Today we celebrate the feast of the Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael

Angels are pure spirits, holy beings whom God created to have direct contact with Himself. The word angel comes from the Greek word angelos, which means messenger. These messengers of God are invisible, immortal, and extremely intelligent. They worship God in His presence at all times. The Scripture teaches that God sends angels from heaven to earth to deliver help, warnings, or exciting news as they assist the Lord in His mission to save all people.

In the Bible angels appear in different ways. Sometimes they appear in brilliant glory, which is how the angels appeared to the shepherds in Bethlehem the night that Jesus was born.

Saint Michael the Archangel is God’s most trusted angel, and he carries out heaven’s commands. His name, Michael, means who is like God. A fierce warrior, protector, and comforting guardian, Saint Michael is heaven’s most powerful archangel.

 The Old Testament prophet Daniel calls Michael “one of the chief Princes.” Saint Michael is the guardian of the Israel, a champion of goodness and justice who fights evil at every chance. When one of God’s angels, Lucifer, started a war in heaven, Michael fought and defeated the rebels and threw them out of heaven. Hence Michael is known as the “warrior angel” and is often painted wearing a full suit of armor (as seen in our own holy cards).

The Archangel Gabriel, mentioned several times in the Bible, was always a messenger of important news. His name, Gabriel, means, the Hero of God, or God is my strength and courage. He appeared to the prophet Daniel, and to Zechariah, the father of Saint John the Baptist. He is best known as the angel who appeared to the Virgin Mary and announced to her the breathtaking news that she would conceive and bear the Son of God.

The Archangel Raphael’s name means God heals. In the Bible, the book of Tobit tells the story about Raphael and a man named Tobit, who lived long before Jesus was born. Tobit was a good man who helped the poor, but one night he suddenly lost his sight. His blindness was a great burden to him, and in desperation he prayed for death. God heard his prayers and sent the archangel Raphael to help.  Tobit sent his son, Tobiah, to collect some savings from a place called Media. Raphael appeared to Tobiah in human form, explained that he was a distant relative, and went with him on the journey. One day Tobiah caught a fish. Raphael told him to remove its insides and to rub the fish on his father’s eyes. Miraculously, Tobit’s blindness was cured! Then Raphael revealed his true identity: “I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who enter and serve before the Glory of the Lord” (Tobit 12:15). The angel told Tobit and Tobiah to praise and thank God, and then he vanished, returning to heaven.

Feast of Saint Padre Pio September 23

St. Pio of Pietrelcina (Padre Pio)

Francesco Forgione was born in Pietrelcina, Italy, on May 25,1887, and named in honor of St. Francis of Assisi.  The devout Francesco at an early age felt drawn to the priesthood, and became a Capuchin novice at the age of sixteen. Ordained a priest in 1910, he became known as Padre Pio.  During this time he suffered much, both physically and spiritually, all of which he accepted with praise and thanks to God, trusting that if God allowed it, God could use it for the good of others.

On September 20, 1918, while kneeling in front of a large crucifix, Padre Pio received the visible marks of the crucifixion, with wounds in his hands, feet, and side, making him the first priest to receive the stigmata in the history of the Church. On the day he died in 1968, at the age of 81, the wounds disappeared, a miracle Padre Pio had predicted 50 years earlier.

Padre Pio was blessed with many mystical gifts. The blood from the wounds of Jesus in his body carried a beautiful perfumed aroma. He had the gift of bilocation, or being in two places at the same time. He had the ability to read the hearts of the penitents who flocked to him during his long hours of hearing confessions. Padre Pio used the confessional to bring both sinners and devout souls closer to God; giving just the right word of counsel or encouragement to all.

Thousands went to his monastery in San Giovanni Rotondo suffering from all sorts of illness, including cancer, tuberculosis, blindness, etc. Many received healing through his intercession. Padre Pio had a great love for Our Blessed Mother Mary, St. Michael the Archangel, and his Guardian angel, and received much help from them. He also had a great love and prayed much for the Souls in Purgatory.

In 1948, a young Polish priest heard about Padre Pio and visited him for Confession and spiritual direction. Though we do not what they shared, the young priest, Fr. Karol Wojtyla, was deeply moved by the encounter. Almost two decades later, in November 1962, now a bishop, Karol Wojtyla returned to Rome for the second Vatican Council. He sent a note asking Padre Pio to pray for his friend, Dr. Wanda Poltawska, a survivor of a Nazi concentration camp and mother of four, who had been diagnosed with a very serious and aggressive intestinal tumor. Padre Pio replied, “To this one, it is impossible to say no.” He prayed all night for the doctor. When Bishop Wojtyla called home two weeks later to hear how the operation went, he learned that the tumor had disappeared!

In May 1967, Dr. Poltawska herself was able to leave Communist Poland briefly for a trip to Italy. She journeyed to San Giovanni Rotondo, where she attended a Mass celebrated by Padre Pio. At the Mass, Poltawska could see Padre Pio’s own agony, the stains of blood from his wounds, the sweat running down his face. Afterward, she waited to greet him. He passed by her, walking slowly on his pierced feet. He stopped, then gazed at her, smiled, and said, “Now you are all right?” The doctor was stunned. She had never met Padre Pio, yet she knew he recognized her. He had suffered for her, because he could not refuse the request of the young Polish Bishop. And, as Providence would have it, Dr. Poltawska was there, in Rome, on June 16, 2002, when her old friend, who had become the first Polish pope, John Paul II, canonized the gentle Padre as Saint Pio of Pietrelcina!