Arch-Angel Raphael ("God has healed") of Chaldean origin, originally called Labial. Raphael is one of the three great Archangels in post-biblical lore. He first appears in the Book of Tobit (a work external to the Hebrew canon, apocryphal in Protestant Scripture, canonical in Catholic). In the Book of Tobit, Raphael acts as a companion and guide to Tobit"s son Tobias who journeys to Media from Nineveh. It is only at the end of the journey that Raphael reveals himself by name as "one of the seven holy angels" that attend the Throne of God.
Raphael is charged to heal the Earth, and through him, the Earth furnishes an abode for man, whom he also heals of his maladies.
Raphael is one of the three angels that visited Abraham (Genesis 18)—the other two angels identified are usually Gabriel and
