A First

From:  The Angels.  The Catholic Teaching on the Angels, by Fr. Pascal P. Parente.  pg. 31, from the section “The Language of Angels”

At the birth of Christ, the heavenly messenger of joy and of great tidings, an Angel of God announced the nativity of the Savior of the world to a few shepherds in the hill country around Bethlehem. Messengers had come down to earth many times since man’s creation, to advise, to warn, to help, or to punish man. On this occasion “a multitude of the heavenly army” was heard for the first time singing, caroling, and praising God and saying: “Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace to men of good will.” Only the Angelic mind could well understand the mystery of the Incarnation, and the great honor and dignity that had come to poor human nature when the Son of God, the Eternal Word, assumed and substantially united it to His Divine Person for all eternity.

And I just had to add this one, in light of some recent discouragements:

Too Much, But I'll Take It

Much can happen in the space of a couple of hours.  I was walking to the five-o’clock Mass today, cutting through a fieldy-park listening to/singing along with the Liturgy Podcast, when suddenly my guardian angel made me aware that he was right there beside me, walking to church with me.

At Mass, during the Eucharistic Prayer, the words, “Let your Spirit come upon these gifts to make them holy, so that they may become for us the body and blood of our Lord, Jesus Christ”, gave me a sudden jolt – it was as if I had never heard them before in my life, or understood how intricate a role the Holy Spirit has in the transubstantiation – and I started to cry.

I am sitting at the kitchen table with my laptop, preparing tomorrow’s post for Consecrated to Mary, and crying all through Bishop Bello’s Chapter 26 of Mary, Human and Holy, where she is “Woman of the Upper Room”.  As I gaze out the window my heart is breaking for the birch tree we had to cut down, but the Spirit is trying to soothe my soul by showing me the expanse of sky that has now opened up to my view.  Water Blessing, by Annette Cantor, which I found at Gratefulness.org, is playing and my spirit soars upwards with it, despite the volume of the neighbour’s lawnmower. 

Sometimes it is all too much.  Too gloriously much.

Angels, with Fulton Sheen

To wind up my recent posts on guardian angels (at least for the time-being), here is Fulton Sheen on the subject of angels. These videos are taken from the series, “Life is Worth Living”. I am providing the links to the three angel videos; the one embedded here is Part II. Towards the end of Part II, Archbishop Sheen says something that I was mentioning in the combox of the previous post, how it is such a shame that we are not more conscious of the angels. But that can change! Start reading more Catholic books about them; pray to them; call on them for help; ask for their guidance everyday. Open up the lines of communication!

Fulton Sheen – Angels (Part II)

Fulton Sheen – Angels (Part I)
Fulton Sheen – Angels (Part III)

The Guardian Angels (Part 2)

Excerpt from: “The Spiritual Life. A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology”, [pg. 98] by The Very Reverend Adolphe Tanquerey, S.S., D.D.

“Our Guardian Angel keeps us in constant touch with heaven.  To derive full profit from his guardianship we can do no better than direct our thoughts frequently to our Guardian Angel, making him the object of our veneration, our confidence and our love.  a)  We venerate him by hailing him as one of those priveleged beings who ever see the face of God and who are to us the representatives of our Heavenly Father.  Therefore, we should do nothing that could displease or sadden our Angel; on the contrary, we must strive to give him proof of our respect by emulating his fidelity and loyalty in God’s service.  This is, indeed, the most touching way in which [we] can attest our esteem for him.  b)  We show him our confidence, by bearing in mind the mighty protection he furnishes us and his unfailing goodness towards us, his God-given charges.  Since he is a master in foiling the wiles of the devil, we should invoke him especially when we are assailed by this treacherous foe and in all dangerous occasions in which his foresight and his adroitness will be of great help.  We should likewise call for his assistance when determining our vocation, for he better than any other will know the providential designs of God in our regard.  Finally, in all important affairs with others it is well to address ourselves to their Guardian Angels that these persons may be well-disposed towards the mission we are about to discharge in their behalf.    c)  We manifest to our Guardian Angel our love by reflecting that he has ever been and is still our devoted friend, ever ready to render us services the extent and import of which we shall realize only in heaven.  By faith, however, we can even now understand, though only imperfectly, something of his good offices toward us, and this suffices to call forth our gratitude and our love.  When loneliness weighs heavily upon us, let us remember that we are not alone, that near us hovers a friend, devoted and generous, upon whom we can lean and with whom we can hold familiar converse.  Let us bear in mind that [by] honoring our Guardian Angel we honor God Himself whom our Angel represents here below, and let us often unite ourselves to him in order to give greater glory to God.”  

The Guardian Angels (Part 1)

Excerpt from: “The Spiritual Life. A Treatise on Ascetical and Mystical Theology”, [pgs. 97-98] by The Very Reverend Adolphe Tanquerey, S.S., D.D.

“Some among the Angels are commissioned with the care of individual souls:  these are the Guardian Angels.  This is the traditional doctrine of the Fathers, based upon scriptural texts and supported by solid reasons.   It has been confirmed by the Church in the institution of a feast in honor of the Guardian Angels.  The reasons that support this doctrine flow from our relationship to God, for we are His children, members of Jesus Christ and temples of the Holy Ghost.  “Because we are His children,” says Father Olier, “He appoints to us as tutors the princes of His realm, who hold it an honor to have us in their charge.  Because we are His members, He wills that those very spirits that minister unto Him be also at our side to render us their services.  Because we are His temples in which He Himself dwells, He wills that Angels hover about us as they do about our churches, so that bowed down in worship before Him they may offer a perpetual homage to His glory, supplying for our neglect and making reparation for our irreverence.”  Father Olier goes on to say that God wishes to unite intimately through the agency of His Angels the Church Triumphant and the Church Militant:  “He sends this mysterious host of Angels in order that they may by uniting themselves to us and binding us to themselves form one body of the Church of heaven and the Church of earth.” 

Note:  The “Father Olier” referred to by Fr. Tanquerey is Father J.J. Olier (1608-1657), founder of the Society of St. Sulpice.

A Hundred Thousand Angels