Angela Carol - St. Raphael: Angel of Marriage, Healing, Happy Meetings, Joy and Travel

St. Raphael

Angel of Marriage, of Healing, of Happy Meetings, of Joy and of Travel

Angela Carol

Copyright 1955 by St. Francis Book Shop, Cincinnati.

Retypset and republished in 1999 by TAN Books.

Library of Congress Catalog Card No. 99-70785

Cover illustration: St. Raphael, by Brother Simeon, 1986. Copyright Monastery Icons 1986, Borrego Springs, California. Used by arrangement with Monastery Icons. Tel.: 800-729-4952.

TAN Books

Charlotte, North Carolina

www.TANBooks.com

2013

ST. RAPHAEL

And may a blessing come upon thy wife and upon your parents. And may you see your children and your childrens children, unto the third and fourth generation: and may your seed be blessed by the God of Israel, who reigneth for ever and ever.

Gabelus to Tobias

( Tobias 9:10-11)

Tobias draws the fish from the water under St. Raphaels direction .

Joy be to thee always.... Be of good courage, thy cure from God is at hand.

St. Raphael

( Tobias 5:11-13)

Contents

Introduction to St. Raphael

Of the seven angelic spirits who chant an unending hymn of praise before the throne of the Most High God, the canonical Scriptures mention three by name: these are the Archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.

The Archangel Michael, whose name means literally Who is like God?, is the leader of the heavenly hosts in the war against the spirits of darkness.

Gabriel, the man of God foretold to the prophet Daniel the coming of the Messias; he is the Angel of the Annunciation, who uttered the immortal Ave! to the Mother of Our Lord.

Raphael, whose name in Hebrew signifies God has healed, may be regarded as the most human of these angels because of the special nature of his mission. Raphael is the auxiliary of Providence, the instructor, healer and comforter of mankind. He is frequently spoken of as St. Raphael, and that too is correct, for the word Saint comes from the Latin sanctus which means holy. Angels, as well as human beings of extraordinary holiness, are called Saints. In the case of human beings, it is necessary that they can be canonized by the Church. This involves a process of investigation into the life, virtues and defects of a person who has given evidence of heroic sanctity. In regard to Angels, however, Holy Scripture itself tells us about their heavenly glory.

It is to the Archangel Raphael that this little booklet will introduce you, so that he might help and comfort you, even as he has aided countless thousands of others whose prayers he has presented to the Divine Omnipotence.

Angels: A Truth of Faith

Some people who otherwise have a great devotion to Saints may find it difficult to believe that Angels really do exist, because one does not ordinarily see, touch or hear an Angel, and of course, there are no relics that one can venerate, as in the case of human Saints. Perhaps it has become all too customary to think of Angels merely as ornaments of religious and sometimes profane art, or as poetic embellishments of sentimental songs. Perhaps we get into the habit of underestimating their powers, forgetting that there is a spiritual world, just as real as the material world that is so familiar to our senses.

Angels are spiritual beings endowed with intelligence, free will and great power. They were created by God to know, love and serve Him in Heaven.Angels are messengers sent by Godwho is Himself a spiritto the world inhabited by men. They also act as guardians of mankind.

The Scriptures tell us there are nine choirs of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominations (which, according to some theologians, are the assisting Angels at Gods throne), Principalities, Powers, Virtues, Archangels and Angels (described as administering Angels because they minister to material creation.

God may use Angels, like other creatures, in working miracles. Good Angels can inspire men to do the will of God and practice virtue. Bad angels (the devils), those who were cast from Heaven after their rebellion, can wage spiritual warfare upon mankind by means of temptations.

Angels sometimes assume bodies in order to carry out Gods commands. In this way they become perceptible to the human senses. It was thus in bodily form that the three Angels appeared to Abraham outside his tent, yet he intuitively knew they were messengers of the Lord. It was an Angel in mans form who struggled with Jacob and gave him the name Israel. And also in many other portions of the Scriptures we find Angels appearing in the guise of men. So, according to the Biblical account, did Raphael appear to Tobias and his son.

Devotion to St. Raphael

Although St. Raphael is not mentioned by name in the New Testament,many commentators, basing their conjectures on the healing significance of his name, identify him with the Angel of the Lord mentioned in John 5:4, who descended at certain times into the pool called Probatica (or in Hebrew, Bethsaida ) to stir the healing waters therein. In fact, bearing out that tradition, this is the Gospel read at the Mass for the Feast of St. Raphael, which the traditional calendar of the Church celebrates on October 24th.

Devotion to St. Raphael has been handed down through the ages, and churches and shrines have been erected in his honor throughout the world. Many religious communities have placed themselves under his protection.

Devotion to our Archangel was no doubt brought to America by Spanish Franciscan missionaries. In the 1800s a group of German Catholic immigrants to the United States appropriately chose him as their guide and protector, banding themselves together as the St. Raphael Society. But it was probably not until the 1920s that the devotion began to flourish and spread in this country, due to the zeal of Sister Mary Jerome, I.H.M.

One day, in her convent at Monroe, Michigan, Sister Mary Jerome happened to be looking for a Latin book when she came upon an essay on the Holy Angels by the French writer, Ernest Hello. She was impressed by his prayer to the Archangel Raphaela prayer which has since become popularly known as the Angel of Happy Meetings Prayer (see page 52)and it inspired her to spread the devotion to St. Raphael.

Before her death in 1952, Sister Mary Jerome had received thousands of proofs of the power of his intercession. Others among them Serena Ward, who for many years conducted the Whisperings column in a popular Catholic magazinehave carried on the work of making the Archangel Raphael better known and loved. That is also the aspiration of the present writer.

Tobias

Some seven hundred years before the birth of our Blessed Saviour, there lived a very virtuous man named Tobias. He was a true Israelite, of the tribe and city of Nephtali, which was in Galilee. He had an only son who was also called by the same name, Tobias. They lived during the time of the Jews captivity under the Assyrian King Salmanascar, in the city of Nineve. The full account of their meeting with the Archangel Raphael can be found in the Holy Bible (Book of Tobias or Tobit ), but, briefly, it is this:

One day Tobias, the elder, due to a strange accident, became totally blind. Because of this sudden affliction, his family became very poor, so that even his wife Anna ad to go out to work as a weaver. Nevertheless, Tobias (whose name means Yahweh is good) remained constant in his prayers, begging God very fervently to have mercy on him and his wife and son. Although many of his fellow Israelites laughed and mocked him for this, Tobias continued steadfast in his faith and hope.