Chapter Three of the Second Decade
On the office of angels toward human beings, concerning which four little questions will be resolved
Question One of Chapter Three of the Second Decade
Whether angels are deputed to the guardianship of human beings
It is asked whether angels are deputed to the guardianship of human beings.
To this it is answered affirmatively, and it is proved in four ways: namely, by the authority of Sacred Scripture, by an attribute of God, by utility, and by similitude.
First, it is proved by the authority of Sacred Scripture, because upon that saying of Isaiah, chapter 62, “Upon your walls I have appointed guardians,” and so forth, the Gloss says that the guardians of human beings are angels.
And Psalm 90 says: “God has commanded his angels concerning you, that they guard you in all your ways.” Upon this saying Bernard speaks as follows:
“O how much reverence ought this word to instill in you, how much devotion it ought to bring, and how much confidence it ought to confer: reverence on account of their presence, devotion on account of their benevolence, and confidence on account of their guardianship.
“Therefore, walk cautiously where the angels are. Thus has God commanded them: that they guard you in all your ways.
“In every lodging, in every corner, have reverence before your angel; nor dare to do in his presence what you would not dare to do in mine.”
Concerning this guardianship, hear also Jerome upon that saying of Matthew, chapter 18, “Their angels always see the face of the Father,” and so forth. He says: “Great is the dignity of souls, that each should have an angel delegated to its guardianship from the beginning of its birth.”
Likewise Origen, upon the Book of Numbers, says:
“There is present to each of us, even to the least who are in the Church of God, a good angel, an angel of God, who rules, who admonishes, who governs, who daily sees the face of the Father who is in heaven in order that our deeds may be corrected and mercies entreated.”
Likewise Bernard, in a sermon on the angels, says: “You are gracious, O Lord, who are not content with the frailty of our walls, but place angelic guardianship over human beings themselves.”
And the same author, upon that saying of the Psalm, “What is man, that you are mindful of him?” says:
“What is man, that you have made yourself known to him? You have given your Son, you have sent your Spirit, you also promise your countenance; and, lest anything be lacking, you also send those blessed spirits into ministry for the sake of those who are to receive the inheritance of salvation.”
Second, this same thing is proved from an attribute of God, namely from God’s mercy, as follows. God is more inclined to show mercy than to punish. But God gave demons to human beings for their exercise, as is found in the last chapter of Ephesians: “Our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of darkness,” and so forth. Therefore, it is seen that much more, or with much greater reason, he gave angels for the guardianship of human beings.
Third, this same thing is proved from utility, for by the fact that angels are deputed by God to the guardianship of human beings, three goods are especially manifested.
First, God’s goodness toward us is declared, by his giving us creatures so noble as angels.
Second, the charity of the angels is disclosed, since from the beginning of our birth until death they bear so continual a solicitude for our guardianship.
Third, the need or necessity of our nature is relieved. For since we have an evil angel for our exercise and possess a frail nature, we need great support and aid.
Fourth, this same thing is proved by a twofold similitude.
First, by a natural similitude: just as the higher bodies rule these lower ones, and everything movable is reduced to something immovable, so the higher spirits rule the lower ones, and variable human counsel is directed by invariable angelic counsel.
Second, this same thing is proved by the Apostle’s similitude. For the Apostle in 1 Corinthians, chapter 13, compares the state of human beings insofar as they are on the way to the state of childhood.
The reason is that, just as a boy, so long as he is small and prone to fall, needs to be led by the hand with respect to his body until he arrives at the perfect age in which he is strong and sufficient for himself, so with respect to the soul a human being, so long as he is weak and prone to a spiritual fall, needs a spiritual guardian until he arrives at the perfect age, namely that of the other life.
And this guardian is an angel, whose guardianship a human being always needs so long as he is in this life.
For this reason everyone ought every day to say as follows concerning the angel guarding him:
Angel, who by heavenly power are my guardian, Save, defend, and govern me, who have been entrusted to you.
This is said together with the verse and prayer of the angels. These things are from the theologians and Rainerius.