A Lifetime of Conversion
No matter how much we know about our faith, there is always room for growth. This is evident for me in the celebration of the Feast of the Archangels on September 29th. This year the feast fell on Sunday so it may seem forgotten (the Sunday Mass takes precedent), but it was not forgotten by me.
The importance of the archangels in my prayer life has grown over the years. As a child, the angel Gabriel was a familiar one because of his role in the story of the Annunciation. Beyond that, I do not remember thinking about the archangels.
When I returned to church, hearing some of chapter 12 of the Book of Revelation read at Mass, I began to have some appreciation for St. Michael as a warrior of the Lord, but I don’t think I thought much about him. He was not a part of my regular prayer life.
While I was in seminary, I became aware of St. Raphael for two reasons. First, there was a priest from Asia living in the seminary was name was Fr. Raphael. So, that made me think a little about St. Raphael for whom the priest was named. Secondly, I do not recall why but I had occasion to read the Book of Tobit. St. Raphael is a major character in that story. (Since Tobit is one of the books not in the Protestant Bible, Protestants may not be familiar with St. Raphael.) Like St. Michael, St. Raphael did not become part of my prayer life at that time.
Nine years after I finished seminary, I became the Pastor of St. Michael’s Church in Newark, NY. At that time, it seemed appropriate to learn more about St. Michael. I read a few short books on him. (From this would come my homilies at St. Michael’s in 2016 and 2017 on the Feast of the Archangels and the portion on St. Michael in my presentation, Three Saints to Aid Us.)
From my reading and my role as pastor of a parish that bore his name, I developed a devotion to St. Michael. At the center of this was regular use of the Prayer of St. Michael whenever I felt myself battling with temptation. It also includes praying the Chaplet of St. Michael at times.
We made the celebration of the Feast of the Archangels a major celebration in the parish with Mass followed by a dinner. However, our celebration centered on St. Michael, with little, if any, attention given to Saints Gabriel or Raphael. The same was true in my prayer life. While St. Michael became an important figure in my prayer life, the archangels Gabriel and Raphael did not.
That changed last year (seven years after my devotion to St. Michael began). The Feast of the Archangels fell during the week of my annual retreat. It was then that Gabriel and Raphael became part of my prayer life. The Holy Spirit drew me to reflect on St. Gabriel in his role as a messenger of God who told Zechariah of the coming birth of his son, John the Baptist (Luke 1:5-25) as well as the birth of Jesus in the Annunciation to Mary (Luke 1:26-38). I then began to include in my prayer life to ask for the intercession of St. Gabriel when I preach and teach, that what I say always be the message God wants preached.
On that same retreat, the Holy Spirit led me to think about St. Raphael as a healer. The name “Raphael” means “God heals.” St. Raphael brought healing to people in the story found in the Book of Tobit. I came to ask St. Raphael’s intercession for healing for the hurt in my heart and my soul.
Presently, all three of the archangels known by name are part of my prayer life as I ask for their intercession. This has been a lifetime in development. I won’t be surprised if it continues to grow and develop in the future.
How has your relationship with any of the saints changed throughout your lifetime? Have you ever had a devotion to a particular saint? Do you seek the intercession of a particular saint today?
Peace,
Fr. Jeff