The Lord Jesus says to His disciples: “I am the Way, the Truth and the Life; no one comes to the Father except through Me. If you had known Me, you would know My Father as well; in a litte while will know Him and see Him.” Phillip says to Him: “Lord, show us the Father, and that will suffice for us.” Jesus says to him: “For so long a time I am with you, and you do not know Me? Phillip, he who sees Me, sees even My Father” (John 14:6-9).

The Father dwells in light inaccessible (cf. 1 Timothy 6:16), and God is spirit (John 4:24), and no one has ever seen God (John 1:18). Therefore He can be seen only in spirit, since it is the spirit which vivifies, the flesh brings forth nothing (John 6:64). But neither is the Son, because He is equal to the Father, seen in Him otherwise than the Father, otherwise than the Holy Spirit. Whence all who saw the Lord Jesus acccording to the Humanity and both did not see and believe according to the spirit the Divinity also, that He Himself is the true Son of God, have been damned; so even now all who see the Sacrament, which is sanctified by the words of the Lord upon the Altar by the hand of the Priest in the form of bread and wine, and does not see and believe according to the spirit the Divinity also, that this is truly the Most Holy Body and Blood of Our Lord Jesus Christ, have been damned, since the Most High Himself testifies, who said: “This is My Body and My Blood of the new testament (which is poured forth for the many” (Mt. 14:22,24); and “He who eats My Flesh and drinks the Blood of the Lord.” All Others, who do not have according to this same spirit and presume to receive Him, eat and drink judgement upon themselves (cf. 1 Cor. 11:29). Whence: “Sons of men, how long with a heavy heart?” (Ps 4:3) So that you may know the truth and believe in the Son of God (cf. John 9:35).

Behold, every day He humbles Himself (cf. Phil 2:8), just as when from royal thrones (Wis. 18:15). He entered into the womb of the Virgin; every day He comes to us presenting Himself humbly; everyday He descends from the bosom of His Father to the Altar into the hands of the Priest. And just as to the holy Apostles in true flesh, so even now He shows Himself to us in the Sacred Bread. And just as when they gazed at his very own flesh they saw only His flesh, but contemplating with their spiritual eyes believed Him to be God, so even we seeing bread and wine with our bodily eyes, may see and firmly believe them even to be His Most Holy Body and Blood, living and true. And in such a manner the Lord is always His faithful ones, just as He says: “Behold I am with you even to the consummation of the age” (cf. Mt. 28:20).

Blessed are clean of heart, since they themelves shall see God (Mt. 5:8). Truly are they clean in heart who despise earthly things, seek heavenly ones and always withdraw from adoring and beholding Our Lord, living and true, with a clean heart and soul.
Blessed is the servant, who stores up in Heaven (Mt. 6:20) the good thing, which the Lord shows to him and does not desire to manifest them to men for the sake of reward, since the Most High Himself will manifest his works to whosoever He pleases. Blessed is the servant, who attends to the secrets of the Lord in his heart (cf. Lk 2:19.51).

God’s Messengers: Archangels

Gabriel

His name appears first in the Book of Daniel in the Hebrew Bible. He is an angel who serves as a messenger from God. The name Gabriel can mean “man of God”, “God has shown himself mighty”, or “hero of God.” In the Roman Catholic tradition, he is known as one of the three archangels.

Gabriel is most frequently confused with Michael, the angel who holds a sword and guards the gates of Eden (later heaven) against Adam, Eve, and their descendants.

In the historical context of the destruction of Solomon’s Temple in Jerusalem, and the subsequent Babylonian captivity of the Jewish Kingdom of Judah that followed, the important Jewish leader Daniel ponders the meanings of several visions he has experienced in exile, when Gabriel appears to him (Dan. viii, 16-25).

Gabriel is mentioned twice by name:

“…And it came to pass, when I, even I Daniel, had seen the vision, that I sought to understand it; and, behold, there stood before me as the appearance of a man. And I heard the voice of a man between the banks of Ulai, who called, and said:’ Gabriel, make this man to understand the vision.’ So he came near where I stood; and when he came, I was terrified, and fell upon my face; but he said to me: ‘Understand, son of man; for the vision belongs to the time of the end…” (Daniel 8:15-17).

It is towards the end of the rule of Babylonia yet Gabriel is sent to elaborate and explain matters also relating to the “End of Days” (See Jewish eschatology) such as when the kingdoms of Persia, Greece and Rome will tumble from dominating the world.

“…And while I was speaking, and praying, and confessing my sin and the sin of my people Israel, and presenting my supplication before the Lord my God for the holy mountain of my God; and while I was speaking in prayer, the man Gabriel, whom I had seen in the vision at the beginning, being caused to fly swiftly, approached close to me about the time of the evening offering. And he made me understand, and talked with me, and said: ‘Daniel, I have now come to make you skilful of understanding…Seventy weeks are decreed upon your people and upon your holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sin, and to forgive iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal vision and prophet, and to anoint the most holy place.” (Daniel 9:20-24)

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Here is where Gabriel tells Daniel about the mysterious “Seventy weeks” (shavu-im shivim) that seem to indicate the end of the Babylonian captivity which lasted seventy years when Cyrus the Great allowed the return to Zion and the rebuilding of the Temple by the Jews in his empire.

