1 Objection 1: It would seem that angels are not appointed to the guardianship of all men. For it is written of Christ Phil. 2, 7) that He was made in the likeness of men, and in habit found as a man. If therefore angels are appointed to the guardianship of all men, Christ also would have had an angel guardian. But this is unseemly, for Christ is greater than all the angels. Therefore angels are not appointed to the guardianship of all men.
1 Ad quartum sic proceditur. Videtur quod non omnibus hominibus Angeli ad custodiam deputentur. Dicitur enim de Christo, Philipp. II, quod est in similitudinem hominum factus, et habitu inventus ut homo. Si igitur omnibus hominibus Angeli ad custodiam deputantur, etiam Christus Angelum custodem habuisset. Sed hoc videtur inconveniens, cum Christus sit maior omnibus Angelis. Non ergo omnibus hominibus Angeli ad custodiam deputantur.
2 Objection 2: Further, Adam was the first of all men. But it was not fitting that he should have an angel guardian, at least in the state of innocence: for then he was not beset by any dangers. Therefore angels are not appointed to the guardianship of all men.
2 Praeterea, omnium hominum primus fuit Adam. Sed sibi non competebat habere Angelum custodem, ad minus in statu innocentiae, quia tunc nullis periculis angustiabatur. Ergo Angeli non praeficiuntur ad custodiam omnibus hominibus.
3 Objection 3: Further, angels are appointed to the guardianship of men, that they may take them by the hand and guide them to eternal life, encourage them to good works, and protect them against the assaults of the demons. But men who are foreknown to damnation, never attain to eternal life. Infidels, also, though at times they perform good works, do not perform them well, for they have not a right intention: for faith directs the intention as Augustine says Enarr. ii in Ps. 31). Moreover, the coming of Antichrist will be according to the working of Satan, as it is written 2 Thess. 2, 9). Therefore angels are not deputed to the guardianship of all men.
3 Praeterea, hominibus Angeli ad custodiam deputantur, ut per eos manuducantur ad vitam aeternam, et incitentur ad bene operandum, et muniantur contra insultus Daemonum. Sed homines praesciti ad damnationem, nunquam perveniunt ad vitam aeternam. Infideles etiam, etsi interdum bona opera faciant, non tamen bene faciunt, quia non recta intentione faciunt, fides enim intentionem dirigit, ut Augustinus dicit. Antichristi etiam adventus erit secundum operationem Satanae, ut dicitur II ad Thessal. II. Non ergo omnibus hominibus Angeli ad custodiam deputantur.
4 On the contrary, is the authority of Jerome quoted above Article 2), for he says that each soul has an angel appointed to guard it.
4 Sed contra est auctoritas Hieronymi supra inducta, qui dicit quod unaquaeque anima ad sui custodiam habet Angelum deputatum.
5 I answer that, Man while in this state of life, is, as it were, on a road by which he should journey towards heaven. On this road man is threatened by many dangers both from within and from without, according to Ps. 159, 4: In this way wherein I walked, they have hidden a snare for me. And therefore as guardians are appointed for men who have to pass by an unsafe road, so an angel guardian is assigned to each man as long as he is a wayfarer. When, however, he arrives at the end of life he no longer has a guardian angel; but in the kingdom he will have an angel to reign with him, in hell a demon to punish him.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod homo in statu vitae istius constitutus, est quasi in quadam via, qua debet tendere ad patriam. In qua quidem via multa pericula homini imminent, tum ab interiori, tum ab exteriori; secundum illud Psalmi CXLI, in via hac qua ambulabam, absconderunt laqueum mihi. Et ideo sicut hominibus per viam non tutam ambulantibus dantur custodes, ita et cuilibet homini, quandiu viator est, custos Angelus deputatur. Quando autem iam ad terminum viae pervenerit, iam non habebit Angelum custodem; sed habebit in regno Angelum conregnantem, in Inferno Daemonem punientem.
6 Reply to Objection 1: Christ as man was guided immediately by the Word of God: wherefore He needed not be guarded by an angel. Again as regards His soul, He was a comprehensor, although in regard to His passible body, He was a wayfarer. In this latter respect it was right that He should have not a guardian angel as superior to Him, but a ministering angel as inferior to Him. Whence it is written Mt. 4, 11) that angels came and ministered to Him.
6 Ad primum ergo dicendum quod Christus, secundum quod homo, immediate regulabatur a verbo Dei, unde non indigebat custodia Angelorum. Et iterum secundum animam erat comprehensor; sed ratione passibilitatis corporis, erat viator. Et secundum hoc, non debebatur ei Angelus custos, tanquam superior; sed Angelus minister, tanquam inferior. Unde dicitur Matth. IV, quod accesserunt Angeli et ministrabant ei.
7 Reply to Objection 2: In the state of innocence man was not threatened by any peril from within: because within him all was well ordered, as we have said above Question 95, Articles 1, 3). But peril threatened from without on account of the snares of the demons; as was proved by the event. For this reason he needed a guardian angel.
7 Ad secundum dicendum quod homo in statu innocentiae non patiebatur aliquod periculum ab interiori, quia interius erant omnia ordinata, ut supra dictum est, sed imminebat ei periculum ab exteriori, propter insidias Daemonum; ut rei probavit eventus. Et ideo indigebat custodia Angelorum.
8 Reply to Objection 3: Just as the foreknown, the infidels, and even Anti-christ, are not deprived of the interior help of natural reason; so neither are they deprived of that exterior help granted by God to the whole human race, namely the guardianship of the angels. And although the help which they receive therefrom does not result in their deserving eternal life by good works, it does nevertheless conduce to their being protected from certain evils which would hurt both themselves and others. For even the demons are held off by the good angels, lest they hurt as much as they would. In like manner Antichrist will not do as much harm as he would wish.
8 Ad tertium dicendum quod, sicut praesciti et infideles, et etiam Antichristus, non privantur interiori auxilio naturalis rationis; ita etiam non privantur exteriori auxilio toti naturae humanae divinitus concesso, scilicet custodia Angelorum. Per quam etsi non iuventur quantum ad hoc quod vitam aeternam bonis operibus mereantur, iuvantur tamen quantum ad hoc, quod ab aliquibus malis retrahuntur, quibus et sibi ipsis et aliis nocere possunt. Nam et ipsi Daemones arcentur per bonos Angelos, ne noceant quantum volunt. Et similiter Antichristus non tantum nocebit, quantum vellet.