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Catholics and many Christians believe in the existence of Guardian Angels, whom God has appointed to protect and guide us during our earthly journey. One of the questions that comes along with this belief is regarding the ability of angels to know our thoughts.
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Are they able to enter into our mind and read our secret thoughts?
The short answer is no. They have not been given special access to our thoughts, whereby they force themselves into our mind. Only God is able to know exactly what is going on in our mind, as he is the creator and sustainer of us all. St. Thomas Aquinas states this clearly in his Summa Theologiae, “What is proper to God does not belong to the angels” (I, 57, 4).
However, while angels are not given unrestricted access to our thoughts, we can reveal to them our thoughts in a spiritual way. Philosopher Peter Kreeft writes in his book, Angels and Demons, that you can “will to reveal your thoughts and your secrets to your Guardian Angel by talking to him, as you would talk (pray) to a human saint in heaven or a friend on earth.”
In most cases we need to be the one who reveals our thoughts to our Guardian Angel.
At the same time, our Guardian Angels have very intelligent minds and are experts at the art of observation, much better than us. This means that even though they do not have access to our thoughts without our consent, they can observe us and have a supernatural ability to know what we are thinking by merely being with us. St. Thomas Aquinas explains this as well when he writes, “For thought is sometimes discovered not merely by outward act, but also by change of countenance; and doctors can tell some passions of the soul by the mere pulse” (I, 57, 4).
If we want our Guardian Angel to truly know us and our hidden secrets, we need to talk to them on a regular basis. In this way, our Guardian Angels will be better prepared to protect us and guide us to everlasting life.
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And today we celebrate...