I have another tale for you from the Coptic tradition this time of the Arch-Angel Raphael and his interaction with Saint John Chrysostom. This comes from the Miscellaneous Coptic texts in the dialect of Upper Egypt by E. A. Wallis Budge. I am presenting this text in full. I have modernized some words and there are sections that are missing. Without further ado….
The discourse which Saint John Chrysostom, that is to say, he of the tongue of gold, Archbishop of Constantinople, pronounced concerning the Holy Arch-Angel Raphael, on the day of his festival, which is celebrated on the fourth of the Epagomenal days. This discourse was pronounced in the shrine that had been newly built by the God-loving Emperor Arcadius in the name of the Holy Arch-Angel Raphael in the southern part of the city. And after the dedication in the following year, the God-loving Emperor came to pray and to bow down in the new shrine which his brother had built, and he (Chrysostom) consecrated it. And the pious Emperors Honorius and Arcadius were in accord, and they invited the great John Chrysostom to pronounce a few words of laudation on the Holy Arch-Angel Raphael. And the Holy Chrysostom, or rather, the hostel of the Holy Spirit, uttered this discourse. And he related a few of the mighty deeds, and signs, and miracles, which took place through the Holy Arch-Angel Raphael, and explained wherefore he was called the reed of the spirit. In the peace of God, may his holy blessing come upon us, and may we all be saved together. Bless us. Amen.
My beloved, ‘the angel of the Lord encamped round about them that fear Him and delivered them,’ and in very truth the holy Archangel Raphael did encamp round about those who fear Him, that is to say, the family of Tobit, and delivered him. And again, the Scripture said, ‘He will give His angels charge concerning thee, that they keep thee, and bear thee up on their hand, lest thou strike a stone with thy feet.’ For in truth the Lord did give His holy Archangel Raphael charge concerning Tobias, the son of Tobit, to keep him in all his ways, ‘lest thou strike a stone with thy feet.” When the husbands of Sarra (Sara) struck a stone, and fell down, He sent His word and healed them, and delivered them out of all their tribulations. The Psalmist David said, ‘Verily God sent His word,’ that is to say His great Archangel Raphael. He healed Sarra, the daughter of Raguel, of the cruel disease of barrenness, and delivered her from the reviling of the servants of her father, according to the word of the holy Apostle Paul, who said, ‘Are they not all ministers of the Spirit who are sent out to perform service for those who shall inherit salvation?’
My beloved, when I think of the loving-kindness of God towards man, which is very great, and especially towards the righteous, I marvel exceedingly. Now the righteous Lord, even as it is written, ‘putteth away the sins of the sinners,’ even as has been said by the mouth of the Lord, which cannot lie, ‘There is joy in heaven before God and His angels over a sinner when he repents.’ In truth the holy angels merit honor, and it is meet especially for us to rejoice with them. Now it is the righteous who minister unto them, through the command of the Creator God Almighty, with willingness and trembling. The blessed angels rejoice in the conversion of sinners, and they also minister unto the righteous with exceedingly great gladness. Even so is it with a king of this earth. When a tyrant, or an arrogant oppressor, rises up in his province, and committed lawless acts and does deeds of aggression, the king straightway meditates in his heart, saying, ‘By what means can I put down this tyranny?’ Then he summoned to him one of his chief captains in whom he had confidence, and he dispatched him to depose the adversary of the king. And when the captain has done this, he returns to his lord with joy and gladness, the tyrant of yesterday being vanquished and lashed to his horse. Then does the joy of the king rise up, because his enemy had fallen before his general, and he bestowed upon his chief captain honors and gifts which are greater than any which he had ever bestowed on any one before. And in this manner does the man-loving God act in this world.
Now Michael, and Gabriel, and Raphael are they who are the greatest of all the angelic hosts. As concerning this Michael, God sent him in primeval time, and he smote the Old Serpent, that is to say, Satanael, and he vanquished him, and bound him in fetters for one thousand years, and because of this God bestowed upon him this great and exalted position. And as for Gabriel, because of his faculty of knowing things beforehand, the Lord, and His Father, and the Holy Spirit decided that he should go to the Virgin with the good news. Raphael went to the righteous men, and served them, and acted as guide to them, and healed them of their sicknesses, and it belonged to him to bind the wicked demon Asmodeus with fetters. For God had appointed unto each of the angels the work which is associated with the meaning of their names. Michael, He appointed to act as a minister to men before Him because of his faculty of watchfulness (or, keeping awake). If thou would translate the name Michael, its signification is ‘The Compassion of God Almighty’. The name Gabriel means ‘God and man’, and for this reason God made him the minister and the messenger of the good tidings of what God is about to do unto man. The meaning of the name Raphael is ‘God Who guides men’. And God gave unto these angels these names through His foreknowledge of those who were about to be before they came into being.
