Saturday, October 22, 2022

Holy Archangel Raphael Feast Day - 24 October

Quoted from straphaeloil.com [1]:

St. Raphael the Archangel whose name means “Medicine of God” or “God heals” in Hebrew; is one of the seven Archangels that stand before the throne of GOD.

“I am Raphael, one of the seven who stand before the Lord.” [Tob. 12: 15] When we pray for his help he intercedes directly to God the Father. He is one of the three angels mentioned by name in holy scripture. St. Raphael appears in the deutero-canonical Book of Tobit, a beautiful narrative in the Old Testament.

He heals Tobit of blindness, he protects and guides Tobias on his travels and he delivers Sarah from an evil demon. Tobit, Tobias and Sarah were beset by trials and difficulties to purify them, but they remained steadfast in their faith during the period of testing, and eventually enjoyed God’s blessings and mercy. All prayed for deliverance and God sent St. Raphael. The longest recorded speech of an angel is Chapter 12 of the Book of Tobit.  He is the healing and deliverance Archangel, patron of the sick and sickness, travelers, the blind, bodily ills, nurses, physicians, medical workers, happy meetings and marriages.

The feast day of Raphael was included for the first time in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, for celebration on October 24. With the 1969 revision of the General Roman Calendar, the feast was transferred to September 29 for celebration together with archangels Saints Michael and Gabriel.

[1] https://straphaeloil.com/st-raphael/, quoted without italics and bold print.

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