Today has special meaning for many. The Church recognizes today (October 2) as the Feast of the Guardian Angel. Obviously, this is a special day for us (Guardian Angel Store), but it has other meaning as well. Today we kick off our annual "Angels Among Us Contest" this is our 2nd annual contest in honor of the Angels. I find it special, because I tend to keep my Guardian Angels on their toes as I have been told many times in the past.
That being said we'll go into more important things.
So, what is a "Feast Day" anyway? A Feast Day is when the Church sets aside a day to commemorate a special event in the Church's history. Usually you hear about the feast day of a saint. Most days of the year are marked as different feast days, and some days serve as feasts for multiple events. In some cases, the more important feast days are considered to be "Holy Days of Obligation" which means you should go to church or think about the event during the day. Most feast days though tend to go unnoticed by the public.
What is the Feast Day of the Guardian Angel all about?
Starting as a local tradition, it was later added to the calendar. Pope Paul V in 27 September, 1608 placed it among the feasts of the general calendar as a double "ad libitum" to be celebrated on the first available day after the Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel. It is believed that the new feast was intended to be a kind of supplement to the Feast of St. Michael, since the Church honoured on that day (29 September) the memory of all the angels as well as the memory of St. Michael. Among the numerous changes made in the calendar by Clement X was the elevation of the Feast of Guardian Angels to the rank of an obligatory double for the whole Church to be kept on 2 October, this being the first unoccupied day after the feast of St. Michael. Finally Leo XIII (5 April, 1883) raised it to the rank of a double major.
It is to be noted that the Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael is amongst the oldest feasts in the Calendar.
For 2 October there is a proper Office in the Roman Breviary and a proper Mass in the Roman Missal, which contains all the choice extracts from Sacred Scripture bearing on the three-fold office of the angels, to praise God, to act as His messengers, and to watch over mortal men. "Let us praise the Lord whom the Angels praise, whom the Cherubim and Seraphim proclaim Holy, Holy, Holy" (second antiphon of Lauds). "Behold I will send my angel, who shall go before thee, and keep thee in thy journey, and bring thee into the place that I have prepared. Take notice of him, and hear his voice" (Exodus 23; capitulum ad Laudes). The Gospel of the Mass includes that pointed text from St. Matthew 18:10: "See that you despise not one of these little ones: for I say to you that their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father who is in heaven." Although 2 October has been fixed for this feast in the Roman calendar, it is kept, by papal privilege, in Germany and many other places on the first Sunday (computed ecclesiastically) of September, and is celebrated with special solemnity and generally with an octave.
So today as you go through your day, remember your Guardian Angel. Think about all that your angel has done for you. I shudder to think where I might be if not for mine.
For God commanded his angels to guard you in all your ways. Psalms 91:11
