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Louis J. Hall has over 15 years experience as a professional designer, photographer and artist; combined with his day-job as Marketing Creative Director of a global company, Louis remains very active in the creative process. Visit his comic blog, http://angelic-twaddle.blogspot.com/; blog about creativity, http://blog.conceived-design.com/; his free stock-photo gallery, http://www.sxc.hu/profile/lute1 and his artwork site at www.fidostick.com.

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  • nickkname

    LOL

    They’re so tiny ^_______________^

  • Mary Kochan

    In reality, of course, angels have no size at all! They are not big, or small. They take up no space. This is a great comic series.

    • nickkname

      Yeah, it’s weird. They have no size but are in one “space”.

  • Did you know it’s possible to find out your Guardian Angel’s name? I did and it worked (though later I was told that asking like this is a no-no, so if you have any reservations, ask a priest first).

    Before you go to sleep, pray to your Guardian Angel to tell you his name. Then, when you wake up, the first word you hear will be the name. When I did it, I heard in my mind very clearly, “Alexander.” What confirmed it for me is that I have always loved the name Alexander and had even entertained the notion of giving the name to my son, if ever I were to have one.

    The way I figure it, your Guardian Angel isn’t going to do anything bad or contrary to God’s will. So I believe this method to be safe. Try it! Only good can come from having a closer relationship with your angel, who “always looks upon the face of my heavenly Father” (Matthew 18:10).

    • nickkname

      The Holy See has instructed Catholics not to name their guardian angels.

      We are not pagans who control the spirits but are Christians who love God.

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  • While that sounds like a “one-size-fits-all” proscription and I don’t really understand it–does finding out your friend’s name give you control over him?–I would never advise people to be disobedient. So you can scuttle my advice. I would suggest regular prayer to your Guardian Angel, though, as he works for your salvation.

  • No, the point is to find out what your Guardian Angel’s name already is, not to give him a name. Angels are persons and they have names just like we do, just like God does. I’m not sure if the Vatican instruction covers naming your angel–like you would name your pet (and I can see why that would be forbidden)–or asking your angel to tell you his name. I’d say, if this is something that interests you, consult a prudent spiritual director.

    • noelfitz

      PH

      Thanks.
      As I said before we only know the names of three angels, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael.

      What is God’s name, is it “Who Am”?

      I cannot see any harm in giving your Guardian Angel a name, like Clarence, Alexander or Joel.

  • “‘But,’ said Moses to God, ‘when I go to the Israelites and say to them, “The God of your fathers has sent me to you,” if they ask me, “What is his name?” what am I to tell them?’ God replied, ‘I am who am.’ Then he added, ‘This is what you shall tell the Israelites: I AM sent me to you.'” (Exodus 3:13-14).

    (I’m shifting into full Catechist mode here!)

    God’s name is I AM, which connotes the very fullness of being, a perfect completeness that leaves nothing out. It is the name that Jesus uses to refer to himself multiple times when facing His enemies, particularly in the Gospel of John, as for example when he says, “When you lift up the Son of Man, then you will realize that I AM, and that I do nothing on my own, but I say only what the Father taught me” (John 8:28).

    When Jesus says I AM, he is declaring himself to be the eternal, triune God, coequal with the Father. Never in the Gospels does Jesus say “I am God”; he always uses the name, “I AM.”

    Interestingly, it’s perhaps the shortest complete sentence in the English language. Two little words say so much!

  • noelfitz

    PH,
    Thanks for your reply in getting a discussion going.

    You half-agree with me. You quote “God replied, ‘I am who am”. So we agree that God is “Who Am”. The Philosophers agree with this when they define God as a being whose essence is existence.

    You also wrote “It (I AM) is the name that Jesus uses to refer to himself multiple times when facing His enemies”. The name of Jesus is Jesus. He refers to himself more often as the Son of Man, but this was not his name. Also Christ was not his name, this was his office (Anointed, Messiah).

    Finally one has to distinguish between Jesus and God. Jesus is the second person of the Trinity, God is the Trinity.

  • nickkname

    The instruction of the Holy See regarding guardian angels is found here (underline is my emphasis):

    DIRECTORY ON POPULAR PIETY AND THE LITURGY

    Holy Angels

    213. With the clear and sober language of catechesis, the Church teaches that “the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels’ is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition”(280).

    Tradition regards the angels as messengers of God, “potent executives of his commands, and ready at the sound of his words” (Ps 103, 20. They serve his salvific plan, and are “sent to serve those who will inherit salvation” (Hb 1, 14).

