Guardian Angels

[1:06:04] – A lecture by exorcist Fr. Chad Ripperger about Angels. What are they? How do they be? What do they do? How can we grow in our relationship to our guardian angel? How did we get our guardian angel? What can guardian angels do & not do?

Some points I noted as I was listening (and grabbing screenshots of the gorgeous art work!):

Angels were created as purely spiritual beings. We humans were created as spiritual/physical hybrids. When we die and go to Heaven, we don’t become angels. We become disembodied spirits that will be reunited, each with our one and only, true, but perfected physical body at the end of time.

Human beings will get the places of the angels who fell.

Each angel is a unique species of being. Their mode of knowing is the opposite of ours.

I pray for my guardian angels (I have two) every day and, sometimes, they allow me to be aware of them (which is how I know I have two). But when I focus on them too much, they pull away, because their job is to help me grow closer to God. Later in the talk, Father says if you get a specially powerful angel (or two), it’s not because you’re special, but because you need it. Yeah, I kinda figured.

Each angel was created for a specific task. I thought that guardian angels cycled through different people. Like, they would stay with their charges through Purgatory, but once they went to Heaven or Hell, they’d be reassigned. Fr. Chad says no. Each guardian angel was created to be the guardian angel for a single, specific person.

Exorcists believe, based on their experiences, that Satan assigns us specific demons and, if your original angel refused his task of guarding you and fell, then it’s more than likely that he is the demon assigned to you.

If you want to increase in holiness, you need to know your defects. Your angel knows. Oy … “humiliate me interiorly every day for Lent.” The idea of that makes me shudder … which no doubt means I really need to do it! “Your angel has to deal with your arrogance, your pride, your obnoxiousness all the time.”

“A guardian angel is assigned to each sacramental marriage.” Wow. Dearest and I have often talked about the three-legged stool of our marriage. There’s him, there’s me, and then there’s the marriage. Most times when we have to make a decision, we either agree, find a compromise, or one of us makes a good enough argument to switch the other’s vote. But sometimes, none of these has been possible and our marriage has been in real trouble. In those times, which thankfully have been very few, we’ve gone to a priest we trust and asked him to stand in and vote on behalf of our marriage. And we agree that whoever “wins” won’t gloat and whoever “loses” will gracefully submit. But it has never, ever occurred to me that our marriage might have its own angel! That. Is. So. Cool.

Do Not Name Your Angel. Naming each angel was the prerogative (exclusive right or privilege) of God alone. “To name your angel is a sin of usurpation.”

God has assigned guardian angels to places. It occurs to me that we should be praying for the angels assigned to our parishes, regions, dioceses, and nation. His story about the angel who saved a priest from a car crash reminds me of a missionary I know. He had gone to the big office building to get his visa for his first mission trip. A total stranger stopped briefly and said to him, “You need to go to N. floor,” then kept on going. He told me he didn’t think it was strange at all that a total stranger knew where he was going. “I figured he was an angel, that he was busy with another task, but just wanted to give a new missionary a little help.”

[31:41ff] – The section about what we can ask our angels to do for us is jaw dropping. I could really use help with blocking negative memories and bad dreams! I’ve rebuked any demons that bring these things up or give me bad dreams, but I never thought to ask my angels to help out. Duh me!! Hey, I’m sorry, guys!

There’s a lot more, if you’re interested. At one point, he mentions “submitting” to one’s guardian angel. Maybe there’s something to the “rule” part of the guardian angel prayer. I’ve been saying “teach”, because it felt wrong to suppose that an angel has authority over the free will God gave me. But if I choose to submit, that’s a whole other ball game. I need to ponder and pray on this.

I should probably point out that I am very clear about the difference between the worship that is owed only to God and the friendship that all believers can share with one another. As long as we keep our relationship with our guardian angels one of respect and honor, not worship, then we should be fine.

• https://dolorans.org/