Each of us has a Guardian Angel!

"...An Angel of peace, a guide and guardian of our souls and bodies, let us ask of the Lord…”

-petition from the Divine Liturgy of St John Chrysostom

ICON DESCRIPTION:

In this beautiful icon (based on a 15thCentury Russian Icon) of the Guardian Angel. The angel is shown caressing an “orb” (the circle) in its left hand containing a miniature image of the body and soul of a man. The image is wrapped in linen like Christ is depicted at His Nativity in swaddling clothes and at His burial in a shroud. Likewise, in the icon of the Dormition (Assumption) of the Virgin Mary, Christ holds the “soul” of the Virgin Mary wrapped in linen.

Angels are God’s special messengers between God and man!

Angels and the concept of a “guardian angel” appear in the Old Testament: Genesis, Exodus and the Psalms. God said to Moses “"my angel shall go before thee” – the rabbis in the Talmud explain “before each man goes thousands of angels crying make way for the image of God!” "For He will command His angels concerning you to guard you in all your ways;" (Cf. Psalm 33:8 and 34:5).

The Church, both east and west, through God’s revelations in both the Old and New Testament, teaches that each of us has Guardian Angel. One who stands for us before the face of God. Our Guardian Angel is our companion in life –our spiritual “kin” - alerting usof evil and directing our thoughts and actions to the will of God. Our Guardian Angel will stand with us on judgment day.

In the Slavic Eastern Christian traditions, your “birthday” is called your “angel day.”