Saint Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels

Archangels are the second-lowest rank of angel in the Catholic hierarchy of angels, based on and put forward by Pseudo-Dionysius the Areopagite in the 5th or 6th century in his book De Coelesti Hierarchia (On the Celestial Hierarchy). The Bible itself uses the term “archangel” two times referring to the angel Michael only in the New Testament. The Bible does not mention a particular hierarchy of angels in any detail aside from this. The word is usually associated with the Abrahamic religions and many offshoots they are historically associated with. Archangel is derived from Greek archángelos (ἀρχάγγελος), with the Greek prefix arch- meaning 'chief'. In Catholic theology, archangels constitute the second-lowest rank of angel; much of modernized imaging of Archangels as we have today likely stems from the etymology of their name, as well as their presentation in John Milton's Paradise Lost. In many offshoots of Judaism, with the oldest text coming from Enoch 1, the highest ranking angels such as Michael, Raphael, Gabriel and Uriel, who are usually referred to as archangels in English, are given the title of śārīm (Hebrew: שָׂרִים 'princes'; sing. שָׂר śār), to show their superior rank and status. Two examples of this can be seen in Daniel 10:13 and 12:1, where Michael, Chief of the Heavenly Host, is referred to as ʾaḥaḏ haśśārīm hārišōnīm (אַחַד הַשָּׂרִים הָרִאשֹׁנִים 'one of the chief princes') in the former, and haśśar haggāḏōl (הַשַּׂר הַגָּדוֹל 'the great prince') in the latter. Other listings of archangels include Jophiel who is an archangel of beauty and art. Michael and Gabriel are recognized as archangels in Judaism and Islam, and by most Christians. Raphael—mentioned in the deuterocanonical/apocryphal Book of Tobit­— is also recognized as a chief angel in the Catholic, Lutheran, Anglican and Eastern Orthodox churches.