In the Talmud, Gabriel appears as the destroyer of the hosts of Sennacherib, as the man who showed Joseph the way, and as one of the angels who buried Moses.

Gabriel in Christianity

Gabriel delivering the Annunciation. Painting by El Greco (1575)

In the New Testament, Gabriel is the angel who reveals to Zacharias that John the Baptist will be born to Elizabeth and who visits Mary, the mother of Jesus and reveals that she will give birth to Jesus. According to later legend, he is the unidentified angel in the Book of Revelation (formerly known as the Apocalypse of John) who blows the horn announcing Judgement Day. To Catholics, he is St. Gabriel the Archangel, the patron saint of communications workers. With Michael and Raphael, his feast day is September 29th.

His name also occurs in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Gabriel’s visit to Mary in the Gospel of Luke is often called “The Annunciation,” (Luke i, 26, etc.), an event that is celebrated on March 25th. It is also commemorated as the “First Joyful Mystery” each time the rosary is prayed.

Gabriel in Islam

Jibreel (جبريل) (sometimes rendered Jabril) is Arabic for Gabriel, who is also considered archangel in much Jewish and Christian angelology. According to Islam, Jabril is the angel who revealed the Qur’an to Muhammad, and is the chief of all angels.

Michael

Michael (Hebrew מיכאל Micha’el or Mîkhā’ēl) is an archangel, who is only mentioned by name in the Persian context of the post-Exilic Book of Daniel. Only there in Daniel does Michael appear— as “one of the chief princes” who in Daniel’s vision comes to the angel Gabriel’s aid in his contest with the angel of Persia, and is also described there as the advocate of Israel (10:21, 12:1). The Talmud tradition rendered his name as meaning “who is like El (God)? (but literally “El’s Likeness“)” (compare the late prophet Micah), but according to Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish (230-270 CE), however, all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, and many modern commentators would assent. The “Treasury of Scripture Knowledge” states that “‘Michael’ is the name applied to God’s Son before He left heaven to become Jesus Christ, and also after His return to heaven.” pg. 1597, but this is far from being generally accepted by Christians.

Much of the late Midrash detail about Michael was transmitted to Christian mythology through the Book of Enoch whence it was taken up and further elaborated. Catholic and Orthodox Christians refer to him as St. Michael the Archangel and also simply as Saint Michael. Judeo-Christian and modern occultists associate Michael with the color Red, the direction South and the element Fire.

In the Roman Calendar of the Saints, the feast, once widely known as Michaelmas, is celebrated September 29 and was one of the four Irish Quarter days on which accounts were settled and the third of the English quarter days when university terms began.

Medieval Christians considered St. Michael as the symbol or emblem of the Church Militant and as the patron saint of soldiers, in the Roman Catholic liturgy, Princeps militiae coelestis quem honorificant angelorum cives (”Prince of the celestial army whom the city of angels honor”). Today, however, he is more usually associated with police officers, paramedics, EMTs and other emergency workers. He is also the patron of Ukraine and its capital Kiev and of the archdiocese of Seattle.

Among Church fathers much time was spent allotting Michael a rank in the celestial hierarchy: Basil’s homily de angelis), Salmeron, Cardinal Bellarmine, and other Greek fathers place Michael over all the angels; they say he is called “archangel” because he is the prince of the other angels. Others believe that he is the prince of the seraphim, the first of the nine angelic orders. According to Thomas Aquinas, (Summa Ia.113.3) he is the prince of the last and lowest choir, the angels.

The hymn of the Mozarabic Breviary places St. Michael even above the Twenty-four Elders. The Greek Liturgy styles him Archistrategos, “highest general” (cf. Menaea, 8 Nov. and 6 Sept.).

Michael in Islam

In Arabic literature, Michael is called Mika’il or (in the Qur’an) Mikal. He is one of the four archangels, and, according to Arabic tradition following upon early rabbinic traditions, he occupies a similar position among the Jews to that occupied by Gabriel among the Arabs; that is to say, he is their peculiar guardian.

In the Qur’an Michael is mentioned once only, in Sura 2:92. In his commentary on verse 91 of that sura, Bai’awi relates that on one occasion Omar went into a Jewish school and inquired concerning Gabriel. The pupils said he was their enemy, but that Michael was a good angel, bringing peace and plenty. In answer to Omar’s question as to the respective positions of Michael and Gabriel in God’s presence, they said that Gabriel was on His right hand and Michael on His left. Omar exclaimed at their untruthfulness, and declared that whoever was an enemy to God and His angels, to him God would be an enemy. Upon returning to Mohammed, Omar found that Gabriel had forestalled him by revealing the same message, which is contained in verse 92. Muslim commentators state with reference to Sura 11:72 that Michael was one of the three angels who visited Abraham.

