San Rafael Arcangel

Mark
June 24, 2011
Buildings / Churches

This is a detail from the mission at San Rafael, North of San Francisco. Unfortunately the original mission buildings were all destroyed, so this structure and those surrounding it — although pretty — do not have the historical significance one might expect.

Saint Rafael is an archangel, one of three named in Roman Catholic tradition. The other two are Gabriel and Michael. Other traditions name more. There is a non-canonical book of the Hebrew Bible or Old Testament that names seven archangels, but it is not officially recognized by any Jewish or Chistian authority I am aware of, except perhaps the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Other traditions do, however, recognize more than three archangels: I believe the Eastern Orthodox traditions recognize seven and Islam recognizes six. Also, Roman Catholicism does not hold that there are only three, but merely that there are only three whose names we know. Archangels are effectively the highest ranks of angels in all traditions, and all have names ending in “el.” “Rafael” means “God has healed.”
This image was processed entirely on my iPad, using Nik Software’s Snapseed App. You can get the app through the button below.