Both in the Old and in the New Testaments the Holy Scriptures teach us
that the angels exist and protect us: many examples are cited and facts
related, from which we may conclude that this is so. True, we do not see
the angels, and rare are the actual manifestations of their power, or
their existence; hence some people deny that order of spirits.
But by a merciful dispensation of divine Providence, we know that the
angels are active among us, that they shield us from evil, and draw
heavenly favors upon us. They are ever ready to serve God; there are also
spirits who care for each individual on earth—guardian angels.
Suarez is of opinion that Our Lord, in His adorable humanity, had a number
of angels to wait on Him. Our guardian angel does his work not less
effectively, for Our Lord tells us to be in dread of scandalizing a child,
because of his angel who is always at his side.
At the time of the birth of Our Lord a multitude of the heavenly choir
sang, “Glory to God on high, and peace to men of good‐will.” During this
month we celebrate the feast of the angel guardian; it has been considered
so important that the whole month is set aside to the devotion of the
angels. The Church encourages us in this devotion, for in the breviary she
has authorized a votive office in honor of these heavenly spirits, on
every Monday when there is no special festival to be celebrated, so that
we may be continually reminded of the great truth that our guardian angel
is always at our side.
Considerations and Prayers for Every Day.
First Day.
The name angel means a messenger; this name is given to these spirits
because they have been used by almighty God for that duty; they have been
sent by God to disclose His will to man. God could, of course, do His will
by His own power. He needs no angel, but for that matter He needs no
creature. Still, in His infinite kindness, He called rational creatures
into existence, and has given them a most honorable employment. Their
ordinary work is like what our own will be, or like that of the saints now
in heaven: “to see, love, bless, and enjoy God forever by a blessed
immortality.” Penetrate, then, in your mind, the eternity of time, when
God in His love created pure rational creatures, who had a spirit like His
own, intelligence unencumbered with a body, and having no necessities. He
placed them near His throne in heaven, and now they announce in their
celestial adornments the omnipotence, love, and wisdom of their almighty
Creator. They sing perpetually of the sanctity of God, and render Him
glory. “Holy, holy, holy, is the Lord God of armies.” Hence the Council of
Lateran teaches authoritatively, “God created together, at the beginning
of time, out of nothing, both classes of creatures, spiritual and
corporal, the angelic and material, and then the human.”
Prayer.
O angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom His love commits me here.
Ever this day be at my side,
To light, to guard, to rule, and guide.
Second Day.
God, says the great preacher Bossuet, wished to create spirits like
Himself, pure and immaterial, living by intelligence and love. Spirits
that would know and love Him as He knows Himself and loves Himself, and
who would be happy in simply knowing and loving this first great Being.
For that very reason they bear on their natures a divine character, after
God’s image and likeness. O God, who can doubt that Thou could create
spirits without a body? or is there need of a body that one might
understand, love and be happy? Thou, O God, Who art Thyself a pure spirit,
art Thou not incorporal and immaterial? Are not intelligence and love
spiritual and immaterial operations, which can be exercised without a
body? The creation of the angels, then, was a manifestation of God’s
omnipotence, as it is also omnipotence to call human individuals into
existence, and to give them knowledge, so that they can serve and glorify
God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Third Day.
The angels are part of the universal creation outside of God, and were
created in the beginning of time. St. Thomas, the great theologian, says
“The angels are a part of the universal creation, and form a regular grade
in that creation.” Now no part can be perfect when separated from its
belongings, and we are sure God’s works are perfect; but the angelic world
would have stood by itself, separated and isolated from the rest of
creation, if it had been made before the sensible world. The number of
angels is very great. God did not stint Himself in giving lavishly of His
benefits. These pure spirits inhabit space, and move about in choirs of
immense numbers. “Thousands upon thousands ministered to Him, and ten
thousand times a hundred thousand stood before Him.”—Dan. vii. 10. These
figures certainly point to an almost infinite number. Count if you can the
sands on the seashore, the stars in the firmament, and when you think you
have reached a definite calculation, you are far below the real existing
number. God pours out lavishly the abundance of His omnipotence and love.
Prodigality is a characteristic of all the divine works. We cannot
meditate on the countless multitude of the angels without astonishment.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Fourth Day.