    214. The faithful are well aware of the numerous interventions of angels in the New and Old Covenants. They closed the gates of the earthly paradise (cf. Gen 3,24), they saved Hagar and her child Ishmael (cf. Gen 21, 17), they stayed the hand of Abraham as he was about to sacrifice Isaac (cf. gen 22, 7), they announce prodigious births (cf. Jud 13, 3-7), they protect the footsteps of the just (cf. Ps 91, 11), they praise God unceasingly (cf. Is 6, 1-4), and they present the prayer of the Saints to God (cf. Ap 8, 34). The faithful are also aware of the angel’s coming to help Elijah, an exhausted fugitive (cf. 1 Kings 19, 4-8), of Azariah and his companions in the fiery furnace (cf. Dan 3, 49-50), and are familiar with the story of Tobias in which Raphael, “one of the seven Angels who stand ever ready to enter the presence of the glory of God” (cf. Tb 12, 15), who renders many services to Tobit, his son Tobias and his wife Sarah.

    The faithful are also conscious of the roles played by the Angels in the life of Jesus: the Angel Gabriel declared to Mary that she would conceive and give birth to the Son of the Most High (cf. Lk 1, 26-38), and that an Angel revealed to Joseph the supernatural origin of Mary’s conception (cf. Mt 1, 18-25); the Angels appear to the shepherds in Bethlehem with the news of great joy of the Saviour’s birth (cf. Lk 2, 8-24); “the Angel of the Lord” protected the infant Jesus when he was threatened by Herod (cf. Mt 2, 13-20); the Angels ministered to Jesus in the desert (cf. Mt 4, 11) and comforted him in his agony (Lk 22, 43), and to the women gathered at the tomb, they announced that he had risen (cf. Mk 16, 1-8), they appear again at the Ascension, revealing its meaning to the disciples and announcing that “Jesus …will come back in the same way as you have seen him go” (Acts 1, 11).

    The faithful will have well grasped the significance of Jesus’ admonition not to despise the least of those who believe in him for “their Angels in heaven are continually in the presence of my Father in heaven” (Mt 10, 10), and the consolation of his assurance that “there is rejoicing among the Angels of God over one repentant sinner” (Lk 15, 10). The faithful also realize that “the Son of man will come in his glory with all his Angels” (mt 25, 31) to judge the living and the dead, and bring history to a close.

    215. The Church, which at its outset was saved and protected by the ministry of Angels, and which constantly experiences their “mysterious and powerful assistance”(281), venerates these heavenly spirts and has recourse to their prompt intercession.

    During the liturgical year, the Church celebrates the role played by the Holy Angels, in the events of salvation(282) and commemorates them on specific days: 29 September (feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael), 2 October (the Guardian Angels). The Church has a votive Mass dedicated to the Holy Angels whose preface proclaims that “the glory of God is reflected in his Angels”(283). In the celebration of the sacred mysteries, the Church associates herself with the angelic hymn and proclaims the thrice holy God (cf. Isaiah 6, 3)(284) invoking their assistance so that the Eucharistic sacrifice “may be taken [to your] altar in heaven, in the presence of […] divine majesty”(285). The office of lauds is celebrated in their presence (cf. Ps 137, 1)(286). The Church entrusts to the ministry of the Holy Angels (cf. Aps 5, 8; 8, 3) the prayers of the faithful, the contrition of penitents(287), and the protection of the innocent from the assaults of the Malign One(288). The Church implores God to send his Angels at the end of the day to protect the faithful as they sleep(289), prays that the celestial spirits come to the assistance of the faithful in their last agony(290), and in the rite of obsequies, invokes God to send his Angels to accompany the souls of just into paradise(291) and to watch over their graves.

    216. Down through the centuries, the faithful have translated into various devotional exercises the teaching of the faith in relation to the ministry of Angels: the Holy Angels have been adopted as patrons of cities and corporations; great shrines in their honour have developed such as Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, San Michele della Chiusa in Piemonte and San Michele Gargano in Apulia, each appointed with specific feast days; hymns and devotions to the Holy Angels have also been composed.

    Popular piety encompasses many forms of devotion to the Guardian Angels. St. Basil Great (+378) taught that “each and every member of the faithful has a Guardian Angel to protect, guard and guide them through life”(292). This ancient teaching was consolidated by biblical and patristic sources and lies behind many forms of piety. St. Bernard of Clarivaux (+1153) was a great master and a notable promoter of devotion to the Guardian Angels. For him, they were a proof “that heaven denies us nothing that assists us”, and hence, “these celestial spirits have been placed at our sides to protect us, instruct us and to guide us”(293).

