Gabriel

===Medieval Christian traditions===
<gallery>
File:Annonciation portail Reims.jpg|Archangel Gabriel at the façade of the [[Cathedral of Reims]], late 13th century
File:Llanbeblig Hours (f. 1r.) The Annunciation, Gabriel kneeling on one knee.jpg|''[[The Annunciation]]'' from the [[Llanbeblig Book of Hours]] (late 14th century), showing Gabriel kneeling on one knee
File:Gabriel from Vysotsky chin (14c, Tretyakov gallery).jpg|[[Icon]] of Gabriel, [[Byzantine Empire|Byzantine]], c. 1387–1395 ([[Tretyakov Gallery]])
File:Archangel Gabriel. Tsalenjikha fresco (Georgia, 14th c.).jpg|Archangel Gabriel. A fresco from the [[Tsalenjikha Cathedral]] by Cyrus Emanuel Eugenicus. 14th century.
File:0 Venise, statue de l'archange Gabriel - Palais des Doges.JPG|Statue of Archangel Gabriel (15th century), adorning the top of the northwest corner pillar of the [[Palazzo Ducale]] in [[Venice]]
File:Gabriel Archangel Hajdudorog.JPG|Gabriel on the southern deacons' door of the [[iconostasis of Hajdúdorog|iconostasis]] in the [[Cathedral of Hajdúdorog]], Hungary
</gallery>

In a famous early work, the "four homilies on the ''Missus Est'', [[Saint Bernard of Clairvaux]] (1090–1153 AD) interpreted Gabriel's name as "the strength of God", and his symbolic function in the gospel story as announcement of the strength or virtue of Christ, both as the strength of God incarnate and as the strength given by God to the timorous people who would bring into the world a fearful and troublesome event. "Therefore it was an opportune choice that designated Gabriel for the work he had to accomplish, or rather, because he was to accomplish it therefore he was called Gabriel."<ref>[[Saint Bernard of Clairvaux]], ''Four homilies on the Missus Est'' [https://fr.wikisource.org/wiki/Hom%C3%A9lies_sur_les_gloires_de_la_Vierge_m%C3%A8re/Premi%C3%A8re_hom%C3%A9lie], first homily, paragraph 2.</ref>

====Feast day====
The feast day of Saint Gabriel the Archangel was exclusively celebrated on 18 March according to many sources dating between 1588 and 1921; unusually, a source published in 1856<ref>{{cite web|title=The Catholic Directory, Ecclasiastical Register, and Almanac|year = 1856|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=XG42AAAAMAAJ&q=18th+of+march+archangel+gabriel+day&pg=PA9|access-date=29 April 2017}}</ref> has the feast celebrated on 7 April for unknown reasons (a parenthetical note states that the day is normally celebrated on 18 March). Writer [[Elizabeth Drayson]] mentions the feast being celebrated on 18 March 1588 in her 2013 book "The Lead Books of Granada".<ref>{{cite book |last=Drayson |first=Elizabeth |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=LwRfCwAAQBAJ&q=archangel+gabriel+18+march&pg=PA3 |title=The Lead Books of Granada |date=13 January 2016 |publisher=Palgrave Macmillan |isbn=978-1137358844 |edition=2013 |page=3}}</ref>

One of the oldest out-of-print sources placing the feast on 18 March, first published in 1608, is ''Flos sanctorum: historia general de la vida y hechos de Jesu-Christo ... y de los santos de que reza y haze fiesta la Iglesia Catholica ...'' by the [[Spain|Spanish]] writer [[Alonso de Villegas]]; a newer edition of this book was published in 1794.<ref>{{cite book |last=de Villegas |first=Alonso |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=D-MIM9Quh_sC&q=el+arc%C3%A1ngel+del+bautismo+gabriel+18+marzo&pg=PA250 |title=Flos sanctorum: historia general de la vida y hechos de Jesu-Christo ... |date=1794 |publisher=Imprenta de Isidro Aguasvivas |location=Spain |page=250 |language=es}}</ref> Another source published in Ireland in 1886 the ''[[Irish Ecclesiastical Record]]'' also mentions 18 March.<ref>{{cite book |date=1886 |title=The Irish Ecclesiastical Record |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=qKM9AAAAYAAJ&q=archangel+gabriel+18th+of+march+commemoration&pg=PA1112 |publisher=Browne and Nolan, 1886 |page=1112 }}</ref>