God has not made all the angels alike. We know from the Scriptures that
there are distinctions which we do not exactly understand. Some are
angels, others archangels, others dominations, virtues, etc. St. Jerome
writes, “Among the invisible creatures there is a manifold and an
indefinite diversity.” It is natural to suppose that not only did God
exert His omnipotence in the production of myriads of beautiful spirits,
not only did He make them the most perfect of their kind for the purpose
for which they were intended, but that He also diversified them. God
almighty not only gave these intellectual beings existence, but He also
gave them a knowledge by which, with their own intelligence, they could
rise to a most exalted contemplation of His infinity. What glory do not
these intelligent beings bring to God’s throne! What beautiful homage do
they not pour forth in His presence! What exultation there must be in
their study of God, constantly discovering something new and unnoticed,
going deeper and deeper into the depths of the wonders of God! Let us also
rejoice with the angels, and love to study the adorable perfections of
God: let us be fond of reading of and hearing about God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Fifth Day.
The angels speak to one another, and their conversation is concerning holy
things. The Scriptures tell us that the seraphim cry “one to another,
Holy, holy, holy, the Lord God of hosts.”—Isa. vi. 3. The angels also
speak to God in prayer and adoration; they praise His power, they extol
His majesty, they beseech His clemency, they consult His wisdom. And they
can also speak to men, as the archangel Gabriel did to Mary. Faber tells
us, in wonderful words, what he thought of the power of the angels: “Cast
your eye over that outspread ocean, whose shores lie so faintly and far
off in the almost infinite distance. It gleams like restless silver,
quivering with life, and yet such multitudinous life! It flashes the light
with intolerable magnificence. Its unity is numberless, its life is purest
light. Into the bosom of its vastness the glory of God shines down, and
the universe is illuminated with its refulgence. It is an ocean of life.
Who can count the sum of being that is there? Who but God can fathom its
unsearchable caverns? What created eye but is dazzled with the blazing
splendor of its capacious surface? Grand storms of voiceless praise hang
over it forever, whose very silence thrills the soul of the human saints.”
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Sixth Day.
The power of the angels is immense. The Scriptures tell us that they
destroyed Sodom and Gomorrah, by raining fire and brimstone upon them.
They destroyed the army of Sennacherib, when every soldier felt the keen
edge of the angel’s sword; they strangled the first‐born of the Egyptian
people in one night. The devil, by permission from God, raised storms that
tore down the houses in which Job’s sons and daughters were feasting,
burying all in the ruins. He afflicted Job with a most filthy disease, and
robbed him of all his possessions to try to make him revolt against God.
When Our Lord freed those who were possessed by the devil, the evil spirit
asked to be permitted to enter a herd of swine, and when it had received
the permission the swine rushed headlong down the hill into the sea and
were destroyed. If then, the power of these spirits is so great for evil,
the angels are more powerful for good. We will be friends with our good
angels whom God has sent to perform favors for us—favors both temporal and
spiritual; we will hate the devil, and with the help of God’s grace resist
his power.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Seventh Day.
The angelic world is most beautiful. St. Augustine says in his “City of
God,” “The angelic world in its natural dignity surpasses all other things
the Lord has made. Consider this intelligence by which they know so many
things so perfectly, the great power by which they can do good to their
fellow‐creatures, the brightness of those wonderful spirits shining like
the glorious luminaries of our universe, the wonderful gifts which
almighty God furnished them, and we have a picture of such harmonious
glory that all the beauty of the world, all the magnificent actions of the
human kind, dwindle into insignificance before this great creation of
angelic spirits.” In Ezechiel we read of the admirable beauty of the devil
that had fallen: “Thou wast the seal of resemblance, full of wisdom, and
perfect in beauty. Thou wast in the pleasures of the paradise of God:
every precious stone was thy covering ... gold the work of thy beauty: ...
Thou wast a cherub stretching out thy wings and covering, and I set thee
in the holy mountain of God, thou hast walked in the midst of the stones
of fire. Thou wast perfect in thy ways from the day of thy creation, until
iniquity was found in thee.”—Ezech. 12‐15. And Isaias the prophet
exclaimed with regret at the fall of Lucifer, “How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, who didst arise as the morning.”
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Eighth Day.
Faber speaks in the following terms of the rational creatures of God,
including men and angels: “God became a King by becoming a Creator. Thus
He gained an empire over which His insatiable love might rule.” Nature is
very beautiful, whether we think of angelic or human nature. Created
nature is a shadow of the uncreated nature, so real and so bright that we
cannot think of it without exceeding reverence. Yet God created neither
men nor angels in a state of nature. This is, to my mind, the most
wonderful and most suggestive thing which we know about God. He would have
no reasonable nature, even from the very first, which should not be
partaker of His divine nature. This is the very meaning of the state of
grace. He would not have it to breathe for one instant in a merely natural
way. The very act of creation was full of fondness, of paternal jealousy.
O that majesty of God, which seems clothed with such wonderful
tranquillity in the eternity before the creation!
