Concept in Definition ABC

At the behest of the religionThe archangel represents a spirit that enjoys heavenly life with God, especially of the Christian one, which is where they are most often mentioned. They make up a category special within the call hierarchy angelic.

They belong to the third hierarchy and are assigned a relevant mission for humanity

The archangels make up the third hierarchy together with the principalities and the angels, one of their primary functions being the transmission of divine messages. In the specific case of the archangels they deal with all areas corresponding to human endeavors. Each archangel is normally assigned a task of relevance to humanity

We must emphasize that all angels are creatures of heaven that were created at the same time as the world. There are the so-called fallen angels who serve Satan, and the angels who are God's servants.

Seven archangels

The Catholic religion admits the existence of seven archangels (Gabriel, Miguel, Rafael, Uriel, Remiel, Sariel and Raguel), Although in the Bible, which is where the action of these spirits is related, only Gabriel, Rafael and Michael. The first has the relevance of being the direct messenger of God, Raphael was assigned the task of patron of the pilgrims and Miguel is considered as

Leader of the divine army and protector of the faithful.

The archangel Gabriel messenger of the annunciation

But without a doubt, the archangel Gabriel is the most famous of all and the most considered. On beginning because he was the closest to God and also because he was in charge of the annunciation, that moment so spiritual and magical for Christians in which the Archangel Gabriel announces to the Virgin Mary that he was going to be the mother of Jesus. This event is related in the New Testament, in the Gospel of Luke.

Religious iconography usually represents him with a majestic figure, with delicate clothes and his right hand always appears making gestures of greeting and blessing.

In the other monotheistic religions, such as Judaism and Islam, these appear figures but they have characteristics and evaluations different from the Christian one. Islam attributes to them the task of being the leaders of the angels and in the case of Gabriel he is considered the archangel who revealed the Koran to Muhammad.

Photos: iStock - gldburger / ace66

Themes in Archangel