October 2nd - The Feast of the Guardian Angels

[Weedy]

October 2nd - The Feast of the Guardian Angels

Practical Considerations.

I. The Almighty has placed you under the protection of an Angel.
Render thanks to Him this day for so great a benefit. Give thanks also
to your Guardian Angel for all the love and care which until now he
has always bestowed upon you. Show him always due honor, in accordance
with the admonitions of the Lord. Let no day pass on which you do not,
at least morning and evening, place yourself under his powerful
protection. Do the same if you are harassed by care, sorrow, sadness
or temptation, and in all dangers that beset your soul or body.

Pray frequently to him to guard you especially in the dangerous combat
you will have to wage with the spirit of hell in your last hour. The
holy Church counsels you to do this, when in the name of all the
faithful she thus invokes the holy Guardian Angels: "O, all ye holy
angels, our protectors; guard us in the combat, that we may not be
lost in the fearful Judgment." Remember that your Angel is always near
you, especially in Church and when you are tempted to sin. Do nothing
of which you would be ashamed in the presence of an upright and
dignified person. Obey the voice of your Angel, as God himself
commands. The Angel speaks to you deep in your heart; he admonishes
you through sermons, confessors and devout books. Despise not his
exhortations, but follow when he calls you.

Avoid whatever may displease him, and do all that is agreeable to him.
Sin, as an offense to God, is displeasing to him, especially all sin
against chastity. Avoid it. Good works, zeal in the service of God,
the frequent and pious partaking of the holy Sacraments, a modest
deportment in Church, are all pleasing to him; hence, practice them
faithfully. In this manner, you will make yourself worthy of the
powerful protection of your Guardian Angel, during your life and at
the hour of your death.

II. Your holy angel is most perfectly obedient to the Almighty.
Following the command of God, he has taken charge of you, and
experience has convinced you that he performs his mission well. Be you
also obedient to your God. He has entrusted to you a precious,
immortal soul, and has commanded you to take good care of it. Take
heed that it suffers nothing; this will be for your own benefit. If
you have children, servants, or others under you, God has also given
them into your care. Be obedient to God and do your duty. Before all
things be solicitous for their salvation.

Your Guardian Angel is a pure spirit. He has the greatest horror for
the least shadow of impurity. Imitate him. Detest every thing, however
trifling it may appear, that is unchaste. Do not regard anything as
trifling, which may injure chastity; for, nothing can be a trifle,
that is displeasing to the Divine Majesty or to your Guardian Angel.

Your holy Angel accompanies you joyfully to Church. He there worships,
with great veneration, in the company of many other Angels, your
Savior truly present. . Imitate him. Rejoice to go to Church and there
worship your God, with angelic reverence and devotion. Say your
prayers in such a manner, that your holy Angel may offer them to the
Almighty with pleasure. Do not profane your devotions, by unnecessary
conversation, by idly gazing around, by indecent manners or other
similar irreverences. God requires an unspotted sacrifice, and your
holy Angel will not present any other to the Divine Majesty.

Although your Guardian Angel has charge of you, and is constantly with
you, he nevertheless enjoys the divine presence and glorifies and
praises God unceasingly. Imitate him, by frequently thinking of God
during your day's work; by working in His presence and by praising
Him, as well by those prayers which you say at stated times of the
day, as also by renewing your good intentions, and by short pious
ejaculations. If you follow your holy Angel on earth, you will also
enjoy his society in heaven. The Venerable Bede writes; "If we desire
to attain to the society of the holy Angels in heaven, we must neglect
nothing to follow them on earth."


Saint Quote:
At times a single word is sufficient to cool a person who is burning
with anger; and, on the other hand, a single word may be capable of
desolating a soul, and infusing into it a bitterness which may be most
hurtful.
--St. Vincent de Paul

Bible Quote:
"I would have lost heart, unless I had believed That I would see the
goodness of the Lord In the land of the living." [Psalm 27:13]


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A prayer to one's Guardian Angel by St. Gertrude:

O most Holy Angel of God, appointed by Him to be my
guardian, I give thee thanks for all the benefits which thou
hast ever bestowed on me in body and in soul. I praise and
glorify thee that thou didst condescend to assist me with such
patient fidelity, and to defend me against all the assault of my
enemies. Blessed be the hour in which thou wast assigned me
for my guardian, my defender, and my patron. In
acknowledgment and return of all thy loving ministries to me
from my youth up, I offer thee the infinitely precious and
noble Heart of Jesus, and firmly purpose to obey thee
henceforth, and most faithfully to serve my God. Amen.