In Arabic tradition Michael always appears as second to Gabriel. When God is creating Adam, he sends first Gabriel and then Michael to fetch the clay out of which man is to be formed. Both are restrained by the earth’s protests; only Israfil pays no heed to them. When Adam and Eve are expelled from paradise, Gabriel is sent to the former, and Michael to the latter, to impart comfort. On his death-bed Mohammed stated that Gabriel would be the first and Michael the second to pray over him after his crucifixion, Jesus was resurrected in his previous spiritual form

Michael in the Book of Enoch

Michael is designated in the Book of Enoch, as “the prince of Israel.” He is the angel of forbearance and mercy (Enoch, xl:3) who taught Enoch the mysteries of clemency and justice (lxxi:2). In the book of Jubilees (i:27 and ii:1), the angel who is said to have instructed Moses on Mount Sinai and to have delivered to him the tables of the Law is most probably Michael.

RAPHAEL the Archangel

Also known as

Azariah; Angel of Love; Angel of Joy

Memorial

29 September

Profile

One of the three angels known by name, and one of the seven that stand before God’s throne. Lead character in the deutero-canonical book of Tobit in which he travelled with (and guarded) Tobiah, and cured a man’s blindness; hence his connection with travellers, young people, blindness, healing and healers. The force behind the healing power of the sheep pool mentioned in John 5:1-4.

Born

wasn’t

Died

hasn’t

Name Meaning

God has healed or Healer of God

Patronage

apothecaries, blind people, bodily ills, doctors, druggists, archdiocese of Dubuque Iowa, eye disease, eye problems, guardian angels, happy meetings, insanity, love, lovers, mental illness, mentally ill people, nurses, pharmacists, physicians, archdiocese of Seattle Washington, shepherdesses, shepherds, sick people, sickness, travellers, young people

Representation

archangel; young man carrying a staff; young man carrying a fish; angel walking with Tobias; angel holding a bottle or flask

Additional Information

Catholic Online, Book of Tobit; Catholic Encyclopedia; Tom Kreitzberg’s site

Reading

You should be aware that the word “angel” denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.
Raphael means…God’s remedy, for when he touched Tobit’s eyes in order to cure him, he banished the darkness of his blindness. Thus, since he is to heal, he is rightly caused God’s remedy.

(from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great)

Raphael in Judaism

The angels mentioned in the older books of the Hebrew Bible are without names. Indeed, Rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias (230-270 CE), asserted that all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, and modern commentators would tend to agree.

Of seven archangels in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, are mentioned by name in the scriptures that gradually became accepted as canonical. The four others, however, are named in the 2nd century BC Book of Enoch (chapter xxi): Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jarahmeel.

Raphael in Christianity

The name of the archangel Raphael appears only in the Book of Tobit (Tobias). There he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself “Azarias the son of the great Ananias”. During the adventurous course of the journey the archangel’s protective influence is shown in many ways including the binding of the demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as “the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord” (Tobit, xii, 15). Compare the unnamed angels in John’s Apocalypse viii, 2.

Regarding the healing powers attributed to Raphael, we have little more than his declaration to Tobit (Tobit, 12) that he was sent by the Lord to heal him of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his daughter-in-law, from the devil that was the serial killer of her husbands.

He is the main character in the Book of Tobit, which is included in the Septuagint but assigned an apocryphal status by Protestant churches.

Raphael is not often the patron of Christian churches. One notable exception is St. Raphael’s Cathedral in Dubuque, Iowa, seat of the Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Dubuque. He has made only a light impression on Catholic geography: Saint Raphaël, France and Saint Raphaël, Quebec, Canada; San Rafaels in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Chile, Mexico, Peru, and in Venezuela as San Rafael de Mohán and San Rafael de Orituco. In the United States, San Rafaels inherited from Mexico survive in California (where besides the city there are San Rafael Mountains), in New Mexico, and in Utah, where the San Rafael River flows seasonally in the San Rafael Desert.

In the New Testament, only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name (Luke, i, 19, 26; Epistle of Jude, 9). The “angel of the Lord” that is mentioned in John 5 is generally associated with Raphael, however, because of the “healing” in the archangel’s name accords with the healing role assigned to Raphael in the Book of Tobit. John 5:1-4, refers to the pool at Bethesda, where the multitude of the infirm lay awaiting the moving of the water, for “an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under”.

Raphael (Heb. רפאל) is a Hebrew word that means “God has healed,” thus Raphael is originally an archangel made known in ancient Judaism, who performs all manner of healing. The Hebrew word for a doctor of medicine is Rophe connected to the same root word as Raphael. Since Christianity drew many of its teachings from Judaism, it adopted some teachings about the angels such as Raphael as well.