The Patron Saint of many, including; Eyes, Joy, Travelers, Future Spouses, Purity and Happy Meetings.

One of the 7 Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord, and one of the only 3 mentioned by name in the Bible.

He appears, by name, only in the Book of Tobit. Raphael’s name means, “God Heals.” This identity came about because of the biblical story of him healing the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch.

In the endearing, uplifting and inspiring Book of Tobit, in a message for the whole world at all times, he appears disguised in human form as a traveling companion of the younger Tobias. Along the adventurous journey in which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways, including the binding of the demon who had previously slain the husbands of Sara. Raphael the guides Tobiah for his marriage with Sarah.

After healing the blindness of the elder Tobias, he makes himself known as “the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord”.

The Gospel of John speaks of the pool at Bethesda, where many ill people rested, awaiting the moving of the water. “An Angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under” John 5:1-4. Because of the healing powers often linked to Raphael, the Angel spoken of is generally associated with St. Raphael.

His feast day is September 29.

For God’s Glory.