Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

The Bible names three angels. Michael appears in the Book of Daniel as a great prince who stands guard over his people, in the Letter of Jude as an archangel, and in Revelation as leading the angels against the dragon. Gabriel brings understanding to Daniel and, in the Gospel of Luke, announces the births of John the Baptist and of Jesus. Raphael is known from the Book of Tobit, which the Catholic and Orthodox Churches read as Scripture: he travels with the young Tobias in disguise and reveals his name only at the end. Since 1969 the Roman calendar keeps all three together on 29 September, the ancient date of the dedication of a church of St Michael on the Via Salaria near Rome.