Catholic Info
Traditional Catholic Faith => General Discussion => Topic started by: cassini on December 09, 2012, 02:57:44 PM
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A 'faith healer,' 'medium,' call them whatever you like, was interviewed on TV the other night. She said everyone has a guardian angel, which is a true tenet of Catholic faith. Then she said she communicated with her guardian angel. She then gave a demonstration of faith diagnosis and prognosis, one that did not impress me. But the interview got me thinking about our guardian angels. What do they do? Obviously they do not always keep their care true to God. How does the guardian angel of sinners, heretics and atheists feel? Are they allowed give up their care as a lost cause?
Seriously though, is there anything in the history of the Bible or the Church that records a personal meeting between a saint or sinner and their guardian angel? One would have thought there should be much communication given the one on one relationship oredered by God.
Anyone any such story, or is my lad just shy?
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or lassie..... even....
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There are many stories related to St. Pio of Pietrelcina and his guardian angel. It is said that the two would pray together, and that his angel was visible to him and was his friend from his youth.
In addition to this, Pio would tell his parishioners, friends, or anyone who wanted his prayers or blessings to send him their guardian angel. You can find a lot of stories related to Pio, his angel, and miracles performed by him in the book Send Me Your Guardian Angel, which was written by Fr. Alessio Parente, who was St. Pio's personal assistant. It's a really nice and short book that I like to read from time to time.
You can find it here (http://www.aquinasandmore.com/catholic-books/send-me-your-guardian-angel/sku/18300) if you're interested.
(http://i.imgur.com/NREGC.jpg)
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St. Joseph was awakened by an angel to take Our Lady and the Christ child to safety. When Christ was in the Garden shedding his blood an angel came to comfort him. There are many records of angels. Our Lady had Gabriel come to her and asked her if she would be the Mother of Jesus.
As for Guardian angel: I crossed the street with my bicycle and I should have waited. I got across ok but I saw my angel for just a brief second and the angel was huge. Was it my guardian angel, I don't know but it was an angel. Sometimes angels can be of help to you, and not see them.
AS for mediums and such, stay far from them. They are in confusion. They see powers and want powers and that is not what God has in mind. They are of the superstition arena and that is sinful.
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Why did you wait until Jack-in-the-Box left before you asked this question?
:laugh1:
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No, but . . . I had just climbed/hiked a mountain here in Colorado and on my descent I was sliding down rugged terrain. As I slid down a face of a boulder about half the size of a compact car, it dislodged and rolled towards me a few, seemingly endless seconds. Then, without explanation, said boulder split in half and with each rolling to the side of me and then off the cliffs 1000's of feet below. I can only explain this as the work of my guardian angel, whom I did not see physically, but was the beneficiary of his work.
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No, but I pray to him often. I have often made him work overtime. I expect he will be happy to be done with me when I finally die. "No more looking after that idiot," I expect he'll say. :smile:
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Does anyone have a name for their guardian angel? I asked mine what his name was one day, and the first thing that popped into my mind was Thomas.
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In eighth grade, we were asked if we had named our guardian angel. I named my angel Angela. Or grandson age 7, said his angel is Eddie. My husbands is Michael. Should my angel have a male name? I have often wondered, is so Angelo.
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Should my angel have a male name?
I don't think it's necessary. I once read that angels have no gender, so I don't see why they couldn't have feminine names.
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One should not "name" the angelic spirit given as his protector.
This novelty has come about since the Revolution in the 1960s and has no basis in doctrine or traditional spiritual counsel.
It is charismatic and EWTN-esque, very popular among the disoriented folks who believe in Medjugorje.
A thorough reflection on the Summa's exposition on the angelic powers ought to be sufficient to warn any intelligent reader against overfamiliarity and insipid New Age trendy acts of sentimentality unbefitting to Catholics.
And, while not a criticism of anyone on this thread, a reminder: ALL practice of spiritism is gravely offensive to God, a direct violation of the First Commandment. Mediums, soothsayers, etc. are all either obsessed or outright possessed slaves of you-know-who.
