What is the Purpose of a Guardian Angel?

[Denise]

By Philip Kosloski

As we shift our focus from the demonic to the holy, let us look at why God sent us Guardian Angels.


First of all, what does the Church officially teaches:


“336 From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. ‘Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.’ Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united in God.”

The Church here highlights the Guardian Angel’s role as “protector and shepherd leading [us] to life.” Shepherd is a great image as it give us an idea of how our Guardian Angels gently guide us to right pasture. At the same time, just like a good shepherd, our Guardian Angels protect us from harm and wolves that try to devour us.

Secondly, here is what the document, Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, a document written authoritatively by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, has to say regarding the reality of Guardian Angels:


“Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the Guardian Angels. St. Basil Great (+378) taught that, ‘each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard and guide them through life’. This ancient teaching was consolidated by biblical and patristic sources and lies behind many forms of piety. St. Bernard of Clarivaux (+1153) was a great master and a notable promoter of devotion to the Guardian Angels. For him, they were a proof ‘that heaven denies us nothing that assists us’, and hence, ‘these celestial spirits have been placed at our sides to protect us, instruct us and to guide us’.

Devotion to the Holy Angels gives rise to a certain form of the Christian life which is characterized by:

devout gratitude to God for having placed these heavenly spirits of great sanctity and dignity at the service of man; an attitude of devotion deriving from the knowledge of living constantly in the presence of the Holy Angels of God;- serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels. Among the prayers to the Guardian Angels the Angele Dei [Angel of God prayer] is especially popular, and is often recited by families at morning and evening prayers, or at the recitation of the Angelus.” (emphasis added)

Again we see how the role of our Guardian Angel to “protect, guard and guide [us] through life” as well as “instruct.”

Sacred Scripture only affirms these teachings. One such example is in Psalm 91:9-13:


Because you have made the Lord your refuge,
the Most High your habitation,
no evil shall befall you,
no scourge come near your tent.
For he will give his angels charge of you
to guard you in all your ways.
On their hands they will bear you up,
lest you dash your foot against a stone.
You will tread on the lion and the adder,
the young lion and the serpent you will trample under foot. (RSV-CE)

Above all, our Guardian Angel is entrusted with our salvation. He wants to do what he can to get us to Heaven; that is the primary goal. Therefore, if protecting us from harm will draw us closer to God, our Guardian Angel will make sure we come out unscathed. However, if some sort of illness will draw us closer to God, he will allow us to become sick.

Here is a short story from Mike Aquilina that shows how this works in real life :


“A friend of mine, a noted Harvard-trained philosopher, was an unbeliever as a young man. One day he was swimming in the ocean, and the undertow swept him away. He knew he was drowning, with no hope of rescue, when suddenly a strong arm grabbed him and towed him to shore. His rescuer was a big muscle-bound guy. When my sputtering friend tried to thank him, the guy laughed at him—and then vanished. This marked a milestone on my friend’s road to conversion” (Mike Aquilina, Angels of God, 49).

The main duty of our Guardian Angel is to bring us to Heaven and so he does not simply follow our beck and command to do supernatural favors. Our Guardian Angel is certainly aware of our needs and will certainly come to our aid, but if finding our car-keys is not in our best interest and will help us become more virtuous, he let us search the whole house and not intervene.