “see that you do not despise one of these little ones. For I say to you that in heaven their angels always see the face of the Father who is in heaven.” The early Church Fathers took this verse to indicate the gift of a guardian angel for each person. St. Jerome is credited with saying, “how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it.”
Finally, I write on the topic of naming a guardian angel. The Church is clear that this should simply not be practiced. To name something is to have authority over it. We don’t have authority over angels (they have authority over us) and as we are not the creators of angels, it is not fitting for us to name them. I think that God probably names the angels, so there is no need to name them in the first place.
Additionally, demons are cunning. If I name my angel, or try to discover my angel’s name, I might be opening myself up to spiritual danger by calling upon a spirit which I don't intend to, but nevertheless have made contact with. There is warfare in the spiritual realm and we must guard our souls. It is a realm of which we know very little and therefore we should not be meddling in it. The Church teaches that the only angels we know who are named are found in scripture: Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel.
While we don’t need to know our angel’s name, devotion to our angels is important! It is important to pray to our guardian angel. We can and should pray to the guardian angels of our loved ones, too.