Question:

When a person dies, and his soul is in purgatory, does his guardian angel accompany him there as well, or is the angel present only while he is alive? What does Catholic doctrine say about this?

Answer:

Dear Reader:

The existence of angels “is a truth of faith. The witness of Scripture is as clear as the unanimity of Tradition.”

As we know, the term angel designates, as Saint Augustine says, “not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit’, from what they do, ‘angel.’ not of their nature. If you seek the name of their nature, it is ‘spirit’; if you seek the name of their office, it is ‘angel’: from what they are, ‘spirit’, from what they do, ‘angel.'” “Angel” comes from the Latin angelus, and this from the Greek ἄγγελος (angelos), meaning “messenger.”

In the inspired texts, it is repeatedly hinted or assumed that this “mission” of protective angels is linked to particular persons in a permanent and personal way; this is equivalent to suggesting “angelic custody” over men. Some theologians even defended that the existence of “guardian angels” is a matter of faith (for example, Catharinus); but the more common opinion in theology is that the existence of angels in general is a matter of faith, while that of guardian angels is only “Catholic” teaching, although clearly suggested in Revelation.

Thus, certain Old Testament texts can be understood, such as Gen 48:16; Ex 23:20-21 (“I am sending an angel before you, to guard you on the way and bring you to the place I have prepared. Be attentive to him and heed his voice. Do not rebel against him…”); Baruch 2:2; Psalm 91:11, etc.

This is also found in the New Testament, above all in our Lord’s statement referring to children: their angels in heaven always look upon the face of my heavenly Father. (Mt 18:10). There are even texts that seem to indicate “guardian angels” of communities or moral persons, such as kingdoms, armies, communities, churches, and nations; for example, chapters 1 and 2 of the Apocalypse speak of the seven angels who guard the seven churches, as if each were destined to watch over one of them.

The principal effects of the guardianship of our guardian angels are listed as follows:

• Guardian angels constantly deliver their charges from countless evils and dangers, both of soul and body: The Angel who has delivered me from all harm,– said Israel to his son Joseph –  bless these boys (Gen 48:16).
• They restrain the demons so that they cannot do all the evil they would wish to do to us – recall the story of Tobias. They continually stir up holy thoughts and wholesome counsels in our souls (e.g., Gen 16 and 18; Acts 5:8; 10).
• They bear our prayers before God, not because God, being omniscient, needs this to know them, but so that He may graciously hear them; and they themselves implore the divine help they see we need, even when perhaps we ourselves do not realize we need it (cf. Tob 3 and 12; Acts 10).
• They enlighten our minds, offering us truths in a way easier to understand through the influence they can exert directly on our interior and exterior senses.
• They assist us especially at the hour of death, when we need them most.
• It is a pious opinion of many theologians that the respective guardian angels accompany the souls of their charges to purgatory or to heaven after they die, just as they accompanied the souls of the ancient patriarchs to the bosom of Abraham. Indeed, in the Commendation of the Soul after the death of the faithful, the Church sings: “Go forth to meet them, angels of the Lord, receiving their soul, presenting it to the Most High… May the angels lead you to the bosom of Abraham.”
• It is also piously believed that guardian angels attend to the suppliant prayers offered by the faithful for the souls of their charges when those souls are still in purgatory, “in a condition to pray, but rather in a condition that requires us to pray for them.” In fact, it is said that petitions made to the souls in purgatory are among the most effective.
• Finally, they will accompany their charges eternally in heaven, should they obtain salvation, “[as] an angel to reign with him,” and man will be “enlightened through the angelic ministry.”

P. Miguel A. Fuentes, IVE

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