July: Day 13: Teaching 1: Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel

July: Day 13: Teaching 1:
Synaxis of the Holy Archangel Gabriel
 
(What Should the Certainty That the Holy Angels Are Sent by God to Serve Us and Care for our Salvation Encourage Us To Do?)

By Archpriest Grigory Dyachenko

I. On the day of the Synaxis in honor of the Holy Archangel Gabriel, all his miraculous appearances are remembered and glorified as the harbinger of the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God and the servant of the dispensation of the salvation of the world.

While the Lord's Archangel Michael, who at an unknown time began the battle with the spirit of evil, was given a certain divine and pre-worldly power for the conduct of this battle, by which he was appointed as a guide to Christ and a defender of the Jewish people (Dan. 10:13, 12:1), and at the same time the pre-eminent servant of the Old Testament (Heb. 2:2), the Holy Archangel Gabriel was entrusted by the Holy Spirit with the service of the mysteries of God and especially the mystery of the incarnation of the Son of God for the salvation of man. For this reason, the Holy Church calls him the herald of the mysteries of God and the servant of miracles, and, according to ancient tradition, depicts the Holy Archangel sometimes with a jasper mirror on his left hand and a lantern with a lit candle in his right hand (since God's plans for the salvation of man were hidden for a time and were revealed to people only in a conjectural manner, like unclear images of an object reflected in a mirror), sometimes with a branch of paradise in his hand, which was brought by the Archangel to the Mother of God at the hour of the Annunciation.

Holy Scripture and tradition connect his name with the greatest of the New Testament events, a series of which begins with the good news of the birth of the Virgin Mary, brought by the Archangel to Her mother, who was grieving over her barrenness. Under his heavenly overshadowing and guidance, the Most Holy Virgin spent her youthful years in the Jerusalem Temple, where she was raised and prepared for her great service. He also announced to the aged Zechariah the birth of the Forerunner from him, and for his unbelief, he placed the seal of silence on his lips.

Finally, “when the fullness of time had come,” the Archangel Gabriel descends, according to the expression of the Church, from the heavenly circles, to announce to the Virgin Mary, chosen from all generations, the birth of God the Word from Her. “And he went in to Her and said: Rejoice, O full of grace, the Lord is with you, blessed are you among women!.. And, behold, you shall conceive in your womb, and bear a son, and shall call His name Jesus. He shall be great, and shall be called the Son of the Most High, and the Lord God shall give Him the throne of His father David. And He shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of His kingdom there shall be no end” (Luke 1:28–31).

The service of the New Testament mysteries of the Holy Archangel Gabriel did not end with the incarnation of the Son of God. It must be thought that as a servant of these mysteries, he was one of the first among those angels who served the Savior during His earthly life (Mark 1:13). The Holy Church believes that he was the angel who strengthened the Savior in His prayerful suffering in Gethsemane and was a witness to both His pre-mortal sorrow and His devotion to the will of God (Luke 22:43), and that he also announced to the women the glorious resurrection of Jesus Christ from the tomb.

But the special object of the service of the Holy Archangel Gabriel was, in the opinion of the Church, the Most Holy Virgin Mary. Both the first and the last years of Her earthly life were entrusted to his heavenly protection, and when the time came for Her departure from this life, the same Holy Archangel announced this to the Mother of God, and as a sign of Her speedy and blessed union with Her Son and God, brought Her a branch from Paradise.

Thus the name of the Archangel Gabriel is associated for Christians with the greatest and most comforting memories. “For this reason,” says Saint Dimitri of Rostov, “it is fitting that he should be honored by us as he deserves. For if an honorable ambassador from an earthly king, bringing a gracious word to a city, is honored by all citizens very much, how much more should the most honorable ambassador and most graceful prince of angels from the Heavenly King with the most gracious word to all mankind be honored with a special celebration. For he served the mystery of our salvation.”

II. The history of the current feast in honor of the Archangel Gabriel reminds us, brethren, of the truth that the angels of God take a great part in the salvation of people and are sent by the Lord to serve them in necessary and important cases .

What should this truth inspire us with, what should it encourage us to do, brethren?

a) First, we must with all our hearts honor and thank the holy angels for their service to us. They are in all respects superior to us: they are pure, incorporeal spirits, while we are covered with coarse dust; they stand before the throne of God and “always behold the face of the Heavenly Father” (Matt. 18:10), while we are very far from Him, not only in place, but also in our sins. Therefore, it would seem that it is not the angels who should serve us, but we who should serve them, as the lower to the higher; but the holy celestials have no pride. They act in everything with love and out of this love they willingly fulfill God’s providential commands for us, they descend to us on earth, protect us with their care and appear to us for timely help. Should we not be grateful to them for this? Should we not honor and glorify them as our great benefactors and helpers in our salvation?

b) Secondly, we must diligently call upon the holy angels for help and firmly hope that they will render it to us in necessary cases. Good people help others at their request, can the angels of God refuse us their help when we call upon them for it? If we do not see them and do not sometimes notice their beneficial action, this is because “a spirit does not have flesh and bone” (Luke 24:39), and we are accustomed to looking at everything with bodily eyes, with which it is impossible to see the incorporeal.

c) Thirdly, we must guard ourselves in every way from sins that can alienate the holy angels from us and prevent them from doing good to us. For "what fellowship has light with darkness" (2 Cor. 6:14)? How can a pure spirit approach a man who stinks of sins? How can it inspire a good thought in a sinner when the latter thinks only of evil? Sins, like a terrible abyss, separate him from him and he is forced to depart from him, as once "the Spirit of the Lord departed from" the evil Saul (1 Samuel 16:40).

d) Finally, and most of all, we must care for our eternal salvation, for which purpose the holy angels are sent by God to serve us. If God “wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim. 2:4); if He uses all means for the sake of our salvation and once sent His Only Begotten Son to us on earth, and now sends the holy angels: then will we ourselves neglect our salvation? Everything earthly and material, everything about which we now care so much - glory and wealth, honors and pleasures - all this will leave us when we die, but our soul will live forever, and will suffer forever, if we do not cleanse it now from sins, do not adorn it with virtues, and do not make it worthy to enter the kingdom of heaven. Therefore, all of us, and most of all, must now care about her eternal salvation: for “what will it profit a man,” says the Savior, “if he gains the whole world, and loses his own soul” (Matt. 16:26).

III. Therefore, let us turn to the Holy Archangel Gabriel, who is celebrated today, let us call out to him in prayer: Holy Archangel Gabriel! Look mercifully upon us all, touch our hearts with the grace given to you and awaken in us a feeling of repentance for the salvation of our souls. We pray you, do as we pray and make us happy with this on this day of your feast. Amen.  

 

Source: A Complete Annual Cycle of Short Teachings, Composed for Each Day of the Year. Translated by John Sanidopoulos.