Always at my side

One of the earliest prayers I learned was this:

Angel of God, my guardian dear
To whom God’s love commits me here
Ever this day be at my side
To light and guard, to rule and guide.
Amen

Today, the feast of the Guardian Angels, reminds us that on the journey of life we are not alone.  Many seek wisdom, friendship and protection.  With a mustard seed size of faith we can be sure that an angelic presence assigned to us at the first moment of our existence in the womb accompanies us.  Praying with and to one’s guardian angel is not a substitute for a living, deep and personal relationship with Jesus. Rather, it is a boost, a complementary help.

In 2025, I was mugged while on holidays abroad.  I was on a mountainy path at midday surrounded by steep inclines and rocky terrain. As I was violently thrown down on the ground I landed safely while rolling over a short distance. I was spared serious injury in what could very easily have been a much worse outcome.  After this experience I had a strong sense of Psalm91 and, in particular, the following words:

For he will command his angels concerning you  to guard you in all your ways.  On their hands they will bear you up, so that you will not dash your foot against a stone.

It is my conviction that these words applied to me on that occasion and not only on that occasion but on many, many others including times  when I had not realisation then or later of my Guardian Angel.

Since the Church teaches that the angel guardians guide and protect us on our way to salvation, then they surely accompany us to the Eucharistic celebration, which is the source and summit of the Christian life. There, we are invited to join the heavenly liturgy as I wrote about two days ago (When heaven touches earth). Likewise, when we have an opportunity to adore Jesus in the reserved Blessed Sacrament, we are not alone.  Our guardian angel is there alongside us.  They are not recipients of the sacrament but, rather, fellow adorers.

The Communion Antiphon for today’s Mass is taken from Psalm 138

In the presence of the Angels I will praise you, my God.  (Psalm 138:1)

If our Guardian angels accompany us in the course of our individual life journey then why should we doubt that this Angel assigned to us will be beside us at the moment of death?

In the Final Commendation and Farewell (the In Paradisum antiphon), one of the traditional texts invokes the ministry of the angels:

May the angels lead you into paradise;
may the martyrs come to welcome you
and take you to the holy city, the new and eternal Jerusalem.
May the choirs of angels welcome you
and where Lazarus is poor no longer,

may you have eternal rest.