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Ninth day.
Not only do the angels praise almighty God, pray to Him, and converse with
Him, but they do it much more effectually than we do because of their
greater purity, and because they know God better than we do. Hence the
question might be asked, what do the angels know of God, and of religion
as it is among us? The answer is that they know what we know, and much
more; still there are some things too great because too infinite, even for
the intelligence of angels. Can the angels understand God? No, indeed. God
is infinite, and no finite mind can comprehend Him. They know that God is
one, because even we, in our inferior intelligence, know that there can be
but one God; they know too, that there are three divine persons, but it
will ever remain a mystery to them as well as to us, because it is a truth
of such infinite dimensions; but they understand it much more distinctly
than we do. It is probable that the angels knew the mystery of the
incarnation by divine revelation, and they believed in it. St. Thomas and
other theologians are of opinion that the bad angels fell because they
would not submit to the belief in the hypostatic union. It was therefore
fitting, for the glory and honor of the Son of God, Who was to be made
flesh, that the angels should know this mystery.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Tenth Day.
Father Faber speaks thus of their knowledge of the precious blood during
their term of probation: “The angels wonder more than man at the goodness
of God in sending us His divine Son to die for us, because they understand
it better. From the very first He invited the angels to adore it. He made
their adoration a double exercise of humility—of humility towards Himself,
and of humility towards us, their fellow‐creatures. It was the test to
which He put their loyalty. He showed them His beloved Son, the Second
Person of the Blessed Trinity, in His sacred humanity, united to a nature
lower than theirs, and in that lower nature crowned their King and Head,
to be worshipped by them with absolute and unconditional adoration. The
Son of a human Mother was to be their head, and that daughter of Eve to be
herself their Queen. He showed them in that blood the source of all their
graces.” The precious blood was as the dew of the whole kingdom of the
angels. Well, then, may the angels claim to sing the song of the Lamb: to
Whose outpoured human life they also owed so much.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Eleventh Day.
The angels merited the crown of a happy eternity in union with God: “For
he also, that striveth for the mastery, is not crowned except he striveth
lawfully.”—Tim. ii. 5. Such is the law of God, not only for men but for
angels also. Pope Gelasius says, “That the angels were so constituted as
to merit an increase of eternal glory, is sufficiently indicated by the
fact that they stood in need of nothing more, that none of them could have
committed evil.” And St. Prosper says of their trial, “It was the action
of the will of the holy angels, that while their companions with their own
free will rebelled, they themselves remained faithful in the dignity
wherein God had placed them; and hence it came to pass by a divine and
most just judgment, that what was only up to that a holy desire of
remaining with God, became thereafter a voluntary and a most blessed
necessity of remaining with Him forever.” We too should strive continually
to merit our crown in heaven; we are placed on trial here on this earth, a
place of pilgrimage, and we should remain faithful to the conditions of
that trial until our journey is over.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twelfth Day.
Almighty God loved His angels, and made them His friends and favorites.
The Blessed Virgin is placed above them all, as the Church on the day of
her assumption proclaims: “She is exalted above the choirs of angels in
the heavenly kingdom.” Here we have to adore the liberality of almighty
God, and the mysterious and adorable way in which He distributes His
gifts. He fashions the angels in a natural order, and endows them with
greater natural perfections than others. Next He raises them in the first
instant of creation to the supernatural order by the gift of sanctifying
grace. Then comes the time of probation, and He confirms the good forever
in glory, bestows on them the beatific vision, happiness, enlightenment,
and splendor according to their acts, but still more in proportion to the
natural powers, dignity, and excellence of His own divine hand. Here
indeed is the potter and the potter’s clay spoken of by St. Paul. To man
God acts differently: “But the foolish things of the world hath God chosen
that He may confound the wise: and the weak things of the world hath God
chosen, that He may confound the strong ... that no flesh should glory in
His sight.”—2 Cor. i. 27‐29.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Thirteenth Day.
Oh, what a glory, what a happiness and consolation, were granted to the
angels when they had done the will of God! God received His faithful
followers with goodness and love, and introduced them into His place of
glory, and there He manifested Himself to them and will do so for all
eternity. And so the beautiful life of the angels in heaven may furnish us
with ample materials for meditation. Our Lord calls our attention to them
when He bids us pray that we may do His will on earth, as do the angels in
heaven. Faber says, “Grace is a better portion than nature for loving God;
by grace God can communicate Himself to us supernaturally, by it He gets
more love from us, and makes us more able to love Him. O that we had the
hearts to know the meaning of this! Surely His love of us should be our
measure of love for Him. Well might St. Francis run about the woods crying
out, ‘Oh, God is not known! God is not loved!’ ” The angels will ever
remain in heaven, loving and honoring God, in supreme happiness, in the
infinite light of God Himself. Let us also, as some saints have done,
offer to God the love of the first choir of seraphim in reparation for all
the outrages going on in the world.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Fourteenth Day.
