Guardian

“ Thy fervant orisons are flown?
The tender pray’r
Thou putt'st there,
Shall call a guardian angel down
To watch me in the battle.
My safety thy fair truth shall be,
As sheild and buckler serving ”

“ Yet God hath placed by the side of each a man’s own Guardian Spirit, who is charged to watch over him—a Guardian who sleeps not nor is deceived. For to what better or more watchful Guardian could He have committed which of us? So when you have shut the doors and made a darkness within, remember never to say that you are alone; for you are not alone, but God is within, and your Guardian Spirit, and what light do they need to behold what you do? ”

“ But the guardian-angel which every good child has, did not forsake her, but always brought her into the right path again. Once, however, the guardian-angel behaved as if he were not there, and the child could not find her way out of the forest again. ”

“ Over The Nameless the guardians had power, and kept them confined to their stark and blighted-seeming country beyond the Fearful Forest. I never knew a man so daring or so rash as to ask any sort of impertinent question of a guardian, whether about his work or his cabalistic secrets or his terrible charges. ”

“ But at the birthday festivals of English children, how few are even aware of the historical sequence, plain as it is, from the rites of the classic natal genius and the mediæval natal saint! Among us, the doctrine of guardian angels is to be found in commentaries, and may be sometimes mentioned in the pulpit; but the once distant conception of a present guardian spirit, acting on each individual man and interfering with circumstances on his behalf, has all but lost its old reality. ”

“ More than ever to-day the Guardian’s thoughts turn towards you, and our sore-tried brethren in your land, in admiration for the courage and fortitude you have so well displayed in the midst of your afflictive trials, and in thanksgiving to the almighty God for having sustained and blessed you so repeatedly through His unfailing grace and mighty confirmations. ”

“ Also to our angel guardian may be alleged, that he comply with the office he holds to present our prayers to God, and to procure a good despatch of them; and that his honour is interested in our being good and having a happy issue of our endeavours for heaven; and that, seeing that the Devil sleeps not to tempt us, that he sleep not, but be watchful to defend us. ”

“ I was very much impressed, and not for the first time, by my guardian's subtlety. To confess the truth, I very heartily wished, and not for the first time, that I had had some other guardian of minor abilities. ”

“ The Guardian is ardently supplicating on behalf of you all, and is praying that Bahá’u’lláh may continue to bless, enrich and widen the scope of your labours for the promotion and consolidation of the Faith in your respective communities. ”

“ This protector of each instant, this faithful guardian of your life, is, nevertheless, subject to you as a servant to his master. Attend to him, and he will obey your orders. You can make him go at a great pace, or slowly, as you choose ”

“ Mutterings and murmurs, mingling with the rumours of glory, gave rise to fears of an indecisive battle, a precipitate retreat. Insolent voices gave out that a spirit of the lowest category, a guardian angel, the insignificant Arcade, had checked and routed the dazzling host of the three great archangels. ”

“ I think I’ve learned that—hum! that a good guardian might be a handy thing to have in the house. A reg’lar legal guardian, I mean. Otherwise—”
“Otherwise?”
“Otherwise there might be too many disinterested volunteer substitutes for the job. Maybe I’m wrong, but I doubt it.”
“Have you made up your mind to be that guardian?”
“Not yet. I haven’t made up my mind to anything yet. Now, Mr. Sylvester, while we’re waitin’ for what comes next—you’ve ordered enough grub to victual a ship—s’pose you just run over what your firm knows about ’Bije. That is, if I ain’t askin’ too much.” ”

“ A choleric guardian arranges for his ward, who also happens to be his sister, to marry against her will a man whom she has never seen. Without her guardian's knowledge she, before the design goes further, escapes with a lover of her own choosing. ”

“ It is now time for you to know that the man in the grey surtout is my servant, whom I every day sent with my alms till this house was ready to receive you. You may, if you please, consider me as your guardian angel, since your good angel did not acquit himself uprightly in return for your gratitude. ”

“ The Guardian himself is eagerly looking forward to the pleasure of meeting her, and cherishes the hope that through this pilgrimage she may receive a renewed stimulus to better work for the promotion of the Faith upon her return home. ”