The feast of Saint Gabriel was included by [[Pope Benedict XV]] in the [[General Roman Calendar]] in 1921, for celebration on 24 March.<ref>''Butler's Lives of the saints'', vol. 1, edited by [[Herbert Thurston]] and [[Donald Attwater]], Christian Classics, 1981 {{ISBN|9780870610455}}.</ref> In 1969, the day was officially transferred to 29 September for celebration in conjunction with the feast of the archangels Ss. Michael and Raphael.<ref>''Calendarium Romanum'' (Libreria Editrice Vaticana, 1969), p. 119.</ref> The [[Church of England]] has also adopted the 29 September date, known as [[Michaelmas]].

The [[Eastern Orthodox Church]] and those [[Eastern Catholic Churches]] that follow the [[Byzantine Rite]] celebrate his [[feast day]] ([[Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers]]) on 8 November (for those churches that follow the traditional [[Julian Calendar]], 8 November currently falls on 21 November of the modern [[Gregorian Calendar]], a difference of 13 days). Eastern Orthodox commemorate him, not only on his November feast, but also on two other days:

* 26 March is the "[[Synaxis]] of the Archangel Gabriel" and celebrates his role in the [[Annunciation]] (eavetaking of the Annunciation)

* 13 July is also known as the "Synaxis of the Archangel Gabriel" and celebrates all the appearances and miracles attributed to Gabriel throughout history. The feast was first established on [[Mount Athos]] when, in the 9th century, during the reign of [[Byzantine Emperor|Emperor]] [[Basil II]] and Empress Constantina Porphyrogenitus and while [[Nicholas II Chrysoberges|Nicholas Chrysoverges]] was [[Ecumenical Patriarch of Constantinople|Patriarch of Constantinople]], the Archangel appeared in a cell<ref>{{Cite web|url=http://www.keliaxionestin.com/eng/?page_id=760|title=Ιερό Κελλί "Άξιον Εστί"}}</ref> near [[Karyes]], where he wrote with his finger on a stone tablet the hymn to the [[Theotokos]], "[[Axion Estin|It is truly meet ...]]".<ref>{{Cite book | last =Velimirovic | first =Bishop Nikolai | contribution =13 July: The Holy Archangel Gabriel | year =1985 | title =Prologue from Ochrid | place =Birmingham, UK | publisher =Lazarica Press | isbn =978-0-948298-05-9 | url =http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html?month=July&day=13&Go.x=6&Go.y=12 | access-date =31 July 2007 | url-status=dead | archive-url =https://web.archive.org/web/20070928014848/http://www.westsrbdio.org/prolog/my.html?month=July&day=13&Go.x=6&Go.y=12 | archive-date =28 September 2007 }}</ref>

Saint Gabriel the Archangel is [[Calendar of saints|commemorated]] on the [[Vigil (liturgy)|vigil]] of the Feast of the Annunciation by [[Antiochian Western Rite Vicariate]]<ref>{{Cite web |date=2012-01-11 |title=Calendar |url=http://www.stgregoryoc.org/calendar/ |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=St. Gregory the Great Orthodox Church |language=en-US}}</ref> and [[ROCOR]] [[Western Rite Orthodoxy|Western Rite]].<ref>{{Cite web |title=ROCOR Western Rite (Home) |url=https://www.rocor-wr.org/ |access-date=2022-07-09 |website=rocorwr |language=en}}</ref>

The [[Coptic Orthodox Church]] celebrates his feast on 13 [[Paoni]],<ref>{{cite web|url=https://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic-Books/Synaxarium-or-Synaxarion/Saints-Feasts/10-Bawoonah/13-Bawoonah-1-Gabriel-Angel.html|title=تذكار رئيس الملائكة الجليل جبرائيل "غبريال" - عيد سنكسار يوم 13 بؤونة، شهر بؤونة، الشهر القبطي |website=st-takla.org}}</ref> 22 [[Koiak]] and 26 [[Paoni]].<ref>{{cite web |last=Alex |first=Michael Ghaly |title=رئيس الملائكة الجليل جبرائيل - كتاب الملائكة |url=https://st-takla.org/Full-Free-Coptic-Books/FreeCopticBooks-014-Various-Authors/001-Al-Mala2ka/The-Angels__37-Archangel-Gabriel.html |website=st-takla.org}}</ref>

