I was walking home from the Rye, New York, train station after officiating at a baptism for a little baby girl in New York City. It was a Saturday afternoon, May 2, 2015.
As I looked both ways before crossing the main street in downtown Rye, I noticed a car slow down and stop at the stop sign on my left. The car on my right also appeared to be slowing down as I began my journey across the street.
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A few seconds later, I was sitting unconscious on top of my duffle bag in front of the fenders of a stopped minivan. Its driver had slowed down for two girls who were considering crossing the street down the road from me — but they waved him on and he hit the accelerator as he waved back to them.
Thanks to my marathon training and the fact that my legs were totally relaxed and did not brace for a collision, my body simply did what inertia caused it to do; but perhaps it was guided by an angelic force.
Several eyewitnesses saw me get hit hard on the right leg. My right elbow then went into the hood of the car, leaving a significant dent; then my right hand smashed into the now-shattered windshield and I went flying into the air, back toward the front of the car and landing squarely on my cushy duffel bag.
This bag, thankfully, was stuffed with liturgical vestments from the baptism I had performed that morning.
The man admitted he was going at least 25 miles per hour on impact, and the ER doctor could not believe that the MRI showed absolutely no damage or broken bones. Several months later, I happen to meet a gentleman who had been hit by a car in the same way. He mentioned several of his ribs were broken and he was told he would have a limp for the rest of his life. Divine intervention?
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In the fall of 1986, during my second year of seminary training, a group of us were hiking in the mountains of Connecticut. To be adventurous, I went a little off the path — and found myself suddenly scaling a tilted rock cliff. It had rained the night before, so the rocks were slippery and hard to grab. Just as I was about to reach the top, my left hand slipped off the supporting rock and I tumbled backwards about 10 feet.
I landed in a huge pile of mud, surrounded by sharp rocks that certainly would have done some serious damage if I had fallen a few feet either way. I know for certain this was divine intervention. Without getting into details, I also felt the presence of my guardian angel during my fraternity days at Michigan State University — he was constantly protecting me from dangerous dilemmas.
Many souls have shared with me their experiences of being saved or helped by an angel. Some were guided by their angel out of a serious car accident, while others have felt the accompanying presence of their guardian angel during moments of extreme difficulty or anxiety.
Others have perceived that their angel protected them from a moral danger, one that potentially could have caused great harm to their soul. In the words of St. Jerome, “How great the dignity of the soul since each one has from his birth an angel commissioned to guard it.”
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The Catechism of the Catholic Church reminds us: “From infancy to death human life is surrounded by [the angels’] watchful care and intercession. Beside each believer stands an angel as protector and shepherd leading him to life. Already here on earth the Christian life shares by faith in the blessed company of angels and men united to God.”
What a blessing that God has given each one of us an angelic friend to accompany us 24/7 along this challenging journey of life. His main goal is to lead us to heaven — and he will never give up or get discouraged, regardless of how often we wander off the preferred path of God’s will.
Perhaps this classical prayer to your guardian angel would be a great way to begin each day: “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, rule and guide. Amen.”
Fr. Michael Sliney, LC, is a Catholic priest and the New York chaplain of the Lumen Institute, an association of business and cultural leaders.<
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