Anjos de Deus

Archangels of God among us

The Catholic Church recognizes the existence of only three Archangels, or the three mentioned in Scripture: Michael ("Who is like God?"), Gabriel ("Power of God") and Raphael ("Doctor of God").

This clarification is necessary, for it might be objected that in the texts of the past other archangels were mentioned, equal to the number of sects in the Book of Enoch: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Phanuel and Gabriel. The seven archangel system is in fact an ancient tradition of Jewish origin.

The Catholic Church, however, found it necessary to prevent such arbitrary and fanciful interpretations of texts that did not belong to the canonical Holy Scriptures. Indeed, we remember that all individual traditions must be examined and verified according to what is stated in the Holy Canonical Scripture, which is the only true revelation.

Therefore, as far as the Archangels are concerned, it was established in the Middle Ages that the worship and veneration of any of the other archangels mentioned in the Bible besides Michele, Gabriele and Raphael was prohibited. Even in the past, in the early Church, great efforts were made to prevent the worship of angels, which was influenced by unorthodox practices and the pagan traditions of divine messengers, from leading to a form of idolatry.

We need to make a certain distinction before we dive into this section.

Those of Catholic background might consider books listing these angels as canons.

- Raphael: a passage in Tobias 12:15-22 indicates that seven archangels exist, including Raphael, who appears to Tobias and Tobias and encourages them to sing praises to God.

- Gabriel: As mentioned above, Scripture does not give him the label of archangel, but we can mention that he makes an appearance to Daniel and Mary, the Mother of Jesus, each time announcing news that will affect the future of the Israeli nation.

- Jophiel: Of Jewish and Kabbalistic tradition, it is often associated with beauty and positivity. No Scripture or extracanonical text seems to mention her by name.

- Ariel / Uriel: Although some people have attributed Uriel to various events that take place in the Bible (the angel who guarded the Garden of Eden, the angel who killed the Assyrian army, etc.), an extra-canonical book known as 2 Esdras mentions -o (2 Esdras 4: 1-8). Uriel presents three impossible riddles to show us how humans fail to understand God's ways.

- Azrael: Many have labeled Azrael the Angel of Death in the tenth plague in Egypt, although the Scriptures never mention an explicit name for that angel.

- Chamuel: Again, never mentioned by name in any text, Chamuel is associated with bringing peace.

We are so blessed to be able to speak to God in prayer. God has promised us that He will speak to us in a variety of ways. Some may be through the Holy Ghost, through revelation, and others believe that he speaks to us through various types of angels.