Feast of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

29 September
Feast of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

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The first degree of interior peace is to banish from us all the noise and commotion created by the passions, which disturb the profound tranquillity of the heart. The last and most excellent degree is to stand in no fear of this disturbance and to be perfectly insensible to its excitement. - Saint John Climacus

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Joyful Mysteries - youtube

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Gabriel the Archangel

Also known as

Fortitudo Dei; Gabr-el, Gabrielus, Gavri'el, Gavriel, Jibrail, Jibril

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Archangel and messenger of God. One of the three angels mentioned by name in the Catholic Bible.

• Appeared to the prophet Daniel to explain the prophet's visions relating to the Messiah. (Daniel 8:16-26; 9:21-27)
• Appeared to Zachary in the temple to announce the coming of Zachary's son, John the Baptist, and to strike Zachary mute for his disbelief. (Luke 1:11-20)
• Appeared to Mary to let her know she'd been selected to bear the Saviour. (Luke 1:26-38)

Born

wasn't

Died

hasn't

Name Meaning

• God is mighty
• God is my strength
• man of God
• my master is God
• strong man of God
• the strength of God

Patronage

• broadcasters
• clergy
• communications workers
• diplomats
• messengers
• philatelists; stamp collectors
• post offices, postal services and employees
• radio and radio workers
• telegraphs
• telephones
• television and television workers
• Portugal
• Seattle, Washington, archdiocese of
• Auchi, Nigeria, diocese of

Representation

• lily
• shield
• spear
• trumpet
• olive branch as he was the one who announced the Prince of Peace

Readings

You should be aware that the word "angel" denotes a function rather than 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. And so it was that not merely an angel but the archangel Gabriel was sent to the Virgin Mary. It was only fitting that the highest angel should come to announce the greatest of all messages.... So too Gabriel, who is called God's strength, was sent to Mary. He came to announce the One who appeared as a humble man to quell the cosmic powers. Thus God's strength announced the coming of the Lord of the heavenly powers, mighty in battle. - from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great

...and on the Ulai I heard a human voice that cried out, "Gabriel, explain the vision to this man." When he came near where I was standing, I fell prostrate in terror. But he said to me, "Understand, son of man, that the vision refers to the end time." As he spoke to me, I fell forward in a faint; he touched me and made me stand up.

"I will show you," he said, "what is to happen later in the period of wrath; for at the appointed time, there will be an end.

"The two-horned ram you saw represents the kings of the Medes and Persians. The he-goat is the king of the Greeks, and the great horn on its forehead is the first king. The four that rose in its place when it was broken are four kingdoms that will issue from his nation but without his strength.

"After their reign, when sinners have reached their measure, There shall arise a king, impudent and skilled in intrigue. He shall be strong and powerful, bring about fearful ruin, and succeed in his undertaking. He shall destroy powerful peoples; his cunning shall be against the holy ones, his treacherous conduct shall succeed. He shall be proud of heart and destroy many by stealth. But when he rises against the prince of princes, he shall be broken without a hand being raised. The vision of the evenings and the mornings is true, as spoken; Do you, however, keep this vision undisclosed, because the days are to be many." - Daniel 8:16-26

I was still occupied with this prayer, when Gabriel, the one whom I had seen before in vision, came to me in rapid flight at the time of the evening sacrifice. He instructed me in these words: "Daniel, I have now come to give you understanding. When you began your petition, an answer was given which I have come to announce, because you are beloved. Therefore, mark the answer and understand the vision. "Seventy weeks are decreed for your people and for your holy city: Then transgression will stop and sin will end, guilt will be expiated, Everlasting justice will be introduced, vision and prophecy ratified, and a most holy will be anointed. Know and understand this: From the utterance of the word that Jerusalem was to be rebuilt Until one who is anointed and a leader, there shall be seven weeks. During sixty-two weeks it shall be rebuilt, With streets and trenches, in time of affliction. After the sixty-two weeks, an anointed shall be cut down when he does not possess the city; And the people of a leader who will come shall destroy the sanctuary. Then the end shall come like a torrent; until the end, there shall be war, the desolation that is decreed. For one week he shall make a firm compact with the many; Half the week he shall abolish sacrifice and oblation; On the temple, wing shall be the horrible abomination until the ruin that is decreed is poured out upon the horror." - Daniel 9:21-27

...the angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing at the right of the altar of incense. Zechariah was troubled by what he saw, and fear came upon him. But the angel said to him, "Do not be afraid, Zechariah, because your prayer has been heard. Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you shall name him John. And you will have joy and gladness, and many will rejoice at his birth, for he will be great in the sight of (the) Lord. He will drink neither wine nor strong drink. He will be filled with the Holy Spirit even from his mother's womb, and he will turn many of the children of Israel to the Lord their God. He will go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah to turn the hearts of fathers toward children and the disobedient to the understanding of the righteous, to prepare a people fit for the Lord."

