she was to be
the Mother of God. The angels receive their names from the duties they
perform. The word angel signifies messenger.

*36 Q. Were the angels created for any other purpose?
A. The angels were also created to assist before the throne of God and
to minister unto Him; they have often been sent as messengers from God
to man; and are also appointed our guardians.

The duties of the angels are many. Some remain always in Heaven with
God; some are sent to earth to be our guardians and to remain with us.
Each of us has an angel to take care of us. He is with us night and day,
and offers our prayers and good works to God. He prays for us, exhorts
us to do good and avoid evil; and he protects us from dangers spiritual
and temporal. How unfortunate then must one be to cause him to return to
Heaven with sad complaints to God; such as: "The one whom I have in
charge will not obey Thy laws or use the grace Thou sendest him: with
all my efforts to save him, he continues to do wrong." He will be doubly
sad when he sees other angels returning with good reports and receiving
new graces for those whom God has committed to their care. If you love
your guardian angel, never impose on him the painful duty of bringing to
God the report of your evil doings.

Now, how do we know that the angels offer our prayers and good works to
God? We know it from the beautiful story of Tobias, told in the Holy
Scripture. (Tobias). This holy man loved and feared God. He lived at a
time when his people were persecuted by a most cruel king, who wished to
force them to give up the true God and worship idols, but many of these
good people suffered death rather than deny God and obey the wicked
king. When they were put to death, their bodies were left lying on the
ground, to be devoured by birds of prey or wild animals. Anyone caught
burying them was to be put to death by the king's servants. Tobias used
to carry the dead bodies of these holy martyrs into his house and bury
them at night.

One day when he returned very tired he lay down by the wall of his house
to rest, and, while lying there, some dirt fell into his eyes and he
became blind. This Tobias had a young son whose name was also Tobias;
and as he himself was now blind and poor, he wished to send his son into
a certain city, at a good distance off, to collect some money that he
had formerly loaned to a friend. As the young man did not know the way,
his father sent him out to look for a