This world is confusing and dangerous. The devil and his minions have laid traps throughout our lives, seeking to cause us to sin and drag us to hell. How can we expect to reject the constant barrage of temptations and attacks? By relying on a great gift from God, an angel from Heaven assigned to protect each and every one of us, our guardian angel.
What Is A Guardian Angel?
A guardian angel is an angel, a powerful and holy creature, created by God. They all chose to serve God, perfecting their creation as angels. The demons, who were once angels, chose to reject God, and became our enemies and especially the enemies of God.
Every person, at the point of conception, is assigned an angel by God. This angel serves as our protector for our entire lives, from conception until death.
Guardian Angel’s Roles
In the classic “Angel of God” prayer, guardian angels are asked to light, to guard, to rule, and to guide. These are all things that the guardian angel helps us with!
- To Light- guardian angels can help enlighten our minds to spiritual truths. Shed light on things we do not know. Guardian angels are infused with incredible knowledge and wisdom from God, and since they are here.to help us they can give us information we might need. Pray to your guardian angel for knowledge and wisdom, especially when you are studying.
- To Guard- guardian angels guard us, it’s in their name! They protect us from physical and spiritual danger. They keep the demons at bay, and protect us from temptations and other demonic activity. Since these angels have not fallen, they are far more powerful than any demon. Call on your guardian angel when you are tempted, or feel intense feelings of dread, or any time you feel spiritually attacked. Pray for protection when you drive or travel, or if you have a dangerous job. Any time you need protection, your angel will be there.
- To Rule- life can be confusing, and it’s often difficult to make the right decisions. Humanity is fallen, and has been since Adam and Eve ate the fruit in the garden. This fallen nature, amongst other things, has made our intellects darkened, and as such we can’t always know the right decision in every situation especially when there are grey moral areas. To ask your guardian angel to rule you is to ask for help in your moral decisions. Asking your guardian angel to rule is also asking for help with our weakened wills. This part of the angel’s job is to help us fight against temptations and unhealthy appetites. Ask your angel to strengthen your will and help you in any difficult decisions.
- To Guide- we need guidance to make it through this world. Especially now, when the world lives in relativism, we need help in navigating through this wilderness of self indulgence and emotions. The world is fallen, and as Christians we need to pursue what is above and better than this world. The infused wisdom of a supremely intelligent being, who doesn’t live as part of this world, is exactly what we need to get through to the other side and make it to God’s Kingdom. Ask your angel often for guidance.
How Powerful Is A Guardian Angel?
A guardian angel, since it is an angel, is very powerful indeed. A guardian angel is within the lowest choir of angels however. This means that by it’s very nature it is not as powerful as a throne or principality, or an archangel. But because a guardian angel is very holy, and perfected by God, it is more powerful than any demon. In fact any guardian angel is more powerful than the devil himself.
This makes our guardian angel a very powerful ally in our spiritual battles. As part of the Church Militant, we are called to a constant spiritual warfare, one in which we need all the help we can get. All of the saints and angels, and especially Our Holy Mother, are our allies. Somehow all too often we overlook this incredibly powerful ally that we always have by our side.
Guardian Angel’s Name
Our guardian angels do indeed have names, since they are rational creatures specially created by God. Unfortunately we do not know their names, it’s a mystery we can only hope to know after we pass on from this life.
There are some who claim that they can know their guardian angel’s name. This does not follow Catholic teaching however. The Council of Rome in 745 AD had declared that the only angels we can know by name are the three archangels mentioned in Holy Scripture: St Michael, St Gabriel, and St Raphael.
The Church had made this ruling to avoid the dangerous practice of coming up with names for angels on our own. It’s a grave danger because demons can pretend to be holy angels, and can lead people astray through the ill-gotten trust they’ve gained by giving a name.
It’s important to remember the danger of naming our guardian angels, or believing that our guardian angel has revealed their name to us. This sort of thing seems to be very common nowadays, many people seem to think their guardian angels have revealed their names to them in their dreams, or by other means. Or they’re so prideful to think they can just come up with their own name. This is not allowed, and anyone who follows this line of thinking is leaving themselves open to spiritual attacks.
Building A Devotion
A good relationship with your guardian angel will always have Our Lord God as the foundation. So be right with God, pray often and read scripture, go to mass and adoration.
Aside from this, we should also pray to our guardian angel often. This can be conversations throughout the day, where we might ask our angel to guide us through a difficult situation, protect us as we drive our car, or comfort us through an emotionally jarring experience.
We should also strive to better our virtues. A guardian angel is there to help us be more virtuous, so as we strive for this we will find ourselves relying more on our guardian angel. This in turn will help us have a more solid relationship, founded in trust and reliance.
There are many prayers to our guardian angel but in this article I’ll give the classic prayer that many children are taught. We should never be ashamed to say this prayer, though it was taught to us as children, it is not only for children and not childish.
Guardian Angel Prayer
Angel of God,
my guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.