A guardian angel is one of the most crucial concepts of the Catholic religion and it is one of the forms in which a person can receive goodness and protection from God. As you can imagine, the concept of a guardian angels is widely used in other religions and is also a common theme of many spiritual teachings. Even if you have been a Catholic for your entire life, it is still possible you have not been educated about guardian angels sufficiently and you might not be able to name the crucial features of these entities when it comes to the Catholic religion. Indeed, the fact the concept is so widespread might make it difficult to distinguish the uniqueness of guardian angels exactly in Catholicism.
As a result, we all develop various myths about guardian angles and this article aims to help you understand which of the common believes are actually intact with Catholicism.
Angels are the highest creation of God
The majority of people, even those who have been Catholics for a pretty long time, have a notion of angels which is actually untrue. To many people, angels stay for perfection and they are regarded by them as the highest form of the creation of God. There is nothings strange in it since these are angels who are so glorious and ideal living in Heaven while people are full of sins struggling on earth.
This impression about angels and people is false as according to the Catholic theology, these are people who are the highest form of creation of God. Do not forget the reference to people as to the children of God which is one of the major ideas of Catholicism. Angels are only the servants of God.
People are transforming into angels after their death
Possibly one of the most common misunderstanding of the concept of angels when it comes to the Catholic religion is the belief in the transformation of people into angels once they get into Heaven. This becomes obvious when you talk to almost anyone about late people whom he or she really loved. Almost all of the times you will hear that the late person has received the wings and stays in Heaven.
Actually, according to the teachings of the Catholic religion, people cannot turn into angels. The fact they stay in Heaven after death does not make them angels. It is crucial to understand they will still remain themselves and will have a perfectly human body.
Angels are the same
When the majority of people think about angels, they usually imagine a general creature which whose image is used in any visions and thoughts about guardian angels. In fact, it might be rather challenging for one to imagine guardian angels are not the same and each of them is a unique creature or even a unique species. Yet, this is the truth and you can find out more information on the topic if you refer to the Angelic Doctor by Thomas Aquinas.
Angels have names
Well, this point is not exactly a myth, however, it requires some explanation.
On the one hand, many people including Catholicism practitioners have a notion of angels lacking personality features which has already been mentioned above. Yet, at the same time, we know the angels who have received more personality features. These angels are Gabriel, Raphael and Michael. This idea is giving a notion to many people that angels actually do have names.
Actually, the proper approach to this question is to understand that angels really have names, however, these names are regarded as of no importance by the Catholic religion. It is said only God knows the names of the angels and for people these names do not have any significance.
Pay your attention to the fact even the Office for the Congregation for Divine Worship and the Discipline of the Sacrament’s Directory On Popular Piety and the Liturgy itself recommends to refrain from giving names to angels.
I actually first time hear the myth that People are transforming into angels after their death.