Does Everyone Have A Guardian Angel?

[HollyWilliams]

Does everyone, including the unbaptized, have a Guardian Angel or do only the baptized have a Guardian Angel?

[cappie]

[quote name='HollyWilliams' timestamp='1338452935' post='2438594']
Does everyone, including the unbaptized, have a Guardian Angel or do only the baptized have a Guardian Angel?
[/quote]

While the Church has never defined an article of faith on the matter that each individual soul has a guardian angel, this belief has always been on the "mind of the Church" as St. Jerome expressed it: "how great the dignity of the soul, since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it." (Comm. in Matt., xviii, lib. II).

When it is stated that every individual soul has a guardian angel, this is not a reference to only the baptized, but rather to every living being that has been and will be created by God on earth. It should be noted that St. Basil (Homily on Psalm 43) and St. Chrysostom (Homily 3 on Colossians) held that only the members of the Church were privileged to have Guardian Angels.

Throughout the Old Testament, we find numerous Biblical references in support to the fact that angels are not only executors of God's wrath, but they are protectors of individual persons. In Genesis 18-19, we read that angels protected Lot from danger. In Exodus 32:34, we read where God said to Moses, "My angel shall go in front of you." In Daniels 10, we read of angels who are entrusted to protect certain districts. One angel is called the "prince of the kingdom of the Persians." Michael, the archangel, is called "one of the chief princes." [Dan. 12:13] In the Book of Sirach, we read, "He appointed a ruler for every nation, but Israel is the Lord's own portion." [Sir. 17:17]
Based on the aforementioned and many other Bible passages, the doctrine of Guardian Angels has always been taken for granted versus being expressly written down.

In the New Testament, we find specific cases of angels coming to the help of those in need. In the Gospel of Mark, we read of the angels who ministered to Jesus when He was in the wilderness for forty days. [Mk. 1:13] In the Acts of the Apostles, we read of the angel who freed Peter from prison. [Acts. 5:19] In the Letter to the Hebrews 1:14, we read, "Are not all angels spirits in the divine service, sent to serve for the sake of those who are to inherit salvation?"

The idea that we get our guardian angels at baptism is a speculation, not a teaching of the Church. The common opinion among Catholic theologians is that all people, regardless of whether they are baptized, have guardian angels at least from the time of their birth (see Ludwig Ott, Fundamentals of Catholic Dogma [Rockford: TAN, 1974], 120); some have suggested that prior to birth babies are taken care of by their mothers' guardian angels.

In summary, the angels are sent by God to lead and protect the cooperative souls on the path of their salvation, such a path ending in the heavenly Kingdom of God.