Jesus and the Seven Angels
Tradition indicates that Gabriel was also the angel who appeared to St. In addition, some sources say that right before the Blessed Virgin Mary was assumed body and soul into Heaven, Jesus sent Gabriel to His Mother to inform her what was to happen just as He sent Gabriel to her at the Annunciation St. Gabriel also appears in many apocryphal Jewish and Christian sources. Raphael in Sacred Scripture — Raphael played a pivotal role in the Book of Tobit a book removed from the Biblical canon in Protestantism as he helped Tobias the son of Tobit on his journey.
Traditionally, due to the meaning of his name, he is revered as the Archangel of Healing. Due to this, he might be alluded to in John 5: Now there is at Jerusalem a pond, called Probatica, which in Hebrew is named Bethsaida, having five porches. In these lay a great multitude of sick, of blind, of lame, of withered; waiting for the moving of the water.
And 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. Although Uriel cannot be found in Scripture, his name has frequently been a part of tradition and he has an important role in many apocryphal texts, such as the Book of Enoch, the Apocalypse of Peter, and 2 Baruch Although these texts are now considered apocryphal, various Jewish scholars and Christian theologians during the early centuries of the Church did believe that these texts had some credibility and Uriel was indeed venerated as an Archangel by the Church until the Council of Rome in At that Council, Uriel and the names of many other angels and Archangels were removed from the official list i.
The list of angels that are worth venerating became confined down to only the three aforementioned Archangels.
However, I have found that due to historical and cultural traditions, many Catholics still do pray to Uriel and you find his statues and prayer cards in various Catholic bookstores. These angels rarely appear in Christian literature in the West, but they do have an important role for Christians in the East, with variations to their names and how their names are spelled.
These three Archangels appear as the Seven Archangels along with Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel in chapter 20 of the Book of Enoch, which was a Jewish apocryphal work before the time of Christ that was considered inspired Scripture by some of the Early Church for a time. Traditionally he has been revered as the Archangel of Justice and Fairness. This Archangel can only be found in apocryphal sources. Traditionally he has been revered as the Archangel of Hope and Faith.
There is a theological and devotional tradition that the Seven Archangels are also patrons of the Seven Sacraments of the Church. This is not necessarily doctrine, but it is a tradition worth mentioning. According to one tradition: Sometimes Gabriel is associated with the Sacrament of Matrimony due to the tradition that he was the Guardian Angel of the Holy Family; however, sometimes Gabriel is also associated with the Sacrament of Confirmation since he was present at the Annunciation when the Holy Spirit descended upon the Blessed Virgin Mary, which caused the Incarnation of Christ to occur.
Sometimes Raphael is associated with the Sacrament of Matrimony due to his influence of the marriage in the story of Tobit; however, sometimes Raphael is also associated with the Sacrament of Reconciliation or with the Anointing of the Sick due to his name meaning healing power of God. This concept is not doctrine, but it is worth reflecting upon. The Sacraments do not come from the Archangels, for the Sacraments only come from Christ, but the Archangels can inspire us to reflect upon the Sacraments with greater reverence.
His name means "strong man of God" or "God is my strength. In some Kabbalah-based systems of ceremonial magic , all four of the main archangels Gabriel, Michael, Raphael and Uriel are invoked as guarding the four quarters, or directions, and their corresponding colors are associated with magical properties. We need to be very careful of this because there are superstitious Catholics who do fall into this trap that Protestants accuse us of. Michael also appears in many apocryphal Jewish and Christian sources. Whatever the explanation might be, it is quite clear that Michael has always been revered as being the greatest of all of the angels according to Christian and pre-Christian Jewish sources. When he came near to the den where Daniel was, he cried out in a tone of anguish and said to Daniel, "O Daniel, servant of the living God, has your God, whom you serve continually, been able to deliver you from the lions?
All of us have Guardian Angels. According to Paragraph of the Catechism of the Catholic Church:. From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession. Because you have made the Lord your refuge, the Most High your habitation, no evil shall befall you, no scourge come near your tent.
For he will give his angels charge of you to guard you in all your ways. On their hands they will bear you up, lest you dash your foot against a stone. At that time the disciples came to Jesus, saying, "Who is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven? Our Guardian Angels, along with the Archangels and the other Angels, also intercede for us in prayer Tobit Through intercession, even the Seven Archangels can come to our aid and we are encouraged to ask for their intercession and guidance. Prayer to the Angels and the Saints must never be confused with worshiping of them.
