St. Gabriel is an archangel with power to announce God’s will to men. He is mentioned in the Hebrew Bible and the New Testament. Many Christian traditions — including Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, and Anglicanism — revere Gabriel as a saint.
In the Hebrew Bible, Gabriel appears to the prophet Daniel to explain his visions (Daniel 8:15–26, 9:21–27). The archangel also appears in the Book of Enoch and other ancient Jewish writings not preserved in Hebrew. Alongside the archangel Michael, Gabriel is described as the guardian angel of Israel, defending its people against the angels of the other nations.
In the New Testament, the Gospel of Luke relates the stories of the Annunciation, in which the angel Gabriel appears to Zechariah and the Virgin Mary, announcing to each the births of John the Baptist and Jesus, respectively (Luke 1:11–38).
Traditionally the Feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel was observed on March 24th.
