5 Things You Need to Know About Your Guardian Angel

We all have guardian angels. Jesus told His disciples:

“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” (Mt 18:10).

However, only some of us realize this or would even dare to converse with them daily. For most of us, guardian angels are “cute” stories we tell children, so they are not afraid of the dark.

We don’t realize that our guardian angels are right beside us, ready to help us and continually knocking at the door, waiting for us to respond to their invitation.

So who are these heavenly beings? Well, here are five simple facts to get you started

#1. Guardian Angels are with us from the very beginning of life.

Saint Thomas Aquinas holds that “from the very moment of his birth, man has an angel guardian appointed to him” (Summa Theologica, I, 113, 5).

Even more so, Saint Anselm states that God appoints an angel to watch over them at the very moment of the union of soul and body. This would mean that two guardian angels would surround a woman during pregnancy. They watch over us from the beginning, and it is up to us to allow them to fulfill their duties for the rest of our lives.

#2. We will not become a Guardian Angel when we die.

All of the angels in the world were created at one instance at the very beginning of creation. One theory that we are allowed to believe is that on the first day when God made “light,” the “light He made was the angels (Gen. 1:3). This is further confirmed when God “divided the light from the darkness,” referring to the rebellion of the angels led by Lucifer (Gen. 1:4). This is brought forth by Saint Augustine in The City of God:

If we are justified in understanding in this light the creation of the angels, then certainly they have created partakers of the eternal light, which is the unchangeable Wisdom of God, by which all things were made, and whom we call the only-begotten Son of God; so that they, being illuminated by the light that created them, might themselves become light and be called “Day,” in participation of that unchangeable Light and Day which is the Word of God, by whom both themselves and all else were made. (Book 11, Chapter 9, emphasis added)

This makes sense, as the “Sun” and “Moon” were not created until the fourth day! As a result, angels are a separate part of God’s creation, and we do not become entirely new beings when we die.

We remain human, and if granted the Beatific Vision, we will be transfigured and receive our resurrected bodies at the end of time.

#3. Guardian Angels communicate to us through thoughts, images, and feelings (on rare occasions with words)

Angels are spiritual beings and do not have bodies.

They can sometimes take the appearance of a body and influence the material world, but by nature, they are pure spirits. The primary way they communicate to us is by offering to our intellect thoughts, images, or feelings that we can either accept or reject.

It may not be evident that our Guardian Angel is communicating to us, but we may realize that the idea or thought did not come from our own minds. On rare occasions (like those in the Bible), angels can take a physical appearance and speak with words. This is not the rule, but the exception, so don’t expect your Guardian Angel to show up in your room! It may happen, but it only occurs based on the circumstance.

#4. Our Guardian Angels do have names, but those names are given to them by God.

Giving names to Holy Angels should be discouraged, except for Gabriel, Raphael, and Michael, whose names are mentioned in the Holy Scripture. This is because having a name gives someone specific authority over another person. Our Guardian Angels are not under our control; they only report to one Commander, God himself. We can ask for their help or assistance, but we should not feel like we can summon them whenever we want. 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 the Holy Scripture. (Congregation of Divine Worship and the Sacraments, The Directory of Popular Piety, n. 217, 2001)

This is because a name contains a certain amount of authority over another person. If I know your name, I can call you whenever I want and feel some authority over you. We do not have control over our Guardian Angels. They only report to one Commander: God Himself. We can ask for their assistance or help, but we should not feel like they are at our beck and call.

#5. Guardian Angels can move faster than Superman.

According to Saint Thomas Aquinas:

The quantity of his power does not measure the swiftness of the angel’s movement, but according to the determination of his will (Summa Theologica, I, 53, 3, ad 1)

A material body does not bind angels like we are so they can move super fast, the speed of “thought”…much quicker than Superman. So if you ask your Guardian Angel to help someone else, they will be back at your side before you realize it.