Today is the feast of the Archangels, Michael, Gabriel and
Raphael. Michael ‑ the angel of judgment ‑ is known as the champion in the
fight against Satan and the other devils as well as the guardian of the
faithful especially at the time of death. Frequently he is portrayed crushing
the devil’s head with a lance.
Gabriel ‑ the angel of mercy ‑ is the messenger from God in
St Luke’s gospel who foretold the birth of John the Baptist, “Be not afraid,
Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife, Elizabeth, will bear
you a son, and you shall name him John.” Six months later it was Gabriel who
appeared to Mary at the Annunciation saying, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you
have found favor with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a
son, and you shall name him Jesus.” Raphael
‑ whose name means “God has
healed” was sent by God to heal Tobias of his blindness and to deliver Sara
from the devil in the book of Tobit.
We tend to underestimate the presence of Angels in our
lives. However they are gaining popularity as we see many angel pins on
people’s jackets, posters and paintings of various angels are showing up at
card stores. And of course at Christmas, there are the angels on ornaments and
hanging on nativity scenes. We sing about the angels in several of the
Christmas hymns. Angels were also present at Jesus’ tomb when the women went to
anoint his body and found the tomb empty. But we are reluctant to accept their
actual existence. This is certainly a departure from our childhood when we
prayed to our Guardian Angel at least daily. As children we believed that there
was truly one angel whose job was to look after us, who would always hover
around us ready to protect us from all evil and to communicate our desires and
needs to God. The feast of the Guardian Angels in fact is in 3 days, October 2.
There are other Archangels, less popular: Uriel, meaning the Fire of God;
Selaphiel, meaning the Intercessor of God; Jegudiel, meaning Sanctifier of God;
Barachiel, meaning the Blessing of God and Jeremiel, meaning the Exaltation of
God.
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