Nicknamimg Guardian Angels?

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quandy57

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I understand the Church discourages the naming of Guardian Angels, but my question is what about nicknames? I am in seminary and a professor told us he sees no reason to not nickname our Guardian Angels, knowing it is not their name, but a way of familiarizing ourselves with the Angel and deepening our relationships with them. I feel uneasy about this idea, but I am unsure if the act is actually in any way wrong ?
 
Dear quandy,
I’m not sure if it is morally wrong, but I can’t say I’d recommend it, at least in terms of earthly name (George, Nancy, etc…)
However, if you do want to have a term to refer to yours besides “Angel”, I will frequently call my Guardian Angel “Friend”, because that is part of who they are to me. Rather than giving them a name, you can refer to them by part of who they are (i.e. We call God “Judge” because that is part of who is is, but not the entirety of His Being.)
 
quandy57 said:
I understand the Church discourages the naming of Guardian Angels, but my question is what about nicknames? I am in seminary and a professor told us he sees no reason to not nickname our Guardian Angels, knowing it is not their name, but a way of familiarizing ourselves with the Angel and deepening our relationships with them. I feel uneasy about this idea, but I am unsure if the act is actually in any way wrong ?
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Makes no sense to me. The Church strongly recommends we do NOT name guardian angels. A nickname is a name so we should follow the Church’s advice.
 
Padre Pio nicknamed his guardian angel ‘little man’ because he appeared as a huge angel… A Franciscan spoke to my youth group on this topic, and said that it is completely orthodox.
 
Seems a bit too familiar to me. I wouldn’t come up with a nickname to address my school principal – she’s also my evaluator, and I like being employed – or any of the parents at my school, or the superintendent of our district. And these roles are nothing in comparison to the honor and glory of our guardian angels!

I simply address my angel as my dear angel, and leave it at that. Their names are God’s business, and I’m OK with that.
 
Maximilian75 said:
Padre Pio nicknamed his guardian angel ‘little man’ because he appeared as a huge angel… A Franciscan spoke to my youth group on this topic, and said that it is completely orthodox.
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Yes, but that was in response to an extraordinary grace, wasn’t it?

God has not allowed me to see my guardian angel, nor have I been given any other extraordinary graces such as St Pio received.
 
I mean I guess, but the Franciscan who spoke to my youth group said that we should pray about it as well- That things may wel reveal themselves to us, showing us our GA’s name/nickname. I’m pretty sure mine is named Karol.
 
The professor said you can not that you must nickname him. And you feel uneasy. So don’t nickname it but don’t judge your colleagues who might take the prof on this idea.
 
Are you struggling with being disobedient to your professor or the Church or disrespect among your colleagues?
Is there another way you could come to the same end ie deepen your relationship with your Angel without compromising your values. Clearly this concerns you enough to ask about it. So honour your Angel and deepen the relationship in another way. Could you learn/research prayers and find one you like and learn it especially for your Angel? maybe, find a saint who has written some or if you are creative write your own.
 
Trojan_Horse said:
Dear quandy,
I’m not sure if it is morally wrong, but I can’t say I’d recommend it, at least in terms of earthly name (George, Nancy, etc…)
However, if you do want to have a term to refer to yours besides “Angel”, I will frequently call my Guardian Angel “Friend”, because that is part of who they are to me. Rather than giving them a name, you can refer to them by part of who they are (i.e. We call God “Judge” because that is part of who is is, but not the entirety of His Being.)
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I really do like this way of looking at it. Similar to St. Augustine where Angel is a term referring to their office so in a sense we are already nicknaming them according to their attributes, so calling them something such as “friends” seems equally justifiable.
 
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quandy57 said:
I feel uneasy about this idea, but I am unsure if the act is actually in any way wrong ?
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I guess that all depends on the nickname… 😉

In any case, you’re studying to be a priest, right? That means that, soon enough, you will be giving advice to the people of your parish. Here’s my advice to you: don’t get in the habit of teaching things that (1) aren’t part of what the Church teaches and (2) might offend or scandalize some of your flock. I think that the prudent middle ground would be “if God doesn’t give them names or nicknames for us to use, maybe we should follow His example and try to give them names ourselves.” 😉

(After all, how would you like it if some of your flock started calling you by a nickname that you never chose or indicated that you liked?)
 
Hello.

What do you think St. Thomas Aquinas would say about nicknaming your Guardian Angel?
 
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