“Be devout to the Guardian Angels of your friends; they render you in many instances greater services than you are aware; and sometimes they even give you assistance which you do not receive from your own Guardian Angel. There are occasions on which they interest themselves in your behalf for the sake of those whom they have the care, knowing that your friendship is profitable to them for the good of their souls,” wrote Fr. Henrie-Marie Boudon is his classic work, Devotion to the Holy Angels (Sophia Institute Press).
Ever since I was a little child, I have wanted to meet an angel. I read stories of saints who saw their guardian angels, such as St. Padre Pio and St. Frances of Rome. I also read stories of angels appearing as humans to help people in their most dire circumstances. Scripture is also filled with stories of angels, including one of my favorite stories about the archangel St. Raphael in the book of Tobit.
When my first child, Jude, was born, I felt an even greater connection to the angels. I knew that not only did we have a son, but we also had a new guardian angel in our family. It quickly became apparent to my wife and me that our son’s guardian angel was working overtime. So many times, my son was spared from great injury. Once, he jumped off our bed, and his head went straight through a glass end table, yet he only had a scratch. Or the time he fell down our back stairs and landed on a small patch of grass that was poking through the concrete. I knew then that my son had a most powerful angel. I have also been saved by my guardian angel on a few occasions.
The guardian angels have several roles as I highlight in my recent children’s book, Angel of God: Devotion to the Guardian Angels for Children. They are as follows:
- Keep us from danger.
- Defend us against temptations.
- Inspire holy thoughts and virtue.
- Warn us of danger and correct us.
- Offer our prayers to God.
- Defend us at the hour of death.
- Console the souls in Purgatory and lead them to Heaven.
In 2016, I flew to Ohio to pick up an old family car, which I drove back to our home at the time in North Carolina. The July weather was over 100 degrees, so hot that one car was on fire on the interstate. My wife and our less-than-one-year-old son Jude anxiously waited for my arrival.
All was going well until my gas pedal stopped working on interstate 40, near Winston-Salem. I was going 70 mph, and then my car went down to 30 mph in a matter of seconds. I pulled off to the side of the road, thinking it was overheating. I waited and then drove to the gas station. It was already evening. I called my wife and told her that the car charger wasn’t working, my phone was about die, and the air conditioning was now broken. I explained how precarious my situation was and asked for her prayers. I knew that I must take backroads in case my car shut down again on the busy highway.
So, I found a side road, and I was still about an hour and a half away from home. As I hit the rural road, the car began to shut down. It was after 7 p.m. at this time. I was out of water, and there was no other car in sight. My phone was now dead, and I couldn’t ask my wife to come get me, even if she was able. She had no idea where I was.
I waited three minutes, and then, out of nowhere, I said a desperate prayer to my son’s guardian angel. I prayed something like, “Please help me find a gas station and get home safely.” I had never sought my son’s guardian angel’s intercession before, but I knew how powerful he was and how much he longed for me to get home to my son.
My car started up immediately.
Off I went. Within a few minutes, there was a small gas station. I couldn’t believe my eyes.
I pulled into the gas station and filled up my tank. Then I proceeded into the convenience store, knowing I didn’t have much time before it became pitch black outside. As I went inside, I noticed three people working. One was busy at the register, another was helping a customer, and the third person was a twenty-year-old-looking guy with a Middle Eastern complexion. He was moving boxes behind the counter. It was somewhat odd because his other coworkers paid no attention to him. It’s like he wasn’t there. But I saw him.
I told him my car was having issues and wondered if he could give it a quick look. He said yes with a pleasantness about him. I opened the hood, and he looked inside. I told him my car kept shutting off. I said I had over an hour’s drive home. Then he looked me in the eyes and said, “You are going to be fine. You will make it home.” His words gave me great peace.
I thanked him and then asked his name. In a very shy and somewhat hesitant way, he said his name. What is interesting is that I have a great memory for people’s names, but I immediately forgot his the next day. It sounded like a Biblical name, almost like Mezicah, but something that I had never heard in my life.
Off I went again. A few minutes into the trip, I started to stall at a traffic light. Miraculously, the car did not turn off. I kept praying and praying to make it home safely. I never prayed so hard in my life. Finally, an hour or so later, I pulled into the driveway. What was normally a nine-hour trip had taken me almost twelve hours.
When I reached home, my wife hugged me and told me, “I was worried about you after you called, so I asked Jude’s guardian angel to be with you.”
I was stunned. We had both asked for the assistance of my son’s guardian angel around the same time. And then it dawned on me: I think I just met my son’s guardian angel.
The following day, I used Google Maps to see where the gas station was located. I called the gas station and tried to remember the young man’s name, but I couldn’t remember it. I just thanked the owner that a delightful man helped me. I tried to see if that person did in fact work there, but the answer was vague since I couldn’t remember the person’s name. The only way to verify with absolute certainty that I had encountered my son’s guardian angel was to drive to the store—and I’d had enough adventure already. (Though I have read that angels are very hesitant to share their names, which explains the hesitant answer.)
I will never know for certain whether that kind gas station attendant was my son’s guardian angel. But given the prayer that both my wife and I prayed, I believe in my heart that I encountered him, for his message was like the one St. Raphael gave to Tobias: “Do not be afraid, for she was destined for you from eternity. You will save her, and she will go with you, and I suppose that you will have children by her” (Tob. 6:17). Yes, angelic messages are filled with hope, peace, and trust in God. Someday, I pray to make it to Heaven and thank God for all the unseen ways He assisted me through the years, especially through the guardian angels of my family and friends. And just maybe I will learn the identity of that mysterious person.
Editor’s Note: If you are interested in learning about the Guardian Angels, check out Patrick O’Hearn’s latest book, which is illustrated by Valerie Delgado and is available through Sophia Institute Press.
