The 12 Things Our Guardian Angel Does For Us

Are you aware of the fact that you have a special angel created specifically to love and care for you? 

One of the ways that God shows His great love and mercy for us is that, at the moment we are born, He assigns to each one of us, our own unique guide, a guardian angel, to guide us securely on our path towards heaven. 

Our guardian angel's actions on our behalf include many different tasks. He watches over us, prays for us, helps to guide our thoughts and inclinations and so much more. He can even protect us from physical as well as spiritual harm!

The Guardian Angel Prayer sums this up quite nicely:

Angel of God, my guardian dear, to whom God’s love commits me here, ever this day [or night] be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.

THE TWELVE WORKS OF OUR GUARDIAN ANGEL

by St. Bonaventure of Bagnoregio, OFM (Doctor of the Church)

According to Sacred Scripture there are twelve works of charity which our guardian Angel does for us:

1. THE FIRST is to rebuke us for our faults. According to the Book of Judges, chapter 2, verse 1: The Angel of the Lord ascends from Galgala to the place of those weeping and says: "I have lead you forth from the land of Egypt . . . And you have not heard my voice."

2. THE SECOND is to absolve us from the bonds of our sins. According to Book of Acts, chapter 12, verse 7: The Angel stood by . . . and the chains fell from his hands; yet this must be understood as disposing this to happen.

3. THE THIRD is to take away from us those things impeding our progress in goodness, which is signified in the Book of Exodus, chapter 12, verse 12: where the Angel struck the first born of Egypt.

4. THE FOURTH is to constrain those demons afflicting us, according the Book of Tobias, chapter 12, verse 3: "He chased the demon from my wife", says Tobias of the Archangel St. Raphael.

5. THE FIFTH is to teach us, according to the Book of Daniel, chapter 9, verse 22: Now I have entered, to teach you, and so that you might understand.

6. THE SIXTH is to reveal secrets, for according to the Book of Genesis, chapter 18, verse 17, the three Angels expressed the Mystery of the Trinity and Unity, after which God said: Can I conceal from Abraham what I am about to do?

7. THE SEVENTH is to console, according to the Book of Tobias, chapter 5, verse 13: Be of a strong spirit, it is nigh, that you are to be cured by God etc..

8. THE EIGHTH is to comfort us on the way to God, according to Third Book of Kings, chapter 19, verse 7: Rise and eat, for a grand way remains for you.

9. THE NINTH is to lead us forth on this way and to conduct us back to God, according to the Book of Tobias, chapter 5, verse 15: I shall lead, and I shall lead him back etc..

10. THE TENTH is to cast down our enemies, according the Book of Isaiah, chapter 37, verse 36: Having entered the Angel of the Lord struck upon the camps of the Assyrians etc..

11. THE ELEVENTH is to mitigate our temptations; and this is signified in the Book of Genesis, chapter 32, verse 24, where Jacob wrestled with the Angel, and was comforted after the match, having accepted his blessing, the nerve of his femur withered up.

12. THE TWELFTH is to pray for us and to carry our prayers to God, according the Book of Tobias, chapter 12, verse 12: When you were praying with tears . . . I offered your prayer etc.. All of these are the effects of our guardian Angel's care of us, on account of which we ought to be submissive and grateful both to God and the Holy Angels.

Jesus Himself made reference to Guardian Angels when he said once referring to children that “their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven” (Matt 18:10).

But what have the saints said about this? 

• In the 4th century, in reference to this passage, Saint Jerome said: “How great is the value of the (human) soul that every single person has from birth received an angel for his protection.”
• St. Basil, one of Saint Jerome's contemporaries, once wrote that “every one of the faithful has an angel at his side as educator and guide, directing his life.”
• St. Clement and St. Gregory the Great noted that every country, city, town, village, and even family has its own special Guardian Angel! (we should get to know them by asking for their guidance and intercession).
• St. Bernard exhorted the faithful to “make the holy angels your friends [and], honor them by your prayers." He added “never do in the presence of your Angel what you would not do in my presence.”

The Church teaches that angels are pure spirits. In scripture we read stories of them delivering important messages; for example, when the angel Gabriel told Mary that she was to be the mother of Jesus (Luke 1:26-38). The word “angel” actually means "messenger." It is derived from the Greek word “angelos."

But they also carried out other important tasks as well! They kept the three young men safe when they were thrown into a fiery furnace after defying the Babylonian King Nebuchadnezzar (Daniel, Ch.3). They also rescued St. Peter from prison (Acts 12:6-10).

In addition to procuring many blessings, the Guardian Angel Prayer, much like another famous prayer to St. Michael, is meant to assist us in remembering not to take these blessed spirits for granted.

We must treat our Guardian Angels with respect and love and have great confidence in their protection. This is so important because we desparately need it on account of the actions of the fallen angels - the demons who want to drag us down to Hell with them. They do this by goading us into all kinds of sinful and malicious behavior. By God's wise design, our Guardian Angels can help us follow in our Lord's footsteps on the road towards Heaven instead. God would not have given us this great gift if it wasn't so important and necessary. It would be foolish to disregard it and waste this blessing. 

As mentioned earlier, angels provide physical and spiritual protection. Over the centuries, there have been numerous accounts of people being rescued from dangerous situations by mysterious strangers who seem to disappear as suddenly as they had appeared! These stories show us how important angels can be in our lives while encouraging us to turn to them daily for help in our prayers.