Gabriel
In Judaism, Christianity, Islam, and other Abrahamic religions, Gabriel is an angel with the power to announce God's will to humankind as the messenger of God. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible, the New Testament and the Quran. In the Book of Daniel, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions. Gabriel also appears in the Jewish apocryphal First Book of Enoch (e.g., 1 Enoch 20:7–8) and other ancient Hebrew writings incompletely preserved or wholly lost in Hebrew. Alongside the archangel Michael, Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of the Israelites, defending them against the angels of the other peoples.
In the New Testament Gospel of Luke, Gabriel appears to Zechariah foretelling the birth of John the Baptist. Gabriel later appears to Mary, mother of Jesus to announce that she would conceive and bear a son (i.e., Jesus) via virgin birth. Many branches of Christianity—including Eastern Orthodoxy, the Catholic Church, Lutheranism, and Anglicanism—revere Gabriel as a saint. Islam regards Gabriel as an archangel sent by God to various prophets, including Muhammad. The first five verses of the Al-Alaq, the 96th chapter of the Quran, are believed by Muslims to have been the first verses of the revelations given by Gabriel to Muhammad.
Patron saint of stamp collectors; Santander; Cebu
In the Martyrology
- September 29 Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, archangels