Angele Dei
Prayer to One's Guardian Angel
The traditional prayer to one's Guardian Angel, asking his light and guidance through the day.
Angele Dei, qui custos es mei,
me tibi commissum pietate superna,
hodie illumina, custodi,
rege et guberna. Amen.
Angel of God, my guardian dear,
to whom His love commits me here,
ever this day be at my side,
to light and guard, to rule and guide. Amen.
Translation source: fisheaters.com/prayers.html
About this prayer
Angele Dei, the prayer to one's Guardian Angel, is among the first prayers a Catholic child is taught, and a comfort to the faithful of every age. It rests upon the constant teaching of the Church, founded on Holy Scripture, that God in His providence gives to each soul an angel to guard, to enlighten, and to guide it on the way to salvation. Our Lord Himself bears witness to these guardians when He warns that the angels of the little ones always behold the face of the Father in heaven.
The prayer asks four things of the angel to whom heaven's love has entrusted us: to enlighten, to guard, to rule, and to guide. It is fittingly said in the morning, that the whole day may pass under the angel's care, and again at night before sleep. The Church keeps the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels on the second of October, and the verse "Angel of God, my guardian dear" has carried this devotion in English for generations.