Seven Archangels

 

The concept of Seven Archangels is found in some works of early Jewish literature and in Christianity. In those texts, they are referenced as the angels who serve God directly.

The Catholic Church venerates seven archangels: in Latin Christianity, three are invoked by name (Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael) while the Eastern Catholic Churches name seven. Lutheranism and Anglicanism's traditions generally recognize four known archangels: Michael, Gabriel, Raphael and sometimes Uriel. Non denominational Protestant churches often venerate only Gabriel and Michael.

In parts of Oriental Orthodox Christianity and Eastern Orthodox Christianity, Eight Archangels may be honoured, including Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, as well as Salathiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel, and Jeremiel (in the Coptic tradition, the latter four are named as Surael, Sakakael, Sarathael, and Ananael). The Eight Archangels are commemorated on the Feast of the Archangels.

Saint Michael the Archangel, Archangel Michael and Saint Michael the Taxiarch is an archangel in Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and the Baháʼí Faith. The earliest surviving mentions of his name are in third- and second-century-BC Jewish works, often but not always apocalyptic, where he is the chief of the angels and archangels, and he is the guardian prince of Israel and is responsible for the care of Israel. Christianity conserved nearly all the Jewish traditions concerning him, and he is mentioned explicitly in Revelation 12:7–12, where he does battle with Satan, and in the Epistle of Jude, where the author denounces heretics by contrasting them with Michael.

  

In the Abrahamic religions (Judaism, Christianity, Islam and the Baháʼí Faith), Gabriel is an archangel with the power to communicate God's will to humanity. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament, the Quran and the Kitáb-i-Aqdas. Many Christian traditions – including Eastern Orthodoxy, Catholicism, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism – revere Gabriel as a saint.

 

Raphael ("God has healed") is an archangel first mentioned in the Book of Tobit and in 1 Enoch, both estimated to date from between the 3rd and 2nd century BCE. In later Jewish tradition, he became identified as one of the three heavenly visitors entertained by Abraham at the Oak of Mamre. He is not named in either the New Testament or the Quran, but later Christian tradition identified him with healing and as the angel who stirred waters in the Pool of Bethesda in John 5:2–4, and in Islam, where his name is Israfil, he is understood to be the unnamed angel of Quran 6:73, standing eternally with a trumpet to his lips, ready to announce the Day of Judgment. In Gnostic tradition, Raphael is represented on the Ophite Diagram.

  

Uriel, Auriel ("El/God is my flame" or Oriel is the name of one of the archangels who is mentioned in the post-exilic rabbinic tradition and in certain Christian traditions. He is well known in the Russian Orthodox tradition and in folk Catholicism (in both of which he is considered to be one of the seven major archangels) and recognised in the Anglican Church as the fourth archangel. He is also well known in European esoteric medieval literature. Uriel is also known as a master of knowledge and archangel of wisdom.

Saint Selaphiel the Archangel or Saint Sealtiel, Selatiel, or Selathiel ( "I have asked God") is one of the archangels in Eastern Orthodox traditions. Selaphiel appears in verse 31:6 of the 6th century apocryphal Christian text The Conflict of Adam and Eve, which describes how God sends him and Suriyel to help rescue Adam and Eve from Satan’s deception, commanding Selaphiel “to bring them down from the top of the high mountain and to take them to the Cave of Treasures.” Some Christian traditions consider Selaphiel as the angel in Revelation 8:3–4 in the New Testament, who presents the prayers of people on Earth to God in heaven: "Another angel, who had a golden censer, came and stood at the altar. He was given much incense to offer, with the prayers of all God’s people, on the golden altar in front of the throne. The smoke of the incense, together with the prayers of God’s people, went up before God from the angel’s hand."

Jegudiel ("God is One"), also known as Saint Iehudiel, is one of the seven Archangels is the patron of all who work in some field of endeavor, and the crown he holds symbolizes the reward for successful spiritual labors.