We have seen the great reward the good angels received for remaining
faithful to God. What did the bad angels lose by their infidelity? It was
to them a final impenitence, which means the loss of the power of ever
turning to God; which will in its turn be an eternal regret at the loss of
God. Listen to the sentence of the reprobate: “Depart from Me, ye
accursed, into everlasting flames, which was prepared for Satan and his
angels.” In Holy Scripture we often read of the worm that gnaws and dies
not; by this is meant the continual anguish and grief of a soul which has
lost God—a passionate regret that will seize on it, and never leave it,
because the loss is an everlasting one. God spoke, and the depths of hell
sprang into existence. Bossuet says that the curse of God against the
reprobate contains within itself an imprecation against the unhappy soul,
which tears out from the minutest fibres of its being all the capacity it
once had to receive enjoyment from bliss, as well as the power to perform
the least good action capable of meriting any mercy. This example of the
fall of the angels should strike terror into our hearts, and should incite
us to pray to the good angels, especially to our guardian angel, so that
we may ever remain faithful to the service of God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Fifteenth Day.
It is an inexhaustible subject, the marvels which theology teaches of the
holy angels; who can properly describe the power of these pure spirits,
the greatness of their intelligence, the fire of their holy love? Their
graces, their powers, their gifts, their operations, their works, are so
diversified that it is with difficulty the mind of man can conceive them
and intelligibly speak of them. In several places in the Scriptures we
read of the choirs of angels, archangels, principalities, powers, virtues,
dominations, thrones, cherubim, seraphim. Dionysius teaches that there are
three orders of angels—three superior, three inferior and three middle:
the superior, cherubim, seraphim, and thrones; the middle, dominations,
principalities, and powers; the inferior, virtues, archangels and angels.
These names are given to them, not for their own sake but for ours; and
the individual orders are called from the gifts of grace which they
possess. O that we realized that our future eternity is to be with the
angels in heaven; that our glory depends on our life here; greater glory
for greater work! We should strive to deserve a great place in heaven for
the glory of God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Sixteenth Day.
The angels are engaged in praising and loving God; what this really
includes who can tell?—or it means a variety of occupation and the
greatest liberty of using their free will for the glory of God. The angels
occupy themselves according to the meaning of their names. God, in His
relations to Himself, is represented by seraphim, cherubim and
thrones—angels that are devoted to His service particularly; who rejoice
not so much in doing their own will, as they are happy in the close
association with the splendor of God in heaven. A seraph is a great, pure
angel, who shines and burns in honor of God. He represents the love of
God; that great love for His creatures which is forever active in our
behalf. The seraphs are put in the highest place, as created
representations of that wonderful attribute, the charity of God for
Himself. The cherubim are placed second; they represent knowledge and
wisdom: “He was the true light, which enlighteneth every man that cometh
into this world.” This is Jesus, the Second Person of the Blessed Trinity,
represented by the cherubim. The thrones represent God in His majesty,
sitting on His throne of glory in heaven.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Seventeenth Day.
Thus we may say that the seraphim represents the Holy Ghost; the cherubim,
the Word, the Son of God; the thrones, the Father. These choirs of angels
are in the immediate presence of God. They are before His throne, and they
see Him day and night in His temple: “and He that sitteth on the throne
shall dwell over them.” M. Olier says: “The seraphim proceed from God, as
flames proceed from a furnace, and their circle surround Him as with a
fiery blaze.” The cherubim are the rays of the divine wisdom, and are, so
to say, the eyes of God, under which He seems to regard Himself, and all
the external world. The thrones are the image of His sanctity. This
hierarchy expresses the three great perfections which we adore in God,
namely: His love, His knowledge, and His holiness. These typify also those
beautiful operations of grace whereby God draws to Himself intelligent
beings; by detaching them from creatures and attaching them to Himself,
enlightening them interiorly by His heavenly wisdom, so that they freely
follow the guidance of God, and making His throne in their hearts, in
their affections, abides there forever.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Eighteenth Day.
Let us consider to‐day the angels of the second choir. They are the
dominations, principalities and powers. Again their names are given to
them for the virtues they represent, and not from their angelic nature.