This is a mistake that Protestant Christians often make because prayer for them is only a form of worship in their minds. For Catholics and Orthodox Christians, prayer to the Angels and the Saints is only in asking for their intercession to God as we ask any other believer here to also pray for us , for their protection by means of the Grace of God working through them, and for guidance as we strive to emulate their examples. Those who accuse us of worshipping the Angels and the Saints do not understand this and accuse us of idolatry and being polytheistic the belief in many deities rather than monotheistic the belief in only one God.
We need to be very careful of this because there are superstitious Catholics who do fall into this trap that Protestants accuse us of. Nevertheless, we should develop personal devotions to the Angels and Saints, especially the Archangels. We should ask for their intercession and for their aid in times of trial and of jubilee.
We should also strive to emulate their example and service to God. Due to the length of explaining why the Angels are loyal to God and how we ought to emulate their example, this subject will be explored in another essay. Please take the time to check out the website where you can find links to my other essays and our work for the Catholic Church. Alex Brittain is a convert to Catholicism.
He was raised a Fundamentalist anti-Catholic Evangelical Protestant by his mother and grew up in various Evangelical Christian traditions during his time growing up in foster care. He loved the Bible, taught Sunday school, and was a preacher from a very young age. However, when Alex studied history in college, he was exposed to the real historic roots of the Faith that he loved. After more years of study and prayer, he was received into the Catholic Church during the Easter Vigil of Since being received into the Church, he has shared his conversion story numerous times and has given numerous lectures about the Faith.
He currently lives in Southern California with his wife Kayla and daughter Audrey. His conversion story "More Than A Conqueror: Michael also plays a role in human history in interactions with the Saints. By the sound of the third trumpet, a great star called Wormwood falls to the Earth poisoning a third of the planet's freshwater sources, such as rivers and springs.
Men will die from drinking its bitter taste. Following the sounding of the fourth trumpet, a third of the light that shines from the Sun, moon and stars became dark from these celestial bodies being "struck".
This catastrophe caused complete darkness for a third of a day, during the day, even through night hours. The fifth trumpet sound is the "first Woe" of three. Before this trumpet sounds, an angel translated eagle in some versions appears, flying in mid-heaven, and warns, "Woe, woe, woe, to those who dwell on the earth, because of the remaining blasts of the trumpet of the three angels who are about to sound!
The Value of Sparrows
The fifth trumpet prompts a personified star to fall from heaven. The star is given the key to the bottomless pit. After opening it, the smoke that rises out, darkens the air and blocks the sunlight. Then from out of the smoke, the Locusts were unleashed. They were scorpion tailed warhorses, having a man's face with lion's teeth.
Their hair was long like that of a woman's and flew with locust-like wings. They were crowned with golden crowns and protected with iron-like breastplates. They were commanded by their king, Abaddon , to torment any man who does not have the seal of God on their forehead, by using their scorpion-like tails. It was also made clear to them that they must not kill anyone during their five-month mission of torment. Robert Witham , a Catholic commentator, issued his two-volume Annotations on the New Testament , in Commenting on Chapter 9, he offers two preterist views for identifying the locusts with scorpion tails.
The seven messages given to John on the isle of Patmos were not messages to congregations. They were messages to the pastors, or angels of the seven. Perhaps you, like me, have wondered what Jesus meant when He spoke of “the angels of the seven churches.” Here's where He spoke those.
After the fifth trumpet blast, the sixth one sounds. They command a brute force of million mounted troops whose horses dissipate plague from out of their mouths, most notably: The mounted horsemen wore breastplates with the color of fire, hyacinth , and brimstone.
The horses had a lion's head and their tails were like a serpent, even with a snake head. They are responsible for the deaths of a third of mankind who are stricken by the plague that emanated from these armies. The sound of the seventh trumpet signals the "third woe". This is the final trumpet sound and the final woe. Loud voices in heaven which said; "The kingdom of the world has become the kingdom of our Lord and of his Messiah, and he will reign for ever and ever. Subsequently, "God's temple in heaven was opened, and within his temple was seen the ark of his covenant.
To the Pastor in Ephesus
And there came flashes of lightning, rumblings, peals of thunder, an earthquake and a severe hailstorm. In Christian Eschatology , the first six trumpets are used to serve as a wake up call to the sinners on Earth and a call to repentance.
Each trumpet blast brings with it a plague of a more disastrous nature than the one before it. The trumpet is used to build anticipation and tells the reader that an alert, announcement, or warning is about to take place.