www.newadvent.org Open in urlscan Pro
2a02:6ea0:c454::1  Public Scan

Form analysis
1 forms found in the DOM

../utility/search.htm

<form id="searchbox_000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0" action="../utility/search.htm">
  <!-- Hidden Inputs -->
  <input type="hidden" name="safe" value="active">
  <input type="hidden" name="cx" value="000299817191393086628:ifmbhlr-8x0">
  <input type="hidden" name="cof" value="FORID:9">
  <!-- Search Box -->
  <label for="searchQuery" id="searchQueryLabel">Search:</label>
  <input id="searchQuery" name="q" type="text" size="25" aria-labelledby="searchQueryLabel">
  <!-- Submit Button -->
  <label for="submitButton" id="submitButtonLabel" class="visually-hidden">Submit Search</label>
  <input id="submitButton" type="submit" name="sa" value="Search" aria-labelledby="submitButtonLabel">
</form>

Text Content

 

Search: Submit Search



 Home   Encyclopedia   Summa   Fathers   Bible   Library 

 A  B  C  D  E  F  G  H  I  J  K  L  M  N  O  P  Q  R  S  T  U  V  W  X  Y  Z 


Home > Catholic Encyclopedia > G > Guardian Angel


GUARDIAN ANGEL

Please help support the mission of New Advent and get the full contents of this
website as an instant download. Includes the Catholic Encyclopedia, Church
Fathers, Summa, Bible and more — all for only $19.99...

(See also FEAST OF THE GUARDIAN ANGELS.)

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. Eusebius, "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. 2 Maccabees 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).




ABOUT THIS PAGE

APA citation. Pope, H. (1910). Guardian Angel. In The Catholic Encyclopedia. New
York: Robert Appleton Company. http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07049c.htm

MLA citation. Pope, Hugh. "Guardian Angel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 7.
New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1910.
<http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/07049c.htm>.

Transcription. This article was transcribed for New Advent by Herman Holbrook.
Ad Dei gloriam honoremque angeli custodis mei.

Ecclesiastical approbation. Nihil Obstat. June 1, 1910. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.

Contact information. The editor of New Advent is Kevin Knight. My email address
is webmaster at newadvent.org. Regrettably, I can't reply to every letter, but I
greatly appreciate your feedback — especially notifications about typographical
errors and inappropriate ads.

Copyright © 2023 by New Advent LLC. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.

CONTACT US | ADVERTISE WITH NEW ADVENT