അനുദിന വിശുദ്ധർ (Saint of the Day) September 29th – The Archangels Sts. Gabriel, Michael & Raphael

അനുദിന വിശുദ്ധർ (Saint of the Day) September 29th – The Archangels Sts. Gabriel, Michael & Raphael

St. Gabriel:
St. Gabriel is an angel who serves as a messenger for God to certain people and one of the three archangels. First, in the Old Testament, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions. Gabriel is described as, “one who looked like man,” as he interprets Daniel’s visions. He speaks to Daniel while he is sleeping. After Gabriel’s first visit, Daniel becomes tired and sick for days. Gabriel later visits Daniel again providing him with more insight and understanding in an answered prayer. In the New Testament, Gabriel, described as “an angel of the Lord,” first appears to Zacharias, the father of John the Baptist, Luke 1:13. After Elizabeth conceived and was six months pregnant, Gabriel appears again. He was sent from God to Nazareth to visit the virgin married to a man named Joseph. Gabriel said to Mary, “Hail, thou that art highly favoured, the Lord is with thee: blessed art thou among women.” Luke 1:28. “Fear not, Mary: for thou hast found favour with God. And, behold, thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and bring forth a son, and shalt call his name JESUS. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Highest: and the Lord God shall give unto him the throne of his father David. And he shall reign over the house of Jacob for ever; and of his kingdom there shall be no end.” Luke 1:30-33. Gabriel told Mary she would conceive from The Holy Ghost and the baby will be the Son of God. After the Annunciation of Mary, Gabriel is not spoken of again. Gabriel is recognized as the patron saint of messengers, telecommunication workers, and postal workers. His feast day is celebrated on September 29.

St. Michael:
Saint Michael the Archangel isn’t a saint, but rather he is an angel, and the leader of all angels and of the army of God. This is what the title “Archangel” means, that he is above all the others in rank. St. Michael has four main responsibilities or offices, as we know from scripture and Christian tradition. The first is to combat Satan. The second is to escort the faithful to heaven at their hour of death. The third is to be a champion of all Christians, and the Church itself. And the fourth is to call men from life on Earth to their heavenly judgment. Very little is known about St Michael other than what we know from scriptures, which themselves are sparse. In Daniel, St. Michael is mentioned twice. The first time as one who helped Daniel, and the second time he is mentioned with regard to the end times of the world when he will stand for the “children of thy people.” His next mention comes in the Epistle of St. Jude, where St. Michael is said to guard the tombs of Moses and Eve and has contended with Satan over the body of Moses. The final mention is in Revelation, where St. Michael and his angels, do battle with the dragon.

St. Raphael:
St. Raphael is one of the seven Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord, and one of the only three mentioned by name in the Bible. He appears, by name, only in the Book of Tobit. Raphael’s name means “God heals.” This identity came about because of the biblical story that claims he “healed” the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Disguised as a human in the Book of Tobit, Raphael refers to himself as “Azarias the son of the great Ananias” and travels alongside Tobit’s son, Tobiah. Once Raphael returns from his journey with Tobiah, he declares to Tobit that he was sent by the Lord to heal his blindness and deliver Sarah, Tobiah’s future wife, from the demon Asmodeus. It is then that his true healing powers are revealed and he makes himself known as “the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord” Tobit 12:15. The demon Asmodeus killed every man Sarah married on the night of the wedding, before the marriage could be consummated. Raphael guided Tobiah and taught him how to safely enter the marriage with Sarah. Raphael is credited with driving the evil spirit from Sarah and restoring Tobit’s vision, allowing him to see the light of Heaven and for receiving all good things through his intercession. Although only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name in the New Testament, the Gospel of John speaks of the pool at Bethesda, where many ill people rested, awaiting the moving of the water. “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” John 5:1-4. Because of the healing powers often linked to Raphael, the angel spoken of is generally associated with St. Raphael, the Archangel. St. Raphael is the patron saint of travelers, the blind, bodily ills, happy meetings, nurses, physicians and medical workers.