unless stated otherwise.
The Holy Guardian Angels.
Feast Day 2 October.
Greater-Double.
White Vestments.
English: Archangel Michael
by Jacopo Vignali. 17th-Century.
Italiano: Jacopo Vignali,
San Michele Arcangelo
libera le anime del Purgatorio, (17th-Century).
Source: Giovanni Piccirillo (a cura di),
La Chiesa dei Santi Michele e Gaetano,
Becocci Editore, Firenze, 2006.
Author: sailko
(Wikimedia Commons)
The Holy Guardian Angels.
Artist: René de Cramer.
“Copyright Brunelmar/Ghent/Belgium”.
Used with Permission.
Illustration: UNA VOCE OF ORANGE COUNTY
This Feast, Solemnised by the Spaniards in the 16th-Century, was extended to the whole Church by Pope Paul V in 1608.
Pope Clement X, in 1670, appointed it to be kept on the first free day after the Feast of Saint Michael, namely 2 October.
The Angels, already in Glory, have for their mission to adore The Divinity (Introit, Offertory, Communion).
Wherefore, in the Preface, The Church makes us ask God to permit our voices to join with theirs in praising God. [“I have seen the Seraphim,” says Isaias, “they stood near The Sublime Throne, where Jehovah was seated: Their faces veiled, they cried out to one another: Holy, holy, holy, is The Lord God of Hosts, the whole Earth is full of His Glory.” (Isaias vi, 1-3.)]
But, as their name indicates, the Angels are also Messengers of Divine Commands (Offertory).
But, as their name indicates, the Angels are also Messengers of Divine Commands (Offertory).
The Holy Fathers teach that they (the Angels) preside over all Created Things, and Saint Paul declares “that their mission is to serve the future heirs of Salvation”.
This is why they are called Guardian Angels (Collect). It is generally thought that Kingdoms, Provinces, Families, Dioceses, Churches, Religious Communities, each have their Protecting Angel.
[In some Countries, they Celebrate The Feast of The Angel of The Nation. Saint Francis de Sales says that the Bishop, as such, has another Guardian Angel. Ezechiel says that The Angel of The Temple of Jerusalem had a writing case hanging down from his girdle (Ezech. 11). These Angels of The Churches, adds Saint Basil, write down our irreverences.]
That there is one Guardian Angel for each Just Man, there can be no doubt, and The Church applies to the Souls, that are under The New Law, what is written about the people under The Old Law: “I shall send My Angel to march before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you into the land which I have prepared for you” (Epistle). [Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Sixth Lesson at Matins.]
Our Guardian Angel has, for his mission, to protect us and defend us, in order that, under his protection, safe from the snares of the enemies of our Souls and from all adversities, we may reach The Promised Land of Eternal Life (Collect, Secret, Postcommunion).
This faithful companion deserves our gratitude and the Veneration due to one who already enjoys The Beatific Vision (Gospel).
It is to encourage us, to the habitual practice of this Devotion, that The Church instituted The Feast of The Guardian Angels.
Mass: Benedícite Dóminum.
Creed: Is said.
“Guardian Angel”.
By Pietro da Cortona (1656).
Galleria Nazionale d’Arte Antica, Rome.
Source/Photographer: Web Gallery of Art
(Wikimedia Commons)
This is why they are called Guardian Angels (Collect). It is generally thought that Kingdoms, Provinces, Families, Dioceses, Churches, Religious Communities, each have their Protecting Angel.
[In some Countries, they Celebrate The Feast of The Angel of The Nation. Saint Francis de Sales says that the Bishop, as such, has another Guardian Angel. Ezechiel says that The Angel of The Temple of Jerusalem had a writing case hanging down from his girdle (Ezech. 11). These Angels of The Churches, adds Saint Basil, write down our irreverences.]
English: Statue of a Guardian Angel
in The Parish Church of Saint Oswald,
Oberdrauburg, Austria.
Deutsch: Pfarrkirche St Oswald,
Oberdrauburg, Osterreiche: Schutzengel.
Photo: July 2008.
Author: JJ55
(Wikimedia Commons)
That there is one Guardian Angel for each Just Man, there can be no doubt, and The Church applies to the Souls, that are under The New Law, what is written about the people under The Old Law: “I shall send My Angel to march before you, to guard you on the way and to bring you into the land which I have prepared for you” (Epistle). [Saint Bernard of Clairvaux: Sixth Lesson at Matins.]