And now let us return to the subject of the discourse and speak about Tobit, the son of Tobiel. Tobit said, ‘I Tobit was walking on the road at midday. Righteousness was in my hands at all times all the days of my life.’ Verily Tobit was a traveler on the ways of truth, and a doer of charity with a benevolent mind, and the son of Tobiel gave first-fruits and tithes to the house of God. For this reason, the Devil became envious of him and made him blind. God Himself said by the mouth of the holy Prophet David, ‘Behold, I have become old, and I never saw a righteous man whom God had forsaken.’ Subsequently God sent His holy Angel Raphael, and he bestowed upon him the light of his eyes. And also, when he wished to send his son Tobias into a region afar off. He made the good angel to act as his guide. And in the place whereunto he departed he healed Sarra, the daughter of Raguel, and bound the demon Asmodeus with fetters. Thus, he filled the house of the poor man with joy, and the house of the rich man he filled with gladness, and the house of chiding and abuse he filled with singing and music, and he made the grief and sighing of Raguel to flee away. And he wiped away also the tears from the eyes of Sarra, and took up her prayers to the Seventh Heaven, to God Almighty.
For, O my beloved, this Raphael is a good angel, he is a minister, he is a flame of fire, he is a spirit, he is a faithful guide, he is incorporeal, he is also an archangel. He is a good servant, he is a wakeful watcher, he is a workman who is to be trusted. He is a physician who heals and accepts no fee. All these things which I declare unto you this merciful archangel does at the command of his handicraftsman, God. And if you wish to know, O beloved brethren, how it is that all these names are applicable to this compassionate archangel, I will make the matter manifest to you. Now I have already told you that the archangel is a good being. Behold, his loving-kindness manifested itself openly, because the archangel serves man with obedience, even to the preparation of food for him. He is a man, he is a minister who stands before the deathless King, the Christ.
He ministers at His command, according to the word of the sweet-smelling tongue of Paul, ‘Are they not all ministers of the Spirit who are sent out to perform service for those who shall inherit salvation?’ Thou see the faithful testimony! He is a spirit, according to the prophecy of David, saying, ‘Who makes His angels’ spirits; he is a flame of fire, even as it is written, ‘His ministers a flame of fire.’ He is a guide, and therefore he guided Tobias in a foreign land, without any injury whatsoever. He is a chief cook, for he cooked the fish for the young man. He is an angel. He is a master of the bridal ceremonies, for he spoke unto Tobias, and he made a marriage. He is a being without body, for he tasted no food whatsoever all the days wherein he was travelling with him. He is a messenger, for he made supplication to the Treasury of Compassion, the Christ, on behalf of Tobit and Tobias his son, and Sarra. He was a………. when Tobias was in the bride-chamber. He took a camel to Ecbatana and brought back silver. He is a physician, for he healed the eyes of Tobit, who was a charitable man, for he said unto his son, ‘According to what thou hast, and according to thy superabundance, do acts of charity, for charity delivered a man from death.’ He is a Commander-in-Chief, for he bound Asmodeus in fetters. He is an unpaid minister, for he would not take the hire which had been agreed upon with him. He is a good servant, for he performed service for all those who needed it from him. He is a faithful minister, for he stood before him and served like a loyal servant. O how deep is the sea of the compassion of God! O how great is the obedience of this archangel, who stands before the Lord of Hosts, and stands as ever a man to serve!