Along with his subordinate angels, he is the advisor and defender of all who work in positions of responsibility to the glory of God, and as such is resorted to by kings, judges, and others in positions of leadership. Jegudiel is also known as the bearer of God's merciful love and also an angel over Friday. Considered one of the seven archangels in a variant Catholic system, which pairs each archangel with a specific day of the week and attribute. With regard to the history of the archangel's name, it is thought to have first been mentioned in the non canonical Book of Enoch between 130 BC and 68 AD.

Barachiel ("God has blessed"), also known as Barakel, is one of the Archangels in Judaism, as well as Byzantine Catholic and Eastern Orthodox tradition. He is the Archangel of Blessings.

In the Third Book of Enoch, he is described as one of the angelic princes, with a myriad of some 496,000 ministering angels attending him. He is described in the Almadel of Solomon as one of the chief angels of the first and fourth chora. In Jewish tradition, he is often associated with blessings, the planet Jupiter, and the Sephirah of Chesed.

The Hebrew name Jerahmeel ("God shall have mercy"), had a very dour yet comforting duty in the pre-Christian eras. He is mentioned in Chapter 20 of the Book of Enoch written around [300 B.C.] as Remiel; one of the seven holy angels whom God set over those who rise. In the Apocalypse of Zephaniah, an apocryphal book which has come down to us in Coptic, the angel referred to as Eremiel tells Zephaniah

I am the great angel, Eremiel, who is over the abyss and Hades, the one in which all of the souls are imprisoned from the end of the Flood, which came upon the earth, until this day

 Sariel ("God is my Ruler") is an angel mainly from Judaic tradition. Other possible versions of his name are Suriel, Suriyel (in some Dead Sea Scrolls translations), Seriel, Sauriel, Saraqael, Sarakiel, Suruel, Surufel, and Souriel.

In 1 Enoch (20:6), he is said to be "one of the [seven] holy angels [who watch], who is set over the spirits, who sin in the spirit". Origen identified Suriel as one of seven angels who are considered primordial powers by the Ophites. In Gnosticism, Sariel is invoked for his protective powers. He is commemorated in the calendar of the Coptic Orthodox Church on 27 Tobi in the Coptic calendar.

He is not to be confused with the fallen watcher Sahariel (Hebrew & Aramaic: שַׂהֲרִיאֵל Śahărīʾēl; "God is my moon") who bears a similar name. In 1 Enoch (8:1) he is said to have taught humans the course of the moon.

Sachiel is an archangel of the order of cherubim. The name 'Sachiel' originally occurs in the late 1500s grimoire called The Heptameron.

Sachiel is associated with the weekday Thursday, wealth, and charity. While in most sources Sachiel presides over Thursday, others do assign him to Monday or Friday. All associate him with the planet Jupiter; as such, in New Age angel lore he can be invoked for matters involving money, finance, law, politics, and religion.

Sarathiel or Serathiel is often included in lists as being one of the Seven Archangels. The angel is described as having dominion over discipline and penance.

Ananiel, 14th Watcher of the 20 leaders of the 200 fallen angels who are mentioned in an ancient work titled the Book of Enoch. The name Ananiel is sometimes translated as "Rain of God" even though the name is often confused with the name Hananiel.  "cloud of God".

Ananiel was entrusted by God "all the trees of the earth, its plants, the rain, the dew, the heat, the simoom, the wind and as many [atmospheric phenomena] as there are in summer and winter."

Ananiel is also known as an angelic guard of the gates of the South Wind. The Book of Enoch describes three gates for each direction. The first gate inclines to the south-east and brings a hot wind. The second is due south and brings pleasant fragrances, dew, rain, prosperity and life. The third is south-west and brings dew, rain, locusts and devastation. Ananiel is one of the guardians of these gates and can be interpreted as an Archangel to petition for these.

Conversely, according to the tradition of the Coptic Orthodox Church, Ananiel is the name of one of the seven holy archangels.