The Catholic Bible names three archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Yet Raphael himself, in the Book of Tobit, introduces himself as «one of the seven angels» who stand before the glory of the Lord. Who are the other four? The question has run through the centuries, giving rise to different lists, local cults and even official condemnations. At the centre of this story there is above all one name: Uriel.
The number seven
The idea of seven great angels before God appears in several texts. Besides the passage in Tobit, Revelation speaks of «the seven angels who stand before God», to whom seven trumpets are given, and of the «seven spirits» before the throne. In biblical tradition the number seven expresses fullness, like the seven days of creation or the seven branches of the lampstand.
Many scholars have noted a possible parallel with the seven Amesha Spentas of the Zoroastrian tradition, but the question of influence remains open.
The list in the Book of Enoch
The most important ancient source is the First Book of Enoch, a Jewish text that did not enter the Hebrew or the Catholic canon but is canonical in the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. In chapter 20 the «holy angels who watch» are listed, each with a task.
| Name | Task according to the text |
|---|---|
| Uriel | over the world and Tartarus |
| Raphael | over the spirits of men |
| Raguel | who takes vengeance on the world of the luminaries |
| Michael | over the best part of humankind, the people |
| Saraqael | over the spirits who sin |
| Gabriel | over paradise, the serpents and the cherubim |
| Remiel | over those who rise again |
The names and tasks vary according to the manuscripts and translations; the list should be read as evidence of a fluid tradition, not as a fixed catalogue.
Uriel, the angel of light
The name Uri'el is usually interpreted as «God is my light» or «fire of God». In the Book of Enoch, and particularly in the section known as the Book of the Luminaries, Uriel is the guide who shows Enoch the laws of the sun, moon and stars, the cycle of the months and the calendar. He is the angel of cosmic knowledge.
In the Fourth Book of Ezra, an apocryphal work that the Vulgate printed as an appendix, Uriel is sent to answer the prophet's anguished questions about evil and divine justice. His answers are often enigmatic: the angel invites Ezra to recognise the limits of human understanding, asking him to weigh the weight of fire or to measure the blast of the wind.
The eighth-century condemnation
The proliferation of angelic names worried church authorities. In 745 a synod gathered in Rome under Pope Zachary examined the case of Aldebert, a preacher active in Gaul who invoked angels with non-biblical names in a prayer. The synod condemned Aldebert and declared that those names, among them Uriel, Raguel and others, belonged to demons rather than angels, admitting only Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, the three names attested by recognised Scripture.
This decision explains why in the West Uriel never received an official cult, although he remained alive in literature and art. In Milton's Paradise Lost, for example, Uriel is the regent of the sun.
The Eastern tradition
The Eastern Churches followed a different path. In the Orthodox tradition seven archangels are venerated, usually given as Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel and Barachiel. Icons depict them with distinct attributes: Uriel, for example, is often shown with a sword or a flame. In the Coptic and Ethiopian Churches Uriel holds a place of particular prominence.
The sixteenth-century attempt
In the West the cult of the seven angels had a moment of revival in the sixteenth century, thanks to the Sicilian priest Antonio Lo Duca, who promoted the devotion in Palermo and then in Rome. It was partly due to his insistence that the Baths of Diocletian were transformed into the basilica of Santa Maria degli Angeli e dei Martiri, to a design by Michelangelo. The devotion to the seven names, however, was not officially approved.
A symbol of knowledge
In the symbolic reading Uriel represents the light of the intellect that illuminates the order of the cosmos, but also the limit of that light, as the dialogue with Ezra shows. Studio Esoterico Cornelio sees in the seven archangels an image of the totality of the forces that govern the world: a number that speaks of completeness, rather than a list to be fixed once and for all.
In short
- The Book of Tobit speaks of «seven angels» before God, but the Catholic Bible names only three.
- The First Book of Enoch lists seven holy angels, including Uriel, Raguel, Saraqael and Remiel.
- Uriel, «God is my light», is Enoch's guide to the secrets of the luminaries and Ezra's interlocutor.
- In 745 a Roman synod excluded non-biblical angelic names, Uriel included, from worship.
- The Eastern Churches venerate seven archangels and give Uriel a prominent place.
