What happens to my Guardian Angel after I die?

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Umm, I guess I’m confused here: If angels were created at the dawn of time, and do not reproduce, and no new ones are created, doesn’t that mean that there is a finite number of angels? And since humans reproduce, there is potentially an infinite supply of human souls (or at least, they would outnumber the angels by several orders of magnitude.)

I’m no mathematician, but I think logic would dictate that when a person dies, his guardian angel would get a new assignment, just based on the sheer numbers. Maybe the angel would check in on his old charge, wherever that person’s soul is, the way a doctor does rounds in a hospital. In other words, maybe a guardian angel has one live person who they watch out for, and a lot of deceased people he still maintains a relationship with.

I have no basis whatsoever for this train of thought, just my own conjecture. Don’t be too hard on me, I finally picked up a copy of the current catechism just yesterday, and haven’t read through anything yet about angels. I’m still trying to figure out its layout!

As far as a vacation in Disneyland is concerned, mine deserves a Mediterranean cruise! He probably filed a grievance with Angels’ Local 232 for unfair working conditions in my rash and foolhardy youth! I hope he got some compensation for that!
 
odile53 said:
Umm, I guess I’m confused here: If angels were created at the dawn of time, and do not reproduce, and no new ones are created,** doesn’t that mean that there is a finite number of angels? ** And since humans reproduce, there is potentially an infinite supply of human souls (or at least, they would outnumber the angels by several orders of magnitude.)

I’m no mathematician, but I think logic would dictate that when a person dies, his guardian angel would get a new assignment, just based on the sheer numbers. Maybe the angel would check in on his old charge, wherever that person’s soul is, the way a doctor does rounds in a hospital. In other words, maybe a guardian angel has one live person who they watch out for, and a lot of deceased people he still maintains a relationship with.

I have no basis whatsoever for this train of thought, just my own conjecture. Don’t be too hard on me, I finally picked up a copy of the current catechism just yesterday, and haven’t read through anything yet about angels. I’m still trying to figure out its layout!

As far as a vacation in Disneyland is concerned, mine deserves a Mediterranean cruise! He probably filed a grievance with Angels’ Local 232 for unfair working conditions in my rash and foolhardy youth! I hope he got some compensation for that!
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Except we do not know how many angels were created by God. God knows everything including the total sum of all humans there will ever be.
 
After I die, I hope my guardian angel gets a much needed vacation!
 
Catholic1954 said:
Your Guardian Angel is all yours; he does not go to someone else. If you go to heaven, he goes with you, but there is no need to protect you anymore; if you go to purgatory, he will visit you there.
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Then this leads me to believe G.Angels are continously being created as humans are born…OR, after we die, they are reasigned to others, OR, they have a certain number of soulds to watch after. Point being, if they also are with us in Heaven then God is continually making angels…
 
OR God created the perfect amount of angels so each human being that would ever be in existance would have their own.
 
odile53 said:
Umm, I guess I’m confused here: If angels were created at the dawn of time, and do not reproduce, and no new ones are created, doesn’t that mean that there is a finite number of angels? And since humans reproduce, there is potentially an infinite supply of human souls (or at least, they would outnumber the angels by several orders of magnitude.)

I’m no mathematician, but I think logic would dictate that when a person dies, his guardian angel would get a new assignment, just based on the sheer numbers. Maybe the angel would check in on his old charge, wherever that person’s soul is, the way a doctor does rounds in a hospital. In other words, maybe a guardian angel has one live person who they watch out for, and a lot of deceased people he still maintains a relationship with.

I have no basis whatsoever for this train of thought, just my own conjecture. Don’t be too hard on me, I finally picked up a copy of the current catechism just yesterday, and haven’t read through anything yet about angels. I’m still trying to figure out its layout!

As far as a vacation in Disneyland is concerned, mine deserves a Mediterranean cruise! He probably filed a grievance with Angels’ Local 232 for unfair working conditions in my rash and foolhardy youth! I hope he got some compensation for that!
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Perhaps angels, like God, are not limited by the constraints of linear time. So they can possibly be in charge of more than one soul at a time and still perform their duties perfectly well. Kind of how God can act in more than one place at once. I heard this said somewhere so don’t quote me on the statements truth as it’s just pure speculation on the part of whoever originally wrote it.

