by Br. Alexis Bugnolo

Today is the Feast of the great Archangel Saint Raphael. So I want to fulfill a debt of gratitude to this great Seraphim by telling you all about him and encouraging you to befriend him.

True religion requires that we accept as true all which is written in Sacred Scripture. And this means, that when God the Holy Spirit has inspired a sacred author to write and reveal things of Heaven, we should take note and accept into our daily religious practices all these revealed truths.

The gift of Faith moves and requires that we believe all that God has revealed, because God, being Truth itself, cannot deceive not tolerate deceit.  The Catholic Faith teaches that all the books of Sacred Scripture are inspired by God, which is to say, have God the Holy Spirit as their Divine Author, and a Saint or saintly persons as their human authors, who only wrote, what God wanted them to write and how God wanted them to write it, whether it was historic chronicles, poetic, didactic, or epistolary in form.

One of the most neglected but truly remarkable Books of the Bible, then, is the Book of Tobias, which tells us all about what we need to know to have true devotion to Saint Raphael the Archangel. I say, the Book of Tobias, not the book of Tobit, because many bibles, being corrupted by men, have this other book, which the Church has never received as inspired scripture, but which modernists in recent decades have included in bibles to corrupt the faith of the unsuspecting.  If you have a bible which has the Book of Tobit in it, I would suggest you burn it.  You will find the Book of Tobias in any English translation of the Bible which is based on the Clementine Vulgate of Saint Jerome.

The importance of the Book of Tobias lies in this, that it is one of the most frequently quoted books of Sacred Scripture in the mouth of Our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ. In fact, it is so often quoted verbatim, that we can be sure that it probably was read often in the Holy House of Our Lady to the Child Jesus in His youth. In fact, it is a delightful book for children and Tobias wrote it precisely to instruct his own children and grand-children and great grand-children in the true Faith.

I could tell you many more things about the Book itself, but since I wrote a booklet about that, you can, if you want, get a copy to hear all about how Tobias wrote it between 625 and 620 B. C..  In the Catholic Church. Tobias is considered to be a Saint and a Prophet. He even has some Catholic parishes dedicated to him, like this one in Pennsylvania, USA: (St. Tobias Catholic Church).

I wrote this booklet to defend the truth of Scripture, when I was a student at the Angelicum in the Fall/Winter of 2011.  But ever since its publication, I have had the wonderful grace to find Saint Raphael constantly at my side and helping me in so many of my works. I guess that he is thankful and grateful for the work done, since I am one of the few authors in the last 500 years who has written such a book, defending Tobias against so many calumniators, non-Catholic and Catholic.  Martin Luther, the great heresiarch was the first to call Tobias a liar and put in doubt the existence of the Great Archangel. But enough for introductions.

Who is Saint Raphael?

Saint Raphael is the ONLY Angel in the entire Bible who is called an Archangel. This truth should astound us and make us pay attention to all which follows in any discourse about him.  He is, therefore, most likely, the greatest of the Archangels and of all the Angels whom God has created, since the Lord God has willed to glorify his name in Sacred Scripture with such magnificent titles and dignities.

From the Book of Tobias we know that he is one of the 7 Angels who Stand before God constantly worshipping Him and hearing from Him His Divine words and counsels.  He is therefore one of the Highest Angelic commanders and one of the wisest of all the Angels.  For that reason, tradition numbers him among the Seraphim, among which Saint Michael and Saint Gabriel are most likely — this is my opinion — also numbered.

In the Book of Tobias, however, St. Raphael is called by Saint Tobias an Archangel.  This name means a ruling Angel.  And such a title is fit for one of the 7 who stand before the Throne of God ready to serve Him.

This means that Saint Raphael has legions and legions of lesser Angels under his command, since, as the Saints say — Padre Pio among them — the number of God’s holy Angels is vast and beyond all imagining.  Since Tradition holds that man’s destiny is to fill up the thrones of the angels who rebelled against God in the beginning of time, and they numbered 33% of all the angels God created, it is my opinion that there could be as many as 5 to 10 billion Angels.

Saint Raphael’s character is known best by reading the Book of Tobias, which I strongly urge all of you do to. In that book we see that Saint Raphael has from God the permission to take human form, which is a most extraordinary grace and which no Angel by his own power could accomplish. Even Lucifer has not the power to do so perfectly and thus cannot simulate real human feet. But St. Raphael can simulate human form so perfectly that no one can detect that he is an Angel in reality.  This shows us that the Holy Angels are greater in natural power and more powerful in grace than Satan and all his crew. And this should be a great motive of confidence when we call upon the help of God through His Holy Angels, especially Saint Raphael.

