Our parish patron, St. Aloysius Gonzaga, has been referred to as “the angelic youth,” both because of his unique purity of soul and because of his own devotion to the holy angels. Three times a day, every day, he prayed to his own guardian angel, asking for assistance in both his spiritual and material needs.

Over the next few days, the Church celebrates two feasts that were particularly important to St. Aloysius - The Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael on September 29 and the Feast of the Guardian Angels on October 2. (Notes: Although the dates of the two feasts were the same in his day, September 29, “Michaelmas,” used to be dedicated to St. Michael alone, and October 2 was dedicated to all other holy angels. This year, October 2 falls on a Sunday, so we will instead be celebrating the Twenty-seventh Sunday in Ordinary Time.)

Not too long ago, I was surprised to discover that St. Aloysius Gonzaga had written a whole book of reflections on the angels, recently translated to English and published under the title Meditations on the Holy Angels. I purchased and downloaded the audiobook edition of the work, and I'd encourage you to read it or listen to it!

If I were to highlight a couple of insights from reflecting upon St. Aloysius' book, the first would be this: We are truly helped day after day by an invisible army of angels, and we can ask for their help in our daily needs. Of course, we generally don't know when these angels of God are lending their assistance, but we can know on the authority of Scripture and Tradition that God has provided us with these spiritual helpers. As the introduction to the book points out, we can expect even greater assistance from these heavenly helpers if we ask for it!

Second, we can learn from the example of the holy angels in their service of God. As Catholic teaching makes clear and St. Aloysius reminds us, all of the angels were put to the test at the beginning of their creation. What distinguished the good angels from the bad was their humility, their willingness to submit themselves to the will of God. Rather than trying to usurp the authority that belonged to the Lord, they accepted God's perfect plan and his authority over them. While the angels made a single, irrevocable decision to accept or reject God (CCC 393), we as embodied creatures are instead called to surrender to God moment by moment in the details of our daily lives.

As we prepare for the Feasts of the Archangels and of the Guardian Angels, then let us reflect upon the assistance and the example of all of the holy angels. Consider purchasing St. Aloysius' own book for some inspiration on the topic!