On Tuesday September 29th, we celebrate the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the Archangels. To some extent or another we are all familiar with these three messengers of God.

St. Michael

We know St. Michael as the protector of the Church, and he has received special honor in the Church since the fourth century. The name Michael in Hebrew means “Who is like God” and we see him presented in Sacred Scripture in several places in both the Old and New Testaments. He is depicted in Scripture as the protector of God’s people and as such he is know for his battles, and victory, against Satan.

St. Gabriel

We all know St. Gabriel from the Gospel accounts of the birth of St. John the Baptist as well as Jesus. The name Gabriel means “God’s strength” and as such he has been appointed by God to be the teacher of the main events surrounding the Incarnation. We see him make appearances in both the Old and New Testaments, although he is most known as the angel sent by God to Zechariah and our Blessed Mother informing them of the upcoming births of St. John the Baptist and Christ Himself.

St. Raphael

St. Raphael is probably the least known of the Archangels, only making appearances in the Book of Tobit as a companion traveling with Tobias. The name Raphael means “God has healed” and he fulfills this role as being sent by God to heal Tobias of his blindness.

On this feast day we recognize these three Archangels for their service, love and obedience to God. All three were given a particular task to perform and they all did so without hesitation. On this day we look toward them as reminders of how we to are called by God to carry out His will and live lives in witness to God. May we, by their example and intercession, better position ourselves to fulfill and complete the tasks that God is asking of us.

– Fr. Eric