Today is the feast day, a major feast day, honouring the three archangels, whose names we know from Sacred Scripture. Angels, we know from Church tradition, are everywhere, our friends and guardians, and in a few days we will mark the feast of the Guardian Angels. But the three archangels we know of (and Raphael said that he is one of seven) are sent on particular errands: Michael to counter the attacks on the Church, Gabriel to accompany the mission of Christ from his Annunciation to Mary, and Raphael to counsel and heal such people as the good Tobias and his family. Here, from the book of Tobias, is Raphael's final declaration to the family before his departure. It is one of my favourite stories:
"And now Tobias took his son aside and asked him, 'What payment shall we make to this heaven-sent companion of thine?' 'Payment?' answered he; 'why, what reward can ever suffice for all the services he did me? He it was that escorted me safely, going and coming; recovered the debt from Gabelus; won me my bride; rid her of the fiend’s attack; engaged the gratitude of her parents; rescued me from the fish’s onslaught; and to thee restored the light of day. Through him, we have been loaded with benefits; is it possible to make any return for all these? Do this, father, at least; ask him to accept half of all the wealth that has come to us.' So both of them, father and son, beckoned him aside, and would have prevailed on him to accept half of their new-found wealth. But he, with a finger on his lip, bade them give their thanks to the God of heaven. 'To Him,' he said, 'offer your praises for all men to hear; He it is that has shewn mercy to you. Kings have their counsel that must be kept secret; God’s ways are open, and He honours them best who proclaims them openly. Prayer, fasting, and alms,' said he, 'here is better treasure to lay up than any store of gold. Almsgiving is death’s avoiding, is guilt’s atoning, is the winning of mercy and of life eternal; the sinners, the wrong-doers, are enemies to their own souls. Come, let me tell you the whole truth of the matter, bring the hidden purpose of it to light. When thou, Tobias, wert praying, and with tears, when thou wert burying the dead, leaving thy dinner untasted, so as to hide them all day in thy house, and at night give them funeral, I, all the while, was offering that prayer of thine to the Lord. Then, because thou hadst won His favour, needs must that trials should come, and test thy worth. And now, for thy healing, for the deliverance of thy son’s wife Sara from the fiend’s attack, He has chosen me for His messenger. Who am I? I am the angel Raphael, and my place is among those seven who stand in the presence of the Lord.' Upon hearing this, they were both mazed with terror, and fell down trembling, face to earth. 'Peace be with you,' the angel said; 'do not be afraid. It was God’s will, not mine, brought me to your side; to Him pay the thanks and praise you owe. I was at your side, eating and drinking, but only in outward show; the food, the drink I live by, man’s eyes cannot see. And now the time has come when I must go back to Him who sent me; give thanks to God, and tell the story of His great deeds.' With that, he was caught away from their eyes, and no more might they see of him." - Tobias, chapter 12
If you look across to the sidebar of this blog, on the right, you will discover that Saint Michael has been there for some time. He is a powerful name in the tradition of the Roman church, and a great intercessor, alongside the Blessed Virgin, Saint John the Baptist and the Apostles Saints Peter and Paul. His name is therefore frequent in our prayers. You can read about some of the many interventions he has made and the devotions that have resulted. Most recently, the Holy Father Leo XIII is said to have had a frightful vision about some calamity that would soon afflict the Church, and composed the famous Saint Michael prayer that many of us know by heart. In the picture at the end of this post, Michael is standing on a seven-headed creature (seven crowned heads), poking at it with his great cross-staff. That is a likely reference to the vision of St. John, recorded in the book of Apocalypse, in which just such a beast proceeds to afflict the Church:
"And out of the sea, in my vision, a beast came up to land, with ten horns and seven heads, and on each of its ten horns a royal diadem; and the names it bore on its heads were names of blasphemy. This beast which I saw was like a leopard, but it had bear’s feet and a lion’s mouth. To it the dragon gave the strength that was his, and great dominion. One of its heads, it seemed, had been mortally wounded, but this deadly wound had been healed. And now the whole world went after the beast in admiration, falling down and praising the dragon for giving the beast all this dominion; praising the beast too. Who is a match for the beast? they asked; Who is fit to make war upon him? And he was given power of speech, to boast and to blaspheme with, and freedom to work his will for a space of forty-two months. So he began to utter blasphemy against God, blasphemy against his name, against his dwelling-place and all those who dwell in heaven. He was allowed, too, to levy war on the saints, and to triumph over them." - Apocalypse, 13: 1-7
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