Personally, I have to thank Saint Raphael, because since he is the patron of the poor and of travelers and pilgrims, that whenever I am traveling he helps me like the best of friends. Most frequently by turning traffic lights green just as I am about to pass intersections. I never asked for this grace, but seeing that he does it so frequently, I do ask from time to time, for such favors, when I have some particular need.

He is also patron of those seeking a wife.  Many young men who are looking for a holy and honest Catholic woman to marry would do best to start a devotion to Saint Raphael to find the right wife.  He has a particular disgust for impurity, dishonesty and mendacity, so he is the best advocate to find someone who will help you get to Heaven and raise holy children unto God.

And thus Saint Raphael is a special patron of the youth who are discerning their path in life, whether to take this or that job, or follow a vocation to the priesthood or religious life, or travel to this or that city or land in search for work or the will of God.

Saint Raphael is also patron for those who need to collect the debts owed them. In the Book of Tobias you will see how he arranged that Tobias not only got his money back with interest, but much more.

Saint Raphael above all is patron of those who are sick, since his very name, “Raphael”, means the healing of God.  He does this chiefly by putting the right persons in our path who will lead us to the right cure. In the Book of Tobias you will find that he also knows everything about natural cures for common and unusual aliments. So I think he is an especially important Archangel to befriend in the present crisis.

As a patron of the sick, Saint Raphael is also patron of the elderly, the blind and the infirm. In the Book of Tobias, you see that he came to help Saint Tobias for this precise reason.

He is also the patron of fishermen, specially of those who fish on rivers.

Most especially, he is an ardent enemy of demons, especially demons of impurity, terror and death. And in these things, we should avail ourselves of Saint Raphael’s aid most particularly during this Scamdemic, when the Globalists are enacting a plot against humanity cooked up with the counsel of such demons.

How to obtain the intercession of Saint Raphael

If you are a faithful Catholic this is easy. If you are not, you need to go to confession, reform your life, keep the 10 commandments, reject all error and start living entirely in accord with the truth.

Saint Raphael demands first of all that you believe everything in Sacred Scripture, which requires that you have the Catholic Faith and keep it spotlessly.  I say, that it requires the Catholic Faith, because otherwise, you ascribe to some religion or form of Christianity which rejects one or more of the inspired books of the Bible.  If you reject a book of the Bible, you really have no reason or excuse, but are living according to the lies or prejudices of men, whom you reckon as more trustworthy than the word of God or the testimonies of holy men as to which books are in the Bible and which are not.  And as such, Saint Raphael would not even want to talk to you, because you are a conceited snob and totally ignorant of the things of God and Heaven.

Saint Raphael, second, requires that you be pure and chaste.  Addiction to impurity puts you under the dominion of his most hated enemy, Hasmodeus, the devil of impurity.  And he never talks to or helps the servants of his enemy, unless they call upon him, and want to change sides in the battle.  Then he will help you avoid temptation, clean out your heart, home, car and cellphone/computer, and teach you to redirect your thoughts to honest things, and not live in the gutter like a dog.  But you need to follow his inspirations to detest such sins and acquire the gut reaction of nausea at the thought of returning to them. Then go to confession and promise a life long penance of some sort to make reparation. And watch yourself lest you return to your vomit.

Saint Raphael, third, requires that you pray and live your life from what you learn in prayer. That means, that you decide to live for God alone, and seek to attain Heaven by a life of good works, not because these merit it per se, but because these make you worthy to arrive at the gift of eternal life.  Idle hands do the devils work, and God did not make us for idleness, but to do good works that help ourselves and others arrive at Heaven.  In Heaven, we shall adore, praise, thank, bless, love and glory in God forever. So if you are not praying every day and living in prayer, you are not preparing yourself for the life to come. If you detest praying, then you are on the road to Hell, where no one prays, but everyone complains and curses. So what would Raphael want with you at all?

With these basics, you can obtain the help of Saint Raphael with a childlike confident humble request, when necessary, for any of the things, about which he is known to be an able helper.  This is not because he cannot do more, but because he has been tasked by the Lord God with a specific mission and work.

As for prayers to Saint Raphael, there are many, but he is quite alright if you speak to him in your own words, with the seriousness and humility to ask what is necessary to do God’s will, find God’s will or return to God’s will. Indeed, we show the Saints real respect when we talk to them in our own words, for many think written prayers are some sort of magical thing, which works upon repetition, and have no personal respect for the Saint who is in Heaven hearing their prayer.

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CREDITS:  The images of the engravings are taken from. La Sacra Bibbia, Antico Testamanto vol. 1, traduzione di Mons. Antonio Martini, con tavole di Gustavo Doré, European Book, Milan, 1997 edition, which I have use of thanks to the benefactors of Save Old St. Mary’s Inc..