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No, but . . . I had just climbed/hiked a mountain here in Colorado and on my descent I was sliding down rugged terrain. As I slid down a face of a boulder about half the size of a compact car, it dislodged and rolled towards me a few, seemingly endless seconds. Then, without explanation, said boulder split in half and with each rolling to the side of me and then off the cliffs 1000's of feet below. I can only explain this as the work of my guardian angel, whom I did not see physically, but was the beneficiary of his work.
Thanks guys for all that. Yours Spork strikes a bell. I can record a few times in my life I could have been killed, once by half a second. I often wondered if it was just chance or if I had help from my guardian angel. I am now, with you spork, going to credit my guardian angel with these saves. In true Catholic fashion I must now assume I was not ready for God at those times during my AWL years, for maybe my guardian angel actually saved me from a fate worse than death, hell for all eternity. Yes, guardian angels would not save us if we were on the way to heaven at those times, would he? Ah the mystery of iniquity.
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Does anyone have a name for their guardian angel? I asked mine what his name was one day, and the first thing that popped into my mind was Thomas.
When I was about 5, I asked my mother what my guardian angel's name was. I expect for lack of any real answer but not wanting to brush off my question, she said, "Fred". That has been his name ever since. I hope he doesn't mind.
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Should my angel have a male name?
I don't think it's necessary. I once read that angels have no gender, so I don't see why they couldn't have feminine names.
I have always thought of my guardian angle as male, but my daughters have always thought of theirs as female. Since, as Alex says, they don't have gender or a body, I suppose we can think of them in any way that makes it easier to relate to them in prayer.
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One should not "name" the angelic spirit given as his protector.
This novelty has come about since the Revolution in the 1960s and has no basis in doctrine or traditional spiritual counsel.
It is charismatic and EWTN-esque, very popular among the disoriented folks who believe in Medjugorje.
A thorough reflection on the Summa's exposition on the angelic powers ought to be sufficient to warn any intelligent reader against overfamiliarity and insipid New Age trendy acts of sentimentality unbefitting to Catholics.
And, while not a criticism of anyone on this thread, a reminder: ALL practice of spiritism is gravely offensive to God, a direct violation of the First Commandment. Mediums, soothsayers, etc. are all either obsessed or outright possessed slaves of you-know-who.
Oh come on. Please lighten up. Can you show me any church teaching or even saint's statement that says this? It is most certainly not spritism, which as you say is gravely sinful. It is human nature to want to call a friend by some name, and my guardian angle has certainly been a friend to me.
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When I was about 5, I asked my mother what my guardian angel's name was. I expect for lack of any real answer but not wanting to brush off my question, she said, "Fred". That has been his name ever since. I hope he doesn't mind.
My patron saint was chosen for me in kind of the same fashion that your angel's name was. When I was a child, I remember being told by someone (I don't know who) that my patron saint is St. John the Baptist.
12 years later, I'm finally about to be confirmed in the Church, and even though I have no special connection to him or know much about him, I chose St. John the Baptist to be my patron saint...because, well, somebody said that he was when I was a kid!
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Anthony Benedict should not have been thumbed down. He is absolutely right in his sentiment.
Humans should not make a habit of assigning names to angels. Angels are higher beings to us and are not subjected to us. Naming them suggests dominance over them. It's more a matter of principle than a Catholic dogma.
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Thank you, Daegus.
from the Cong. for Div. Wrsp. ( 2001 ) "Guide to Popular Piety & Liturgy"
You can verify this on the Vatican website....
216. Down through the centuries, the faithful have translated into various devotional exercises the teaching of the faith in relation to the ministry of Angels: the Holy Angels have been adopted as patrons of cities and corporations; great shrines in their honour have developed such as Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, San Michele della Chiusa in Piemonte and San Michele Gargano in Apulia, each appointed with specific feast days; hymns and devotions to the Holy Angels have also been composed.
Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the Guardian Angels. St. Basil Great (+378) taught that "each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard and guide them through life"(292). This ancient teaching was consolidated by biblical and patristic sources and lies behind many forms of piety. St. Bernard of Clarivaux (+1153) was a great master and a notable promoter of devotion to the Guardian Angels. For him, they were a proof "that heaven denies us nothing that assists us", and hence, "these celestial spirits have been placed at our sides to protect us, instruct us and to guide us"(293).
