Today I was reading from the Liturgy of the Hours St Gregory the Great’s homily on the angels. He said that the word angel means messenger. Lesser angels are assigned lesser tasks and great messages are assigned to the Archangels.
I thought how it is easy to understand the stories of Michael in the Bible talking to Daniel and casting Satan out of heaven. Further, it is easy to see why the message of the Annunciation was entrusted to Gabriel but in the story of Tobit, why was it necessary to send an Archangel to him? It is a small story in the Bible, beautiful for sure, but it really seems insignificant in the Bible and the story of salvation. Then it occurred to me that the story of Tobit is a story that contains the most beautiful story of Marriage and the Marriage ceremony in the Bible. Michael was defender of the Church. Gabriel announced the coming Messiah and the beginning of the Church. Raphael defends marriage and the family, the domestic church.
Let’s look at the story: Raphael takes Tobias on a journey to collect money that his father had saved and decide to recover before he died so that his son may have it. On the way, Raphael tells him about a woman named Sarah whom he is to marry. Tobias had heard about her. Seven men had already attempted marriage with her and on the wedding night they were slain by a demon. Some say the demon killed the lustful. Raphael instructs Tobias how to kill the demon. On their wedding night, Tobias bids Sarah rise and they pray. It is the most beautiful prayer in Scripture about Marriage. “Lord, I take my kinswoman for a noble purpose and not out of lust.” He then entrusts Raphael to collect his money while he finishes over his wedding week. The demon of greed and the demon of lust are the two things most often try to destroy marriage. Tobias avoids both through the instruction of the Archangel Raphael, and Raphael means, “God’s remedy.”
Could it be that this story has an Archangel in it to show the value of Marriage and the family? And that perhaps Raphael is the guardian of the domestic Church, tasked to guard it against the demon of lust and the demon of greed?