“Rejoice, full of grace: the Lord is with you. […] And behold, you will conceive a son, and bear him, and you will call him Jesus. He will be great, and he will be called the Son of the Most High.” (cf. Lk 1:26-38): The best-known announcement in history is that of the Archangel Gabriel to Mary. The tradition of the Church identifies in the divine Announcement through the Angel to the Virgin, and in her docile acceptance of the divine will, the unique moment in which God assumed human nature, “the Word became flesh” (cf. Jn 1:14). For the Church, the Incarnation of the Word was a reality thanks to the free acceptance of the divine will to be an immaculate creature. The Annunciation is therefore celebrated in the liturgical calendar on March 25. To Mary, Gabriel also revealed: “The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, whoever is born will be holy and will be called the Son of God” (cf. Lk 1:35). In the Gospel of Luke we read that the archangel Gabriel “was sent” (cf. Lk 1:26); he is therefore the messenger of God, charged with explaining to “the virgin betrothed to a man of the house of David, called Joseph” (cf. Lk 1:27) how God would have been incarnated.
Patron of telecommunications
Mentioned several times in the Old and New Testament, Gabriel, messenger par excellence, is the patron saint of communication. Pius XII, in an Apostolic Brief of 1951, considered it appropriate to ensure the special benefit of heavenly protection “to these marvellous sciences and to those who put them into practice or explore them”, that is, “to telegraph to those who are absent with marvellous speed, to telephone at extraordinary distances, to send messages by air waves and, finally, to contemplate the vision of things and facts that are very far from the places where they live”. “We constitute and declare the Archangel Saint Gabriel, heavenly patron of this profession, of its specialists and employees”, writes Pope Pacelli. Since then, the Archangel Gabriel has also been declared Patron of Vatican Radio. In addition to him, the Scriptures mention the archangels Michael and Raphael, invested with different tasks. Formerly celebrated on many different dates, with the reforms of the Second Vatican Council, the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are today remembered on a single day: their liturgical memory occurs on September 29.
The announcements of the Archangel Gabriel
The biblical episodes in which Gabriel is the protagonist are narrated in the book of the prophet Daniel. In Dn 8, 15-18 the archangel appears to Daniel to explain the meaning of a mysterious vision, while in a second appearance, in Dn 9, 20-27, he predicts certain events. In the Gospel of Luke (Lk 1, 8-20) he appears when he tells Zechariah of the birth of his son John. “An angel of the Lord appeared to him, standing on the right side of the altar of incense.” (Lk 1, 11) “Your wife Elizabeth will bear you a son, and you will name him John,” (Lk 1, 13). Zechariah, incredulous at this announcement, asks for an explanation, not considering the happy event possible due to his old age and the advanced age of his wife. The Archangel’s response gives further details of his identity: “I am Gabriel, who stands before God and has been sent to speak to you with this good news.” (cf. Lk 1:19) Gabriel thus revealed more clearly that he was a heavenly creature, that he was always before God and that he was his faithful messenger.
