Archangels

I have been fascinated with angels for a very long time. And I would like to dedicate this post to the Holy Archangels.

They say angels come in different forms and they can also be a friend, loved ones, strangers aside from the Heavenly beings created before time.

Angels were created as messengers of God. The Scriptures reveal that God created nine orders of angels:Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations, Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels, and Angels.

I would like to share to you about the seven Archangels, their roles and prayers. Knowing them made me even more closer to the Blessed Mother and Jesus.

The seven angels that stood before God in Revelations are considered to be the Archangels. The Archangels were the divine messengers between the humans and God. Of the nine choirs the Archangels are probably best known to us. They are the battlers of the Sons of Darkness. The Archangels' feastday is celebrated every September 29th of every year.

******************************

ST. MICHAEL ("Who is like God?")

St. Michael is one of the principal angels and is called the prince of the Heavenly Hosts. His name was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers. In the Bible, his name was mentioned four times.
On Daniel 10:13: Gabriel says to Daniel, when he asks God to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem: "The Angel of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me . . . and, behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me . . . and none is my helper in all these things, but Michael your prince." Again on Daniel 12, the Angel speaking of the end of the world and the Antichrist says: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people."

In the Epistle of St. Jude: "When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses", etc. St. Jude alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of a dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, an account of which is also found in the apocryphal book on the assumption of Moses (Origen, "De principiis", III, 2, 2). St. Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan, however, by disclosing it, tried to seduce the Jewish people to the sin of hero-worship.

And in Apocalypse 12:7, "And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon." St. John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time.

The Christian tradition gives to St. Michael four offices: (1) To fight against Satan, (2) To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death, (3)
To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages, and (4) To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment.

St. Michael is the patron of grocers, mariners, paratroopers, police, and sickness.


ST. GABRIEL (God is my strength; God is mighty; strong man of God)


St. Gabriel is also one of the three archangels mentioned by name in the Bible. On Daniel 8:16-26; 9:21, St. Gabriel appeared to prophet Daniel to explain the prophet’s visions relating to the messiah. On Luke 1:11-20, he also appeared to St. Zachary in the temple to announce the coming of St. John the Baptist, the latter’s son, and to strike St. Zachary mute for his disbelief.. Luke 1:25-38 mentions the appearance of the Archangel to the Blessed Virgin Mary to let her know that she had been favored by God the bear Christ Jesus.

St. Gabriel's representations are lily, shield, spear, and trumpet. He is the patron saint of broadcasting, communications, public relations, telecommunications, diplomats and ambassadors, messengers, secular clergy, postal employees

ST. RAPHAEL (God has healed)

The name of Archangel Raphael only appears in the Book of Tobias. Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". The story of the adventurous journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding "in the desert of upper Egypt" of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of Sarah, daughter of Raguel, is picturesquely related in Tobit 5-11, to which the reader is referred. 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 12:15).

St. Raphael is also identified as the angel who moved the waters of the healing sheep pool. He is also the patron of the blind, of happy meetings, of nurses, of physicians and of travelers.

ST. URIEL ("Fire of God," "Flame of God," "Light of GoD)

The Book of Enoch, mentions St. Uriel in many of the component books. In Chapter 19 which is part of "The Book of the Watchers" (2nd century BC) only four Angels are mentioned by name these are Michael, Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel. Enoch describes St. Uriel as "one of the holy angels, who is over the world...the leader of them all." In the same Book: "Uriel showed to me, whom the Lord of Glory hath set for over all the luminaries of the Heaven...the sun, moon, and stars, all the ministering creatures which make their revolution in all chariots of the Heaven."

St. Uriel is the patron of lawyers, seeking justice, prophecy.



ST. SEALTIEL (Worship and Contemplation)

St. Sealtiel stands before God with incense in hand in unceasing adoration of the Most Holy Trinity. His Angelic purity transforms love and worship which mortals give to God. He is the supposed Archangel who stopped Abraham from killing his son Isaac as a sacrifice.

ST. JHUDIEL (Bearer of God's Mercy)



St. Jhudiel is one of the Holy Archangels and is said to be the bearer of God's mercy and love. His image is shown to be holding a flaming heart pressed on his chest representing the love of God.

St. Jhudiel is invoked by confessors, social workers.












ST. BARACHIEL (Blessings from God)

St. Barachiel is also one of the seven Archangels. He is sometimes depicted in the Eastern Orthodox Church as holding a white rose against his chest, or with rose petals scattered on his clothing. His responsibilities are as varied as the blessings for which he is named, but he is also the chief of the guardian angels and may be prayed to for all the benefits which the guardian angel is thought to confer if one is not praying to the guardian angel directly. In Catholicism, St. Barachiel is also depicted holding a bread basket.

******************************

Everyday of the week a special dedication is given to each of the Holy Archangels.

SUNDAY - St. Michael
MONDAY - St. Gabriel
TUESDAY - St. Raphael
WEDNESDAY - St. Uriel
THURSDAY- St. Sealtiel
FRIDAY- St. Jhudiel
SATURDAY - St. Barachiel

DO YOU WANT TO KNOW WHO YOUR ARCHANGEL GUIDE IS? Click the link to find out!

******************************

PRAYER TO ST. MICHAEL

Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do Thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host -
by the Divine Power of God -
cast into hell, satan and all the evil spirits,
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

On Sunday April 24th 1994, Pope John Paul II recommended this prayer be used by all Catholics as a prayer for the Church when he said:

'"May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle we are told about in the Letter to the Ephesians: 'Draw strength from the Lord and from His mighty power' (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had a very vivid recollection of this scene when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world."'

(from http://www.ourladyswarriors.org/prayer/michael.htm)