Your Guardian Angel Is Always Present

“He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways” (Ps. 91:11–12).

How this word ought to ignite reverence within you, bring forth devotion, bestow confidence. Reverence because of the presence of angels, devotion because of their benevolence, and confidence because of their guardianship. Walk cautiously (Eph. 5:15); the angels are everywhere near at hand, as God has charged them, in all your ways. In whatever small corner you will, in whatever quiet spot, have reverence for your angel. Would you have the audacity to do in an angel’s presence what you would not in my sight? Do you doubt the presence of the angel you do not see? What if you heard? What if you touched? What if you smelled? Note that presence of something is established not only on the basis of sight. Not even all corporeal things are subject to sight. So how far removed from any corporeal sense are spiritual things, which need to be tracked down by spiritual senses? If you reflect upon faith, you find positive assent of the presence of angels, proof that they are never absent. It causes me no regret to say that faith regards the existence of angels with approval, since the apostle defines faith as being “the conviction of things not seen” (Heb. 11:1). Thus they are present, and present to you, not only with you, but also for you. They are present that they might cover you with protection; they are present that they might do good for you. What will you render to the Lord for all his bounty? (Ps. 116:12). Honor and glory to him alone (1 Tim. 1:17), if anything at all. Why to him alone? Because it is God who has given the charge, and because every perfect gift (James 1:17), is not a gift and is not perfect unless it is from God.

Koloman Moser, Schutzengel, pencil, chalk, gouache, and watercolor on paper, 1904. Shim Harno / Alamy Stock Photo.

Yet as true as it is that God alone has given the angels this charge, it is nevertheless necessary to be thankful to them who obey God with such great charity and who come to our aid in our great need. Therefore, we are devoted to them, we are thankful for such grand guardians. Let us return love to them, let us honor them as much as we are able and as much as we ought. Yet all our love and our honor is returned finally to God, from whom, but for them and for us, all love and honor are poured out by which we are able in turn to honor and to love. Surely, when the apostle said, “To God alone be honor and glory” (1 Tim. 4:17), it ought not be believed that he is contradicting the words of the prophet who gave witness that the friends of God ought also to be greatly honored (Vulgate Ps. 138:17). I think this word of the apostle is like another where he said, “Owe no one anything, except to love one another” (Rom. 13:18). He did not wish to make this a defense for ignoring other responsibilities, especially as he himself said “Honor to whom honor is due,” and other things of this sort. But in order that you might understand more fully what he thought and admonished in both these verses, note that the light of lesser luminaries cannot be seen amid the rays of the sun. Do we, for all that, think that the stars have been removed? Or that they have been extinguished? Not in the slightest – they have been hidden for the time being by a fuller brightness and are not able to appear. In the same way, love prevails over all other obligations. Love alone should so reign in us that love appropriates for itself whatever we owe to other, outshining all other things. Thus we do everything on the basis of love. In the same way divine honor prevails and in a way prejudges everything, so that God alone is glorified not only before all things but in all things (1 Pet. 4:11). You can reasonable say the same thing concerning love. For what, beyond love, can individuals possibly hand over to others once they have given their whole heart, their whole soul, their whole strength to their Lord God in love? And so then it is in God that we can love his angels affectionately, as our future fellow heirs (Mark 12:30), in the meantime established by the Father and set before us as guides and teachers. For now we are the children of God, even though it does not as yet appear so (1 John 3:2); until that final day we are small children under guides and teacher, no different meanwhile from servants (Gal. 4:1–2).

Still although we are children having a difficult, a very difficult and dangerous way remaining, what have we to fear under such guardians? Those who guard us in all our ways cannot be overcome or led astray, much less lead us astray. They are faithful, they are prudent, they are powerful. What should we fear? Let us, then, follow them, let us adhere to them, and we will dwell in the protection of the God of heaven. See how necessary their protection is, their guardianship in all your ways. “In their hands,” it says, “they will bear you up lest you strike your foot against a stone.” Does it seem a small thing to you that there is a stone of offense set along your way? (Isa. 8:14; Rom. 9:32). Consider what follows, “You will walk on the asp and the basilisk; you will trample the lion and the dragon underfoot” (Ps. 91:13). How necessary is a teacher, or even a porter, especially for a child traveling along these stages of the journey! “In their hands they will bear you up.” They will guide you in your ways, and they will lead the child where a child can walk. Moreover, they will not allow you to be tempted beyond what you can bear (1 Cor. 10:13), but they will support you in their hands that you may cross over every stumbling block. How easily one who is carried in their hands crosses over! As the common proverb goes, how buoyantly someone swims when another is holding up his chin.

Source: Angelic Spirituality: Medieval Perspectives on the Ways of Angels, translated and introduced by Steven Chase (Paulist Press, 2002), 117–119.