Then Zechariah said to the angel, "How shall I know this? For I am an old man, and my wife is advanced in years."

And the angel said to him in reply, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God. I was sent to speak to you and to announce to you this good news. But now you will be speechless and unable to talk until the day these things take place because you did not believe my words, which will be fulfilled at their proper time." - Luke 11-20

In the sixth month, the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee called Nazareth, to a virgin betrothed to a man named Joseph, of the house of David, and the virgin's name was Mary. And coming to her, he said, "Hail, favoured one! The Lord is with you." But she was greatly troubled at what was said and pondered what sort of greeting this might be. Then the angel said to her, "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favour with God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you shall name him Jesus. He will be great and will be called Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give him the throne of David his father, and he will rule over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom, there will be no end."

But Mary said to the angel, "How can this be since I have no relations with a man?"

And the angel said to her in reply, "The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore the child to be born will be called holy, the Son of God. And behold, Elizabeth, your relative, has also conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month for her who was called barren; for nothing will be impossible for God."

Mary said, "Behold, I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word." Then the angel departed from her. - Luke 1:26-38

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Michael the Archangel

Additional Memorial

8 May - Apparition of Saint Michael and Protector of Cornwall

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Archangel. Leader of the army of God during the Lucifer uprising. Devotion is common to Muslims, Christians and Jews, and there are writings about him in all three cultures. Considered the guardian angel of Israel, and the guardian and protector of the Church. In the Book of Daniel (12:1), Michael is described as rising up to defend the Church against the Anti-Christ.

The feast of the Apparition of Saint Michael commemorates the appearance of the archangel to a man named Gargan in 492 on Mount Gargano near Manfredonia in southern Italy. Gargan and others were pasturing cattle on the mountain; a bull wandered off and hid in a cave. An arrow was shot into the cave, but it came flying back out and wounded the archer. The cowherds went to their bishop who ordered three days of fasting and prayer to seek an explanation for the mystery. At the end of the three days, Michael appeared to the bishop and requested a church built in the honour of the Holy Angels in the cave. If you find medals or holy cards with 'relics' of Michael, they are probably rock chips from the cave or pieces of cloth that have touched it.

Born

wasn't

Died

hasn't

Name Meaning

Who is like God? (the battle cry of the army of heaven)

Patronage

• against storms and dangers at sea
• against temptations
• artists
• bakers
• bankers and banking
• battle
• coopers or barrel makers
• dying people
• EMTs and paramedics
• fencers and fencing
• grocers
• haberdashers
• hatmakers or hatters
• holy death
• knights
• milleners
• paratroopers
• police officers
• radiologists and radiotherapists
• sailors, mariners, watermen
• security guards
• sick people
• soldiers
• swordsmiths
• Belarus
• England
• Germany
• Papua, New Guinea
• Vatican City (given in 2013)
• Greek Air Force
• Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel
• Siegburg Abbey
• at least 14 dioceses and 42 cities around the world

Representation

• balance or scales (helping to judge at the Last Judgment)
• banner (as the leader of the army of God)
• dragon (representing the defeated devil)
• sword (as a soldier of God)

Readings

Whenever some act of wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his name may make it clear that no one can do what God does by his superior power. - from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory the Great

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Raphael the Archangel

Also known as

• Azariah
• Angel of Love
• Angel of Joy

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Archangel. One of the three angels mentioned by name in Scripture, and one of the seven that stand before God's throne. The 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. Traditionally considered 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
• Healer from God
• God's remedy
• It is God who heals
• God Heals
• God, Please Heal

Patronage

• against all sickness or bodily ills
• against eye disease or eye problems
• mentally ill people; against insanity or mental illness
• against nightmares
• apothecaries, druggists, pharmacists
• blind people
• doctors, physicians
• guardian angels
• for happy meetings
• love; lovers
• nurses
• shepherds; shepherdesses
• sick people
• travellers
• young people
• Auchi, Nigeria, diocese of
• Dubuque, Iowa, archdiocese of
• MacKenzie - Fort Smith, Northwest Territories, diocese of
• Madison, Wisconsin, diocese of
• Seattle, Washington, archdiocese of

Representation

• angel holding a bottle or flask
• angel walking with Tobias
• archangel
• young man carrying a fish
• young man carrying a traveller's staff

Readings

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