Devotion to the Holy Angels gives rise to a certain form of the Christian life which is characterized by:
devout gratitude to God for having placed these heavenly spirits of great sanctity and dignity at the service of man;
an attitude of devotion deriving from the knowledge of living constantly in the presence of the Holy Angels of God;- serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels.Among the prayers to the Guardian Angels the Angele Dei(294) is especially popular, and is often recited by families at morning and evening prayers, or at the recitation of the Angelus.
217. Popular devotion to the Holy Angels, which is legitimate and good, can, however, also give rise to possible deviations:
when, as sometimes can happen, the faithful are taken by the idea that the world is subject to demiurgical struggles, or an incessant battle between good and evil spirits, or Angels and daemons, in which man is left at the mercy of superior forces and over which he is helpless; such cosmologies bear little relation to the true Gospel vision of the struggle to overcome the Devil, which requires moral commitment, a fundamental option for the Gospel, humility and prayer;
when the daily events of life, which have nothing or little to do with our progressive maturing on the journey towards Christ are read schematically or simplistically, indeed childishly, so as to ascribe all setbacks to the Devil and all success to the Guardian Angels. The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.
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What this New Age fruit doing this TV interview is referring to, conceptually, is completely different than your Catholic understanding of a Guardian Angel.
Just because this person used the same terms, does not mean it's the same thing.
It is a fairly widely and much sought after goal of ritualistic magic to attain a conversation with one's "Holy Guardian Angel" but the prescribed way of going about it (ritual magic, ceremony, fasting, lengthy preparation) and its status as one of the greatest works of occult practice should disabuse you all of any mistaken notions that whatever this person is communing with or getting her information from, it is neither 'holy' nor her Guardian Angel.
I am glad none of you know this, nor have studied this subject as I had (before becoming Catholic), but now that you know this you should neither make light of this witch's relationship with her familiar, not treat your own guardian angel as such with diminutive names or folksy customs.
Your guardian angel is a powerful protector commissioned as such by God, this is not writing a letter to Santa.
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What this New Age fruit doing this TV interview is referring to, conceptually, is completely different than your Catholic understanding of a Guardian Angel.
Just because this person used the same terms, does not mean it's the same thing.
It is a fairly widely and much sought after goal of ritualistic magic to attain a conversation with one's "Holy Guardian Angel" but the prescribed way of going about it (ritual magic, ceremony, fasting, lengthy preparation) and its status as one of the greatest works of occult practice should disabuse you all of any mistaken notions that whatever this person is communing with or getting her information from, it is neither 'holy' nor her Guardian Angel.
I am glad none of you know this, nor have studied this subject as I had (before becoming Catholic), but now that you know this you should neither make light of this witch's relationship with her familiar, not treat your own guardian angel as such with diminutive names or folksy customs.
Your guardian angel is a powerful protector commissioned as such by God, this is not writing a letter to Santa.
I echo Iuvenalis' comments here.
This is NOT some sentimental feel-good person to hold your hand. An angel is commissioned by God for a purpose and mission , much like a paid bodyguard is employed to protect another's life even by use of deadly force on an acting aggressor. It is a grave matter and not one for frivolous attitudes or to be talked about in a joking atmosphere.
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What this New Age fruit doing this TV interview is referring to, conceptually, is completely different than your Catholic understanding of a Guardian Angel.
Just because this person used the same terms, does not mean it's the same thing.
It is a fairly widely and much sought after goal of ritualistic magic to attain a conversation with one's "Holy Guardian Angel" but the prescribed way of going about it (ritual magic, ceremony, fasting, lengthy preparation) and its status as one of the greatest works of occult practice should disabuse you all of any mistaken notions that whatever this person is communing with or getting her information from, it is neither 'holy' nor her Guardian Angel.
I am glad none of you know this, nor have studied this subject as I had (before becoming Catholic), but now that you know this you should neither make light of this witch's relationship with her familiar, not treat your own guardian angel as such with diminutive names or folksy customs.
Your guardian angel is a powerful protector commissioned as such by God, this is not writing a letter to Santa.
Interesting Iuvenalis. This female 'faith healer's use of guardian angels has to be a trick of the Devil. She either makes it up or has been set up by the Devil to rubbish angels. But how well she presented her visions, her conversations, her depictions of the guardian angels of others. Only then did the sceptical presenter tell us she charges around 150 euros - 200 dollars a session 'healing.' The host asked her to see if he had any hidden ailments. She did the usual hand over and told him to watch his kidney as it could give trouble in the future. Imagine paying someone 200 dollars for that? How do you 'watch your kidney?'
