1 Objection 1: It would seem that the angel guardian sometimes forsakes the man whom he is appointed to guard. For it is said Jer. 51, 9) in the person of the angels: We would have cured Babylon, but she is not healed: let us forsake her. And Is. 5, 5) it is written: I will take away the hedge, that is, the guardianship of the angels gloss), and it shall be wasted.
1 Ad sextum sic proceditur. Videtur quod Angelus custos quandoque deserat hominem cuius custodiae deputatur. Dicitur enim Ierem. li, ex persona Angelorum, curavimus Babylonem, et non est curata, derelinquamus ergo eam. Et Isaiae V, auferam sepem eius, et erit in conculcationem; Glossa, idest Angelorum custodiam.
2 Objection 2: Further, God's guardianship excels that of the angels. But God forsakes man at times, according to Ps. 21, 2: O God, my God, look upon me: why hast Thou forsaken me? Much rather therefore does an angel guardian forsake man.
2 Praeterea, principalius custodit Deus quam Angelus. Sed Deus aliquando hominem derelinquit; secundum illud Psalmi XXI, Deus, Deus meus, respice in me, quare me dereliquisti? Ergo multo magis Angelus custos hominem derelinquit.
3 Objection 3: Further, according to Damascene De Fide Orth. ii, 3), When the angels are here with us, they are not in heaven. But sometimes they are in heaven. Therefore sometimes they forsake us.
3 Praeterea, sicut dicit Damascenus, Angeli, cum sunt hic nobiscum, non sunt in caelo. Sed aliquando sunt in caelo. Ergo aliquando nos derelinquunt.
4 On the contrary, The demons are ever assailing us, according to 1 Pt. 5, 8: Your adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about, seeking whom he may devour. Much more therefore do the good angels ever guard us.
4 Sed contra, Daemones nos semper impugnant; secundum illud I Petri V, adversarius vester Diabolus tanquam leo rugiens circuit, quaerens quem devoret. Ergo multo magis boni Angeli semper nos custodiunt.
5 I answer that, As appears above Article 2), the guardianship of the angels is an effect of Divine providence in regard to man. Now it is evident that neither man, nor anything at all, is entirely withdrawn from the providence of God: for in as far as a thing participates being, so far is it subject to the providence that extends over all being. God indeed is said to forsake man, according to the ordering of His providence, but only in so far as He allows man to suffer some defect of punishment or of fault. In like manner it must be said that the angel guardian never forsakes a man entirely, but sometimes he leaves him in some particular, for instance by not preventing him from being subject to some trouble, or even from falling into sin, according to the ordering of Divine judgments. In this sense Babylon and the House of Israel are said to have been forsaken by the angels, because their angel guardians did not prevent them from being subject to tribulation. From this the answers are clear to the first and second objections.
5 Respondeo dicendum quod custodia Angelorum, ut ex supra dictis patet, est quaedam executio divinae providentiae circa homines facta. Manifestum est autem quod nec homo, nec res aliqua, totaliter divinae providentiae subtrahitur, inquantum enim aliquid participat de esse, intantum subditur universali providentiae entium. Sed intantum Deus, secundum ordinem suae providentiae, dicitur hominem derelinquere, inquantum permittit hominem pati aliquem defectum vel poenae vel culpae. Similiter etiam dicendum est quod Angelus custos nunquam totaliter dimittit hominem, sed ad aliquid interdum eum dimittit; prout scilicet non impedit quin subdatur alicui tribulationi, vel etiam quin cadat in peccatum, secundum ordinem divinorum iudiciorum. Et secundum hoc Babylon et domus Israel ab Angelis derelictae dicuntur, quia Angeli earum custodes non impediverunt quin tribulationibus subderentur. Et per hoc patet solutio ad primum et secundum.
6 Reply to Objection 3: Although an angel may forsake a man sometimes locally, he does not for that reason forsake him as to the effect of his guardianship: for even when he is in heaven he knows what is happening to man; nor does he need time for his local motion, for he can be with man in an instant.
6 Ad tertium dicendum quod Angelus, etsi interdum derelinquat hominem loco, non tamen derelinquit eum quantum ad effectum custodiae, quia etiam cum est in caelo, cognoscit quid circa hominem agatur; nec indiget mora temporis ad motum localem, sed statim potest adesse.