Guardian Angel

About Guardian Angel

The idea that every person receives an angel at birth comes from a short line in Matthew's gospel, where Jesus warns against despising the little ones, because their angels always see the Father's face. The Church read there a personal companion, assigned to each of us, who neither leaves nor tires.

It is the first prayer most Catholics learn, usually before they can read, said by a mother or a grandmother at the edge of the bed. Perhaps that is why the guardian angel is less a doctrine than a childhood memory: the feeling of someone nearby in the dark.

The feast is 2 October. The devotion follows the whole of a person's day — leaving the house, the journey, the road, the night shift, the child crossing the street alone for the first time.

A message from a guardian angel is the classic gift for a baptism, a first communion, a baby shower, a child's birthday and for someone moving far away. Adults send it to adults too, to say plainly: I am asking for protection over you.

How it works