Now therefore, permit us, O my beloved, to bring forward and to declare unto you a few matters concerning this martyrium wherein we are gathered together in the name of the archangel. It happened to me one day, when I John was celebrating my Eucharist at the sixth hour, that a great light rose up in the house wherein I was, and behold, a young man with an exceedingly beautiful countenance came in to me. He was enveloped in great splendor, and he had a staff of gold, surmounted by a cross, in his right hand, and he called unto me three times, saying, ‘ John, thou reed of the Holy Spirit! John, thou tongue that healed the souls which have been shattered by sin! John, thou tongue of the speaker who is able to persuade God in the Seventh Heaven! ‘ And when I heard these words, I was troubled, and I fell down at his feet that I might worship him. And he took hold of my hand, and raised me up, and said unto me, ‘Fear not. Do not worship me, for I am thy fellow servant, but worship God.’ And I said unto him with fear and trembling, ‘Who art thou, O my lord, who art enveloped in such great splendor? I have never seen anyone like unto thee.’ And he removed fear from me, and he said unto me, ‘I am Raphael, one of the Seven Archangels. I am Raphael whom my Master joined to Philotheus, and I presented him and his father and his mother to the Christ Jesus. I am Raphael the archangel, and the Christ gave thee into my hand from the time when thou were a child. And moreover, from the time when thou were born until this day, I have never left thee for an hour, or for half an hour, or even for the twinkling of an eye. And I will never leave thee until the day comes when I shall take thee to the King, the Christ. He gave thee into my hand when thou were spotless. I was with thee in the house of the learned man who taught thee letters, and also when thou did make thy passage by sea to Athens and Berut, into which cities thou did enter. I walked with thee, and I prepared the path whereon thou were to travel, and I prepared for thee the instruction, which was peculiarly suitable for thy mind and heart, even as the husbandman prepared his seed beforehand, and dug his furrows in the water. And now, be strong and prevail. Fear thou not, O thou marvelous confessor, for I am not one to strike fear into souls; on the contrary, I am one who giveth comfort unto souls, for I am called by my fellow angels, ”The merciful angel.” Be strong, let thy heart be bold, and fear thou not, for I am not associated with disturbance, but with peace. Now therefore, O John, behold the Emperor Arcadius will ask thee about a matter which concerned me, for he would like to build a martyrium in my name. Encourage him with thy softest speech, for it is written, “The tongue of the righteous man is more excellent than gold and silver”; and make him to be happy in the building of my shrine. When thou shalt consecrate my shrine and the gifts of great price and beauty which the God-loving Emperor shall give unto it (?) ……….. Declare these words unto the pious Emperor……. the Christ……..the Holy Spirit, which is like unto a sweet odor that flowed from his mouth. Be of good cheer, and the peace of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit be with thee.’ And when he had said these things unto me, he went up into heaven with great glory.
And I John neither ate nor drank that day because of the joy which was in my heart through the archangel’s talk with me. And it came to pass on the following day that the pious Emperor Arcadius came unto my lowliness in the Patriarch’s house and received a blessing from my hand. And I said unto him, ‘Sit thou down, O lover of the Christ, O thou who art troubled in thy mind about the building of the shrine of the holy Archangel Raphael, whose gracious remembrance of the saint, drive away sleep from thee, whose remembrance of the service of the saints make thee to forget the enjoyment of the Empire. Blessed art thou who……….that which is good, ……………shall be unto thee. In very truth is fulfilled in thee the word of the ineffable Paul, “Minister to the saints”; and again, “God is not unjust to forget your labor, and the love which ye manifest in His Name.” ‘And when I had said these words unto him the blessed Emperor was astonished for a long time. And he answered and said unto me, ‘We are blessed, O Israel, because the things which are pleasing unto God are manifest unto us. And blessed are we also because God hath raised up unto us such a spiritual father as thyself. Verily thou art an angel who dost walk upon earth with men.
Furthermore, in thee is fulfilled the word of David, the holy psalmist, saying, “The generation of the upright shall receive blessing.” Furthermore, O my holy father, behold for many days my heart hath been troubling me concerning the building of the shrine of the holy Archangel Raphael. I swear by thy holy prayers that I have not slept at all during the past night because of this matter. Behold, behold the Spirit ….
[About sixty-four pages wanting]
And that ends the text. As you can see, the ending is missing (apparently a large chunk if the editor’s note is to be believed). Since I tackled two of the three main Arch-Angels, I suppose I should present a Gabriel story next. ;)
Featured artwork: 14th century iconography https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Book_of_Tobit#/media/File:Manuscript_Illumination_with_Tobit,_Tobias,_and_the_Archangel_Raphael_in_an_Initial_O,_from_an_Antiphonary_MET_sf31-134-6s1.jpg
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Culmination of Wisdom 