THE ANGELS ARE PRESENT AT MASS

 THE ANGELS ARE PRESENT AT MASS:

“The angels surround and help the priest when he is celebrating Mass.” ~ St. Augustine

While we kneel before the altar, countless angels are present, adoring Christ and assisting in the most sacred act that takes place on earth. 

They stand in reverence at the moment of consecration as the bread and wine become the Body and Blood of Our Lord.

 At every altar, heaven and earth meet.

THE HOLY GUARDIAN ANGELS (October 2nd)

The Most High has commanded His angels to watch over you; they shall guard you in all your ways; they will bear you up in their hands, lest your foot dash against a stone. (Psalm 90[91]:11-12)

I. Admire the goodness of God, who has appointed a prince of His court to watch over your conduct. Your guardian angel remains at your side day and night; he defends you against the devil and temptations; he inspires holy thoughts; he turns you away from evil; he intercedes for you before God. Thank God for the kindness He shows you in giving you so faithful and charitable a guide, and see in this grace a proof of the esteem He has for your soul. Thank your guardian angel for the services he renders you; ask him to continue them until your death.

II. Show profound respect for your angel, and express it each day with some prayer. Do not mistreat or scandalize anyone; remember the word of the Lord forbidding you to scandalize the little ones, for their angels always behold the face of their Father. These angels will avenge the harm you do to those under their care. If you labor to convert some sinner, beg his guardian angel to assist you. Honor your guardian angel. Do not do in his presence what you would not do before a respectable person. (St. Bernard)

III. Consider your guardian angel as the best friend you have in this world. He is faithful; he will not abandon you in your needs. He is infinitely enlightened—consult him in your doubts: he will not deceive you. He is powerful to help you: he has more power, more intelligence, and more strength than the men in whom you place your trust. Listen to what he inspires in you. Ah! If you had but a little faith, you would fear nothing, knowing that your angel is with you.

PRAYER: O God, who in ineffable providence deign to send Your holy angels to guard us, grant to our humble supplications the grace of being sustained by their protection, and the joy of being in eternity the companions of their glory. Through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

Reflection on our Guardian Angel vs Demons.

 I'm wondering about the struggles that our Guardian Angel is fighting for our protection.

As much as I believe in the existence of God and His gift of protection and guide for us, I also thought of how devils are fighting for us to fall into sin, and this is happening not just once but for the rest of our life.

That is why for every Guardian Angel, several demons are waiting for us to fall to sin. The devil is watchful and sees the opportunity to tempt us even in our thoughts, action, and will.

We must help our Guardian Angel, we must keep busy in prayers, fasting, and penance so that we will not recede into the trick of the devil.

( Edited from Exorcism Cross)

THE ANGELS GO TO MASS WITH US

There they are, all the angelic choirs, from the highest seraphim to the guardian angels, to worship God.

The most important part of the Mass is the Consecration, when the host and the wine are transformed into the true Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ.

Do you think that the Blessed Sacrament is there alone, in the hands of the priest?

Of course not.

The Sacrifice of the Mass is assisted by the Holy Ghost and, at the moment of consecration, myriads of angels are there to adore God. There they are, all the angelic choirs, from the highest seraphim to the guardian angels.

Where God is, the holy angels are also.

Consider this when going to Mass: we are before God, in His real presence, and we adore Him together with all His holy angels.

We are the Church, the assembly of the children of God, the Kingdom of God!

Blessed be God in the Most Holy Sacrament of the Altar.

A REALITY: WORSHIPPING ANGELS DURING THE HOLY SACRIFICE OF THE MASS

 

PRAYER TO OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL BY SAINT JOHN BERCHMANS

"Holy Angel, beloved of God, who after having taken me, by divine disposition, under your blessed custody, you never cease to defend me, enlighten me and direct me: I venerate you as my protector, I love you as my custodian; I submit to your direction and I give myself to you, to be governed by you. For the love of Jesus Christ I beg you, that when I am ungrateful to you and stubbornly deaf to your inspirations, do not abandon me despite this; on the contrary, put me soon on the straight path, if I have strayed from it; teach me, if I am ignorant; lift me up, if I have fallen; help me, if I am in danger and lead me to Heaven to possess eternal happiness”. Amen." 

The creation of the Angels

Both the existence and the creation of the Angels are dogmas of faith presenting one of the most inspiring and consoling aspects of our Religion. As the first creatures of this universe, the Angels were the first revelation of the Supreme Goodness of God and of His transcendent Beauty. Even though part of the universe, the Angels really constitute a world to themselves, the spirit world, so exalted and so different from our visible, material world.

It is an article of faith, firmly established in Scripture and Tradition, and clearly expressed in Christian Doctrine from the beginning, that this spirit world, our Angels, began with time and was created by God. This traditional belief of both the Old and the New Testament was given a more formal and solemn expression in the fourth Lateran Council in 1215: [God] "by his almighty power created together in the beginning of time both creatures, the spiritual and the corporeal, namely the Angelic and the earthly, and afterwards the human, as it were an intermediate creature, composed of body and spirit." [D. 428. A similar definition was given in the Vatican Council in 1869, D. 1782, 1801.]

From this definition we learn that the Angelic spirits were created when time began and not from eternity. Like all other creatures they were produced by the almighty power of God, out of nothing. It would be heretical to affirm that the Angels are an emanation of the Divine substance. [Vatican Council [I], D. 1804] Spiritual substances do not divide or split or multiply in any form whatever, nor change one into another; their individual existence can only be explained by creation.

