SAN MIGUEL ARCANGEL
How I regret not having honored these
inseparable friends of ours in this valley of tears. On October 2, the Holy Mother Church
celebrated the feast of the Guardian Angels, for reasons that they know, I
cannot upload a very interesting article about them, but I do not want to miss
the opportunity to put at your disposal a few lines about them to whom they
love so much. owes my poor soul troubled by the world limits very conducive to
make us lose faith, excuse my delay and let this reading be a balm for your
heart as it was, is and will be for my heart.
We are going to establish Catholic doctrine on
guardian angels in a staggered series of conclusions.
Conclusion 1. "Some angels are destined
by God for the guardianship and custody of men. (Completely true according to
faith.)
410. The Church has not expressly defined this
doctrine, but it is deduced with complete safety and certainty from the data
that Sacred Scripture provides us. It
is, therefore, a completely certain conclusion according to faith. Here are the tests:
a) THE SACRED SCRIPTURE. We have cited some texts above, to which we
are going to add some more:
"Behold, I will send my angel to go
before you and keep you" (Ex 23:20).
"I will entrust his angels to you to
guard you in all your ways, and they will carry you in their hands so that you
do not stumble over the stones" (Ps 90, 11-12).
"See that you do not despise one of these
little ones, because in truth I tell you that his angels constantly see the
face of my heavenly Father in heaven" (Mt 18:10).
¿Are they not all administrator spirits, sent
to serve those who are to inherit health? " (Hebr 1,14).
b) THE MAGISTERIUM OF THE CHURCH. We have already said that she has not
expressly defined it, but she teaches it officially with her ordinary
magisterium through her liturgy. As is
known, on October 2 the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels is celebrated
throughout the Church.
e) THEOLOGICAL REASON effortlessly discovers
the high convenience of angelic custody over men. Here are some very clear and simple
arguments:
1.0 Since God instituted order in the world so
that lower beings are ruled by higher ones (e.g., man rules and dominates
animals), it is very reasonable and convenient for men to be helped by the
higher ones. angels 1.
2. It is very reasonable and natural that the
angels, who are already in the blessed country, help men on their way to it,
since they will be their eternal companions before God.
3. If demons tempt men -as we will see in the
next article-, it is very reasonable that good angels guard them and help to
overcome these evil suggestions.
4. The angels served Christ (Mt 4, Il) and
comforted him in his agony in Gethsemane (Le 22:43). It seems natural that they do the same with
all their redeemed.
Conclusion 2.8 Each and every man, baptized or
not, has a corresponding guardian angel.
(Most probable and common doctrine.)
411. Some ancients believed that only men
predestined to glory had guardian angels, and others that only the righteous;
but the most probable and nowadays common sentence among theologians is the one
collected in the conclusion. Here is the
reasoning of Doctor Angelico 2:
Man finds himself in the present life as on a
path along which he has to march towards his homeland. In this way many dangers threaten him, both
internal and external, according to that of the psalm: On the path where I am
going they have hidden a trap for me (Ps 141,4). And that is why, just as those who go through
unsafe paths are given guard, so too «Just as the reprobate and the faithful,
and even the antichrist, are not deprived of the inner help of natural reason,
so neither are they deprived of the external assistance granted by God to all
human nature through angelic custody.
And although this help. In fact,
it does not serve them to obtain eternal life through their good works,
however, it serves them to separate themselves from certain evils with which
they could harm themselves and others; because even the demons themselves are
repressed by the good angels so that they do not do all the damage that they
want. and likewise the antichrist will
not be allowed to do as much damage as he will pretend ') (ad 3).
It should be added that each guarded man
corresponds to a different guardian angel, so that no angel is in charge of
guarding two or more men. Although, on
the contrary, it is possible and very probable that the same man has two or
more guardian angels, namely, one as a private person and another or others
because of the very special position he holds in the Church (e.g., Supreme
Pontiff ) or in civil society (e.g., head of state) 3.
As for whether or not when custody over a
certain man ends (because he has reached heaven or hell) or not, God returns to
commission the same angel to guard another man, nothing certain can be
affirmed. Saint Thomas seems to think
that each angel guards a single man, without him ever again being in charge of the
custody of any other 4; and that seems to be the most likely if we consider
what we have said before about our own angel co-ruling with us in heaven. This also seems to follow from the immense
number of existing angels, incomparably greater than that of men, as we saw
above.
Conclusion 3. & The guardianship of the
guardian angels begins for each man at the moment of his birth and will
continue until he reaches his final destination. (Most probable and common doctrine.)
412. Some theologians taught that the guardian
angel begins its function from the moment of baptism, but St. Thomas and most
theologians hold the doctrine of the conclusion. The Angelic Doctor reasons her by saying that
the benefits conferred on man as soon as they are Christians begin from the
moment of baptism, such as being able to receive the Eucharist and other
similar things; but those that God grants him in attention to his rational
nature are conferred on him from the moment in which he receives nature at
birth. Now, the benefit of the guardian
angel belongs to this second class, as we have already said, and therefore,
from the moment of his birth, man has assigned his guardian angel to each man,
as he walks through this world, he is given an angel to guard him. But, when he has reached the end of this
path, he will no longer have a guardian angel, but will have an angel in heaven
who reigns with him or in hell a demon who tortures him. depute a guardian
angel whom God knows to be condemned (e.g., the antichrist),
The guardianship and company of the guardian
angel continues until the guarded soul reaches its eternal destination, that
is, to heaven or hell. In purgatory it
still continues - according to the most probable opinion - certainly not to
protect or guard the soul - it no longer needs it - but to comfort and
encourage it. The mission of the
guardian angel in purgatory would be to enlighten her about the great mysteries
of God, the joys of paradise, the love that Jesus and Mary have for her, etc.,
and announce her forthcoming liberation 8. In heaven As we have already said,
custody will properly cease, but our angel will remain eternally related to us
as a correinante angel.
