Happy Feast of the Guardian Angels!

A happy and most joyful feast day of the Holy Guardian Angels! Following closely on the feast day of St. Michael the Archangel, this feast was officially added to the Church’s calendar by Pope Paul V in the early 17th century, and made obligatory for the whole Church by Pope Clement X.

Our Guardian Angels are our protectors in this life from physical and most especially spiritual harm, and are a particular guide to each of us in our journey towards Heaven. We ought to maintain a daily devotion to them, through the familiar prayer to our Guardian Angel in the morning and evening and through regular conversation with them. Your own angel – what an extraordinary gift from God! Let us not forget them or take them for granted, but let us maintain an active friendship with them, call upon them in our struggles, share with them our successes and joys and avoid the things that may displease them.

“In this, therefore, brethren, let us affectionately love His angels as one day our future coheirs; meanwhile, however, as counselors and defenders appointed by the Father and placed over us. Why should we fear under such guardians? Those who keep us in all our ways can neither be overcome nor be deceived, much less deceive. They are faithful; they are prudent; they are powerful; why do we tremble? Let us only follow them, let us remain close to them, and in the protection of the God of heaven let us abide.”

– from a sermon by St. Bernard of Clairvaux