![]() ![]() He takes care that the child lives the Consecration to the Guardian Angel. ![]() The sponsor is the visible representative of the invisible Guardian Angel.Later, when they are ready, they may choose to assume the commitment of the Consecration to the Guardian Angel for adults, freely renew the consecration and become full members of the Work of the Holy Angels.)īecause the child is not yet capable of making autonomous decisions for itself, a sponsor steps to its side as a visible Guardian Angel, while on the other side God’s messenger, the holy Guardian Angel, takes the child’s hand. Further, by this consecration children do not become official members. (To make the consecration, children do not need go through a year of preparation with formation letters as adults do, nor is a formal admission required. “Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life.” ~ CCC 336 They should be able to express that they want to make the consecration to him.Naturally, they should have a great love for the holy Guardian Angel.Children should be mentally perceptive and open to the holy angel.Similarly, with respect to the Consecration to the Guardian Angel, the chronological age of the child is not decisive. The child further needs to be in the state of grace and desire to receive Jesus in the Eucharistic Host. The Church has not determined a precise chronological age, rather she has wisely foreseen that the children should have reached the age of discretion to be able to distinguish the Eucharistic Bread from the common bread that is, to know that what looks like bread is not bread, but contains the real, living Body and Blood of Christ. The requirements for a child to make the Consecration to the Guardian Angel are comparable to those established by the Church for early First Holy Communion. If parents would teach their children in a timely fashion through instruction and example to know and to love their angels, how much light, strength and guidance, could they receive from their angels already at a tender age and, consequently, overcome with greater ease the temptations of the devil and the world. The Catechism of the Catholic Church alludes to this angelic presence in a generic fashion: “From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by watchful care and intercession” (CCC 336). There is good reason to believe that already at the moment of conception a personal Guardian Angel is assigned to the child to protect and accompany it at every moment through life. Stressing the need to prevent children from scandal, Our Lord solemnly stated, “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” (Mt 18:10). In 1910 Pope Pius X endorsed the decree Quam Singulari stressing the Church’s rule that children are to be admitted to receive Holy Communion as soon as they reach the age of discretion.Ĭommenting on Our Lord’s words, “Let the children come to Me, and do not prevent them” (Mt 19:14), the Holy Father complained that in various places “the age determined for the reception of First Communion was placed at ten years or twelve, and in some places fourteen years or even more were required.” These practices have been the cause of many evils, because “children in their innocence were forced away from the embrace the food of their interior life.” The Pope, finally, observed that “the loss of first innocence … might have been avoided by reception of the Eucharist in more tender years.” of Christ and deprived of the food of their interior life.” The Pope, finally, observed that “the loss of first innocence … might have been avoided by reception of the Eucharist in more tender years.”Īnalogically, the same principle can be applied to the children in relation to their Guardian Angels. ![]() “Let the children come to Me, and do not prevent them.” (Mt 19:14) Candidates and members strive to give the holy angels as much space as possible in their lives and apostolate, so that the Angels can work with them for the glory of God and the salvation of the world.
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