“ All this care and vigilance He uses in your regard, to preserve you from evil. Oh what a happiness it is to rest under the protection of so powerful and so beneficent a guardian!
II. This guardian of yours will to-day enter the fortress of your soul, in the holy Eucharist, to strengthen and defend it against your mortal enemy the devil, who surrounds it day and night, seeking its destruction. This divine table, this holy banquet, is instituted chiefly as a means of defence against our enemies: "Thou hast prepared a table before me," says the prophet, "against them that afflict me." ”

“ But the careful watchman, the active searcher, the watchful guardian, who keeps the outposts of the camp, stands. The zealous warrior, too, who desires to anticipate the designs of the enemy, stands in array before he is expected. ”

“ Hence, any real, or supposed, persons adopted as protectors, guardians, or patrons, are mahuzzim, or munitions of strength and safety. Now the god whom the Little Horn of the Goat honoured in his kingdom, was a god of guardian saints, who are regarded by his worshippers as protectors and towers of strength and security against all "the ills that flesh is heir to." Such a god is the Bishop of Rome ”

“ B The title of guardians to be reserved for the elders, the young men to be called auxiliaries. And perhaps the word ‘guardian’ in the fullest sense ought to be applied to this higher class only who preserve us against foreign enemies and maintain peace among our citizens at home, that the one may not have the will, or the others the power, to harm us. The young men whom we before called guardians may be more properly designated auxiliaries and supporters of the principles of the rulers. ”

“ I wonder what becomes of lost opportunities. Perhaps our guardian angel gathers them up as we drop them, and will give them back to us in the beautiful sometime when we have grown wiser, and learned how to use them rightly. ”

“ Reply Obj. 1: A guardian may be assigned to a man for two reasons: first, inasmuch as a man is an individual, and thus to one man one guardian is due; and sometimes several are appointed to guard one. ”

“ For although they may be weak, yet have they guardian angels who are strong, who may accuse you to God the Father, whom they always behold, and by His command may severely avenge and punish all offences and wrongs done to those who have been committed to their charge. ”

“ But when they saw the chieftain of the army of heaven dwelling in earthly places, then they entered through the opened road, following their Lord, and obeying his will, who distributes them as guardians of those that believe on his name. Thou yesterday wast under a devil, to-day thou art under an angel. Do not ye, saith the Lord, despise one of the least of those who are in the Church? ”

“ These guardians are old men, who not only keep the hallowed spot scrupulously clean, but also act as priests, killing the sacrificial victims which are brought to the shrine, sharing their flesh, and taking the skins for themselves. ”

“ That morning Camille’s brow had worn the halo of thoughts born of these researches during a night-time of painful struggle. Calyste was ever before her like a celestial image. The beautiful youth, to whom she had secretly devoted herself, had become to her a guardian angel. Was it not he who led her into those loftier regions, where suffering ceased beneath the weight of incommensurable infinity? and now a certain air of triumph about Beatrix disturbed her. No woman gains an advantage over another without allowing it to be felt, however much she may deny having taken it. ”

“ In this chapter we shall consider: (1) the different kinds of guardianship and how guardians are appointed; (2) who may be guardians; (3) the powers, rights, and duties of guardians; (4) actions arising out of guardianship; (5) how guardianship ends. ”

“ I suppose he calls himself your guardian. If he says no, you are of age. I just want you to believe that I am strong enough to put my arms around you and to carry you away to my own world and keep you there, although an army of Mr. ”

“ We seem to be in the place of God to them, to be his vice-regents, and empowered to receive homage from them in his name. And we are obliged, by the same tenure, to be their guardians and benefactors. ”

“ We stand on guard for thee!
Ruler Supreme, Who hearest humble prayer,
Hold our dominion in Thy loving care.
Help us to find, O God, in Thee,
A lasting, rich reward,
As waiting for the Better Day
We ever stand on guard. ”

