Father Christopher Zugger

Angel of God, my guardian dear, To whom God’s love commits me here, Ever this day, be at my side, To light and guard, Rule and guide.

That little prayer really sums up the whole relationship that we are blessed to have with our angels. Today is the feast of Saint Michael and all of the holy angels. There are said to be nine choirs of angels, based on readings from Scripture: highest are the (1) the six-winged Seraphim (Is. 6: 2), (2) the many-eyed Cherubim (Gen. 3:24) and (3) the God bearing Thrones (Col. 1: 16); to the middle hierarchy belong (1) the Dominions (Col. 1:16), (2) the Powers (1 Pet. 3: 22) and (3) the Authorities (1 Pet. 3:22; Col. 1:16); to the lowest hierarchy belong the (1) Principalities (Col. 1:16), (2) the Archangels (1 Thess. 4:16) and (3) the Angels (1 Pet. 3:22). November is the ninth month from March (which originally was the first month of the year in the Roman Empire), and so the feast was put on the 8^th day of the 9^th month.

Besides the Archangels Michael and Gabriel, the following archangels are known both in the Holy Scriptures and Holy Tradition: Raphael, the physician of God (Tobit 3:17;12:15), Uriel, the fire or light of God (3 Esdras 5:16), Salaphiel, the prayer of God (3 Esdras 5:16), Jegudiel, the glorifier of God, Barachiel, the blessing of God,and Jeremiel, the exaltation of God (3 Esdras 4:36). It’s interesting that in the traditional story about the defeat of Lucifer and the angels who chose wickedness, it is the angels and archangels who drive them out of heaven and into hell, and Michael is called the angel-general in spiritual writing. In our modern military, it would be as if the privates and lieutenants suddenly became generals, rising up to save the nation by themselves. That can serve as a reminder to us that we should not think we are incapable of spiritual warfare because of our limited humanity; rather there are spiritual graces and forces present to help us fight and resist temptation.

We are all assigned guardian angels, as we read in Exodus 23, where God says to Israel “Listen attentively to his voice and do all that he says.” Their job is to lead us to our true homeland in heaven. In Psalm 91, we read that “God will command his angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, so that you may not dash your foot against a stone”; in Psalm 97 we find these beautiful words. “[God] guards to souls of the devout and rescues them from the clutches of the wicked.”

St John Climacus writes that the angels help us to stand our ground, and that our guardian angels will respect our endurance. Sure, we fall, but by continually getting up and doing better, the wounds of sins can be healed, especially if we are fighting regularly against sin. Fresh wounds are easily healed; it’s the wounds of habitual sin that can fester and lead us further and further away from God.

As I emphasize often, God desires each of us to be saved, He wants us to be with Him for eternity. The question always is, do I listen to His voice with the ears of my heart? Do I respond to the prompting of the guardian angel given to me, and hear the angel’s warnings and encouragement? That’s the little voice that nags when I think about sinning, when I ponder doing something that I know is wrong. Jesus says that the angels in heaven rejoice over one sinner who repents, so great is the desire of God and the angels that we get to heaven.

We are not abandoned; we have not been forgotten. The Lord has provided for us by giving us these invisible guardians, by giving us these intercessors in heaven, by giving us the fullness of revelation in the Catholic Church, and by strengthening us with His grace. On this feast of the holy angels, let us implore their continued intercession, let us thank our individual guardians, and let us ask Jesus in this Eucharist for His mercy and forgiveness so that we go forward always in His love.