Blessed Saint Gabriel, Archangel We beseech you to intercede for us at the throne of divine mercy: As you announced the mystery of the Incarnation to Mary, so through your prayers may we receive strength of faith and courage of spirit, and thus find favor with God and redemption through Christ Our Lord. May we sing the praise of God our Savior with the angels and saints in heaven forever and ever. Amen.
“The angel said to her, “Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God. And now, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son, and you will name him Jesus. He will be great, and will be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God will give to him the throne of his ancestor David. He will reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there will be no end.” Mary said to the angel, “How can this be, since I am a virgin?” The angel said to her, “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you; therefore the child to be born will be holy; he will be called Son of God.” Luke 1:30-35
Before studying about St Gabriel for this month, I didn’t know that he was the one who appeared to Daniel and interpreted his dreams in the Old Testament. I thought he only appeared to Mary at the Annunciation. I haven’t really spent enough time studying the Bible, so I was surprised to learn that besides appearing to Mary in the New Testament, he also appeared to Daniel in the Old Testament.
I have since learned that he is known as the greatest of all of God’s messengers, especially because it was he who announced the birth of Jesus. St Gabriel brought the most important announcement ever delivered. What an honor! I originally planned on writing about Mary and her fiat when Gabriel appeared to her to announce that she was to be the mother of God, but as I started writing it ended being about Daniel. I don’t know why, but after having a mental block for a couple of weeks, I decided to just go with it.
In Daniel Chapters 8 and 9, Gabriel comes to Daniel to interpret his vision and to help him understand what they meant. Daniel writes, “… The man Gabriel… came to me in my extreme weariness… and he gave me instruction and talked with me.” (9:20-23) Gabriel appeared to Daniel twice – once in chapter 8 to initially explain his dream, and then again in Chapter 9, many years later, to further explain the dream.
How I wish he would appear to me in my weariness and chat with me! Can you imagine? I can just picture us sitting at my dining table, drinking coffee and talking about life, ignoring the chaos and mess for a while. What would you talk about if you suddenlyfound yourself in the presence of God’s greatest messenger?
To Jesus through Mary – Adrianna Tucker