The three choirs of the first hierarchy were typical of the essential acts
of God. The three of the second represent the external acts of God. The
dominations represent the power of God. He is the absolute Lord of the
universe; He is the Creator, the Maker, and therefore the possessor of all
that is. The principalities govern the world, under God, and according to
His divine providence. “By Me kings reign, and lawgivers decree just
things.” Hence the duty of this choir of angels is to praise God for the
wisdom displayed in His ruling and legislating of the external creation.
The angels of power put the laws of God into execution. They reward and
punish; they are the representatives of executive power. They praise God
in the power manifested in the carrying out of the laws impressed on the
material and spiritual world. Should we not learn from these angels to
praise the Almighty in all He has done?
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Nineteenth Day.
The third choir of the hierarchy of the angels are the virtues,
archangels, and angels. The virtues are the first of these, and represent
the acts of God towards individuals. Those works of God which surpass the
power of man, such as miracles, or inward movements of grace, are
performed by the virtues of the Most High; they hold an intermediate
station between heaven and earth. Archangels are the great messengers,
whom God has sent to His intelligent creation. The name is given because
the goodness and kindness of God have distinguished them from the myriads
of other angels, and given them an office, that of bearing to men the
words of God; they also carry the prayers of the faithful on earth, and
lay them before God’s throne in heaven; and they are sent to conduct souls
to the portals of heavenly bliss. The archangels have the duty of
protecting the Church; those who occupy high positions in the Church or
State are said to be under the guidance of an archangel. In this manner
the higher grade of archangels represents the higher degree of providence
shown by God towards individuals. Let us unite ourselves with the choir of
the archangels and praise God in them—those glorious spirits, that have so
perfectly conveyed God’s messages to men.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twentieth Day.
It is a belief which we may prove from the Scriptures, which is
corroborated by many facts in the history of the world, and by the belief
of ancient people, that God governs the world, even the natural world,
through the agency of spirits; to each of whom He was pleased to depute
certain offices. He made use of the good angels to maintain order in
general, to watch over empires, to protect men, to carry His blessings to
them, and to be the executives of His justice. Everywhere Scripture
recalls this wonderful ministry of the angels; and there is not an epoch
of time in which such a tradition did not exist. We read in the Gospel
that Our Lord Himself was tempted by the devil, the fallen angel. Our
blessed Lord teaches us that little children are dearer to Him than they
are to their own mothers, and He has appointed angels to be their
guardians. So great is a human soul in the eyes of God. We have to
struggle not alone against flesh and blood, but against principalities and
powers, against those who have dominion in this world, and against evil
spirits scattered in the air. But in this struggle we shall be assisted by
the good spirits, whom God commissions to look after His beloved
creatures.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐first Day.
In the book of the Apocalypse, we read of the activity of the angels. We
see them coming from heaven to earth; they bring down from almighty God
orders for salvation as well as for punishment; hence the angels are
called ministering spirits, sent for the ministry of our salvation.
Especially may we conceive that in the service of the Church the angels
are particularly active—that there are angels who intervene in the
oblation, and bear it to the sublime altar of Jesus Christ, angels who are
called angels of prayer, and who present before God the petitions of the
faithful. St. Michael is the defender of the Church. The ancient Jewish
people were protected by St. Michael, also. Other nations had their
superior spirits, which are mentioned in the Scriptures as protectors; for
the prophet Daniel speaks of the prince of the Greeks, the prince of the
Persians, angels who preside spiritually and invisibly over these nations.
Are we not also important as a nation, in the designs of God? Whom has God
appointed over the affairs of our country? We know there is such a spirit;
let us pray to him even without knowing him, for we are sure that our
prayers will reach the one appointed by God to protect us.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐second Day.
To each man an angel is appointed for his care: this we can prove from the
Scriptures. “Their angels in heaven always see the face of My Father Who
is in heaven.”—Matt. xviii. 10. St. Paul says, “Are they not all
ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the
inheritance of salvation?”—Heb. i. 14. Fallen man needed some help, and
almighty God entrusted him to the care of the angels. Even God’s power,
God’s wisdom, and God’s mercy demand it. First of all, the power of God
demanded that the angels should not only serve Him, but serve His glory in
His creatures. God’s wisdom demanded that each human being coming into the
world should receive a guardian; for the devil has great power over us,
and we would not be able to battle against the devil or the flesh without
help. God desires to preserve His work: hence God’s mercy moves Him in
favor of the fallen or those in danger of a fall, like unto a mother full
of tenderness for her children. God gave His only Son for the redemption
of mankind; precious, indeed, then, is this human soul, if worthy to be
purchased by the blood of the Lamb; certainly precious enough, too, to be
guarded with care by a superior intelligence.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐third Day.
