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 entrusted to their care; they wait on them, so to speak, as servants wait on their masters in all their affairs; and the same service shall be rendered by an angel even to anti-Christ, who shall be as an incarnate demon in his rebellion against God. All this they do simply because such is the will of God; and he who is deputed to guard a poor beggar or lowly peasant boy is as well content with his office as if he had the care of the greatest monarch of earth. He who has to protect the wizard or sorcerer is just as satisfied as if he had to attend on the greatest saint and servant of God; simply because such is the will of God, who has so ordained and given to each one his peculiar office.

Nay, the holy angels are so united with the divine will that if They are they were free to do anything contrary to it they would prefer to annihilated. be cast away forever among the demons than to commit the least if such venial sin by which they might displease God. And if it were pleasing to God to annihilate them, or, without any fault on their side, to hurl them into hell forever, provided they might continue to love Him there, they would all without exception be ready for their fate, that they might thus accomplish and fulfil the will of God. From this it follows that they desire nothing so much in us, their charges, as a conformity of our will with the divine will, and there is nothing they labor so hard to bring about with their inspirations and suggestions as the practice of this virtue in us, which is the compendium of all virtue.

My dear brethren, we must acknowledge that we owe a debt of the greatest gratitude, honor, and love to our holy guardian angels for the unceasing and countless benefits we have received and hope to receive from them every moment of our lives; and he would indeed be more stupid than a dumb beast, more thankless than a dog, who would refuse to acknowledge this obligation. Now they who do acknowledge it often ask themselves, with the younger Tobias, who had received so many favors from his faithful companion, the angel Raphael, on his journey, "What wages shall we give him? or what can be worthy of his benefits?" See this, Christians. Do you wish to know how we can and ought to reward our holy angels for their services to us? No more grateful offering can we make them than to follow their example by being fully united with the will of God, by always endeavoring to do and omit what, when, how, and because God wills us to do or omit; and at the same time to be always ready in all circumstances