Who Is the Archangel Gabriel?

The angel Gabriel is one of the three archangels. His name means “strength of God”, and God entrusted him with the mission of bringing good news. As he said of himself when he appeared to Zechariah in the Temple: “I am Gabriel, who stand in the presence of God; and I was sent to speak to you, and to bring you this good news” (Luke 1:19). It was he who announced to the Virgin Mary the Incarnation of the eternal Word; according to tradition, it was he who saved Daniel from the lions’ den, and he who helped him understand his famous prophecy about the coming of Christ into the world. See the Book of Daniel (8:16; 9:21; 9:22-27).

According to many Doctors of the Church, the Archangel Gabriel will sound the trumpet on the day of the Last Judgment for the resurrection of the dead (Revelation of Saint John). For just as, according to Saint Luke, he announced Christ’s first coming in the flesh for the salvation and redemption of humanity, so he will herald Christ’s second coming as Judge after the resurrection of the dead. So we should give him due honour and ask for his intercession with God. (From the Maronite Synaxarion.)

According to Venerable Mary of Ágreda, he was the first after the Lord Jesus to carry the Eucharistic Bread and the cup of the Blood at the Last Supper in the Upper Room, where Jesus was gathered with his disciples, in order to give Communion to Our Lady in the next room. (The Mystical City of God.)

And according to one of the messages of the “Blue Book” received by Father Stefano Gobbi, founder of the Marian Movement of Priests, Our Lady is said to have explained: “… To the Angel Gabriel is entrusted the great mission of announcing the return of Jesus in glory to establish his Kingdom in the world. Since he was the one charged with announcing the first coming of my Son Jesus into the world, he will also be the shining messenger of the second coming of Jesus in power and light; Jesus will appear on the clouds of heaven in the splendour of his divinity to bring all things under him. So the divine power of my Son Jesus will be revealed to the eyes of the whole created universe. To the angel called ‘Strength of God’ is entrusted the announcement to all mankind of Christ’s coming return in the strength of his divine power.”