Not only the just, but also sinners, have guardian angels. Indeed it would
appear that sinners and infidels need them more, for the sinner is so
wayward, and yet God in His kindness wishes to bring him back to good
ways, and so the gentle persuasion of a guiding spirit is necessary. The
Scriptures do not limit the attendance of the guardian angels to those
only who are in a state of grace; therefore it is likely that even after
sin the ministering angel remains. While we are good we hardly need the
presence of a good spirit; it is when we have turned to evil that we need
that precious guide. The belief that a guardian angel attends us ought to
impress itself deeply on our minds; we are never alone, we are taken care
of by the ministers of God Our Father, and we have nothing to fear. Even
though the world has turned against us, and we are surrounded by trouble
on all sides, we are sure that this angel will bring comfort to us.
Children should be taught from their early childhood that a guardian angel
attends them; it will have a very good effect in shaping their lives.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐fourth Day.
The guardian angels have certain duties to perform, and we can put them
down in this wise. First, the angel guardian defends us from all evil. He
can put thoughts into our minds which will put us on our guard against
sin. Second, the angels oppose the cunning of the devil, who wants to
destroy us. The devil argues in a very crafty manner, and unless we are
strengthened by the love and the goodness of God we would be led astray by
the devil’s superior intelligence. But our guardian angel brings light to
the mind, and holds the soul in the desire of good. Third, they offer our
prayers to almighty God, as we read in the Apocalypse, “There was given to
[the angel] much incense, ... and the smoke of the incense of the prayers
of the saints, ascended up before God, from the hand of the angel.” Our
angel intercedes for us with God with a personal and special interest, and
we, on account of our great sinfulness, need an angel to help us to obtain
grace and mercy from almighty God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐fifth Day.
We do most assuredly deserve punishment from God, because we do not behave
ourselves as we should; like a naughty child, who, notwithstanding good
advice and most tender interest, will go wrong, be obstinate and sulky.
The good mother chastises the child in the same manner the spirit of God
shows his disapprobation, in a gentle manner, for the angel of light would
not resort to force, as the demon does in his attacks. We ought to be glad
that we have a spirit of wisdom about us that will tell us of our sins;
that excites the qualms of conscience, and will give us no rest until we
make our peace with God. We often turn a deaf ear to the entreaties of the
good spirit; we trample our conscience under foot and abuse it, bring up
reasons to combat its correction: we argue with ourselves in obstinacy,
and being left alone, who will gain the victory? The devil and our evil
inclinations will gain the day assuredly. Docility to the interior voice
is a necessary quality for a good life; to listen to God and spiritual
influences ought to be, to say the least, the very natural consequence of
a rational soul, tending to God with all its power.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐sixth Day.
The influence of the angels in bringing us to heaven should be marvellous
for that purpose. They have been assigned to our service, to bring our
wandering spirits back to God. What a glorious conquest when an angel can
snatch a soul from eternal perdition by his prayers and exertions! If the
devil is active to gain us, would it not be against reason that the good
angel would stand back and remain inactive? The last hours of a man, his
judgment, and entrance into heaven, are the moments of the great and final
duties of the guardian spirits; and if the soul be detained in purgatory,
then the duty of the angel will be to offer the prayers of friends,
relatives and of the Church to almighty God for the good of that soul. And
perhaps by the kind possibility of the mercy of God, the angel will
descend into the fires of purgatory and will speak consoling, comforting,
and encouraging words to the soul whose greatest torment is the separation
from God for a time, until its purgation is complete.
Prayer.
O angel of God. etc., etc.
Twenty‐seventh Day.
St. Bonaventure has written extensively on the holy angels, and has
meditated on their ways. It was a useful practice to him and helped to
sanctify him. He gives us twelve effects consequent to the duty of taking
care of us, which these angel guardians manifest and perform. First, they
accuse of sin, as we read in Judges ii. 1. Second, they absolve from the
debt of sin by inspiring sorrow in the soul, and a firm purpose of
amendment. Third, they remove the obstacles that stand in the way of doing
good; for the angels strangled the first‐born of the Egyptians, who
opposed the going away of the Israelites. Fourth, they drive away demons,
as is related in the twelfth chapter, of Tobias. Fifth, they teach us in
matters of religion. Sixth, they reveal the secrets of God to us. “Can I
hide from Abraham what I am about to do?”—Gen. xviii. 17. Seventh, they
console us. Eighth, they strengthen us in the way of God. Ninth, they
convey and bring back, as we read in Tobias, “I will conduct him thither
and bring him back to thee.” Tenth, they overthrow our enemies.—Is.
xxxvii. Eleventh, they mitigate the violence of temptations. Twelfth, they
pray for us, and bear our prayers to God.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐eighth Day.
