Angels of god - Angels Prayer

The Catholic Church recognises the existence of only three Archangels, or the three mentioned in the Scriptures: Michael (“Who is like God?”), Gabriel (“God’s Power”) and Raphael (“God’s Doctor”).

This clarification is needed, because one could object that in the texts of the past, other archangels have been mentioned, the same as the number of sects in the Book of Enoch: Uriel, Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Sariel, Phanuel and Gabriel. The system of seven archangels is in fact an ancient tradition of Judaic origin.

The Catholic Church, however, considered it necessary to stop such arbitrary and fanciful interpretations of texts that did not belong to the canonical Holy Scriptures. In fact, we remind you that all individual traditions must be examined and verified in accordance with what is stated in the Holy Canonical Scripture, which is the only true revelation.

Therefore, with regard to the Archangels, it was established in the Middle Ages that the worship and veneration of any of the other archangels mentioned by the Bible apart from Michele, Gabriele and Raphael was forbidden. Even in the past, in the early Church, great efforts were made to prevent the cult of angels, which was influenced by heterodox practices and the pagan traditions of divine messengers, from leading to a form of idolatry.

We need to make a certain distinction before we dive into this section.

Those from a Catholic background may consider books listing these angels as canon.

- Raphael: A passage in Tobit 12:15-22 indicates seven archangels exist, including Raphael, who appears to Tobit and Tobias and encourages them to sing praises to God.

- Gabriel: As mentioned above, Scripture does not give him the label of archangel, but we can mention he makes an appearance to Daniel and to Mary the Mother of Jesus, each time proclaiming news that will affect the future of the Israelite nation.

- Jophiel: From Jewish and Kabalistic lore, she is linked often with beauty and positivity. No Scripture or extracanonical text seems to mention her by name.

- Ariel/Uriel: Although some people have attributed Uriel to several events that happen in the Bible (the angel who guarded the Garden of Eden, the angel who slew the Assyrian army, etc.), an extra-canonical book known as 2 Esdras mentions him (2 Esdras 4:1-8). Uriel presents three impossible riddles to show us how humans cannot fathom the ways of God.

- Azrael: Many have labeled Azrael as the Angel of Death in the tenth plague in Egypt, although Scripture never mentions an explicit name of that angel.

- Chamuel: Again, never mentioned by name in any text, Chamuel is associated with bringing peace.

We are so blessed to be able to speak to God in prayer. God has promised us that he will speak to us in various ways. Some might be through the Holy Ghost, through revelation and others believe that he speaks to us through various types of angels.