Raphael (archangel)

Saint Raphael the Archangel

Saint Raphael the Archangel by Bartolomé Esteban Murillo
Saint Archangel
Venerated in Christianity, Judaism, Islam
Feast September 29; October 24 (local calendars and among Traditional Roman Catholics)
Attributes Archangel holding a bottle or flask; Archangel walking with Tobias; Archangel; young man carrying a fish; young man carrying a staff
Patronage apothecaries; blind people; bodily ills; druggists; archdiocese of Dubuque, Iowa; eye problems; guardian angels; happy meetings; insanity; lovers; mental illness; nightmares, nurses; pharmacists; physicians; archdiocese of Seattle, Washington; shepherds; sick people; travelers; young people

Raphael (Standard Hebrew רָפָאֵל, Rāp̄āʾēl, "It is God who heals", "God Heals", "God, Please Heal", Arabic: رافائيل, Rāfāʾīl) is the name of an archangel of Judaism and Christianity who performs all manner of healing and another one of Islam.

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Raphael in Judaism

The angels mentioned in the Torah, the older books of the Hebrew Bible, are without names. Rabbi Shimon ben Lakish of Tiberias (A.D. 230–270), asserted that all the specific names for the angels were brought back by the Jews from Babylon, and modern commentators would tend to agree.

Raphael is named in several Jewish apocryphal books (see below).

Raphael in the Book of Enoch

Raphael bound Azazel under a desert called Dudael according to Enoch 10:5–7:

"And again the Lord said to Raphael: 'Bind Azazel hand and foot, and cast him into the darkness: and make an opening in the desert, which is in Dudael, and cast him therein. And place upon him rough and jagged rocks, and cover him with darkness, and let him abide there for ever, and cover his face that he may not see light. And on the day of the great judgment he shall be cast into the fire."

Of seven archangels in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only Michael, mentioned as archangel (Daniel 12:1)(Jude verse 9) and Gabriel are mentioned by name in the scriptures that came to be accepted as canonical by all Christians. Raphael is mentioned by name in the Book of Tobit, which is accepted as canonical by Catholics and Orthodox. Four others, however, are named in the 2nd century BC Book of Enoch (chapter xxi): Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jarahmeel.

The root of the name Raphael also appears in the modern Hebrew word Rophe meaning doctor of medicine, thus echoing the healing function traditionally attributed to this angel.

Raphael in Christianity

The name of the angel Raphael appears only in the Deuterocanonical Book of Tobit. The Book of Tobit is considered canonical by Roman Catholic and Orthodox Christians. Raphael first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". During the adventurous course of the journey the archangel's protective influence is shown in many ways including the binding of the demon in the desert of upper Egypt. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobit, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" Tobit 12:15. Compare the unnamed angels in John's Revelation 8:2. Christian churches following Catholic teachings (Roman, Oriental, Orthodox, Anglican, etc) venerate and patronize him as Saint Raphael the Archangel.

Regarding the healing powers attributed to Raphael,[1] we have little more than his declaration to Tobit (Tobit, 12) that he was sent by the Lord to heal him of his blindness and to deliver Sarah, his daughter-in-law, from the demon prince(Asmodeus) that was the serial killer of her husbands.[2] Among Catholics, he is considered the patron saint of medical workers and matchmakers, travellers and may be petitioned by them or those needing their services.[3]

Vectorial representation of Archangel Raphael atop a fish.

The feast day of Raphael was included for the first time in the General Roman Calendar in the year 1921, for celebration on October 24. With the reform of the Roman Catholic Calendar of Saints in 1969, this feast was transferred to September 29 for celebration together with Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel.[4] The Church of England has also adopted the September 29 date for celebrating "Michael and All Angels".[5] Some traditionalist Catholics continue to observe versions of the General Roman Calendar of the 1921-1969 period.