During this month we have thought of the nature of the angels, and their
work for human kind; now let us reflect on what we ought to do in return
for these attentions. Ought we let them pass, accept them as a matter of
course, and pay no attention to them? Many do this. Yet we owe them
something—how much, is left almost to our own generosity. We certainly owe
them friendship; they are our friends, and are solicitous for our welfare.
If I have a friend that does a great deal for me, supplies my wants, and
satisfies every wish of mine, I am certainly proud of his friendship, and
I will seek every opportunity to be in his company. So should we treat our
truest friends—our guardian angels. We should also reverence the angels,
because they are greater beings than we are; they are the favorites and
friends of God. Then we must have a devotion to them. This devotion we are
endeavoring to practice during the month of October.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Twenty‐ninth Day.
What goodness does not God evince in giving us angels to watch over us!
The princes of earth choose the most learned to train the heirs to the
crown; and God gives us guides full of wisdom, science, and purity. He has
deputed the princes of His court to watch over us. What high ideas we
should conceive of our dignity, then, and how we should realize that we
are called to great sanctity! Even a mother’s love cannot equal the
angels’, and when we go to heaven we will be astonished on reviewing their
services. St. Bernard exclaims, “O excess of goodness and love! O
admirable condescension! He has given His angels charge over us.” The
great God of heaven and earth has sent those elevated dignitaries of His
heavenly court to watch over us, poor miserable sinners. Why does He do
this? What can be His object in so caring for us? It is to His goodness
alone we owe all. Let us prove ourselves grateful, then, to Him and to His
holy angels, and may we one day join them in their songs of praise and
gladness!
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Thirtieth Day.
St. Bernard teaches that we ought to honor and respect our angels on
account of their excellence; to love them for their care of us, and to
have recourse to them in all our necessities. However weak or miserable we
may be, or however terrible the dangers that surround us, we should not
fear under the protection of such guardians. There is no better way of
securing the protection of the angels than by avoiding all sin, but
particularly mortal sin; for when we are at enmity with God they are ready
to exterminate us at His command. But they will ever prove faithful
friends to the servants of God. How can the angels help loving and aiding
those whom they know are dear to God? Our guardian angels often ward off
accidents that would cut us off unprepared; after interceding for us to
prevent God from calling us out of life, they try to make us bring forth
worthy fruits of penance. O holy angels, I entreat you to extend your
special care to me during the rest of my life, that I may live in God’s
friendship and die in His love.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Thirty‐first Day.
When the figure of this world shall have passed away, the angels will come
and call us to judgment; every human being will then rise again, and
hasten to the valley of Jehosaphat. The good will go to the right side,
the wicked to the left, the separation made by the angels. Then will the
Lord appear in the glory of heaven, surrounded by His angels, and the
judgment will take place. Happy shall we be if we are judged to be as pure
as the angels, and will ascend with them to paradise, ever to be
associated with them. Then will come our exceeding great reward; we shall
see God face to face for all eternity. We shall form choirs for the praise
of the Almighty, alternating with the angels. We shall know God, love Him,
rejoice in Him, and praise Him. Then, for the first time, we shall love
God above all things, our joy shall be without measure because we shall
have a particular joy for everything that is in God. We will praise God
with all our heart, with all our strength, with all our power, with all
our faculties. “Happy are they that live in Thy house, O Lord, for they
will praise Thee forever and ever.” Here youth never grows old; here there
is life that knows no end, beauty that never fades, love that never cools,
joy that never ceases. Let us then, while on earth, lead the life of
angels, be as pure as they, as obedient to God’s will as they, and pray to
them daily that they help us to this much‐desired perfection.
Prayer.
O angel of God, etc., etc.
Litany of the Holy Guardian Angel.
(_For Private Devotion Only._)
Lord, have mercy on us.
_Lord, have mercy on us._
Christ, have mercy on us.
_Christ, have mercy on us._
Christ, hear us.
_Christ, graciously hear us._
God the Father of heaven, _Have mercy on us_.
God the Son, Redeemer of the world, _Have mercy on us_.
God the Holy Ghost, _Have mercy on us_.
Holy Trinity, one God, _Have mercy on us_.
Holy Mary, Queen of angels, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my guardian, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my prince, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my monitor, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my counsellor, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my defender, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my steward, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my friend, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my negotiator, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my intercessor, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my patron, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my director, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my ruler, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my protector, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my comforter, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my teacher, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my shepherd, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my witness, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my helper, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my watcher, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my conductor, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my preserver, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my instructor, _Pray for us._
Holy Angel, my enlightener, _Pray for us._
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, _Spare us, O Lord!_
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, _Graciously hear us, O
Lord!_
Lamb of God, Who takest away the sins of the world, _Have mercy on us, O
Lord!_
Christ, hear us.
