That every individual soul has a guardian angel has never been defined by the |
Church, and is, consequently, not an article of faith; but it is the "mind of the |
Church", as St. Jerome expressed it: "how great the dignity of the soul, since |
each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it." (Comm. in |
Matt., xviii, lib. II). |
This belief in guardian angels can be traced throughout all antiquity; pagans, like |
Menander and Plutarch (cf. Euseb., "Praep. Evang.", xii), and Neo-Platonists, |
like Plotinus, held it. It was also the belief of the Babylonians and Assyrians, as |
their monuments testify, for a figure of a guardian angel now in the British |
Museum once decorated an Assyrian palace, and might well serve for a modern |
representation; while Nabopolassar, father of Nebuchadnezzar the Great, says: |
"He (Marduk) sent a tutelary deity (cherub) of grace to go at my side; in |
everything that I did, he made my work to succeed." |
In the Bible this doctrine is clearly discernible and its development is well |
marked. In Genesis 28-29, angels not only act as the executors of God's wrath |
against the cities of the plain, but they deliver Lot from danger; in Exodus 12-13, |
an angel is the appointed leader of the host of Israel, and in 32:34, God says to |
Moses: "my angel shall go before thee." At a much later period we have the story |
of Tobias, which might serve for a commentary on the words of Psalm 90:11: |
"For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways." (Cf. |
Psalm 33:8 and 34:5.) Lastly, in Daniel 10 angels are entrusted with the care of |
particular districts; one is called "prince of the kingdom of the Persians", and |
Michael is termed "one of the chief princes"; cf. Deuteronomy 32:8 (Septuagint); |
and Ecclesiasticus 17:17 (Septuagint). |
This sums up the Old Testament doctrine on the point; it is clear that the Old |
Testament conceived of God's angels as His ministers who carried out his |
behests, and who were at times given special commissions, regarding men and |
mundane affairs. There is no special teaching; the doctrine is rather taken for |
granted than expressly laid down; cf. II Machabees 3:25; 10:29; 11:6; 15:23. |
But in the New Testament the doctrine is stated with greater precision. Angels |
are everywhere the intermediaries between God and man; and Christ set a seal |
upon the Old Testament teaching: "See that you despise not one of these little |
ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my |
Father who is in heaven." (Matthew 18:10). A twofold aspect of the doctrine is |
here put before us: even little children have guardian angels, and these same |
angels lose not the vision of God by the fact that they have a mission to fulfil on |
earth. |
Without dwelling on the various passages in the New Testament where the |
doctrine of guardian angels is suggested, it may suffice to mention the angel who |
succoured Christ in the garden, and the angel who delivered St. Peter from |
prison. Hebrews 1:14 puts the doctrine in its clearest light: "Are they not all |
ministering spirits, sent to minister for them, who shall receive the inheritance of |
salvation?" This is the function of the guardian angels; they are to lead us, if we |
wish it, to the Kingdom of Heaven. |
St. Thomas teaches us (Summa Theologica I:113:4) that only the lowest orders |
of angels are sent to men, and consequently that they alone are our guardians, |
though Scotus and Durandus would rather say that any of the members of the |
angelic host may be sent to execute the Divine commands. Not only the |
baptized, but every soul that cometh into the world receives a guardian spirit; St. |
Basil, however (Homily on Psalm 43), and possibly St. Chrysostom (Homily 3 on |
Colossians) would hold that only Christians were so privileged. Our guardian |
angels can act upon our senses (I:111:4) and upon our imaginations (I:111:3) -- |
not, however, upon our wills, except "per modum suadentis", viz. by working on |
our intellect, and thus upon our will, through the senses and the imagination. |
(I:106:2; and I:111:2). Finally, they are not separated from us after death, but |
remain with us in heaven, not, however, to help us attain salvation, but "ad |
aliquam illustrationem" (I:108:7, ad 3am). |
Hugh Pope |
Transcribed by Herman Holbrook |
Ad Dei gloriam honoremque angeli custodis mei |
(See also: FEAST OF THE GUARDIAN ANGELS.) |
The Catholic Encyclopedia, Volume VII |
Copyright © 1910 by Robert Appleton Company |
Online Edition Copyright © 1999 by Kevin Knight |
Nihil Obstat, June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D., Censor |
Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York |
The Catholic Encyclopedia: NewAdvent.org |