The [[Ethiopian Church]] celebrates his feast on 18 December (in the Ethiopian calendar), with a sizeable number of its believers making a pilgrimage to a church dedicated to "Saint Gabriel" in [[Kulubi]] and Wonkshet on that day.<ref>Nega Mezlekia, ''Notes from the Hyena's Belly: An Ethiopian Childhood'' (New York: Picador, 2000), p. 266. {{ISBN|0-312-28914-6}}.</ref>

In the [[Lutheran Church]]es, Gabriel is celebrated on the Feast of the Archangels on 29 September.<ref name="Blersch2019"/>

Additionally, Gabriel is the [[patron saint]] of messengers, those who work for broadcasting and telecommunications such as radio and television, postal workers, clerics, diplomats, and stamp collectors.<ref name="Guiley2004p140">{{cite book |last1=Guiley |first1=Rosemary |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=15XABtvHcEsC |title=Encyclopedia of Angels |publisher=Facts on File, Incorporated |year=2004 |isbn=9780816050239 |edition=2nd |location=New York, New York |page=140 |oclc=718132289 |quote="He is the patron saint to telecommunication workers, radio broadcasters, messengers, postal workers, clerics, diplomats, and stamp collectors." |access-date=15 November 2013}}</ref>

;Gabriel's horn
{{See also|Gabriel's Horn|label 1=Gabriel's Horn (Geometric figure)}}
A familiar [[Literary trope|image]] of Gabriel has him blowing a trumpet blast to announce the resurrection of the dead at the end of time. However, though the Bible mentions a trumpet blast preceding the resurrection of the dead, it never specifies Gabriel as the trumpeter. Different passages state different things: the angels of the Son of Man ([[Matthew 24]]:31); the voice of the Son of God ([[John 5]]:25–29); God's trumpet ([[First Epistle to the Thessalonians|I Thessalonians]] 4:16); seven angels sounding a series of blasts ([[Revelation 8]]–[[Revelation 11|11]]); or simply "a trumpet will sound" ([[First Epistle to the Corinthians|I Corinthians]] 15:52).<ref name="svm">S. Vernon McCasland, "Gabriel's Trumpet", ''Journal of Bible and Religion'' '''9''':3:159–161 (August 1941) {{JSTOR|1456405}}.</ref> Likewise the early Christian [[Church Fathers]] do not mention Gabriel as a trumpeter; and in Jewish and Muslim traditions, Gabriel is again not identified as a trumpeter.<ref>In Judaism, trumpets are prominent, and they seem to be blown by God himself, or sometimes [[Michael (archangel)|Michael]]. In Islamic tradition, it is [[Israfil]] who blows the trumpet, though he is not named in the [[Qur'an]].</ref>

The earliest known identification of Gabriel as a trumpeter comes from the Hymn of the Armenian Saint Nerses Shnorhali, "for Protection in the Night":<ref>{{Cite web|title=Peace Hour (After Sunset)|url=http://forums.orthodoxchristianity.net/attachments/the-peace-hour-pdf.18766/|url-status=dead|website=orthodoxchristianity.net|access-date=22 August 2021|archive-date=22 August 2021|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210822213239/http://forums.orthodoxchristianity.net/attachments/the-peace-hour-pdf.18766/}}</ref>

<blockquote>The sound of Gabriel's trumpet on the last night, make us worthy to hear, and to stand on your right hand among the sheep with lanterns of inextinguishable light; to be like the five wise virgins, so that with the bridegroom in the bride chamber we, his spiritual brides may enter into glory.</blockquote>

In 1455, in [[Armenian art]], there is an illustration in an Armenian manuscript showing Gabriel sounding his trumpet as the dead climb out of their graves.<ref>Walters MS 543, fol. 14.</ref>