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Vigils Reading – Holy Guardian Angels
October 2
HE HAS GIVEN HIS ANGELS
CHARGE OVER YOU
From a sermon by St Bernard of Clairvaux1
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O Lord, what is man that you have made yourself known to him, or why
do you incline your heart to him? And you do incline your heart to him; you
show him your care and concern. Finally, you send your only son and the grace
of your spirit, and promise him a vision of your countenance. And so, that
nothing in heaven should be wanting in your concern for us, you send those
blessed spirits to serve us, assigning them as our guardians and teachers.
“He has given his angels charge over you to guard you in all your ways.”
These words should fill you with respect, inspire devotion and instill
confidence; respect for the presence of angels, devotion because of their loving
service, and confidence because of their protection. And so, the angels are here;
they are at your side, they are with you, present on your behalf. They are here
to protect you and to serve you. But even if it is God who has given them this
charge, we must nevertheless be grateful to them for the great love with which
they obey and come to help us in our great need.
So let us be devoted and grateful to such great protectors; let us return
their love and honor them as much as we can and should. Yet all our love and
honor must go to him, for it is from him that they receive all that makes them
worthy of our love and respect.
We should then, my brothers, show our affection for the angels, for one
day they will be our coheirs just as here below they are our guardians and
trustees appointed and set over us by the Father. We are God’s children
although it does not seem so, because we are still but small children under
guardians and trustees, and for the present little better than slaves.
Even though we are children and have a long, a very long and dangerous
way to go, with such protectors what have we to fear? They who keep us in all
our ways cannot be overpowered or led astray, much less lead us astray. They
are loyal, prudent, powerful. Why then are we afraid? We have only to follow
them, stay close to them, and we shall dwell under the protection of God’s
heaven.