Dignare Me Laudare Te, Virgo Sacrata

Monday, October 02, 2017

St. Hilary of Poitiers on Guardian Angels

[Bavarian glass depiction of a guardian angel, baptistry of St. Mary, Mother of God Catholic Church, Washington, D.C., USA]

(The following is excerpted from Chapter 7 of "The Angels and Their Mission,' by Jean Cardinal Danielou, S.J. Cardinal Danielou quoted from St. Hilary's Tract. Ps. 134.)

"There are angels of little children who look upon the face of God every day. These spirits have been sent to aid the human race. For our weakness is such that, if the guardian angles had not been given to us, we could not resist the many and powerful attacks of the evil spirits. To this end, we had need of a higher nature. We know that this is so from the words with which the Lord strengthens Moses, trembling in his fear, 'My angel will go before thee.' That is why God has taken out these spirits from among his treasures, and has given through them an aid to human weakness, so that this divine assistance might help us against the powers of this world of darkness to attain the heritage of salvation."