{"id":1142,"date":"2019-10-02T18:23:59","date_gmt":"2019-10-02T12:53:59","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/?p=1142"},"modified":"2019-10-02T18:24:15","modified_gmt":"2019-10-02T12:54:15","slug":"guardian-angel","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"http:\/\/www.stsebastianaquem.com\/web\/guardian-angel\/","title":{"rendered":"GUARDIAN ANGEL"},"content":{"rendered":"

Angel of God, my Guardian Dear
\n<\/em><\/strong>to Whom God\u2019s love commits me here.
\n<\/em><\/strong>Ever this day be at my side
\n<\/em><\/strong>to light and to guard
\n<\/em><\/strong>to rule and guide. Amen.<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

Guardian Angels are perhaps the most popular kind, probably because we all know how fragile life can be – how little control we seem to have over the events that shape our lives. We desperately need protection from unexpected circumstances and unseen dangers. Just the thought of good angels hovering around us gives people a feeling of safety!<\/p>\n

The idea of Guardian Angels was fairly well developed in Judaism around the time in which the New Testament was written. According to Colin Brown, Judaism taught that each individual had his or her own personal angle, a view generally attested to by the records of the early Church.<\/p>\n

The Great preacher Chrysostom, in Homilies on Colossians,<\/em> affirmed that \u201ceach believer hath an Angel\u201d.<\/strong><\/p>\n

Origen, one of the best known writers of early Christian history <\/strong>wrote, <\/strong>\u201cAll the faithful in Christ, no matter how small, are helped by an Angel, and Christ says that these Angels always see the face of the Father who is in heaven\u2026 we must say that every human soul is under the direction of an Angel who is like a father\u201d.<\/p>\n

St. Basil believed<\/strong> that \u201can Angel is put in charge of every believer, provided we do not drive him out by sin. He guards the soul like an army. Saint Bernard of Clairvaux<\/strong> grew most eloquent whenever writing or speaking about our Guardian Angels. (\u2018Devotion to St. Michael and the holy Angels\u2019, pg.175-176).<\/p>\n

a) Creation of Angels<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

The question that many want to know is, \u201chow, when and why, were the Angels created?\u201d <\/em><\/strong>Nowhere is it mentioned that God created the Angels. But later in the Garden of Eden, Satan tempted Adam and Eve. From where did this all come about? In the early Church, this question was raised. St. Augustine gives us the answer. Even St. Thomas depends on St. Augustine to write on the Fall of Angels.<\/p>\n

If we take the First chapter of the book of Genesis, we come across the creation episode. Here we see that on the first day God created Light and Darkness. On the second day, God created Heaven and Earth. On the third day, God did a division between Water and Earth. On the fourth day, God created the Sun, Moon and Stars. What? On the fourth day God created Sun, Moon and Stars? Then on the first day, second day and third day, where did the light come from? How it was day and night then?<\/p>\n

So, St. Augustine says in his book, \u2018City of God<\/em><\/strong>\u2019 that, \u201con the first day God created the Angels!\u201d\u00a0 He says further, \u201cWhen all things which are recorded to have been completed in six days were created and arranged, how should the Angels be omitted, as if they were not among the works of God from which on the seventh day He rested?\u201d<\/p>\n

For when God said, \u201cLet there be light, there was light.\u201d If we are justified in understanding in this light the creation of the Angels, then certainly. They were created partakers of the eternal light which is the unchangeable wisdom of God, by which all things were made, and whom we call the Only – Begotten Son Of God. So that they, being illumined by the light that created them, might themselves become light and be called \u201cDay\u201d, in participation of that unchangeable light and day which is the Word of God, by whom both themselves and all else were made\u201d. (Book 11<\/strong>, City of God<\/strong>– Chapter 9<\/em><\/strong>).<\/p>\n

b) What does Scripture says about Angels?<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

We get a proof that Jesus created the Angels<\/em><\/strong> in Colossians 1:16<\/strong> which says, \u201cFor in Him were all things created in heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones, or dominations, or principalities, or powers: all things were created by Him and in Him\u201d.<\/em><\/p>\n

In the book of Job 38:4<\/strong>, God challenges Job and asks him a question, \u201cWhere wast thou when I laid the foundation of the earth? Tell me if thou hast understanding\u201d. <\/em>Hebrews 12:22<\/strong> says, \u201cBut you are come to Mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of Angels\u201d.<\/em> Revelation, 5:11, \u201cAnd I beheld, and I heard the voice of many Angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands\u201d.<\/p>\n

c) Choirs of Angels<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n

It is an article of faith, firmly established in scripture and tradition, and clearly expressed in Christian Doctrine from the beginning, that in this spiritual world, our Angels began with time and were created by God. (Devotion to St. Michael and the Holy Angels\u2019 Pg., 141.)<\/p>\n

The angelic world is divided into three Celestial Hierarchies and nine Choirs:<\/p>\n