St. Gabriel: Angel of the Incarnation
by: Richard S. Clifton

Saturday Ramblins, Vol. 1, No. 23 (October 24, 1998)

The Archangel Gabriel, described by Pascal P. Parente in his book, The Angels, as the highest-ranking female angel, is first mentioned in the Book of Daniel in the Old Testament (8:16ff). It is Gabriel who's role was central to redemption, first by giving Daniel the most accurate prophecy of the coming of Christ among all the books of the Old Testament (Ibid., and 9:21ff). Later, she was to play a central role in the Incarnation--God become man.

Gabriel, whose name means "Strength of God" in the ancient Hebrew, is the most closely associated with the beginning of the new covenant for it was she who appeared to the young virgin, Mary, bearing the news that God had selected her to be the mother of the Messiah. The importance of the event was reflected in Gabriel's deference to this young woman who was betrothed to a Nazarene carpenter. Here an an angel from on high addressed a simple girl as if she were a Queen. Nothing like it had happened before in the entire bible.

The story is told in detail, beginning in Luke 1:26. Greeting Mary as the favored one of God, Gabriel conceded to her human nature by allaying her fear at the strangeness of the apparition and the greeting. "Do not be afraid, Mary, for you have found favor with God (Luke 1:30)." The angel then informed her that she was to conceive a son whom she shall name Jesus and who will be "the Son of the Most High (Ibid, 31-32)."

Gabriel had to obtain Mary's consent as God allowed her to choose. Concerned that she was not married nor had she been with a man, the angel told her that the Holy Spirit would "come upon her (Ibid, 35)." Mary's reply to Gabriel opened the way for the great mystery of the Incarnation when she said, " ... I am the handmaid of the Lord. May it be done to me according to your word. (Ibid, 38)" And to show Mary that "nothing will be impossible with God," Gabriel revealed to her that her old cousin, Elizabeth, barren many years, was in the sixth month of her pregnancy. After Mary's acceptance, the angel departed to bring the good news to God and all the heavenly hosts.

Being intimately involved in both the prophecy of Christ and the initial Incarnation, it is most likely that it was Gabriel who appeared to the shepherds bringing them good tidings of great joy at the birth of Christ. After all, it was Gabriel who promised these tidings through Daniel and announced them to Mary.

Gabriel's role in the redemption did not end there. She continued as the special protector of the holy family--most probably the angel who appeared to Joseph in a dream warning him to take Mary and the Child Jesus and flee to Egypt to escape Herod (Matthew 2:13) and later was the angel who called the Holy Family back to Israel (Ibid, 19-20).

As Christ suffered His agony in the garden on the night before His death, "to strengthen Him an angel from heaven appeared to Him (Luke 22:43)." Gabriel was this comforting minister as Jesus asked His Father to remove the cup from him.

Finally, it is believed that it was St. Gabriel who rolled back the stone on that first Easter morning and informed the women who had come to anoint Jesus' body that He had arisen, thus fulfilling the promise of redemption for all mankind (Matthew 28:1-6). Given the role of this holy angel in the Incarnation and Redemption, it is Gabriel as the chief ambassador of God to humanity who will one day gather all the dead together at the final resurrection from the four corners of the earth. St. Paul refers to this in 1 Thesalonians 4:16 saying, "For the Lord himself, with a word of command, with the voice of an archangel and with the trumpet of God, will come down from heaven, and the dead in Christ will rise first."

At that time, Parente suggests St. Michael's defeat over Satan will be complete and Gabriel will take premier place among the angels. It is in the role of the angel of mercy and revelation that Gabriel's power is still evident today. For it is this angel, whose awesome form is described as having 140 pairs of wings, who protects us and leads us towards our own salvation.

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