Gabriel

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Gabriel, archangel. Mentioned in the OT as the angel who helped Daniel understand his visions (Dan. 8: 15 and 9: 21), Gabriel appears in the NT as the prophet of the birth of John the Baptist to his father Zachariah Luke 1: 11–20), but above all as the angel who brought the tidings to Mary of the future birth of Jesus (Luke 1: 26–38). Gabriel's name was first invoked in the Liturgy in the Litany of Saints, which according to E. Bishop dates in substance from the pontificate of Sergius (687–701). Representations of the angels in art, however, and of Gabriel in particular, go back even further: an ancient chapel in Rome on the Appian Way has frescoes so prominent that a Gabriel dedication is likely; medieval representations were frequent. In England six ancient churches were dedicated to Gabriel. He was declared the patron of post office, telephone, and telegraph workers by Benedict XV in 1921.

Appropriately, his feast was closely connected with that of the Annunciation: in the West on 24 March, in the East, 26 March. Since 1969, however, his feast is kept with that of Michael and All Angels on 29 September.

Bibliography
Click here for a list of abbreviations used in this bibliography.

• E. Bishop, Liturgica Historica (1918), pp. 142–51; O.D.C.C., s.v.; B.T.A., i. 667–8 and iii. 680

An angel in Jewish, Christian, and Muslim systems of belief. He is usually represented in the Bible as a messenger from God, bearing God's word to the Israelites and appearing to Mary, the mother of Jesus, at the Annunciation. Gabriel also revealed the sacred laws of the Koran to Muhammad.

An angel closely associated with the revelation of the Qur'an.

Gender: Masculine
Usage: English French
Pronounced: GAY-bree-el

From the Hebrew name גַבְרִיאֵל (Gavri'el) which meant "strong man of God". Gabriel is one of the seven archangels in Hebrew tradition. He appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament, where he serves as the announcer of the births of John to Zechariah and Jesus to Mary. According to Islamic tradition he was the angel who dictated the Qur'an to Muhammad.

English, Scottish, French, German, Spanish, Portuguese, and Jewish: from the Hebrew personal name Gavriel ‘God has given me strength’. This was borne by an archangel in the Bible (Daniel 8:16 and 9:21), who in the New Testament announced the impending birth of Jesus to the Virgin Mary (Luke 1:26-38). It has been a comparatively popular personal name in all parts of Europe, among both Christians and Jews, during the Middle Ages and since. Compare Michael and Raphael. It was the name of a famous patriarch and archbishop of Serbia (died 1659). In Russia it was the official Christian name of St. Vsevolod (died 1138). In the U.S. this name has absorbed cognate names from other European languages, for example the Greek patronymics Gabrielis, Gabrielatos, Gabrielidis, Gabrielakos, Gabrieloglou.

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