But when I get to Heaven I’ll have to thank my guardian angel for all the car crashes he’s helped me to avoid. A number of which I’m absolutely certain would have ended in my death had he not been there.
 
odile53 said:
Umm, I guess I’m confused here: If angels were created at the dawn of time, and do not reproduce, and no new ones are created, doesn’t that mean that there is a finite number of angels? And since humans reproduce, there is potentially an infinite supply of human souls (or at least, they would outnumber the angels by several orders of magnitude.)
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There`s an infinite difference between infinity and a finite number, no matter how huge the finite number is.
I’m no mathematician, but I think logic would dictate that when a person dies, his guardian angel would get a new assignment, just based on the sheer numbers.
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Dont forget that an angel is "only" pure spirit. A spirit consists of intellect and will; and doesnt occupy space. So, there`s no problem with crowding.😃
Anyway, “Nothing is impossible to God.”: as the archangel Gabriel said to Mary.

im pretty sure that the Church teaches that each guardian angel has only one (human) person to look after, and so, doesnt get another one when his particular charge dies. In any case, an angel experiences a different sort of time from the type that a material created being experiences. A created spirit cant undergo change in substance; but can undergo change of operation: eg. as Gabriel experienced when "sent" to Mary. In other words, time doesnt flow continuously, as it does for matter (which is constantly changing). And time doesnt drag, either; so there are no angels bored to death and twiddling their thumbs......for a start, they dont have any! They wallow in the Vision of God.

A popular view (Is this taught by the Church?: i don`t remember.) of the fall of the angels is that 1/3 fell, based on Rev 12:3,4: “And another portent appeared in heaven; behold, a great red dragon…His tail swept down a third if the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth.”. RSV-Catholic Edition. (The dragon is, of course, Satan.)

One belief is that the number of human beings who ultimately reach Heaven is equal to the number of angels who rebelled and fell (and became demons). An inconceivable number for us!
Whatever…but, huge numbers mean nothing to God…
How many subatomic particles are there in the Universe? God knows about all of them because He wills them into existence, and wills their continued existence. A bit simplistic from a scientific viewpoint, but…

This became too longwinded…! Sorry!:o
I finally picked up a copy of the current catechism just yesterday, and haven’t read through anything yet about angels. I’m still trying to figure out its layout!
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Best of luck! i purchased one years ago; and gave up on that quest.
The layout must have been designed by the proverbial committee.
…I hope he got some compensation for that!
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He will when your soul joins him in Heaven.
 
Pope Benedict has spoken about his own Guardian Angel! He said that his guardian angel did not prevent him from fracturing his wrist some time ago. He suggested his angel was “certainly following superior orders” in order to use the accident to teach him humility and to provide him with more time for prayer.

🙂

Loads out there from the Pope’s about Angels just Google it!!
 
If you were born Catholic but become Atheist what happens to it then? Does it get relieved of its duties?

Also, why are the guardian angels better at protecting people in well developed countries who don’t even bother to pray than poorer ones who make faith a big part of their life?
 
Jadar said:
If you were born Catholic but become Atheist what happens to it then? Does it get relieved of its duties?
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Your angel stays “with” you until you die. After that:
If your soul goes to hell, the angel ceases to give you any more attention, simply because theres nothing more he can do for you. If you choose to reject God, thats your decision. Until the moment you die, your angel can prompt you; but he cant force you: thatd be a violation of your God-given free will.

If your soul goes to purgatory, the angel can help you. If your soul goes to heaven, you`ll be aware of your angel, enjoying the knowledge and love of God.
Also, why are the guardian angels better at protecting people in well developed countries who don’t even bother to pray than poorer ones who make faith a big part of their life?
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If you equate “protecting” with affluence, and a full stomach: forget it!
Who do you think are ULTIMATELY better off: the blind Western consumers who are too well off to think of God, and so, lose their souls, or:
the Third World strugglers, and those elsewhere who take their faith seriously, and achieve salvation, often, largely from suffering?
 
Fink said:
Your angel stays “with” you until you die. After that:
If your soul goes to hell, the angel ceases to give you any more attention, simply because theres nothing more he can do for you. If you choose to reject God, thats your decision. Until the moment you die, your angel can prompt you; but he cant force you: thatd be a violation of your God-given free will.

If your soul goes to purgatory, the angel can help you. If your soul goes to heaven, you`ll be aware of your angel, enjoying the knowledge and love of God.

