Guardian Angels or What's in a name?

Psalm 91: 10-12
No evil shall befall you, nor shall affliction come near your tent, for to His Angels God has given command about you, that they guard you in all your ways. Upon their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone.

Matthew 18:10
"See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven continually see the face of My Father who is in heaven.


A heavenly spirit is assigned by God to watch over each of us during our lives. The doctrine of angels is part of the Church's tradition. The role of the guardian angel is both to guide us to good thoughts, works and words, and to preserve us from evil.

Every day since I can remember, I have said the Prayer to My Guardian Angel that Mom taught us all. Even on those days that I don’t seem to get the whole Rosary said, I manage to acknowledge the helper that God has blessed me with. You all know the prayer:

Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God’s love entrusts me here.
Every this day (night) be at my side,
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen.

I must admit that even with a daily prayer to my angel, I sometimes forget he’s there. Did I say “he?” How do I know? As I understand it, the angels have no gender. Or do they possess both? Unimportant. What is important is the role they play in our daily lives.

As Jesus said in Matthew 18:10 our angels are not only with us every minute of every day but also face-to-face with God, Himself, presenting our petitions, joys and anxieties to Him. They can influence our thoughts and our actions but they can’t control them—that’s the purpose of our free will. What the guardian angels will do is remind us of what is good and urge us to follow that. They will also step in and protect us from physical harm, if it is God’s will.

I believe that our angels actually take our bodies over, at times, to do good works for others that we may not feel capable of or even be aware of.

A couple of scenarios come to mind:

There have been several times when I was so sleepy, I should not have been driving. I managed to get to my destination without even realizing how I got there! I’m sure it was my guardian angel driving! It’s a good thing he didn’t get pulled over, or there would have been some “ ‘splainin’ to do, Lucy!” lol

And then I got another email from Wendy last week explaining how she actually became a guardian angel for a couple of people she encountered. I’ll cut and paste the letter and let Wendy tell it in her own words:

“I was pulling into SAM'S CLUB this morning about 8:45 a.m., and I saw a man and a woman looking for something in the parking lot. I could tell these people worked at SAM’S CLUB because they were wearing a uniform with nametags.

I pulled over a few rows to park (I was looking for a little shade for my dog, who was in the car). When I got out the man and woman were nearby so I asked them “What are you looking for? I am a good finder. Ever since I was young I can find things.” (I also prayed to St. Anthony).

The woman started to say what they were looking for when the man shouted out, “There it is!”, practically under my foot. It was a crown that had fallen out of his mouth. They couldn’t believe what had happened. I told them I prayed to St. Anthony. The woman said she had goose bumps and the man had started to cry. The woman told him not to cry. He was so happy to have found his tooth.”

And that’s not the first time Wendy has served in that capacity. Remember the lady from my blog last March? (A Loving Father).

Have any of you NAMED your guardian angel? Mom says she named hers “George” years ago! As in St. George. Have her tell you why someday. It’s still unclear to me. Maybe she’ll put it on her blog.

I read somewhere that if you really want to know your guardian angel’s name, ask him! I’m going to try it tonight. Supposedly, if you simply ask, “What is your name?”, just before going to bed, the name will come to you when you wake up. I’m hoping my angel’s name is something cool, and from the Bible, like Obadiah, or Tobiah, or Joshua. But, knowing my luck and God’s sense of humor, I’ll probably end up with an angel named Tiddly Wink, or Mortimer. Yeah, yeah, I know it’s stupid and we shouldn’t participate in superstition, but aren’t you curious?

And wouldn’t it help to make him (or her) more present in our lives, to help us focus on our “prime directive” (courtesy Star Trek) given to us by Jesus, to love one another as Christ loves us?