Our Guardian Angels
1. Among the many expressions of God’s goodness towards us is His
designation of a heavenly spirit to accompany and to assist each of us
on our journey through life. The human eye cannot see him, because he is
always on guard by our side. Even while he is near us he enjoys the
beatific vision of God.
This is a wonderful thought. During the day, when we are preoccupied
with so many affairs which can cause us to forget God, our angel is
beside us to inspire us to love God more. When we are asleep, he is
watching over us and praying for our welfare. When we pray, he gathers
our feeble supplications and offers them to God. When temptation presses
hard, it is he who sustains us and encourages us to resist with
Christian fortitude. Finally, when by some misfortune we fall into grave
sin because we have been deaf to the appeals of our Creator, he takes
pity on us and inspires in us remorse for our misdeeds and the desire to
be restored as soon as possible to God’s favour.
We should be
deeply grateful to our kind Guardian Angel and should pray to him often,
especially in times of spiritual or bodily danger. We need his help
when we are tempted or afflicted. We should place much greater trust in
him, remembering that he is always close at hand to fulfil the mission
entrusted to him by God of enlightening and directing us.
2.
The realisation that our Angel Guardian is always close at hand should
also be a warning to us. It should prevent us from doing anything
displeasing to God. Would we venture to do anything unbecoming in the
presence of our father or mother, or of anyone for whom we have any
regard? Definitely not, and still less should we dare to perform an evil
action in the presence of our Angel, to whom we owe such gratitude, and
in the presence of God, our Creator, Lord and Redeemer, Who could at
any moment snap the thread which binds us to life and plunge us into
eternity. Furthermore, when pride convinces us that we are of some
importance, let us turn to our Angel and pray for the virtue of
humility. When we begin to seethe with anger and long to utter words
which are harsh and injurious, let us ask him for the gift of Christian
gentleness. When the devil fills our minds with impure images and
thoughts, let us ask our Angel to beseech God to give us the Christian
fortitude to resist temptation and to imitate his angelic purity.
Finally, when tepidity is sapping the vigour of our interior life, let
us pray to our Guardian Angel in the hope of obtaining a share in his
intimate union with God.
3. Let us form the habit of saying this prayer to our Guardian Angel, especially in the crises of life:
“O Angel of God, my Guardian dear,
To whom God’s love commits me here,
Ever this day (or night) be at my side
To light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.”
When there is not enough time to say this prayer, let us at least turn
to our Angel with an act of faith and love and say: “My Guardian Angel,
enlighten me. My Guardian Angel, help me. My Guardian Angel, protect
me.”
He will certainly come to our assistance and will implore for us from God the graces which we need.
No comments:
Post a Comment