Raphael, Angel of happy meetings, lead us by the hand to those we are looking for - to those who are looking for us.
May all our movements be guided by your light and transfigured by your joy.
Angel, guide of Tobias, lay our petition for Michael’s safety and homecoming at the feet of Him whose unveiled
face you are privileged to gaze upon. Lonely and tired, crushed by the separations and sorrows of earth, we feel the
need to call to you and plead for the protection of your wings. Remember the weak, you who are strong, you whose home lies
beyond the thunder in the eternal peace, serenity and brightness of the resplendent glory of God.
Amen
Who is the Archangel Raphael?
Raphael, "God has healed", is one of the seven chief angels. Raphael is charged to heal the earth and has a special
charge of protecting the young, the innocent, and travelers. He is the angel of prayer, love, joy, providence, healing, light,
science, and knowledge. He is also the patron of the blind, of happy meetings, of nurses and physicians; His feast day is
celebrated on September 29th. or October 24th.
Raphael does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the Septuagint - only in the Book of Tobias. Here he first appears
disguised in human form as the traveling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias".
This is a story of an adventurous journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways (see Tobit
5-11). Later Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tobit 12:15.
Cf. Revelation 8:2). Of these seven "archangels" who appear in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, Gabriel,
Michael and Raphael, are mentioned in the canonical Scriptures.
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