According to St. Thomas Aquinas, angels cannot read our thoughts. “God alone can know the thoughts of hearts and affections of wills.”
But the angels—our guardian angels especially—can often tell what we’re thinking based on physical cues such as facial expressions. It makes sense, if you think about it. A family member or a good friend can often tell what we’re thinking or feeling just by the slump of our shoulders or very slight smile on our faces.
“Angels can know specific thoughts that we willfully desire to communicate with them…Therefore, as soon as we make the decision to speak with or to pray to the angels, they will become aware of what we want to communicate to them.”
—Fr. Matthew Hincks, ORC, Opus Sanctorum Angelorum
courtesy of The Catholic Company
Note: A Dominican priest and prolific writer, Aquinas is our greatest theologian and philosopher. He wrote in Latin and read Aristotle in Latin, translated from Greek by another Dominican.
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
But the angels—our guardian angels especially—can often tell what we’re thinking based on physical cues such as facial expressions. It makes sense, if you think about it. A family member or a good friend can often tell what we’re thinking or feeling just by the slump of our shoulders or very slight smile on our faces.
“Angels can know specific thoughts that we willfully desire to communicate with them…Therefore, as soon as we make the decision to speak with or to pray to the angels, they will become aware of what we want to communicate to them.”
—Fr. Matthew Hincks, ORC, Opus Sanctorum Angelorum
courtesy of The Catholic Company
Note: A Dominican priest and prolific writer, Aquinas is our greatest theologian and philosopher. He wrote in Latin and read Aristotle in Latin, translated from Greek by another Dominican.
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom God’s love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide.
Archangel Raphael and Tobit, attributed to Titian, born c. 1488/1490, died 1576, painting c. 1542, hanging in the Gallerie dell'Accademia, acquired 1815, following the Napoleonic suppressions, and last restored 1994.
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