Our Guardian Angel has, for his mission, to protect us and defend us, in order that, under his protection, safe from the snares of the enemies of our Souls and from all adversities, we may reach The Promised Land of Eternal Life (Collect, Secret, Postcommunion).
This faithful companion deserves our gratitude and the Veneration due to one who already enjoys The Beatific Vision (Gospel).
It is to encourage us, to the habitual practice of this Devotion, that The Church instituted The Feast of The Guardian Angels.
Mass: Benedícite Dóminum.
Creed: Is said.
It is interesting, and perhaps Zephyrinus will agree, that one of the first acts of the quite stern, no-nonsense, lawyer- pope (he was a highly respected expert in jurisprudence), P. Paul V (Camilo Borghese, papal reign 1605-1621), was to institute the present “warmly comforting” feast of the Holy Guardian Angels. The Franciscan Order had long since maintained a special devotion to the Guardian Angels: S. Francis of Assisi often was said to have particularly preferred his church, “Santa Maria degli Angeli,” (“The Portiuncula”), —-where he “first heard the angels singing praises in the wood to the Blessed Virgin,” now a basilica situated in the valley below the mountain town of Assisi—-to all his other oratories, and in fact the Order had a feast special to the order instituted in 1500. The biographer, Friar Thomas of Celano, noted that Francis exceptionally taught his friars to gave a particular devotion to the Holy Angels, to invoke success on all their endeavors. (Part I, comment by Dante P)
ReplyDeleteThank You, Dante P, for your welcome Comment.
DeleteZephyrinus totally agrees that Pope Paul V was a very wise Priest to give us all this “warmly comforting” Feast.
Thank You, Guardian Angel. Stand with me, always, and protect me, I Pray.
(Part II) So many saints, notably S. Gemma Galvani, who constantly saw the physical presence of her guardian angel; S. John Vianney, who was said, as a devotion, “to hold the door” for his guardian angel to enter a room with him; and more recently Padre Pio, continually spoke to his guardian angel and urged his spiritual children to converse with their guardian angel for guidance in daily matters even if of the smallest concern.
ReplyDeleteSo, “Our Holy Guardian Angel, guide us this day.” -Comment by Dante P.
Again, a big Thank You to Dante P for this welcome Comment.
DeleteZephyrinus will now commence, whenever going into a room, to “hold the door open for a while”, to permit his Guardian Angel to enter the room with him and stand by him.
A wonderful “Aide-Mémoire” from Saint John Vianney (Curé d’Ars) to ensure that we never forget our Guardian Angel.
Plus, of course, always include a Thank You in your Daily Prayers to your Guardian Angel for watching over you.
Traditional Prayer to Obe’s Guardian Angel:
ReplyDeleteDear Angel at my side, my good and loyal friend, you have been with me since the moment I was born. You are my own personal guardian, given me by God as my guide and protector, and you will stay with me till I die.
He who created you and me gave me to you as your particular charge.
You assisted in great joy at my baptism, when I became part of the Mystical Body of Christ, and was made a member of the household of God and an heir of heaven. You saw the dangers that beset my path, and, if I sinned, it was in spite of you.
You envied me when Christ came to me in Holy Communion. Even though you probably were there among the angels that adored Him the night that He was born, you have not been able to receive Him as I can. O, help me to appreciate these gifts! Help me to realize, as you do, with every fiber of my being, that to serve Christ is to be a King! Help me steadfastly to avoid evil and do good and always guard my soul from sin.
Protect me as well from physical evils as I go about my daily work. You will be with me all my life, and at the hour of my death. Help me to face death bravely, patiently, with great love of God, knowing that it is only through death that I can come to Him in heaven!
Then, come with me to my Judge, and when the hour of my salvation comes, take me home to my Father, God. Amen.
-Note by Dante P
A wonderful Prayer to our Guardian Angel. Thank You, Dante P.
DeleteZephyrinus can personally attest to the incredible intervention by his Guardian Angel to preserve Zephyrinus in a most dangerous situation, for which he is eternally grateful to him.
Deo Gratias.