Her relationship with her angels, real or imposed, enables her to make money, and that is not anything an angel would assist with. The fact that there was nothing else she wanted to say about their real origins, Creator or spiritual purpose as regards protecting us from the devils out there, and sin, demonstrated to me her angels were of the other side.
That said, my original question is very real and may well have been answered by Anthony. The question is how come there is so little communication from them given everybody has one persolally assigned to them? I never knew Catholics are discouraged to name their guardian angel. Not even if such a means is used to teach children they have one? Are they to be believed in but ignored in every way otherwise, except praying to them? Interesting, while I have known since childhood I have one, I never felt my angel needed a name. Another thought I often got is a sadness for an angel who sees his human reject Christ and the Church and end up in hell. It must be awful.
Then the other question, how much influence are they allowed? Billions of humans throughout the ages rejected, ignored or were ignorant of Christ. Why was there not a proper encyclical ever written by a pope explaining the inclusion of guardian angels in God's plan? We can only speculate on them within the parameters of our Catholic faith, but surely a little more teaching would be better?
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There are some really good books available for free on Angel Guardians.
Say the Guardian Angel Prayers every single day and honor them often and there will be time after time that you know he helped in all types of dangers, in matters of conscience, in prompting you to pray...the list goes on and on. All Guardian Angels are different, but they are your very best friend possible in this vale of tears.
:pray:
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Does anyone have a name for their guardian angel? I asked mine what his name was one day, and the first thing that popped into my mind was Thomas.
I heard a story that if after receiving communion you were to ask in prayer to know what name your guardian angel wished to be called, it would come strongly into your mind. One day, rather sheepishly, I tried it. The name that came to my mind, out of nowhere, was 'Monique". My automatic reaction to this was disbelief. "You can't be French! To which came the response 'Alright, Monica, then.' Weird. :laugh1:
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No, but . . . I had just climbed/hiked a mountain here in Colorado and on my descent I was sliding down rugged terrain. As I slid down a face of a boulder about half the size of a compact car, it dislodged and rolled towards me a few, seemingly endless seconds. Then, without explanation, said boulder split in half and with each rolling to the side of me and then off the cliffs 1000's of feet below. I can only explain this as the work of my guardian angel, whom I did not see physically, but was the beneficiary of his work.
Are you absolutely sure that you did not give the boulder one of these first?
. (http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4744410652737916&pid=15.1&W=160&H=120)
I mean, maybe you've stumbled on to something here?!?!
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Guardian Angels are DEFINITELY real... Heaven knows mine has had to work overtime! :)
Seriously, when I converted to the Faith in 2003, I was told that every Tuesday is the day designated for the Angels, so I try to say the St. Michael Chaplet for them on that day.:) there is a great app called iPieta that can actually say the prayers with you, (or for you if you are really sick, which is usually the case with me).
When I first converted, I was always asking Our Jesus if I could know the name of my Angel (always in mental prayer, so the Devil couldn't find out), and after Holy Communion one morning, just like a flash in my mind I saw "Vincent!!" I opened my missal back up, and it opened right to the mass of St Vincent. :) that made me sooo happy! It just helps to have a name sometimes!
A priest friend of mine knows the name of all three of his Guardian Angels! (Priests have 3, and some souls have Archangels guarding them, or sometimes more than one).
There is a famous story of a Saint who's Angel would always go in front of him to go through a doorway, but when the Saint became a priest, he and the Angel would have "holy contests" to see who would let the other through first. I love that story! :reading:
Our Guardian Angels do so much for us, it is important to always thank them and speak with them during the day. Of course I wish that I could someday see my Vincent, I keep thinking back to Sacred Scripture... Every person who has seen an Angel has been told "Fear not!!"
They are probably too impressive and beautiful for words... I think I might just wait on this wish.. I would like to live a few years longer! Ha ha ha!
A couple of great books are "Angels and Devils" by Joan Carroll Cruz, and "All About the Angels" by E.D.M.
