Sts. Michael, Gabriel & Raphael

Three archangels are named in Scripture, each with a distinct mission. Michael — "who is like God?" — is the warrior who casts down Satan; he is patron of soldiers and the dying. Gabriel — "God is my strength" — is the messenger who announces the Incarnation to Mary. Raphael — "God heals" — accompanies Tobias and is patron of travelers and the sick. Their joint feast on September 29 honors the unseen ministry of God's heavenly court.

Devotion to the archangels spans Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, testifying to a shared intuition that God does not govern creation alone but through ministers of light. The Church celebrates them together to remind the faithful that divine power, divine word, and divine healing are not abstractions but living realities — active in the world, present at every threshold between heaven and earth.