R
Rahn
Guest
I’m not sure this is “official” Church teaching, but:
catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=281
I’m not just pulling it out of the air.
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catholic.org/prayers/prayer.php?p=281
I’m not just pulling it out of the air.
R
Rahn
Guest
Thank you. I was thinking of rule in a spiritual sense here. Agree with your suggestion.
G
Granum_Frumenti
Guest
Indeed–the prayer has been relatively popular (and without official opposition), it appears in many approved collections of prayers, and it was and still is an indulgenced prayer.
It appears under “Preces ad custodem Angelum” in this Latin text of the Enchiridion of Indulgences on the Vatican site. I never noticed before now, but this edition explicitly identifies the Angele Dei as an example of “legitimately approved prayer” to one’s guardian angel: “…prece legitime adprobata…(e.g. Angele Dei).”
Yes, the Latin prayer uses “rege.” I do agree that our guardian angels do not have a certain type of rule over us, but I also agree with the idea that they may have a different kind.
As it so happens, I’ve preferred another old form of the prayer. It ends with “enlighten and protect, direct and govern me.” There also exist a number of similar forms, as I just discovered from searching online. I’m not necessarily recommending this wording because it uses different verbs, and my preference for that form isn’t because of the choice of verbs–but your post reminded me of this family of forms.
T
thistle
Guest
Official Church teachings are found in the CCC which I follow.
As I quoted in the official teaching in an earlier post our guardian angel is there to protect and guide us. The Church does NOT TEACH guardian angels rule us.
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Granum_Frumenti
Guest
I realized that I stopped
looking at my search results of vatican.va after I found the Enchiridion quoted in my last post. Now that I’ve looked again 
, I notice two other documents.Yes, I do know that the Compendium of the Catechism isn’t the same thing as the Catechism, but this English text has a handy appendix with “common prayers” COMMON PRAYERS); the Angele Dei appears near the beginning, between the “Ave, Maria” and the “Requiem Æternam.” The Latin prayer has “rege,” and the English translation has “rule,” without any warnings or proposed emendations.
There is also a text of the 2001 Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, which I mention here primarily because one of its purposes is to warn against specific errors. One portion specifically discusses devotion to the “Holy Angels” (213-217). The Angele Dei is mentioned as “especially popular” (216). This portion ends with warnings against a few “deviations” (217), such as the practice of assigning extra-scriptural names to the angels. The list of deviations is not exhaustive, but if this “especially popular” prayer actually opposes Church teaching or at least needs correction, then I would at least hope to be warned.
I also left a conclusion implicit in my last post, but I should make it explicit. The Enchiridion of Indulgences mentions the Angele Dei as an example of “legitimately approved prayer” to one’s guardian angel: “…prece legitime adprobata…(e.g. Angele Dei).” The Latin form given in the Enchiridion has the usual “rege.” If the usual form of this prayer is actually in opposition to Church teaching, why should it be approved and even indulgenced? And I still propose that the solution is in different meanings of “rule.”
T
thistle
Guest
If “rule” has a different meaning from “have authority over” then I have no problem with that.I realized that I stopped
Yes, I do know that the Compendium of the Catechism isn’t the same thing as the Catechism, but this English text has a handy appendix with “common prayers” COMMON PRAYERS); the Angele Dei appears near the beginning, between the “Ave, Maria” and the “Requiem Æternam.” The Latin prayer has “rege,” and the English translation has “rule,” without any warnings or proposed emendations.
There is also a text of the 2001 Directory on Popular Piety and the Liturgy, which I mention here primarily because one of its purposes is to warn against specific errors. One portion specifically discusses devotion to the “Holy Angels” (213-217). The Angele Dei is mentioned as “especially popular” (216). This portion ends with warnings against a few “deviations” (217), such as the practice of assigning extra-scriptural names to the angels. The list of deviations is not exhaustive, but if this “especially popular” prayer actually opposes Church teaching or at least needs correction, then I would at least hope to be warned.
I also left a conclusion implicit in my last post, but I should make it explicit. The Enchiridion of Indulgences mentions the Angele Dei as an example of “legitimately approved prayer” to one’s guardian angel: “…prece legitime adprobata…(e.g. Angele Dei).” The Latin form given in the Enchiridion has the usual “rege.” If the usual form of this prayer is actually in opposition to Church teaching, why should it be approved and even indulgenced? And I still propose that the solution is in different meanings of “rule.”
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