Memorial of the Holy Guardian Angels

Today's Mass Readings

This day we celebrate our “little friends”, our Guardian Angels. We often don’t think about them, but we are surrounded by angels who protect us. God, in His eternal wisdom and great love, grants that every person has an angel assigned to protect them and guard them.

Some may find this idea to be silly. “Oh, you have an angel watching over you? What about the tooth fairy?” Angels are not childhood fables. They are real as our souls are real. If you lose your soul, you lose who you are. Your Guardian Angel watches over you because there is nothing more important for your life than the life of your soul.

We see this reflected in the Gospel we will hear at Mass. This is the same situation as in Luke’s Gospel (quoted on Monday) where the disciples asked who was the greatest. The story goes like this. Jesus-once again- places a child in their midst. He says the angels of “little ones… always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.” How we treat the young and those who are “little” matters. No action involving other people is ever trivial. How we act towards other people has a heavenly responsibility, and the angels remind us of this.

At Conception Abbey, we have hymns we sing especially for this day. So, take it from us, your Guardian Angel is important. According to an old tradition, you can ask to know what your Guardian Angel’s name is in prayer. The tradition holds that the angel’s name will come to you at a time when you don’t expect it. I encourage you today to attempt this in a prayer of your own making. Give thanks to God for all the unknown “angels” in your life that help you on your way to God. Amen.

Reflection by Br. Matthew Marie, OSB