An angel who is assigned by God to watch over and care for a man during his life upon earth. The general doctrine that angels are thus deputed to protect men in their pathway through life is a matter of Catholic faith, clearly expressed in Scripture. Moreover, theologians commonly teach that every member of the human race at the moment when the soul is infused into the body, is entrusted to the keeping of an individual angel; and that this angel remains his guardian until death, whether the child grow into sinner or saint, pagan or Christian. The guardian angels are selected generally from the lowest choir of angels. A feast in their honor, kept locally in the 16th century, was extended to the Universal Church by Pope Paul V in 1608.