Thank you for taking the time to read my rambling story! I am so happy Our Lord in His Goodness gave us our very own Prince of Heaven to watch out for us, and lead us Home.
Love,
michaela +
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Also, for fear of being labeled a "sap"... Don't forget about Love! St Gemma Galagni sent ACTUAL letters to her confessor with her Guardian Angel. Countless other stories of the Saints describe their Angels helping them through every difficulty! St Padre Pio would tell his "children" to send their Angels to him with their intentions!
All care must be taken of course... We are weak beings, and the spirit world that we do not see is a place that we should not meddle in. But our Angels are not just like some mercenaries for hire or sour-faced black-belts who are just here to be our bodyguards! Plenty of literature has been written that attests that the Holy Angels LOVE us with a love that EXCEEDS a mother's love towards her child. They WANT us to go Home, and they WANT us to speak to them more than just a quick prayer in the morning and at night.
Please remember that we are called to be humble, like children if we are to go Home. If we get bogged down about which encyclical said what, our dear Angels won't be getting the love they deserve, and we run the risk of losing the simplicity that is called for. Of course, don't go out seeking signs and wonders, DON'T consult "mediums", but don't think Our Jesus and our dear Angels are going to be mad if we have a child's way of applying something finite to infinite concepts that we don't (and can't!) understand yet.
Not trying to be mean, please don't take offence!! :soapbox:
:dancing:
Love,
michaela +
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No, but . . . I had just climbed/hiked a mountain here in Colorado and on my descent I was sliding down rugged terrain. As I slid down a face of a boulder about half the size of a compact car, it dislodged and rolled towards me a few, seemingly endless seconds. Then, without explanation, said boulder split in half and with each rolling to the side of me and then off the cliffs 1000's of feet below. I can only explain this as the work of my guardian angel, whom I did not see physically, but was the beneficiary of his work.
Are you absolutely sure that you did not give the boulder one of these first?
. (http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4744410652737916&pid=15.1&W=160&H=120)
I mean, maybe you've stumbled on to something here?!?!
Vulcan magic show schtick: (http://ts1.mm.bing.net/th?id=I.4938053522752648&pid=15.1&W=160&H=120)
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I believe we can actually meet our angel or AN ANGEL many times in our life. An angel can come to us in the form of a person if we need them. For example, many years ago, driving to Spokane from California, with other people in my care, it was about midnight and we drove into a freak blizzard. A car in front of us stopped causing us to slip off the road into the ditch that had about 3 feet of fresh snow. We could not get out of the ditch, no matter what.
One of the women with me, (now R.I.P) started to pray, while I was trying to dig our way out with the top of a cooler, since we had no shovel.
Suddenly out of no where this very large pick-up truck, with a very large man got out of the truck, he took charge of our situation with such confidence. Took out a very, very large chain, really big links, I noticed. He told us to get into his truck and for some reason we had no fear of him. He then drove us, leaving our car in the ditch. He drove us about 1/4 of a mile to a motel, by this time it was about 1:30 A.M. He then rang a bell for the manager to come, open the motel for us and with a stern voice he asked that we be given a room. We all checked into the room, and he went back to pull our car out of the ditch and brought it to us. I told him he must be our Guardian Angel, and he just smiled and left.
The strange thing is he never even asked us if we wanted to go to that motel, it was as if, he just wanted us to NOT go further that night.
To this day I believe he was one of our angels, maybe the women who was in the car praying, while I was being stupid and trying to dig our way out with the top of a cooler.
Another little story from a women in our Church, her husband was dying, and while he lay there on his death bed, he told her he saw the angels coming for him, and he wanted her to know, that they really did not have any wings.
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One should exercise extreme caution when it comes to talking to, naming or treating your guardian angel like an earthly friend. We are easily deceived and many times the Ascetics and Desert Fathers relate stories of demons appearing to them under the guise of helping them or being heavenly spirits. St Maximus the Confessor warns: "Imagination is the fruit of passion, the imprint of an image representing something that is or seems to be sensory. Therefore no imagination can be admitted in relation to God, for he exceeds all mind." I suppose one could include the other bodiless hosts as well.
The Church has provided us with certain prayers and devotions to the Saints and angels. When one begins to wander outside these bounds the soul can be exposed to danger.
