Word Magazine December 1957 Page 280

THE STORY OF

THE GUARDIAN ANGEL

By Rev. Fr. Theodore E. Ziton

Montreal, Quebec, Canada

A delightful, instructional tale for young and old

At one time, all the angels in Heaven were good. God had made them so because He loved them. He had given them beautiful houses in Heaven to live in. He had made them strong and beautiful.

But some of the angels were wicked. They said, “Let us fight against God. We will not obey Him.” The rest said, “That is wicked. We love God. He is our good Father. We will do as He asks and wishes.”

So there was a terrible fight in Heaven. The bad angels tried to drive God out, but the good angels fought to pro­tect Him. Consequently, the good angels won. The bad angels were driven from Heaven. And God thanked His good angels and made them stronger and even more beau­tiful than ever.

Then God said “We will make men and women. They will also be our children.” So He made a strong son called Adam. He also made a beautiful daughter called Eve. They lived in Paradise and were very happy. One day God meant to bring them to Heaven with Him to live there eternally with Him.

But one of the bad angels crawled up out of the dark domain where he lived. He hated Adam and Eve because God loved them. He lied to Adam and Eve and made them sin.

God was sorry. But He saw that men and women, boys and girls, were going to have strong enemies, the evil angels. So He said, “I will give them strong friends too. I will give them good angels to be with them always.”

Whenever, then, God makes another son or daughter, He calls a good angel. “Go to earth,” He commands, “and take care of my child. You are a Guardian Angel.”

So whenever a baby is born, down from Heaven comes an angel to protect the child. Nobody can see him. But he is strong and good and beautiful. He loves that new baby very much. He will try hard not to let anything happen to that child. From that time on the Guardian Angel never leaves his little friend. He stays watching over his cradle. He is with him when he takes his first step. He helps him to pray. All through life he will be at the side of that little son of God.

Sometimes boys and girls pay no attention to their Guardian Angels. But always the Guardian Angel re­mains. He is a friend and guide and protector for life.

The Guardian Angels know how sad it is to sin. They know that sin made the bad angels lose Heaven and turn into devils. They know that sin spoils the soul of a boy and of a girl. So if a boy or girl sins, the Guardian Angels are very sad. When they see temptation coming close to a boy or girl, they try to drive it away. If a bad angel comes near, they protect their little friend.

Way down deep in their hearts, the boy and girl can hear the Guardian Angels say, “Don’t do what is evil. It will make you very unhappy. Always do what is good. That will make you happy.”

The boy and girl who listen to their Guardian Angels will always be safe. No evil angel can hurt them. Their lives will be wonderfully happy.

Your Guardian Angel is with you all the time. So he can see everything you do. He goes with you every place you go. He hears everything you say.

Now the Guardian Angel loves God very much. And he loves you because you are his little friend and God’s child. So he is very happy when he sees you do things that are good. He loves to walk with you to places that are fine. He is delighted when you speak kindly and purely and in friendly ways. He likes to walk with you for a visit to God’s earthly home, the Church. He is happy when you are playing with your friends in kindly manner. He smiles at you when you are kind to your parents. But can’t you see how sad he is when you do things that are evil? He wishes you never would do anything bad. He hates to hear you speak in any way that is not sweet and pure and good.

Don’t you want to make your Guardian Angel always proud of you? Don’t you want him to be glad that you are his little friends?

Sometime all of us must die. If a person is good, death is very lovely. It is just the dark gate through which we walk into Heaven. It is the beginning of a joy that never ends. But if a person had been bad, death is sad. He has to see God whom he did not love. He has to face Jesus Christ whom he hurt and refused to follow.

Our Guardian Angels will be with us, though, when we die. That is why we must make friends with them all our days. When we come to die, they will be at our bedside. They will frighten away the evil angels who want to hurt us. They will whisper into our ear prayers that we can say. They will remind us of God and of all the good that we have done. They will help us to be sorry for any evil we did.

And when we die, they will take us by the hand and lead us to God. We will not be afraid. We will walk to the gate of death with an angel at our side.

Our Guardian Angel will lead us safely into Heaven.