Whether the Angel Guardian Ever Forsakes a Man?
Objection 1: It would seem that the angel guardian sometimes forsakes
the man whom he is appointed to guard. For it is said (Jer. 51:9) in
the person of the angels: "We would have cured Babylon, but she is not
healed: let us forsake her." And (Isa. 5:5) it is written: "I will
take away the hedge"--that is, "the guardianship of the angels"
[gloss]--"and it shall be wasted."
Obj. 2: Further, God's guardianship excels that of the angels. But
God forsakes man at times, according to Ps. 21:2: "O God, my God,
look upon me: why hast Thou forsaken me?" Much rather therefore does
an angel guardian forsake man.
Obj. 3: Further, according to Damascene (De Fide Orth. ii, 3), "When
the angels are here with us, they are not in heaven." But sometimes
they are in heaven. Therefore sometimes they forsake us.
_On the contrary,_ The demons are ever assailing us, according to 1
Pet. 5:8: "Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about,
seeking whom he may devour." Much more therefore do the good angels
ever guard us.
_I answer that,_ As appears above (A. 2), the guardianship of the
angels is an effect of Divine providence in regard to man. Now it is
evident that neither man, nor anything at all, is entirely withdrawn
from the providence of God: for in as far as a thing participates
being, so far is it subject to the providence that extends over all
being. God indeed is said to forsake man, according to the ordering
of His providence, but only in so far as He allows man to suffer some
defect of punishment or of fault. In like manner it must be said that
the angel guardian never forsakes a man entirely, but sometimes he
leaves him in some particular, for instance by not preventing him
from being subject to some trouble, or even from falling into sin,
according to the ordering of Divine judgments. In this sense Babylon
and the House of Israel are said to have been forsaken by the angels,
because their angel guardians did not prevent them from being subject
to tribulation.
From this the answers are clear to the first and second objections.
Reply Obj. 3: Although an angel may forsake a man sometimes locally,
he does not for that reason forsake him as to the effect of his
guardianship: for even when he is in heaven he knows what is
happening to man; nor does he need time for his local motion, for he
can be with man in an instant.
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