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Can we give names to our angels?
Tom Cloutier, SFO: I was watching a Catholic program last evening and the subject was angels. An audience member asked about the rightness of naming your angel and the moderator said it was disrespectful toward the angel. I have always taught my students (I’m a junior high theology teacher for the last 19 years) that naming your angel was a good idea since we want to develop a loving relationship with this being that has been with us since our conception and will be with us into eternity. As human beings, it is easier to have a relationship with someone whose name we know, so to ask your angel to reveal their name to you, or give them a name that you feel comfortable with, will help you be more aware of them and more open to their guidance.
After all that…what are your views on this?
Peace,
Tom Cloutier, SFO
Joan: I’m as surprised as you are (about naming one’s angel being a sign of disrespect). I have heard this opinion recently, and I believe it may have its roots in Opus Angelorum, a group of Catholics who focus mainly on angels. They are very knowledgeable and I have just begun to get their bulletin so I can continue to educate myself. I have heard that they do not believe in naming one’s angel. (My apologies to them if I am misinterpreting this.)
I never thought about naming my angel until the first time I was a guest on Mother Angelica’s show (how I miss that lady!). She stated firmly that, just as you said, naming your angel was a great way of increasing one’s love and devotion. She also felt that the closer we were to our angel, the more easily it would be to recognize his promptings. Shortly after that, I met a woman who was very hesitant about telling me something….sometimes people are being prompted to say something to someone else but are afraid of being labeled as a kook; I’ve been in that position myself and certainly want to do God’s will if He is indeed prompting me, so I understood how she felt. Hesitantly she told me that she was being asked to tell me that my guardian angel was a warrior (due to my travels, etc) and that his name was Dominic. Honestly, I was thrilled. I have called him Dominic ever since. Can I prove this was the “real thing?” No, but we are told to look at the fruits, and I certainly have a closer relationship with Dominic than I did before learning what his name might be.
If it were up to me, Tom, I would continue to suggest that your students name their angels. They need all the help they can get in today’s world.
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Hi Joan. Thanks for sharing your time with us and for sending me an email informing me that you’d be here today.
As you know, I’ve has some angel experiences of my own and know that they guide me everyday in everyway. I always invite angels into the life’s of the people I share a bond with. Their presense gives me great peace.
To make a comment on naming our guardian angel(s), I did a mediation once asking my own guardian angels their names and they responded. I recorded that information in a journal and I look at it from time to time; however, most times when I need an angel’s assistance in my life, I don’t ask specifically by name . I just use a general “call out” to them all. They always help.
Barb <3
Hey, Joan! Started to send a comment before, but had to log out – no
coincidence! It was about angels not being saints, and the analogy I
had used was about fruit – apples and pears being in the same family, but created different. So I log back on, and here’s sisters’ story about the fruit market! All day, from the woman who came in for a donation whose name was Angel, to the little girl selling laser pictures – and the first one she pulled out was of a guardian angel…
It’s a day to praise God and thank Him for His heavenly Hosts!
And as far as naming yours, it was explained to me that a name can be a source of pride for them, and being the humble creatures they are, choose to remain as unknown, giving all praise and honor to the Father, than garner it for themselves; it was pride that ultimately lead the fallen angels to their doom, and the ever burning lake of fire that is their destiny.
May the holy angels always surround us, enfold us in their wings,
protect and keep us safe – Amen!
Before any Catholic becomes involved with Opus Angelorum, they should read the report given at the following website:
http://www.unitypublishing.com/Apparitions/OpusAngelorumSatanic.htm
The report is written by Father J.P.M. van der Ploeg, O.P. and originally appeared in the magazine Fidelity and is now available at the Culture Wars website. It issues warnings about the secret activities of Opus Angelorum. Cardinal Ratzinger had issued directives to the organization that they failed to follow. Gabrielle Bitterlich is still credited as the source of the re-establishing of the order on the OA website.
Personally I think it is a great help to name your guardian angel. I know that it helped me a lot to name my guardian angel, because I began to think of her more as a spirit, a friend, God’s little girl, God’s warrior–as opposed to an abstract being I didn’t even know but was supposed to be thankful to. It completely changed how I saw angels.
Another thing about naming angels–when I pray to St Michael, St Gabriel, or St Raphael, it helps to call them by name because their names remind us of their functions. (‘who is like God’/'God is my might’/'God has healed’) And besides that, each angel gives glory to God just as each saint does, just as each piece of God’s creation does. To exalt each piece of creation by naming it dignifies it further, as well as making it less of an ‘it’ and more of a ‘being’.
Again, it’s a perception thing. If people like to name angels, go ahead! It’s all good. But if you don’t like the practice, don’t engage in it–but don’t discourage others from it.
my angelita Tziporah, pray for us!
This is an interesting question. I didn’t realize there was a lot of debate about this but, after scanning Catholic forums and websites, I found diverse opinions on this. Honestly it was never something I thought about. I’m good with the angels who already have names but never really felt a need to name others.
In the broader tradition of theology, giving a name to someone or something signified both a personal relationship. Recall how Moses asked to know God’s name and God responded, “I AM”. The Catechism of the Catholic Church has this to say about God’s name:
It is our tradition to use God’s name with the utmost respect and love. I think this also applies to how we call upon angels. For me, if God wants an angel to reveal its name to me, then that’s cool. But personally I’m okay with embracing God’s mystery and knowing and loving God’s messengers in my life, without necessarily knowing their name.
FYI, the Congregation for Divine Worship’s Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy gives instruction around the topic of angels and naming of angels. In particular, #217 notes, “The practice of assigning names to the Holy Angels should be discouraged, except in the cases of Gabriel, Raphael and Michael whose names are contained in Holy Scripture.”
Thanks to “Verbo Caro” on http://forums.catholic.com for bringing the doc to my attention.
good to know, Sr. Julie
That said, I do think that if a name is whispered in our ear…we should not pretend we did not hear it, no?