Episode Transcript  

One

What we know about Guardian Angels

Today, October 2nd is the Feast of the Guardian Angels. What do we know about Guardian Angels? Angels are pure spirits. They are persons with no physical body, but real persons none the less. They are vastly superior to us in their intellect and their strength and power. Their primary task is to serve God and glorify him. Their secondary task is to guide and protect humans as we journey through this life to our home in heaven, while under the attack of the devil and his demons.

The Catechism (336) teaches that every human has his own special Guardian Angel from the moment of his conception. Think of this: an angel was sent from heaven the moment you were conceived in your mothers womb and charged with the mission of bringing you safe to heaven. He has waged a long and relentless battle on your behalf. And we…half the time we have acted as his ally and the other half as his enemy and the enemy of God.

Yet while we vacillate, He never waivers. He is our constant ally.

Two

Gemma Galganni and her Angel

God has given us such a truly awesome gift in a Guardian Angel, but we ignore them and live as if they didn’t exist and we squander all their help. The best way to take advantage of their help is by developing an intimate friendship with your Guardian Angel and the we do that by good conversation, by talking to them friend to friend.

St. Gemma Galganni saw her Guardian Angel with her eyes and touched him with her hand as if he were a being of this world and spoke with him as one friend would with another. I want to share with you the kinds of conversations she had with her Angel to help you develop a friendship with your angel.

She spoke to him this way, “Tell me, my Angel, what was the matter this morning with the confessor who was so very serious that he would not listen to me? And will the Father write to me from Rome, and when, in answer to the letter I wrote him, asking him how I should act in a certain case? And that sinner for whom I am striving, tell me dear Angel, when will Jesus convert him for me? And what answer should I give that person who has come to ask my advice? And what do you think of me? Is Jesus contented with me, or what must I do to keep Him so?”

She made known to him her own wants and those of others. In her sufferings she asked him for help. She charged him to lay several matters before the throne of God, before Mary and her Patron Saints by speaking with him and by giving him written letters closed and sealed in envelopes for them, with a request to bring her back the answers in time; and those letters, as a matter of fact, disappeared.

Three

Angelic Accountability

Our guardian angel is a witness to all our words and actions. Listen to what St. Gemma Galgani told Fr. Germano, “My Angel is a little severe, but I am glad of it. … Yesterday while at table I raised my eyes and saw the Angel looking at me with a severity that would frighten one. Later when I went to rest a little, O my God, how angry he was! I looked at him but lowered my eyes immediately. ‘Art thou not ashamed,’ he said, ‘to commit faults in my presence?’”

“I had not courage to say a word to him, for whenever I raised my eyes he was looking at me with severity.'“

“Yesterday evening I found it impossible to go to sleep, and at last about two o’clock I saw him approach; he put his hand on my forehead, saying: ‘Sleep, my poor child,’ and disappeared.”

Her angel corrected her, but he also came to comfort her. He loved her and wanted to help her become holy.

Fr. Germano tells us that when her angel asked why she loved him, Gemma answered, “Because you teach me to be good, and to keep humble, and to please Jesus.” Now, that is a good friend, someone who loves you enough to tell you when you’re going wrong and helps you do what is right.

Your guardian angel wants to help you turn away from sin, grow in virtue, and get to heaven. So welcome his help, even when it means correction.

Four

Witness to all our deeds

In her diary St Faustyna writes of her experience of an angel accompanying her.

On the evening before she departed from Vilnius she had a profound experience of God’s presence enveloping her like a child in the hands of the best of Fathers and she heard these words, “Do not fear anything, I am always with you.” Then she saw that God had sent an angel to go with her.

She writes, “I constantly saw him beside me when I was riding on the train. I saw an angel standing on every church we passed, but surrounded by a light which was paler than that of the spirit who was accompanying me on the journey, and each of these spirits who were guarding the churches bowed his head to the spirit who was near me. When I entered the convent gate at Warsaw, the spirit disappeared. I thanked God for His goodness, that He gives us angels for companions. Oh, how little people reflect on the fact that they always have beside them such a guest, and at the same time a witness to everything! Remember, sinners, that you likewise have a witness to all your deeds.” Diary 630

Five

Develop a Friendship with Your Guardian Angel

The best way to respond to the great gift God has given you is to build a friendship with your guardian angel. Remember, friendship grows through shared activity and good conversation. So invite your angel into everything you do, and talk to him about it, out loud or silently. Angels and demons do not naturally know your secret thoughts. But you can speak to your guardian angel silently by deliberately addressing him in your mind. Simply thinking, “I have this big project, or this difficult conversation to deal with” is different from saying to him inwardly, “My angel, I need you’re your help with this or that—please help me.” Share your concerns, struggles, and joys. Ask for help, guidance, and protection. And don’t forget to thank him.

Appendix

Naming your angel: Some people want to give their guardian angel a name. But the Church’s Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, §217, states: “The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged,” making an exception for Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, whose names appear in Scripture. Simply call him “my guardian angel.” You do not need to know his name to build a friendship with him—to love him, speak with him, and welcome his help.

Recycled?

With billions of people, are guardian angels “recycled”?

There is no reason to imagine a shortage of angels. Aquinas teaches that their number vastly exceeds the multitude of material things (Summa Theologiae I, q. 50, a. 3). The view that each guardian angel is assigned to only one human being is a theological opinion, so we should distinguish it from established Church teaching.

What Aquinas clearly teaches is that God’s care for us is personal: individual angels are appointed to guard individual people. And he gives us a beautiful thought about heaven: when our earthly journey is complete, we will have an angel to reign with us (I, q. 113, aa. 2, 4).

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