The creation of the Angels is implicitly affirmed in all those passages of Sacred Scripture in which it is stated that all things were made by God; explicitly and formally their creation is mentioned by Saint Paul in one of those incomplete enumerations of the Angelic orders: "In Him [the Son of God, the Logos] were all things created in Heaven and on earth, visible and invisible, whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers: all things were created by Him and in Him." [Col. 1: 16]

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Invoke your Angel

September 29, Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Bernard, Abbot, Dixit:

The Guardian Angel

Every child has an auxiliary, whose services no one hires, but are acquired by the child by birthright… I’m talking about the Guardian Angel.

The Guardian angel belongs to a special body within the angelic militia.

He is not a warrior angel – like the ones who, along with Saint Michael at the head, unleashed against Lucifer the first blitzkrieg of history – or the angel of justice – like the one who evicted our First Fathers from Paradise – or the messenger angel – like the one at the Annunciation – or all the other angels who, in both Testaments, after frightening man, would tell them: “Do not be afraid”, just to end up entrusting them with an extremely difficult and special mission…

The Guardian Angel is the angel attached to our destiny, our private secretary, or even better, our bodyguard angel, who knows perfectly well all the dangers of childhood. Babysitter and trapeze artists, teacher and firefighter, their activity is unlimited, as is child’s imagination.

Nobody but him knows how to respect childhood. Only he knows how to gallop at its side and how to get ahead of it when necessary… The Guardian Angel is alone in his divine task; alone, but with the best company, that is, the company of the children.

He accompanies that childhood until he becomes an adult and then he senesces. He is a guardian from the cradle to the grave that faithfully helps us.

He accompanies childhood until it transforms into adulthood, and, later on, into old age. He is a guardian from the cradle to the grave that faithfully helps us.

HOW CAN THE GUARDIAN ANGEL HELP YOU?

- Your Guardian Angel is another example of the love and kindness of God towards you.

- God allows your Guardian Angel to reach your imagination directly (without a word), raising images, memories, impressions that point you to the correct path to follow.

Your Guardian Angel can help you in the following ways:

a) Give you SPIRITUAL ASSISTANCE:

He can, if you ask him, help you to pray better, not to get distracted, it may suggest purposes for improvement or ways to fulfill a good desire, he can help you in your apostolate, in dealing with people around you…

b) Give you, in addition, some MATERIAL HELP:

He can, if you ask him, help in the small necessities of daily life such as: not missing the bus, help you in an exam you have studied for, find something that you have lost, remember a forgotten issue that you need to keep in mind...

c) PROTECT you from the dangers of the soul.
Your Guardian Angel protects you from the tentations that can lead you into sin.

d) PROTECT you from the dangers of the body:

For example a stumble, a collision, an accident, an illness ... The Bible says: "For he hath given his angels charge over thee; to keep thee in all thy ways." (Ps 90,11).

e) Give you prudent advice. Call you to be good.

f) Cheer you up.

g) Comfort you.

h) Help you in everything that is good in your way of salvation.

- Finally, it is important to remember that angels do not have the power of God or His infinite wisdom. They can help you because God allows them.

Let us strive to be devoted and grateful to our Angel. Let's invoke him on our needs.

2 October: Holy Guardian Angels

• Matthew 18:10 - "See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you, that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven."
• Saint Basil: "Every one of the faithful has beside him an angel as tutor and pastor, to lead him to life." cf. Saint Basil, Adv, Eunomium, III, 1; see also Saint Thomas, S. Th., I, q. 11, a. 3).

"Nothing is as Close to Divinity as Childhood, which is Humanity Emerging from the Divinity": Anzoátegui

The Holy Guardian Angels

Meditation on the Guardian Angels

I. Admire God’s goodness, which has given you a prince of His court to watch over your behavior. Your Guardian Angel stays by your side day and night; he defends you against the devil and temptations; inspires you holy thoughts; takes you away from evil; intercedes for you before God. Thank God for the goodness he shows toward you by giving you such a faithful and benevolent guide, and see in this a proof of the love He has for your soul. Thank your Guardian Angel for all the things he does for you; and ask him to continue doing them until your death.

II. Have deep reverence for your angel and show it to him every day with a prayer. Do not mistreat or scandalize anyone; remember the Word of God which forbids you to scandalize the little ones, because their angels can always see their Father’s face. These angels will revenge the harm you inflicted on those who are under their care. If you desire to convert a sinner, ask for help to their Guardian Angel. Honor your Guardian Angel. Do not do anything in their presence that you would not do in anyone else’s presence. (Saint Bernard).

III. Think of your Guardian Angel as the best friend you have in this world. He is faithful, and will not abandon you in your time of need. He is infinitely illuminated; seek advice from him when you are in doubt: he will not deceive you. He is powerful and can help you: he has more power, more intelligence and more strength than the men you put trust in. Listen to his inspirations. If you only had a little faith, you would not be afraid of anything, knowing that your angel is with you.

PRAYING

O God, who by your ineffable Providence has deigned to send your holy angels to guard us, grant us the grace of being sustained by their protection, and the joy of keeping them company through all eternity. By Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.

You Are Never Truly Alone