Not to mention that naming your guardian angel and attributing other such anthropomorphic attributes to them smacks of sentimentality. A safe rule is not to go beyond what the Church and/or Scripture has revealed. Several times the angels are presented to us using human language. This does not mean that we are free to go beyond these cases.
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My daily-Communicant Grandmother said she saw her friends on her deathbed..she was very devoted to Angels.
I was attacked by a psycho one night walking; he had me by the neck and told me he was going to have to kill me...I was floating ... I was prompted by something to say, "May God forgive you for what you are about to do". He choked me but I couldn't feel it, something made him lose his grip and I bellowed, NO and he dropped me and ran. My jeans were shredded at the sides, my clothes torn up. I am not doing such a great job of describing the story, but I had and have absolutely no doubt this was intervention by my Holy Guardian Angel. I never had one bit of physical pain afterwards, not a mark, not even on my neck.
This is only one such story of this glorious majestic spirit given by a merciful God.
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I believe we can actually meet our angel or AN ANGEL many times in our life. An angel can come to us in the form of a person if we need them. For example, many years ago, driving to Spokane from California, ...
...this very large pick-up truck, with a very large man got out of the truck, he took charge of our situation with such confidence. Took out a very, very large chain, really big links, I noticed. He told us to get into his truck and for some reason we had no fear of him. ...
... he went back to pull our car out of the ditch and brought it to us. I told him he must be our Guardian Angel, and he just smiled and left.
The strange thing is he never even asked us if we wanted to go to that motel, it was as if, he just wanted us to NOT go further that night.
To this day I believe he was one of our angels, maybe the women who was in the car praying, while I was being stupid and trying to dig our way out with the top of a cooler.
Another little story from a women in our Church, her husband was dying, and while he lay there on his death bed, he told her he saw the angels coming for him, and he wanted her to know, that they really did not have any wings.
Presuming that he was an angel, it may be a stretch to say you were "being
stupid" by trying to dig the snow out, because you were doing something
in an effort to help, and God rewards good effort. You had prayer and
work going on, "work and pray" is the monastic rule, ora et labora.
On the other hand, it seems possible he was a big rig tow operator, and
his "really big links" were for pulling big trucks out of the ditches. He may
have had a loved one die recently from exposure to the elements, and
that could explain his confidence and desire for you to go no further in
those conditions. And if that had been so, he probably would not have
wanted to explain it all to you because he would not want to upset you
even more than you already were - it may have sounded like he was
thinking of you being "hurt" and in your disoriented state you could have
misinterpreted that to mean he was thinking of hurting you!
I have been in situations when someone who did not know me said they
thought I was an angel, merely because I intervened to help when others
passed by unconcerned. And I recall just smiling and leaving. But I'm no
angel, I assure you! HAHAHAHA
We should avoid giving our angel a name because it might be closer to the
name of a devil than to our angel's name. If you think you have a private
revelation of your angel's name, how can you be sure that wasn't just a
deception of the devil? The devil is allowed to tempt people, even saints.
To hear that Padre Pio did something or experienced something is what it
is: you are probably not getting the whole story. You should not then go
out and attempt to imitate his spiritual gifts any more than you should try
to expel all the snakes out of the land just because St. Patrick did so out
of Ireland. People like to marvel at the miracles of saints to the point
where they may try to duplicate their miracles in the present, but what
about the penances these saints practiced?
St. Patrick took an ICE BATH before he went to bed for the night. He was
not content with fasting on bread and water, he toasted his bread to the
point where it was black - one may say "burnt toast." How many of us
would be willing to do that? The Cure d'Ars ate moldy potatoes. We
may be eager to replicate these saints' miracles, but how eager are we to
replicate their penances that always preceded them? Even Our Lord did
not go out performing miracles until he spent 40 days and nights in the
desert, fasting, during which time even he was tempted by the devil. The
devil hates to see us practice penance, for he knows that is how we
become empowered to do real battle against him!
Fr. Pfeiffer mentions in a recent sermon how a man in Scripture (OT) was
given the power to perform a prodigious miracle after he had left his
delicious food at table, when he had been hungry and had been for some
time anticipating this fine meal, but he had left the table and went out to
give aid to someone in need. God was very pleased with his self-denial,
his mortification, and so gave him the power to perform a miracle. The
scripture does NOT say that the man had planned the whole thing. It does
NOT say that he desired to perform a miracle and so planned to leave his
food and go out looking for troubles to solve.
