The Guardian Angels Depart From Us When We Remain In Sins
May 17
(A discourse on how one ought to stand in church with fear and trembling.)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
May 17
(A discourse on how one ought to stand in church with fear and trembling.)
By Archpriest Victor Guryev
By His ineffable mercy, the Lord granted to each of us a Guardian Angel. The Guardian Angels, by the will of God, remain with us, teach us good, and turn us away from evil. But here is the question: do they always remain with us? Do they ever depart from us? Do they leave us at some time? What shall we say to this?
The Church discourse says: “To every believer an Angel comes, if only we ourselves do not drive him away from us by evil deeds. As smoke drives away bees and the stench drives away doves, so also our foul-smelling sin drives away from us our Guardian Angel. Therefore, says the word of God, ‘He will not allow your foot to be moved; He who keeps you will not slumber.’”
From this brief teaching it is seen that our sins drive away from us our Guardian Angel. But is this the only proof? No, there is another also. “Why are you standing here and weeping?” once Venerable Nephon asked a youth who stood at the door of a house and wept. “I,” answered the youth, “am an Angel sent by the Lord for the protection of a man who has already remained several days in this vile house; I stand HERE because I cannot draw near to the sinner; I weep because I am losing hope of leading him onto the path of repentance.”
This is the second proof that the Guardian Angel leaves us because of our sins. And here is the third. “When someone through his evil life,” an Angel once said to Saint Pachomios, “has become dead to God and virtue, he stinks a thousand times worse than a dead body, so that we can neither stand nor pass near him in any way.”
Now, brethren, we hope that you are convinced of the truth that the Guardian Angels leave us when we live a sinful life. And knowing this, let us flee from sins as from a destructive plague, and let us not offend and drive away from ourselves our invisible friends, defenders, and protectors. Let us repay them with love for love, and let us express this love before them by imitating their purity and holiness, and by the constant lifting up to heaven of our mind and heart toward them. Amen.
Source: Translated by John Sanidopoulos.
