How to Teach your Child to Pray to His/Her Guardian Angel
Who are the Guardian Angels?
When I was a child, kneeling at my bedside with my mum, saying my bedtime prayers I would always say a prayer to my Guardian Angel with her. So, from my childhood, I knew that I had a guardian angel – and that we all had one. I have prayed this prayer, on and off, throughout my life but I would say that in the last thirty years, I have prayed this prayer every morning as I awaken:
O Angel of God, my guardian dear,
To whom God’s Love commits me here.
Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard, to rule and guide,
Amen.
In fact, I now add this to my prayer- “Ever this day and night be at my side”. That way, I feel that I am covered till the next morning and that I don’t need to repeat it before I go to sleep!
All angels are spirits without bodies but when God permits some people to see an angel they seem to appear with a body! God must want us to be able to accept such visitations and so makes the angels as acceptable to us as possible. I find that very sweet and loving.
We can see evidence of Guardian Angels from Jesus, Himself, in the Gospel of Matthew, chapter 18:
“See that you do not despise one of these little ones for I say to you that their angels in Heaven always look upon the Face of My heavenly Father”
So, even while they are looking after us, they are somehow able to adore God the Father at the same time. They are higher beings than ourselves, and as such they can do these sorts of things! As purely spiritual beings they are not bound by space as we are with our bodies.
Their Origins
Did you know that when all the nine choirs of angels were created that they were all created at once? They were given instantaneous knowledge about who God was, who they were, what their nature was, what their assigned task was, what their relationship was to all the other angels, what would happen if they did not accept their task, what would happen if they remained faithful (they would have the beatific vision), they had infused knowledge of the Holy Trinity and knew that God would become man. St. Thomas says that when the angels saw the beauty of God’s plan they were ‘in delight’. Sadly, those angels who did not accept their assigned task from God were immediately damned to hell.
The Guardian Angels are from the lowest choir of angels and we each have one from our birth. While a baby is still in the womb, the mother’s Guardian Angel looks after them both. These beautiful angels pray for us without ceasing and they have all accepted the task to do their best to get us to Heaven!
“Ever this day be at my side, to light…”
You can explain to your child that this phrase means that we are asking the Guardian Angel to help us decide what to do in any given situation. We all have free will and can say ‘yes’ or ‘no’ to anything. Our Guardian Angel will always be hoping that we choose the best path. He will always be fighting the spiritual battle for his assigned soul - that’s his job. Our Guardian Angel will give us wisdom, by enlightening our minds, so that, hopefully, we will choose the right path and not commit a sin.

“Ever this day be at my side, to light and guard..”
Here, we are asking our beautiful Guardian Angel to guard us from committing a sin and from physical dangers. As our Guardian Angel has been given the task of getting us to Heaven, I wonder if this means that they stay with us even if we have to wait in Purgatory first? I like to think so.
I can remember a time when I felt I was in physical danger on a walking holiday as the shale on the hillside seemed to give way under my feet. I remember feeling scared, shouting for help, and then standing still before slowly moving again. I remember a friend on this walking holiday coming towards me to help. But somehow, I managed to get a footing on my own, and all was well. I can now, in hindsight, say that it must have been my Guardian Angel who helped me.
“Ever this day be at my side….to rule”
I guess this means that our Guardian Angel will tell us what to do. It’s similar to enlightening our minds but maybe it’s the next step from this. Perhaps it’s a more firm way of getting our attention – especially if we are not listening. Have you experienced a time when you were made aware that you were treading on dangerous ground and about to commit a sin? I know I have. Sadly, I didn’t take the prompting that came in the form of a telephone call from a relative and which should have stopped me in my tracks. Instead, when I came off the phone, I still pursued acting on a bad decision - but thank God for giving us the Sacrament of Confession/Reconciliation.
“Ever this day be at my side….to rule and guide”
We can and should ask our Guardian Angel for guidance in God’s Will for our lives. Have you ever felt this type of guidance? When I was studying for my Masters degree in Catholic Pastoral and Educational Studies, I had an idea of what to write about for my thesis – but it somehow didn’t sit right with me. I started wondering if I should write about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd. Then a magazine came through the post either on that day or the next and as I tore the covering open, I could see that the magazine cover with its illustration was all about the Catechesis of the Good Shepherd! It was a strong nudge from God through my Guardian Angel and I decided that I should pursue this!
Physically, there have been several times when I have literally been lost and then suddenly found myself in just the right spot- has this happened to you?
Can we know our Guardian Angel’s name?
Our Guardian angel is superior to us and so it is not fitting for us to find out their name or even to give them a name. We have been allowed to know the names of the Archangels through scripture but that is as far as it goes. So, it is not a good idea to ask… as we might end up inadvertently talking and listening to demons. Catholic priest, Fr. Mike Schmitz has this to say about finding out your Guardian Angel’s name:
To learn more about our Guardian Angels click here for a short video with nuggets from Fr. Daniel Reehil, a Wall Street banker who became a Catholic priest later in life.
Note:

The insights shared in this article are drawn from the writings of St. Thomas Aquinas, also known as the Angelic Doctor. His profound theological and philosophical works continue to inspire and guide us in understanding the truths of our faith.