The "wings" of an angel are an artistic depiction of their power of rapid
movement. The can go from one place to another as quickly as they can
think of being at their destination. They move with the speed of thought.
Now, how else would you allude to that note of being?
The Angel of Portugal, most likely St. Michael Archangel (he is the patron
saint of Portugal) who appeared more than once to the shepherd children
of Fatima had no wings. But they didn't have any question but that he
was an angel, because he told them he was, and they could see through
him somewhat, that is, he was not entirely opaque but somewhat
translucent, and he was able to suspend the "law" of gravity by leaving
the host suspended in the air while he gave the chalice to Jacinta and
Francisco to drink from it. That, by the way, was Jacinta's First Holy
Communion, and Francisco's as well. They were 7 and 8 respectively.
Angels don't like to go around lavishing us with appearances and signs
because it too quickly becomes an addiction and then the devil can use
our expectations in his favor by giving us deceptions. If the devil could
fool St. John of the Cross, how much more could he fool us?
I do not intend to demean the fascinating stories in this thread that
testify to what their recipients believe to be the intervention of their
guardian angel, for certainly these things can happen. I would however
caution anyone against trying to MAKE them happen. It is not within our
power to cause our angel to do anything at our whim when it is our own
entertainment or ego that is the object of our desire. Spiritual gifts are
not properly directed to a magic show or an industry for making money,
or for personal curiosity and diversion. Whenever one does such things,
he is far more likely to be invoking the power of the FALLEN angels!
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Thank you, Daegus.
from the Cong. for Div. Wrsp. ( 2001 ) "Guide to Popular Piety & Liturgy"
You can verify this on the Vatican website....
216. Down through the centuries, the faithful have translated into various devotional exercises the teaching of the faith in relation to the ministry of Angels: the Holy Angels have been adopted as patrons of cities and corporations; great shrines in their honour have developed such as Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, San Michele della Chiusa in Piemonte and San Michele Gargano in Apulia, each appointed with specific feast days; hymns and devotions to the Holy Angels have also been composed.
Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the Guardian Angels. St. Basil Great (+378) taught that "each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard and guide them through life"(292). This ancient teaching was consolidated by biblical and patristic sources and lies behind many forms of piety. St. Bernard of Clarivaux (+1153) was a great master and a notable promoter of devotion to the Guardian Angels. For him, they were a proof "that heaven denies us nothing that assists us", and hence, "these celestial spirits have been placed at our sides to protect us, instruct us and to guide us"(293).
Devotion to the Holy Angels gives rise to a certain form of the Christian life which is characterized by:
devout gratitude to God for having placed these heavenly spirits of great sanctity and dignity at the service of man;
an attitude of devotion deriving from the knowledge of living constantly in the presence of the Holy Angels of God;- serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels.Among the prayers to the Guardian Angels the Angele Dei(294) is especially popular, and is often recited by families at morning and evening prayers, or at the recitation of the Angelus.
217. Popular devotion to the Holy Angels, which is legitimate and good, can, however, also give rise to possible deviations:
when, as sometimes can happen, the faithful are taken by the idea that the world is subject to demiurgical struggles, or an incessant battle between good and evil spirits, or Angels and daemons, in which man is left at the mercy of superior forces and over which he is helpless; such cosmologies bear little relation to the true Gospel vision of the struggle to overcome the Devil, which requires moral commitment, a fundamental option for the Gospel, humility and prayer;
when the daily events of life, which have nothing or little to do with our progressive maturing on the journey towards Christ are read schematically or simplistically, indeed childishly, so as to ascribe all setbacks to the Devil and all success to the Guardian Angels. The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.
Well, okay. I asked for it, and you gave it to me. I was wrong.
I didn't down thumb your post. I just disagreed with you. I know you said nothing at all about down thumbing, and Daegus did not suggest that I was the one who did it. I just wanted to make that clear.
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Merci, Sigismund!
You're a scholar and a gent, to boot!
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Thanks for sharing many of these stories. And no, I don't have a Spock finger strike force power jab to split rocks. I have a guardian angel for that! :pray:
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Thanks for sharing many of these stories. And no, I don't have a Spock finger strike force power jab to split rocks. I have a guardian angel for that! :pray:
I was just having some fun, Spork.