“ The ALL-WISE CREATOR then, in supplying you with the sense of taste, has been pleased to appoint a guard at the door of your earthly tabernacle—the body, to watch what would gain admission there, by examining minutely whether it be a friend or a foe, and by receiving' or rejecting it accordingly,—since without this guard you would be exposed continually to the incursion of the most mischievous and deadly intruders. ”

“ This guards, as a holy shrine, the virtue of man and woman; it watches like an angel over the purity of domestic life, and drives away the foul fiends of passion and lust, and fills the dwelling with that sweet, pure, trustful love, which makes home the type of heaven. ”

“ Verily, I am a Servant Who hath believed in God and in His signs, and have sacrificed Myself in His path. Unto this bear witness the woes which now beset Me, woes the like of which no man hath ever before sustained. My Lord, the All-Knowing, testifieth to the truth of My words. I have summoned the people unto none save God, thy Lord and the Lord of the worlds, and have endured for love of Him such afflictions as the eye of creation hath never beheld. ”

“ The authorities in their wisdom have established a guard—the off-duty members of which select the most inviting spots amidst the ruins whereon to slumber and dream; and as you pause in thought at the Propylæa, or strive to erect in imagination the Parthenon or Erechtheum, as they once were, you are startled out of your very self by a series of apoplectic snores gobbled in on one inhalation and sent forth again on a prolonged whistling hist. ”

“ When the soldiers on guard saw the angel they trembled with fear, and fell to the ground, as though they were dead; and yet they were brave soldiers, who had never trembled on the field of battle! How will sinners tremble when the Lord of the heavenly hosts comes to judge the world. ”

“ Guard.—Angel of Love, fairest daughter of the skies, thy smile is radiant with blessing, and thy coming is ever a benediction. Without thee, this world would be a wilderness, drear and cold, where naught but cruelty and sorrow would abound. ”

“ When your spirit yearns up to God in prayer, ‘Oh, Lord, be my protector, and in this peril let me run under the shadow of thy wing,’ then you will fear no evil, though you walk through the valley and the shadow of death. ”

“ And it is for you too, my friends, to know yourselves to be but men. It is the arm of the Lord that shall prevail, and not an arm of flesh. We know, O God, that thou wilt help us; but in His name who commands us to love our enemies, to do good to them that despitefully entreat us, we beseech thee to remove these blinded heathen from the blackness and the darkness with which it has pleased thee to surround them. ”

“ When shall these things be?
60 And he said unto his servant: When I will; go ye straightway, and do all things whatsoever I have commanded you;
61 And this shall be my seal and blessing upon you—a faithful and wise steward in the midst of mine house, a ruler in my kingdom.
62 And his servant went straightway, and did all things whatsoever his lord commanded him; and after many days all things were fulfilled. ”

“ May thine angel guards defend us,
Slumber sweet thy mercy send us,
Holy dreams and hopes attend us,
This livelong night!
Heber.
1202 8s & 7s.
Saviour! breathe an evening blessing.
Saviour! breathe an evening blessing,
Ere repose our eyelids seal;
Sin and want we come confessing;
Thou canst save, and thou canst heal.
[721]
2 Though destruction walk around us,
Though the arrows past us fly,
Angel-guards from thee surround us—
We are safe if thou art nigh.
3 Though the night be dark and dreary,
Darkness can not hide from thee:
Thou art he who, never weary,
Watcheth where thy people be. ”

“ When he saw it, he wept and lamented, till he fell down in a swoon; after which he came to himself and asked pardon of God, saying, “We are God’s, and to Him we return!” and invoked blessings on the dead. Then he besought me of companionship; but I said to him, “O Commander of the Faithful, verily, in thy son’s case is for me the gravest of admonitions!” And I recited the following verses:
’Tis I am the stranger! None harbours the wight, Though he lie in his native city by night.
’Tis I am the exile! Nor children nor wife Nor comrades have I, to take ruth on my plight. ”

“ Did he not say: ‘Even now the heathen is at your gates, and many of you shall perish on his spears; but I tell you that he shall not conquer’? Did he not say: ‘Be faithful, cling to the Cross, and do not dare to doubt your Lord, for He will protect you, and your children after you, and He will be your Captain and you shall be His people’? ”