_Christ, graciously hear us._
_V._ Pray for us, O holy guardian angel,
_R._ That we may be made worthy of the promises of Christ.
_Let Us Pray._
Almighty, everlasting God, Who in the counsel of Thy ineffable goodness
hast appointed to all the faithful from their mother’s womb, a special
guardian angel of their body and soul; grant that I may love and honor him
whom Thou hast so mercifully given me, that protected by the bounty of Thy
grace, and by his assistance, I may merit to behold, with him and all the
angelic host, the glory of Thy countenance in the heavenly country. Who
livest and reignest world without end. Amen.
Special Prayers.
Prayer To The Guardian Angel.
Angel of God, who art my guardian, enlighten, guard, direct, and govern
me, who have been committed to thee by the supernal clemency. Amen.
Prayers To St. Michael, St. Gabriel, And St. Raphael.
Glorious St. Michael! prince of the heavenly host, protector of the
universal Church, defend us against all our enemies, visible and
invisible. Do not permit that we should ever fall under their tyranny.
St. Gabriel! thou who art justly called the strength of God, since thou
hast been chosen to announce to many the mystery of the incarnation, in
which the Almighty has displayed the power of His arms, make us know the
treasure contained in the person of the Son of God, and be our protector
with His august Mother.
St. Raphael! charitable guide of travellers, thou who, by divine virtue,
dost effect miraculous cures, deign to guide us in the pilgrimage of this
life, and heal the maladies of our souls and bodies. All ye orders of
blessed spirits, be our defenders and protectors during our life and at
the hour of our death. Amen.
Act Of Consecration To Our Guardian Angel.
Angel of God! prince of heaven, watchful guardian, faithful guide,
charitable pastor, I rejoice that God has created thee with so many
perfections; that He has sanctified thee by His grace, and crowned thee
with glory, after having persevered in His service. May God be praised
forever for all He has done for thee! Be thou blessed for all the good
thou hast procured me and my companions. I abandon to thee my body, soul,
memory, understanding, will, inclination, and senses. Govern all, dispose
of all, purify, enlighten, perfect all. Beg Our Lord to shed upon me and
my companions His abundant benedictions; that, persevering until death in
His grace, we may deserve to possess Him eternally with thee in glory.
Amen.
Prayer To The Holy Angels During The Month Of October.
O pure and happy spirits, whom the Almighty selected to become the angels
and guardians of men! we most humbly prostrate ourselves before you, to
thank you for the charity and zeal with which you execute this commission.
Alas! how many pass a long life without ever thanking that invisible
friend to whom they a thousand times owe its preservation! O charitable
guardians of those souls for whom Christ died! O burning spirits, who
cannot but love those whom Jesus eternally loved, permit us to address you
in behalf of all those committed to your care, and to implore for them
all, in general, a grateful sense of your many favors, and the grace to
profit by your charitable assistance. O angels of those happy infants, who
are as yet without spot before God, preserve their innocence, we earnestly
conjure you. Angels of youth, who are exposed to so many dangers, conduct
them in safety to the bosom of God, as Tobias was conducted back to his
father. Angels of those who are employed in the instruction of youth,
animate them with your zeal and love; teach them to emulate your purity
and incessant view of God, that they may worthily and successfully co‐
operate with the invisible guardians of their young charges. O angels of
the clergy, who have the eternal Gospel to preach, present their words,
their actions, and their intentions to God, and purify them in that fire
of love which consumes you. Angels of infidels, whom the true faith has
never enlightened, intercede for them; that, practising what they know,
they may at length discover the hidden secrets of the kingdom of God. O
angels of all those who, throughout the world, are deprived of religious
instruction, open for them some source of salvation; raise up some one to
break for them the bread of the Word. And you, O guardian angels of
sinners, charitable guides of those unhappy mortals, whose persistence in
sin would embitter even your unutterable joys were you not established in
the peace of God, oh, join us, we ardently beseech you, in imploring their
conversion. Angels of all those who at this moment struggle in the agonies
of death, strengthen, encourage and defend them against the attacks of
their infernal enemies. O faithful guides, holy spirits, ardent adorers of
the Divinity, guardian angels of all creatures! protect us all, teach us
to love, to pray, to combat on earth, and rather obtain for us instant
death than permit us to commit one mortal sin. Amen.