The term guardian angels refers to an angel that has been granted the duty to look out for the well being of any particular person. They can also serve as a guide of sorts, helping to keep God's followers on the straight and narrow righteous path, and away from the wide road that leads to death and destruction. The concept of a guardian angel, is thought to predate both Christianity and Judaism, and could date all the way back to humanity's first pagan religions, where gods and lesser gods stood watch over people and personal property. It wasn't however until Christianity, that the concept of guardian angels became so defined and developed. This was done during the 5th century, when the anonymous author Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite created the literary masterpieces known as Mystical Theology, Divine Names, Celestial Hierarchy, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, and various other noteworthy and noncanonical Christian epistles.
Since the 5th century, the concept of the guardian angel has been heavily redefined, a concept which became widely accepted amongst Christian churches throughout the world. It is taught that God himself assigns these angels to protect people, and that they serve as a direct link to the Almighty. The guardian angels will collect the person's prayers that they are assigned to, and then directly deliver the prayers to God on the person's behalf. This belief system is quite detailed, and is heavily rooted in all denominations of Christianity. Within the Catholic Church, there is a calendar of saints that includes a memorial especially setup for guardian angels, the date of which is October 2. What is interesting is that most of the more detailed and developed literary backing behind the concept of guardian angels, is noncanonical scripture. There are some Christian puritans who do not believe in the concept at all, and consider these angels to be a pagan abomination.
In the Old Testament of the Christian Bible the concept of guardian angels is well documented, lending some credibility to the official church position on them. In the Old Testament there are verses that mention God's helpers and ministers, which carry out special tasks at his request. It goes on to mention that these angels are particularly used in the affairs of mankind, meaning that the class of angels is earth bound, and a lower order of celestial beings which deal in the more mundane affairs. The precise scripture where they are mentioned can be found in the Book of Genesis verses 28 through 29. These passages specifically state that there are a class of angels that act as executors of vengeance and wrath against evil humans, however they will bless the righteous. Later on in Exodus verses 12 through 13, Moses even states that his personal angel shall travel ahead of him. There are more Old Testament examples of these guardian angels.
With regard to the New Testament of the Christian Bible, the idea of guardian angels is noted with much more precision than in the Old Testament. The Book of Matthew Chapter 18 verse 10, explains that there are lower class angels everywhere, where they serve as intermediaries between all of mankind and the Almighty. Jesus himself even mentions these angels, when he says not to harm a group of children, explaining that their protectorate angels have direct contact with God, and always see his face. This bit of scripture lends some credibility to the notion that children in particular have personal guardian angels that look out for them. I should state however, that some elements within the Christian church take a very cautious stance when it comes to guardian angels, as they feel there is a fine line between revering them, and worshipping them. Obviously other more liberal Christian churches see no harm in recognizing them fully.
