Why Are Guardian Angels Celebrated on October 2?

Mr Kosloski explains the origins of the Feast kept today and how and why it ended up on 2 October. Holy Guardian Angels, pray for us!

From Aleteia

By Philip Kosloski

The feast was instituted to complement the celebration of St. Michael a few days earlier.

In the Traditional liturgical calendar, there exist four feasts that honor angels. The feast of St Gabriel on 24 March, the feast of St Michael on September 29, and the feast of St Raphael on October 14.

Eventually there arose a request to have a separate feast in honor of the guardian angels, those angelic spirits who are assigned by God to guide and protect each human soul.

According to the Catholic Encyclopedia, October 2 was picked because it was the first "free" day in the calendar.

It is believed that the new feast was intended to be a kind of supplement to the Feast of St. Michael, since the Church honored on that day (29 September) the memory of all the angels as well as the memory of St. Michael. Among the numerous changes made in the calendar by Clement X [in the 17th century] was the elevation of the Feast of Guardian Angels to the rank of an obligatory double for the whole Church to be kept on October 2, this being the first unoccupied day after the feast of St. Michael.

At the time September 30 was the celebration of St. Jerome and October 1 was the commemoration of St. Remigius, patron saint of France. October 2 did not have any particular celebration, and so it became the feast of the Holy Guardian Angels.