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 St. Raphael
Feastday: September 29
Patron of Travelers
Raphael,
"God has healed", is one of the seven chief angels. He is known as the Semitic God of Air and one of the four presences
set over all the diseases and all the wounds of the children of men.
Raphael is charged to heal the earth and has a
special charge of protecting the young, the innocent, and travelers. He is the regent of the sun, Patron of Travelers, Chief
of the order of virtues and overseer of the evening winds. He is the angel of prayer, love, joy, providence, healing, light,
science, and knowledge. He is associated with Spring and rebirth. Golden vial of balm, aids in healing and master of healing
the earth. Above all, he is the angel of healing.
This Angel first appears in Holy Scripture in the Book of Tobit.
He acts as a guide to young Tobiah on his journey to Rages, a city in the country of Medes, east of Nineveh, to collect a
debt owed to his father. The Angel binds the demon Asasel in the desert of Egypt, helps Tobiah to find a wife and recover
the debt, and heals Tobit from his blindness. He then reveals his identity: "I am the Angel Raphael, one of the seven who
stand before the throne of God."
St. Raphael is one of seven Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord. He
was sent by God to help Tobit, Tobiah and Sarah. At the time, Tobit was blind and Tobiah's betrothed, Sarah, had had seven
bridegrooms perish on the night of their weddings. Raphael accompanied Tobiah into Media disguised as a man named Azariah.
Raphael helped him through his difficulties and taught him how to safely enter marriage with Sarah. Tobiah said that Raphael
caused him to have his wife and that he gave joy to Sarah's parents for driving out the evil spirit in her. He also gave Raphael
credit for his father's seeing the light of heaven and for receiving all good things through his intercession.
Besides
Raphael, Michael and Gabriel are the only Archangels mentioned by name in the bible. Raphael's name means "God heals." This
identity came about because of the biblical story which claims that he "healed" the earth when it was defiled by the sins
of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch. Raphael is also identified as the angel who moved the waters of the
healing sheep pool. He is also the patron of the blind, of happy meetings, of nurses, of physicians and of travelers. His
feast day is celebrated on September 29th.
In the Book of Euocb, Raphael is the guide to Sheol, the Judaic underworld,
and it was he who was sent to bind the fallen 'watcher' Azazel, burying him under rocks in a desert place on earth. According to the Talmud, he is one of the three angels who visited
Abraham after his circumcision.
A legend taken from the book of Solomon says that when Solomon prayed to God for help
in the building of a temple, God answered with the gift of a magic ring brought to the Hebrew king personally by Raphael.
The ring, engraved with the pentalpha, (5-pointed star), had the power to subdue all demons. It was with the "slave labor"
of demons that Solomon was able to complete the building of the temple. It was also Raphael who gave Noah, after the flood,
a medical book said to have been the famous "The Book of the Angel Raziel".
Raphael rules over Mercury, Wednesday and
Saturday. He is the governor of the South and the element of Fire. He is often shown carrying a pilgrim's staff.
Raphael's
candle colors are yellow, white and gray.
Raphael's color energies are yellow, white, gray, black, crystal, and indigo.
The
Feast of St. Raphael is October 24.
Invoke Raphael for healing of your body and soul.
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