Archangel Gabriel

Information Pictures and Links regarding Archangel Gabriel

Archangel Gabriel has a remarkable position as one of the few cultural figures who plays an important role in more than one major religion. He is refered to in the Old Testament as appearing to Daniel. In Christian tradition he appears to the Virgin and to Zachariah. In Islamic tradition he is renowned for dictating the Holy Koran to the Prophet Mohammed.

The frequent references to Gabrial in literature and Art mean more than any other Gabriel defines most people's idea of what an angel is. In particular the potent image of Angel Gabriel announcing the impending birth of the Messiah to Mary has inspired generations of artists in the process creating one of the most iconic images of Western culture.

This blog collects together a collection of links and information about the references to Archagel Gabriel through the centuries.

Wednesday, August 03, 2005

I bring to mankind, from God, the Gift of Hope

Found at: http://www.angelicartistry.com/gabriel.htm

I bring to mankind, from God, the Gift of Hope.

It is never too late to ask for Our Lord’s forgiveness and mercy.

Do not despair. Keep hope alive in your heart. Know that you are loved.

And now I beseech you not to pray to me, for I am only a messenger of the Lord.

Pray only to God. Love God with all your heart and keep His commandments.

The Archangel Gabriel is called the Angel of the Annunciation because it was he who informed Mary that she had found favor with the Lord and that she would conceive in her womb the Son of God.

The lilies Gabriel carries symbolize the purity of Mary. The Archangel Gabriel also announced to Zacharias that he would have a son born to him who would be John the Baptist.

It was the Archangel Gabriel who inspired Joan of Arc to go to the aid of the King of France.

There is a tradition that Gabriel is the Angel of Birth. It is said that he carefully spends the nine months of the pregnancy watching over each unborn child and instructing that child on the necessary knowledge of Heaven that is an inherent part of all people. Just before birth, though, Gabriel touches each baby on the upper lip to make the child unable to remember all of the information about Heaven until the child returns to the spiritual state at death. The sign of Gabriel’s Touch is the cleft just below the nose.

The Archangel Gabriel

Gabriel is the Governor of Eden, the ruler of the Cherubim.

He is one of the two angels mentioned by name in the Old Testament, along with Michael.

Gabriel is the Angel of the Resurrection and the Angel of Mercy. He rules the first heaven, which is the heaven closest to humankind. Gabriel appeared to Daniel to explain his vision of the fight between the ram and the he-goat (the oracle of the Persians being overthrown by the Greeks). He appeared again to Daniel to tell him of the coming of a messiah. In Jewish legend, it was Gabriel who dealt death and destruction to the sinful cities of Sodom and Gommorah. According to the Talmud (Sanhedrin 95b) it was Gabriel who destroyed the armies of Sennacherib "with a sharpened scythe which had been ready since Creation."

In the Talmud it is also written that Gabriel prevented Queen Vashti from appearing naked before King Ahasuerus and his guests in order to bring about the election of Esther in her lace. Cabalists identify Gabriel as "the man clothed in linen". In Daniel 10-11, this man clothed in linen is helped by Michael. Gabriel is the preceptor angel of Joseph.

In more recent times, Gabriel is named as the angel who visited Father George Rapp, leader of the 2nd Advent community in New Harmony, Indiana, and left a footprint on a limestone slab preserved in the yard of the Maclure-Owen residence in that city. The poet Longfellow, in his ‘The Golden Legend’, makes Gabriel the angel of the moon who brings man the gift of hope.

Found at: http://www.angelicartistry.com/gabriel.htm