There is an entire book of the Bible that sees him as the protagonist. The Archangel Raphael is the companion of Tobias, a young son of Tobit and Anna, who has been entrusted by his father with a delicate mission, which requires facing a difficult journey not without danger.
The great heart of Tobit
The story is told in the Book of Tobit and takes place during the time of the Maccabean revolts. Tobit, the young man’s father, is a generous man who, during the period of the Assyrian deportation, goes out of his way to alleviate the suffering of his fellow countrymen. He shares his goods with the poorest, is generous in alms, punctually pays the tithes of what he collects from his lands and livestock. His piety even leads him to take charge of the burial of abandoned corpses. The vicissitudes of life see him lose all his goods and, after a gesture of charity, also his sight. At this point, Tobit asks his son for help.
The young Tobias, his father, asks him to go to a distant town to recover a large amount of money, which he had given to a friend. The young man prepares to travel and, advised by Tobit, he looks for a guide to accompany him. The first person Tobias meets is a traveler, an expert in those areas, who agrees to travel with him. During a pause on the Tigris River, a large fish attacks the young man, who is first frightened and then, encouraged by the traveler – who is the Archangel Raphael incognito – catches the fish, and, always following the directions of the traveler, takes out the heart, liver and gall of the fish.
Sara
Almost reaching the goal, the Archangel advises Tobias to stay with some relatives, where he meets his cousin Sara, whom the law of Moses reserves for him as a wife. The young woman had already been married seven times, and her husbands had been killed on the very night of the wedding by Asmodeus, who was jealous of the young woman. Sarah, who would have wanted to hang herself out of shame and had given up just to avoid causing her parents further pain, agrees to marry Tobias, and Asmodeus is defeated by the heart and liver of the fish, which the traveler advises him to put in the brazier of perfumes, so that the demon would flee.
The secret revealed
After the wedding, Tobias returns to his father because he now knows how to cure him of blindness. It is once again the fish, this time the gall, anointed on Tobit’s eyes, that restores his father’s sight. Tobias wanted to reward the traveler for all his support, but calling the two aside, his travelling companion reveals his identity. He explains that he had been sent by God, drawn by the prayers and charity of each person, to heal and guide them, and says of himself: “I am Raphael, one of the seven angels who stand before the glory of the Lord and have access to his presence.” This sacred story gave life to a practice: in the Middle Ages, when a teenager or a young man left home for the first time, they carried with them a tablet depicting them as Tobias accompanied by the Archangel.
