SS. GUARDIAN ANGELS HAPPY NAME DAY

 SS. GUARDIAN ANGELS HAPPY NAME DAY

CONGRATULATIONS TO ALL GRANDPARENTS

The Church dedicates this day to the memory of the Guardian Angels, heavenly figures present in the religious universe of the Bible who often serve as sent by the Lord to men to accompany them with their invisible and muted presence.

It’s a dogma of faith, the existence of angels, defined several times and in multiple pictures by the Church, from the Council of Nicea and up to Vatican I. Everything that concerns them is part of a study itself, called "angeology", which was taken care of by the Fathers of the Church and the greatest theologians who have thought a lot about the spirituality of these, making it the central subject of the Master, in which it is stated that angels are beings of all spirit, without body, immortal and unchangeable, which make themselves visible only to explain what they have done.

Who are the angels and how many are they?

The term “angel” is referring to a heavenly creature particularly close to God; it appears in the New Testament 175 times; in the Ancient 300. Right here, in addition, you can also find the function of the heavenly militia divided into nine hierarchies: Cherubim, Seraphim, Thrones, Dominions, Powers, Heavenly Virtues, Principals, Archangels, Angels. Pure spirits, equipped with intelligence and will, are often spoken of as messengers or executors of divine orders, appearing, in fact, at crucial moments in the history of salvation. The Fourth Lateran Council, furthermore, defines as a truth of faith that some angels, abusing their freedom, may fall into sin: it is as happened to Lucifer, the most beautiful of them, who sinning out of pride against God, fell into the depths of hell. Returning to the angelic hierarchies, at last, these stand out for their tasks and for other identifying signs: for example the Seraphim, being closest to God, are colored red, indicating a particularly fiery love; the Cherubim, on the other hand, have wings splattered with eyes like those of a peacock.

The Guardian Angel

Among the tasks assigned to angels in the Holy Scriptures is to accompany man on the path of goodness and to offer to the Lord our prayers and sacrifices: this is the role of the Guardian Angel, who, although being a truth of faith today finds little space, relegated to Catechism to be taught to children. In Baptism, in fact, every Christian receives as a gift from God his own Guardian Angel, a silent presence that will accompany and guide him throughout his life: a travel companion, an exemplary figure, but also an older brother. Through the centuries, though invisible, angels have been represented in various ways: mostly in worshiping attitudes toward God, but also grieved in depictions; often, ultimately, as musicians in the manger or warriors fighting against evil.

Origins of Liturgical Memory

The memory of the Holy Angels has been celebrated on October 2 since 1670, by the will of Clement X, while the Orthodox Church preferred the date of January 11. Previously this holiday was celebrated on September 29 together with the celebration of the three archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphaele, from which it distinguished itself by becoming the memory of the Guardian Angels first in Spain in '400, then spreading to Portugal, Austria and from here throughout Europe. In fact, the devotion to angels is older than that of the Saints and was of particular importance in the Middle Ages thanks to the hermitic monks who led a life of collection, silence and prayer in the company of only their Guardian Angel.

Luigi Russo