and keep it away from evil. You must not imagine, my dear brethren, that only one angel shall appear against us in the judgment if we do not lead good lives; for there are many of them to guard us: “He hath given His angels charge over thee,” says the prophet David, “to keep thee in all thy ways.”[1] How many guardian angels have we then? The general teaching of the Fathers and Doctors of the Church is as follows: Each one, they say, has a special angel to guard his soul and body; but there is also another to look after the whole world; another to take care of all Christendom; every kingdom, country, town, and community has its special guardian angel; every church, every house, every family has also its special angel to guard it. All these angels have been sent by God to look after me and take care of me, and they shall all appear as my accusers in the judgment if I leave this world in the state of mortal sin.
Especially the angels of the churches. O ye guardian angels of many churches and cities, what testimony will you give when that man, that woman, that youth, that maiden, appears before the tribunal! Behold, O just Judge, so shall the accusation be worded, these are the people whom I have seen in the church entrusted to me, assisting at public devotions on certain days; their only object was to see and be seen, and they came dressed for a dancing-room rather than for a church; at their entrance I wished that the greater number of those present were at home, lest their eyes and hearts should be scandalized, and so they might find their ruin in Thy house where they came to seek their salvation! These are they who when they entered Thy church drove me out of it lest I should be a witness to its profanation; talking, laughing, and paying empty compliments was their chief occupation, whereby they disturbed the devotion of others. They were ashamed to bend both knees and to fold their hands before Thee, O great God, who wert there present. These are they for whose salutary warning and amendment I have often suggested matter and words to preachers; but for a quarter of a year they never came to a sermon, or if they did happen to come they tried to forget what they heard, so that it made no impression on them. Justice, O Judge, on these people for their carelessness and irreverence in Thy temple entrusted to our charge!
And also the angels See! the angels of certain cities and communities will exclaim, these are they who being in a high position, by their scandalous
- ↑ Angelis suis maudavit de te, ut custodiant te in omnibus viis tuis.—Ps. xc. 11.
