Collection: Guardian Angel

ARTIST: Joan Cole

ARTWORK NARRATIVE:

My good Angel,
Thou comest from heaven;
God has sent thee to take care of me.
Oh, shelter me under thy wings.
Lighten my path, direct my steps.
Do not leave me,
stay quite near me
and defend me against the spirit of evil.
But above all come to my help
in the last struggle of my life.
Deliver my soul so that with thee it may praise,
love and contemplate the goodness of God
forever and ever. Amen.

Feast day is October 2.

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Guardian Angels Have Hearts and Souls

It's tempting to think of guardian angels as one-dimensional props, or genies in a bottle that are here to grant wishes. We might also think that angels—beings of light who can travel freely back and forth between heaven and earth—as so different from humans that we have nothing in common.

The angels might remind us of the 1960s TV program I Dream of Jeannie. An astronaut stumbles upon an old bottle with a genie living inside. This genie can appear and disappear in the blink of an eye, just as angels are not bound by the physical laws of earth. Yet in other ways this genie is very much like humans: She has a big heart and can be very emotional. This genie who grants wishes is actually very soulful, just like angels.

Angels are actually highly emotional creatures, which makes sense as their job is to display great mercy and compassion toward humanity. Angels are very sensitive to the emotions of others, and their emotional outer layer is like the thin skin of a grape. When you are in pain, so are your guardian angels. Yet even though angels feel emotions so acutely, guardian angels will often take on some of our suffering so we do not have to feel it all, or feel it all alone. But never fear, angels are emotional experts and very powerful, so they would never take on more than they can handle!