    Devotion to the Holy Angels gives rise to a certain form of the Christian life which is characterized by:

    * devout gratitude to God for having placed these heavenly spirits of great sanctity and dignity at the service of man;
    * an attitude of devotion deriving from the knowledge of living constantly in the presence of the Holy Angels of God;- serenity and confidence in facing difficult situations, since the Lord guides and protects the faithful in the way of justice through the ministry of His Holy Angels.Among the prayers to the Guardian Angels the Angele Dei(294) is especially popular, and is often recited by families at morning and evening prayers, or at the recitation of the Angelus.

    217. Popular devotion to the Holy Angels, which is legitimate and good, can, however, also give rise to possible deviations:

    * when, as sometimes can happen, the faithful are taken by the idea that the world is subject to demiurgical struggles, or an incessant battle between good and evil spirits, or Angels and daemons, in which man is left at the mercy of superior forces and over which he is helpless; such cosmologies bear little relation to the true Gospel vision of the struggle to overcome the Devil, which requires moral commitment, a fundamental option for the Gospel, humility and prayer;
    * when the daily events of life, which have nothing or little to do with our progressive maturing on the journey towards Christ are read schematically or simplistically, indeed childishly, so as to ascribe all setbacks to the Devil and all success to the Guardian Angels. The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.

    • nickkname

      Hmm, it didn’t underline. Well, this is the part I wanted to underline anyways: “The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.”

      There have been boatloads of arguments over these words, whether it discourages finding out your angel’s name or not, and so forth. There is no instruction against finding your angel’s name, but there is the virtue of prudence against such a practice.

      This prudence has to do with private revelations, because, if your angel – or if God, or if a saint – revealed to you the name of your angel – by locution, by vision, by prophecy, or by whatever means – it would not be Public Revelation, it would be a private revelation.

      Prudently, no one should seek private revelations, but rather, be content with Public Revelation. The reasons for this are many – from the nature of Divine Revelation to the work of Jesus Christ to the experience of the Church with false prophets to the nature of private revelations and their distinction from Divine Revelation and Public Revelation – but, suffice it to say, God is enough!

      So, no one should seek out his angel’s name, but be content with his angel always being at his side, whom he should be devoted to, such as in praying the Angel of God prayer. After all, the existence of guardian angels, their love for men, and man’s love for them is part of the Revelation of God.

      • noelfitz

        NN,

        Thanks for your post. It is excellent and it is appropriate to stress the need for prudence.

        You did not give a reference to your quotations. Presumably they are from the 2001 DIRECTORY ON POPULAR PIETY AND THE LITURGY by the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacraments, http://www.vatican.va/roman_curia/congregations/ccdds/documents/rc_con_ccdds_doc_20020513_vers-direttorio_en.html.

        “The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture(217)”.

        This criticism is somewhat mild.

        PH

        You also show we are all pretty much in agreement. You wrote “greater than prudence, is trust”.

        Prudence is one of the four cardinal virtues on which all the other natural virtues depend. But what is trust? Very often it is used for the theological virtue of faith, and thus it would trump prudence, It is also part of hope, where we trust in God. Wikipedia considers trust part of the virtue of kindness (humanitas) which is related to the greatest of the theological virtues, charity. But trust can also be used as my own interpretation of scripture.

        However I agree with you, since on balance trust trumps prudence.

  • nickkname, I don’t think we disagree at all, in fact I think we’re in agreement. It’s not prudent to seek private revelation. When I asked my Guardian Angel his name, I didn’t realize that that was what I was doing.

    But, knowing myself, if I had realized, I probably would have done it anyway. The most prudent thing of all is to trust Jesus in the heights, in the depths, and in all the places in between. Radical trust is the way forward, and even if it’s not “prudent” according to the ordinary understanding, I’m going to do it anyway. May God bless you! And be prudent! But greater than prudence, is trust.

  • nickkname

    “The most prudent thing of all is to trust Jesus in the heights, in the depths, and in all the places in between. Radical trust is the way forward, and even if it’s not ‘prudent’ according to the ordinary understanding, I’m going to do it anyway.”

    You say that trust trumps prudence, but, if such is the case, why should I trust Jesus? It would be imprudent to trust my angel as if he were a god, but if trust trumps prudence, how could I know it would be imprudent? Truly love is blind without prudence. Or as Saint Padre Pio says: “You must always have prudence and love. Prudence has the eyes; love has the legs. Love which has the legs would like to run to God, but its impulse to rush toward Him is blind and at times might stumble, if it were not guided by prudence which has the eyes. When prudence sees that love could become unbridled, it loans its eyes to love. In this way love restraints itself and guide by prudence, acts as it should and not as it would like.”

    I am not saying that it is doctrine that you cannot ask your angel his name, nor ask God to reveal it to you, but I am saying that prudence is necessary and it is imprudent to seek after a private revelation. From this comes my speculation that one should not want to know his angel’s name, but be content with the Church’s instruction (see the Directory posted above) to love the angel always at one’s side.