I hope you're able to be a good "spork" about it! There I go again!
I kinda like your style, though:
"a Spock finger strike force power jab to split rocks." Cute! Thanks!
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No, but . . . I had just climbed/hiked a mountain here in Colorado and on my descent I was sliding down rugged terrain. As I slid down a face of a boulder about half the size of a compact car, it dislodged and rolled towards me a few, seemingly endless seconds. Then, without explanation, said boulder split in half and with each rolling to the side of me and then off the cliffs 1000's of feet below. I can only explain this as the work of my guardian angel, whom I did not see physically, but was the beneficiary of his work.
I guess it might not be showing up like this, but your story just about
threw me out of my chair. I didn't know how to deal with it, so I made
some jokes.. okay? I've done a little entry level mountain climbing
with the harness and carabiners an fancy ropes. Depending on the
rocks keeping put is a kind of axiom in the field, but as you describe, it's
always possible -- that one moment in a boulder's history transpires
right when you happen to be standing under it. And not infrequently,
it's accompanied by a slide of more rocks from above: a rockslide!
That would be on the "A" list for "undesirable situations," right under
"falling into a meat grinder."
For most climbers, such a moment would be "curtains."
But not for you! Apparently God had other plans, to your good fortune.
And God does use His angels for such assignments. You are quite blessed
to be the recipient of this prodigious moment. I'd say I wish I could have
been there, but that would be a lie. Although, if you had taken a video,
I'd be asking to see it!
There is a local trail that has a makeshift barrier at one entrance without
any sign for warning, and I didn't know why, so I went in to explore it. At
the summit, there is a rock wall on one side of the trail with a long split
running up the side 30 feet in conglomerate shale. Seeing 50 tons of
precarious and crumbly stone overhead in confined quarters is not
conducive to a warm, fuzzy feeling. The trail seems like it should be
posted.
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Yes, that sounds like it should be posted.. It sounds scary!
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No, but . . . I had just climbed/hiked a mountain here in Colorado and on my descent I was sliding down rugged terrain. As I slid down a face of a boulder about half the size of a compact car, it dislodged and rolled towards me a few, seemingly endless seconds. Then, without explanation, said boulder split in half and with each rolling to the side of me and then off the cliffs 1000's of feet below. I can only explain this as the work of my guardian angel, whom I did not see physically, but was the beneficiary of his work.
I guess it might not be showing up like this, but your story just about
threw me out of my chair. I didn't know how to deal with it, so I made
some jokes.. okay? I've done a little entry level mountain climbing
with the harness and carabiners an fancy ropes. Depending on the
rocks keeping put is a kind of axiom in the field, but as you describe, it's
always possible -- that one moment in a boulder's history transpires
right when you happen to be standing under it. And not infrequently,
it's accompanied by a slide of more rocks from above: a rockslide!
That would be on the "A" list for "undesirable situations," right under
"falling into a meat grinder."
For most climbers, such a moment would be "curtains."
But not for you! Apparently God had other plans, to your good fortune.
And God does use His angels for such assignments. You are quite blessed
to be the recipient of this prodigious moment. I'd say I wish I could have
been there, but that would be a lie. Although, if you had taken a video,
I'd be asking to see it!
There is a local trail that has a makeshift barrier at one entrance without
any sign for warning, and I didn't know why, so I went in to explore it. At
the summit, there is a rock wall on one side of the trail with a long split
running up the side 30 feet in conglomerate shale. Seeing 50 tons of
precarious and crumbly stone overhead in confined quarters is not
conducive to a warm, fuzzy feeling. The trail seems like it should be
posted.
Guardian Angel... or someone else, perhaps?
http://www.frassatiusa.org/
Bl. Pier Georgio was an amazing gentleman. Wealthy but gave unstintingly from his amplitude to the poor - secretly. Excellent prayer life consisting of meditation and the Holy Rosary. And a courage that went far beyond climbing mountains.
If I recall the event correctly, he waded straight into a fist fight during an anti-Catholic demonstration ( commies? ).
And THAT, folks, is MY kind of Catholic!
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Thanks for the encouraging words, gentlemen.