Raphael has made only a light impression on Catholic geography: Saint Raphaël, France and Saint Raphaël, Quebec, Canada; San Rafaels in Argentina, Bolivia, Colombia, Costa Rica, Chile, Mexico, Trinidad and Tobago, Peru, the Philippines and in Venezuela as San Rafael de Mohán and San Rafael de Orituco. In the United States, San Rafaels inherited from Mexico survive in California (where besides the city there are San Rafael Mountains), in New Mexico, and in Utah, where the San Rafael River flows seasonally in the San Rafael Desert. The Archangel lends his name to St. Raphael's Cathedral, the seat of the Diocese of Madison, Wisconsin, of which he is the patron saint.

In the New Testament, only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name Luke 1:9-26, Jude 1:9. John 5:1-4 refers to the pool at Bethesda, where the multitude of the infirm lay awaiting the moving of the water, for "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". Because of the healing role assigned to Raphael, this particular angel is generally associated with the archangel.

Raphael is sometimes shown (usually on medallions) as standing atop a large fish or holding a caught fish at the end of a line. This is a reference to Book of Tobit (Tobias), where he told Tobias to catch a fish, and then uses the gallbladder to heal Tobit's eyes, and to drive away Asmodeus by burning the heart and liver.[6]

Raphael in Islam

Seen in this 16th century Islamic miniature is Raphael, along with Michael, and Gabriel, accompanying Muhammad to Mecca. According to the Hadith, Raphael (Israfil in Arabic) is the Angel responsible for signaling the coming of Judgment Day by blowing the horn (namely Sûr) and sending out a "Blast of Truth". Raphael is mentioned in Qur'an in sura of En-Nebe as Israfel, the archangel who blows the horn of Sûr. The horn (sûr) will be blown two times. The first blow of the Sûr signals the beginning of the Judgment Day and with the second blow, all the souls are gathered somewhere between heaven and hell, and interrogated for their good deeds and sins.

According to Sufi narrations as reported by As-Suyuti and others, from the pious predecessors or early Muslim generations, the Ghawth or Qutb, who is regarded amongst the mankind as the highest person in the rank of siddiqun ( the saints ), is someone who has the heart that resembles that of Archangel Israfil, signifying the loftiness of this angel. The next that comes in rank are those of the saints who are known as the Umdah or Awtad , where amongst them the highest ones have their hearts resemble to that of Angel Mikael or Michael, and the rest of the lower ranking saints having the heart of Jibreel or Gabriel, and that of the previous prophets before the Prophet Muhammad. The earth is believed to always have on its surface one from the Qutb, 4 from the Awtad, 40 from the Abdal, and 300 from the Nukhaba, and because of whom Allah blesses the entire earth, and when one of them passes away from a higher rank, he/she is succeeded by a saint from a lower one, who is in turn elevated to his/her rank to fill his/her place. It is believed that the Day of Judgement does not take place until Allah casts death all together upon all of these saintly categories, and only in that state of their absence will the day of Judgement be commenced with Angel Israfil blowing his trumpet.

Raphael in Paradise Lost

Main article: Paradise Lost

The angel Raphael, as well as many other prominent angels appear in John Milton's Paradise Lost, in which he is assigned by God to re-warn Adam concerning the sin of eating of the Tree of the knowledge of good and evil. He also expounds to Adam the war in heaven in which the Archangel Lucifer fell and became Satan, and the creation of the Earth.

See also

References

  1. ↑ The Hebrew word for a doctor of medicine is Rophe connected to the same root as Raphael.
  2. ↑ 7Sara the daughter of Raguel was also reproached by her father's maids; Because that she had been married to seven husbands, whom Asmodeus the evil spirit had killed, before they had lain with her. (Book of Tobit, 3.7-8.
  3. ↑ "Dictionary of Patron Saints' Names", Thomas W. Sheehan, p514, Our Sunday Visitor Publishing, 2001, ISBN 0879735392
  4. ↑ "Calendarium Romanum" (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 143)
  5. ↑ Calendar of saints (Church of England)#September
  6. ↑ saintr02.htm Patron Saints Index

External links