If you equate “protecting” with affluence, and a full stomach: forget it!
Who do you think are ULTIMATELY better off: the blind Western consumers who are too well off to think of God, and so, lose their souls, or:
the Third World strugglers, and those elsewhere who take their faith seriously, and achieve salvation, often, largely from suffering?
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What I was getting at more is when someone falls ill and then gets better after being to hospital, I’ve heard people thank a guardian angel. However those who don’t go to the hospitals (in the poorer countries) always die and never get a chance to be saved by the guardian angel.

This leads me to believe the people saved in those cases had the doctors to thank or gods will favours the life of people in richer countries more.
 
Were supposed to be interdependant; and medical pros are Gods way of helping the sick… We should acknowledge that. God works through human instruments. That`s not to discount our angels, of course
Jadar said:
What I was getting at more is when someone falls ill and then gets better after being to hospital, I’ve heard people thank a guardian angel. However those who don’t go to the hospitals (in the poorer countries) always die and never get a chance to be saved by the guardian angel
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Again, being PHYSICALLY saved isn`t the be all and end all.
This leads me to believe the people saved in those cases had the doctors to thank or gods will favours the life of people in richer countries more.
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This is awkward; were on different wavelengths; and i cant dredge up the right words! 😊

To go off on a bit of a tangent: one of the most poverty stricken areas of Calcutta is called, in English: “The City of Joy”. At first glance, thered be nothing there for us Westerners to feel joyful about; but, theres a unity, a pulling together, a friendship. which override all divisions of race or creed. People there actually care for, and about, each other.

Long before she died, Mother Teresa of Calcutta sent some of her spiritual daughters to this country (Australia). When tackled about it, she said: “You Australians are much more poverty-stricken than the Indians.” Of course, she meant spiritually poverty-stricken.

Using general terms, all im trying to say is that we in the West arent as well off (favoured by God?) as most of us would like to think. Physical appearances can be deceptive.

Hope that makes some sense! 🤷
 
Dear Friends,

I know on many occasions my Angel must have interceded, protected, or at least raised an eyebrow at me. 😉 I hope that if I am blessed to go to the Father, I could say a small thank you to the Angel that was appointed for me at birth.

Love ya’ll,
Sheila
 
Battle_Warrior said:
Does he get assigned to someone else? If someone goes to heaven does his Guardian angel still watch over him? Are angels male or female? When many of the Saints saw their Guardian Angels they would describe the angel as a he. Thanks.
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Hi,
He retires and collects his pension.
 
After reading previous answers, I believe it is possible that my Guardian Angel is re-assigned to another soul, as his protection of my soul AND BODY is no longer necessary.
I can not accept the sense of waste - since God’s actions are always perfect - that would entail having to create more and more angels as people multiply.
My Guardian Angel has saved me twice from death or a major bone-breaking episode in my life, at 8 years of age and at 20.
Now at 67 my Guardian Angel has the certainty that I have stopped being stupid. 😃
 
Bohm_Bawerk said:
Precisely. There is no proof. The Church’s teaching on Guardian Angels is very limited - all the Church pretty much says is that every person is assigned a Guardian Angel at the moment of conception. As far as I’m aware, there is no Church teaching on what a Guardian Angel does after a person’s death.
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This sounds more like something made up to make us feel better and/or more ‘protected’ while living here on earth, plus, theres not an unlimited number of angels, Satan took 1/3 with him, so whatever was left after that is all there is, I dont imagine God creates new angels anymore either, so…

And then of course, the question comes up in regards to GAs, if every single person has one, why would so many people in the world suffer such horrors in their life, when an angel COULD HAVE prevented all of it? For example, young girl playing in her front yard is suddenly abducted by a stranger in a car, taken somewhere and sexually assaulted, or worse…? Where was her GA? Why do they not somehow alert the parents or others who could help? There are plenty of ways a GA COULD alert a parent without exposing themselves, or any supernatural assistance.

Im not mentioning when someone is killed though, as this could be explained by simply saying, it was that persons time to go and thats that
 
Mikekle: Man can NOT demand free will from God and expect God to arbitrarily intervene when Man screws up. (If the little child’s mother did not keep an eye on her properly, both her and you must accept the consequences).
There IS evil in the world, pal, and perfect balance between God and us, even if you think “something is made up to make us feel better.”
That child may suffer and die, but being wholly innocent, God will probably - being perfectly fair - reward her by taking her directly to Heaven. I am certain God makes up for our follies.
 
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