Memorial of the Guardian Angels
The Holy Guardian Angels To each human being that is born, God designates an Angel as guardian. Throughout our lives, our Guardian Angels watch over us at every moment, helping us to fulfil our vocation and attain eternal salvation. Although Guardian Angels have been reverenced from earliest times with canonical celebrations on a local level, the inclusion of their specific Liturgical commemoration in the General Roman Calendar was a development of the seventeenth century.
See also:
Mass Readings
First Reading – Jb 9:1-12, 14-16 or Ex 23:20-23
Job answered his friends and said: I know well that it is so; but how can a man be justified before God? Should one wish to contend with him, he could not answer him once in a thousand times. God is wise in heart and mighty in strength; who has withstood him and remained unscathed? He removes the mountains before they know it; he overturns them in his anger. He shakes the earth out of its place, and the pillars beneath it tremble. He commands the sun, and it rises not; he seals up the stars. He alone stretches out the heavens and treads upon the crests of the sea. He made the Bear and Orion, the Pleiades and the constellations of the south; He does great things past finding out, marvelous things beyond reckoning. Should he come near me, I see him not; should he pass by, I am not aware of him; Should he seize me forcibly, who can say him nay? Who can say to him, “What are you doing?” How much less shall I give him any answer, or choose out arguments against him! Even though I were right, I could not answer him, but should rather beg for what was due me. If I appealed to him and he answered my call, I could not believe that he would hearken to my words.
OR:
Thus says the LORD: “See, I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him, for he will not forgive your sin. My authority resides in him. If you heed his voice and carry out all I tell you, I will be an enemy to your enemies and a foe to your foes. “My angel will go before you and bring you to the Amorites, Hittites, Perizzites, Canaanites, Hivites, and Jebusites; and I will wipe them out.”
Responsorial Psalm – Ps 88:10bc-11, 12-13, 14-15 (R.3) or Sl 90(91),1-2.3-4.5-6.10-11 (R. 11)
R. Let my prayer come before you, Lord.
Daily I call upon you, O LORD;
to you I stretch out my hands.
Will you work wonders for the dead?
Will the shades arise to give you thanks? R.
Do they declare your mercy in the grave,
your faithfulness among those who have perished?
Are your wonders made known in the darkness,
or your justice in the land of oblivion? R.
But I, O LORD, cry out to you;
with my morning prayer I wait upon you.
Why, O LORD, do you reject me;
why hide from me your face? R.
OR:
R: The Lord has put angels in charge of you, to guard you in all your ways.
You who dwell in the shelter of the Most High,
who abide in the shadow of the Almighty,
Say to the LORD, “My refuge and my fortress,
my God, in whom I trust.” R.
For he will rescue you from the snare of the fowler,
from the destroying pestilence.
With his pinions he will cover you,
and under his wings you shall take refuge. R.
His faithfulness is a buckler and a shield.
You shall not fear the terror of the night
nor the arrow that flies by day;
Nor the pestilence that roams in darkness,
nor the devastating plague at noon. R.
No evil shall befall you,
nor shall affliction come near your tent,
For to his angels he has given command about you,
that they guard you in all your ways. R.
Gospel – Mt 18:1-5, 10
The disciples approached Jesus and said, “Who is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven?” He called a child over, placed it in their midst, and said, “Amen, I say to you, unless you turn and become like children, you will not enter the Kingdom of heaven. Whoever humbles himself like this child is the greatest in the Kingdom of heaven. And whoever receives one child such as this in my name receives me. “See that you do not despise one of these little ones, for I say to you that their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father.”
Featured Saints
St. Beregisius, abbot (†d. 725). In Andage, present-day Belgium, he founded a monastery of Canons Regular, of which he was abbot.
St. Saturius, hermit (†606). He lived in contemplation and penance in a grotto situated in the mountains on the banks of the Douro River in Soria, Spain, where St. Prudentius of Armentia became his disciple.
Blessed Antoine Chevrier, priest (†1879). He founded the Institute of the Fathers of Prado in Lyon, France, in order to form priests dedicated to the teaching the Christian Faith to poor youths.
Blessed Jan Beyzym, priest (†1912). Polish Jesuit who, after having taught for some years in Poland after his ordination, exercised his ministry among the lepers in Fianarantsoa, Madagascar.
Blesseds Louis Shakichi, his wife Lucy and their sons Andrew and Francis, martyrs (†1622). Louis Shakichi, a fervent Christian and benefactor of the Dominicans in Nagasaki, was burned alive after being tortured and witnessing the decapitation of his wife and sons.
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