Conclusion 4.
Guardian angels do not experience any sadness for physical or moral ills
that may affect their custodians, not even for their ultimate eternal
damnation. (Completely true.)
413. Apart from the fact that pain or sadness
is incompatible with the perfect happiness enjoyed by the blessed angels 9,
Saint Thomas reasons it as follows 10: “Angels do not suffer for the sins or
for the penalties of men.
As Saint Augustine says, sadness and pain are
nothing but what happens against one's will.
But nothing happens in the world against the will of the angels or of
the other blessed ones, because their will is entirely in accordance with the
order of divine justice; and nothing is done in the world but that which is
done or permitted by divine justice.
That is why, speaking at all, nothing happens in the world against the
will of the blessed ... It is true, without a doubt, that angels do not want
the sins or the pains of men by looking at this at all and in the
abstract; but they want, nevertheless,
that the order of divine justice be preserved in this, according to which some
suffer punishments and sin is tolerated.
When solving the difficulties, Doctor Angelico
adds the following details:
l. a
Thus in the penance of men as in their sin there always remains a reason for
the joy of angels, namely: the fulfillment of divine plans (ad 3).
2. a The angels are called to trial for the
sins of men, not as criminals -because they have no guilt for the sins of their
custodians-, but as witnesses, to convince men of their own guilt and neglect
(ad 4). Guardian angels do not suffer
from the physical ills that affect their custodians (illnesses, pain,
persecution, etc.), because they know that all things contribute to the good of
those who love God ”(Rom 8:28). Not even
for sins, which God allows to obtain greater goods (through repentance and subsequent
penance). Neither do they suffer,
finally, for the eternal damnation of their protégés, nor will the blessed
suffer when they see any of their relatives or friends in hell.11 The reason is
because they are not to blame for the condemnation of those souls - they did
everything what they could to avoid it, with their inspirations and good
advice, separating them from the occasions of sin, defending them from a
thousand dangers, etc., and only to the rebellion and protection of sinners is
their eternal perdition owed. And once
confirmed in evil and given their definitive obstinacy in sin, the angels want
the order of divine justice to be kept, which inexorably punishes them -
although less than they deserve, according to Doctor Angelico 12_ and, for the
same reason, they feel no pain or sadness for their eternal damnation.
Conclusion 5.
Each of the nations, provinces, towns, churches, religious orders, etc.,
has its corresponding guardian angel.
(Common doctrine among theologians.)
414. It is a universally accepted doctrine
that there are certain collective guardian angels, that is, that they exercise
their custody over a determined more or less large collectivity. 13. This
belief is based on certain expressions of Sacred Scripture, eg, those relating
to the angels of Persia, Greece and Israel (cf, Dan 10, 13-21). The Church itself seems to allude to this
belief in the Compline liturgy, where there is a special prayer asking for the
protection "of the holy angels who dwell in this place."
The archangel Saint Michael is believed to be
the guardian angel of the Catholic Church, due to his particular excellence and
power.
Conclusion 6. & The guardian angels pour
out innumerable spiritual and bodily benefits on their custodians. (True and common doctrine.)
415. Here are some of those countless
benefits:
a) They constantly free and defend us from a
multitude of evils and dangers, both for the soul and the body.
b) They contain the demons so that they do not
do us all the damage that they would like, but only what God allows them for
our greater good.
e) They frequently excite in our souls holy
thoughts and healthy advice.
d) They offer God our prayers and implore
divine help upon us.
e) They illuminate our understanding, not by
infusing it with new species, but by proposing the truths more easily through
the imagination and internal senses; in which they can act directly, as we have
already seen.
f) They assist us in a very particular way at
the time of death, which is when we need them most.
g) They console us in purgatory and will
accompany us eternally in heaven as running angels, all this should excite our
gratitude and move our hearts to offer them a true cult of dulia, as the Church
does in her liturgy.
Commenting on the words of Psalm 90 "He
commanded his angels to guard you in all your ways," writes the most pious
Saint Bernard 14:
How much reverence these words must instill in
you, how much devotion they must inspire you, how much confidence they must
give you! Reverence, for your presence;
devotion, for his benevolence; trust, for safekeeping.
He always walks with all circumspection, as
one who has angels in mind in all his ways.
Anywhere, in any place, even in the most hidden, have reverence for your
guardian angel. Nor How dare you do in
his presence what you would not do with me in front of you? ¿Do you doubt that he is present because you
do not see him? … If you consult faith,
it proves that you do not lack the presence of the angel ... They are present
for your good; They are not only with you, but they are for your defense. They are present to protect you, they are
present for your benefit. What will you
return to the Lord for all the goods that he has done to you, since only honor
and glory should refer to Him? Why to
Him alone? Because He is the one who
sent it, and every precious gift is none other than His.
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