Gabriel the Archangel

Gabriel the Archangel

Also known as

Fortitudo Dei
Gabr-el
Gabrielus
Gavri’el
Gavriel
Jibrail
Jibril

Memorial
29 September
formerly 24 March

Profile
Today is the feast of the Archangels; all the Archangels listed and not listed in the biblical canon. There are seven Archangels who stand before the throne of God. Only three are listed in the Bible; Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The church moved the feasts of the three named Archangels from their respective days to today which was originally the feast of Michael only.

The remaining 4 are sometimes listed as Uriel, Chamuel, Jophiel and Zadkiel, all from the apocryphal book of Enoch. Legend says that Uriel was the angel of death who did a job on the Egyptian firstborn at Passover, Chamuel was the angel who comforted Jesus in Gethsemane, Jophiel was the angel sent with the flaming sword to guard the Garden of Eden, and Zadkiel was the angel sent to stop Abraham from sacrificing Isaac. Some other names pop into the list like Raguel, Azrael et al. replacing one of the seven noted above.

The angels are known by various names throughout the churches that recognize them. The names of these angels are probably derived from the Exile when the Hebrews adopted Babylonian names of gods (and demons) for their Yahwistic messengers (and the satanic court)…

Unfortunately for us, angels in general, and the Archangels in particular have a lot of garbage thrown around lately on the internet and elsewhere by spiritualist weirdoes who find them interesting and popular among their circle of nutcases. There is little accuracy in their rantings….. At the best they’re fluffy/silly at the worst they’re borderline new-age/ wiccan.

Gabriel is usually the one who delivers messages directly from God to us heralding lots of important happenings:

· 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 Savior. (Luke 1:26-38)

· The “Herald Angel” who announced the birth of Jesus to the Shepherds is not named “Gloria” as the nativity figure would suggest but is traditionally identified as Gabriel.

In Islam, Gabriel is the messenger of Allah. They say he dictated the Koran directly to the herder later known as the Prophet Mohammed. He is revered by Muslims as the created Holy Spirit, which is not to be confused with OUR Holy Spirit…God Himself.

The Archangel Gabriel also finds mention in the writings of the non Abrahamic Bahá'í Faith, most notably in Bahá'u'lláh's metaphysical work The Seven Valleys and the Four Valleys.

St. Gabriel is honored with an “Hour Father” in the Chaplet of St. Michael.

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
Argentinian ambassadors
broadcasters
clergy
communications workers
diplomats
messengers
philatelists
Portugal
post offices
postal services
postal workers
radio
radio workers
secular clergy
stamp collectors
telecommunications workers
telegraphs
telephones
television
television workers

Representation
lily
shield
spear
trumpet