The Guardian Angels have been given to us, not only to protect us in times of danger and trial, but to pray and intercede for us at all times. They are our mediators and advocates with God.
Newsroom (October 4, 2022, 3:22 PM, Gaudium Press) While modern optimism, due to the obsessive mentality of the happy end, is very prone to think that in nothing there is struggle, difficulties and dangers, the Church, on the contrary, teaches us that this life is a combat sown with material and spiritual risks.
For this reason, Divine Providence disposed an Angel to watch over each one of us. And it did so with such generosity that there is also a heavenly guardian for each city and nation, besides the one who watches over the Holy Catholic Church itself, the Archangel St. Michael.
It is not improper to think that probably for groups, families of souls, societies, etc., there are also Guardian Angels, so that all beings are supported by an angelic spirit.
From these considerations follows a first lesson of supernatural character, which leads us to understand how wrong is the position, condemned by Don Chautard, of those who say: “I am very capable, intelligent, handsome, clever; because of this, as long as no great obstacles come my way, I need neither in my spiritual life nor in my material life the help of God. I take care by myself of what I need to do.”
Now, if the Most High has entrusted a heavenly entity to accompany and protect each one of us, it is because at every moment and for everything we do we need His help.
Distortions of a false piety
On the other hand, as a result of the conceptions of a false piety, in many paintings depicting the Guardian Angel in action there is always a child, vaguely implying that such protection is intended only for children. Therefore, only the latter believe in Angels, and an “emancipated” spirit, more “evolved”, does not believe in him or need his help.
I remember seeing a picture where there was a beautiful stream, with graceful little plants on its banks, and a chubby child, with a rosy complexion, looking as if she had recently got out of bed and been washed, frizzed and adorned. She passes over a bridge where there is a broken board on which she would put her foot, but the Guardian Angel behind her protects her.
One has the impression that this is the world of the little child’s imaginations, and indicates the state of mind with which she crosses the bridge. With great favor, one might think that the Guardian Angel does the same with adults. So, in order to avoid car disasters, illnesses, small accidents, etc., it is good to have recourse to him.
In short, he is good for material needs; as for spiritual needs, there is no mention of angelic protection. This is why many people ask for a cure for some illness, others for a reconciliation, and the like. Few realize that our Custodian Angels have been given to us above all for what is most important: to watch over our souls, to fight and act with us to overcome our spiritual difficulties.
We are never alone
And yet, how much comfort it would give us in times of tribulation and temptation, when we feel alone, to have the assurance that an Angel is near us! Although we do not feel or perceive him, he does not leave us for a single minute, and he is waiting for our prayers to act for us. Often he acts without our asking, but he will do so even more if we implore his assistance.
While we are making these remarks, the place where we are is full of Guardian Angels watching over us.
We realize, then, how much joy we would enjoy if we had this idea always present in our minds! When we are doing apostolate, when we are going through inner problems, annoyances and setbacks of all kinds, we feel lonely. Such solitude is an illusion: the Guardian Angel is with each of us.
Although we imagine that between us and him there is a distance as between heaven and earth, he is in fact close by, praying, watching, protecting the man whose guardianship God has entrusted to him.
Our particular intercessor
The realization of this truth provides encouragement to the spiritual life, for we feel the hand of God accompanying us at every step. And it illustrates the affirmations of Our Lord in the Gospel: not a hair falls from our head, not a leaf on a tree, not a bird dies without the Creator’s permission. In other words, the connection between the mission of the Guardian Angel and the Catholic doctrine on Divine Providence is admirable, and it is suitable to stimulate in us the virtue of confidence, for in confidence we grow by always keeping in mind that the Guardian Angel has been given to us not only for times of danger and trial, but also to pray and intercede for us at all times.
The Guardian Angel is our mediator and advocate with the throne of the Most High and continually prays for us. Therefore, we must ask him to obtain graces for us and to keep dangers away from us.
Encouragement and comfort for our souls
The ancients, by the way, had a deep notion of the presence and intercession of the Custodian Angels, so they built churches in their honor, and some places where they appeared became pilgrimage destinations. For example, the Abbey of Mount Saint Michel in Normandy. Saint Michael the Archangel is the patron saint of the French nation, and also that of Rome, after he made himself present on top of the once mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian, and where the castle called Sant’Angelo can be seen today. On other occasions, Angels were seen supporting Catholics in their confrontations against heretics and opponents of Christian orthodoxy.
There would be a thousand things to consider about the role of Angels, based on the Bible and the history of Christianity. Unfortunately, all this is remembered little or not at all. That is why it is extremely beautiful to remember these truths and to keep them always in mind for the encouragement and comfort of our souls.
Model of holiness for the protected
God does everything with account, weight and measure, in an orderly way, and it is not probable that the designation of a Guardian Angel to attend a person happens automatically. In fact, it is not possible to imagine a kind of “cab stand” of angelic spirits in Heaven, waiting for a man to be born and, at a sign from the Creator, Angel A or X goes to Earth and begins to protect that new human being?
I am more inclined to think that God delegates to each person a Guardian Angel whose holiness is related to the primordial light[1] of that soul, so that the Angel is a heavenly model of the virtues that the soul should practice during its earthly life. If we could see our Angel, we would probably behold the personification of our primordial light, that is, something that would be somewhat like us, but to an inconceivable degree of ontological and supernatural beauty.
We then understand the sympathy, affinity and desire to serve that we would have with him, and, reciprocally, his special bond with us. That is to say, the Angel Custodian is the other “self” of each protégé. This is a particular reason why, anthropomorphically speaking, it is even easier for us to understand how he supports us.
Let’s imagine that we found someone in need of help, very similar to us: wouldn’t we rush to his aid, impelled by this similarity? Well, that is what happens between the Guardian Angel and each one of us.
Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira
Extracted, with adaptations, from Dr. Plinio’s Magazine n.115, Oct 2007.
[1] According to Dr. Plinio’s thought, since every man is created to praise God, He grants to each person a primordial light, that is, an aspiration to contemplate the truths, virtues and divine perfections in a proper and unique way, through which he will give his particular glory to the Creator.
Compiled by Zephania Gangl
