Sunday, November 16, 2014

Can you name your guardian angel?

I had dinner a while back with fellow members of the Knights of Columbus and our priest.  One of the Knights suggested we name our guardian angel.  Our priest concurred.  So we all discussed possible names for our angels. The name I pulled out of my head was Martin, as though my angel named himself.

Angels are superior to humans, and were actually created before God created man in his own image.  Angels are immortal, and were made by God to be his messengers, and their mission is to help us and guide us through life.  We enjoy their company from the time as we as we struggle with the trials and trivializations as well as the great joys of life.  When we struggle, they struggle with us; when we feel joy, they feel joy with us.

Your personal angel not only guides you through life, but also may affect your physical world.  For instance, during those moments when you are driving and wake up from your fantasy world, and you realize, "Wow!  How did I stay on the road?" Probably during those times your angel was driving for you.

Father Ryan Erlenbush of "The New Theological Movement" wrote:
Can my angel guardian affect the physical world around me? Yes. St. Gemma Galgani would regularly ask her guardian angel to mail letters for her – many letters were sent back and forth to her spiritual director while he was in Rome.
Anyway, I recently Googled "Can you name your angel?" and the answer I got was "No!"  It was no on every site I went to, including the Vatican (see section 217):
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 Holy Scripture.
Father Ryan Erlenbush  noted:
Can I name my guardian angel? Perhaps, but we must keep in mind that it belongs to a superior to name an inferior. Thus, it seems unfitting that a human being should name an angel.
So I guess it's not such a good idea to name our angels.  However, I have this feeling my angel's name is Martin anyway, so, perhaps he revealed it to me. Once again, I quote Father Ryan Erlenbush:
How do I find out my guardian angel’s name? You could try asking. But it is also possible that it will not be revealed to you immediately. I should think that in heaven, we would all know guardian angels’ names.
One author noted that parents name their children because children are supposed to look up to and respect their parents.  But people should not name their angels because angels are superior to humans, and we should look up to and respect them.

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