อัครสาวก , อัครเทวดา

[วสวัตตีมาร]

ขอรับทราบและเรียนรู้ ในเรื่องของ อัครสาวก และ อัครเทวดา...เท่าที่ค้นหายังไม่พบแบบละเอียด

เลยครับ...ขอบใจทุกท่านที่เข้ามาช่วยแนะนำ ไขข้อปุจฉา ครับ

[Anonymous]

จะเอาประวัติของแต่ละองค์ หรือ ว่าจะเอาที่กล่าวถึงในพระคัมภีร์ละคะ

ถ้าเอาที่มีในพระคัมภีร์ จะมีเอ่ยถึงทั่วไปทั้งเล่มคะ
ส่วนอัครเทวดาจะอยู่ในพระธรรมเก่า




ชื่อของอัครสาวกทั้ง 12 นะคะ


มธ 10:2-4
(2)อัครสาวกสิบสองคนมีนามดังนี้คนแรกคือซีโมน ผู้มีสมญาว่าเปโตร กับอันดรูว์น้องชายของเขา ยากอบบุตรของเศเบดีกับยอห์นน้องชาย
(3)ฟิลิปและบาร์โธโลมิว โธมัสและมัทธิวคนเก็บภาษี ยากอบบุตรอัลเฟอัส และธัดเดอัส
(4)ซีโมนจากกลุ่มชาตินิยม และยูดาสอิสคาริโอท ต่อมายูดาสผู้นี้ทรยศพระองค์



อยากจะหาประวัติเป็นภาษาไทยให้นะคะ แต่คิดว่า
ฉบับภาษาอังกฤษน่าจะละเอียดกว่า

[Anonymous]

St. Peter




Simon Peter or Cephas, the first pope, Prince of the Apostles, and founder, with St. Paul, of the see of Rome.

Peter was a native of Bethsaida, near Lake Tiberias, the son of John, and worked, like his brother St. Andrew, as a fisherman on Lake Genesareth. Andrew introduced Peter to Jesus, and Christ called Peter to become adisciple. In Luke is recounted the story that Peter caught so large an amount of fish that he fell down before the feet of Jesus and was told by the Lord,

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Andrew



Andrew, like his brother Simon Peter, was a fisherman. He became a disciple of the great St. John the Baptist, but when John pointed to Jesus and said, "Behold the Lamb of God!" Andrew understood that Jesus was greater. At once he left John to follow the Divine Master. Jesus knew that Andrew was walking behind him, and turning back, he asked, "what do you seek?" When Andrew answered that he would like to know where Jesus lived, Our Lord replied, "Come and see." Andrew had been only a little time with Jesus when he realized that this was truly the Messiah.

From then on, he chose to follow Jesus. Andrew was thus the first disciple of Christ. Next, Andrew brought his brother Simon (St. Peter) to Jesus and Jesus received him, too, as His disciple. At first the two brothers continued to carry on their fishing trade and family affairs, but later, the Lord called them to stay with Him all the time. He promised to make them fishers of men, and this time, they left their nets for good. It is believed that after Our Lord ascended into Heaven, St. Andrew went to Greece to preach the gospel. He is said to have been put to death on a cross, to which he was tied, not nailed. He lived two days in that state of suffering, still preaching to the people who gathered around their beloved Apostle. Two countries have chosen St. Andrew as their patron - Russia and Scotland.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. James the Greater Apostle



For James there was no indication that this was the day that his life would change. The dawn for him was not the bright beginning of a new day, but the end of long fruitless night of fishing. As James sat mending his nets in the boat with his brother John and his father Zebedee, he must have watched in wonder as his partner Simon brought in nets loaded with fish he had caught at the command of Jesus. Was he shocked when he saw Simon and his brother Andrew walk away from this incredible catch at a word from this same Jesus?

As he watched Jesus walk toward him followed by Simon and Andrew, did he feel curiosity, fear, hope, envy? Jesus didn't pass him by but, stopping by their boat, called James and his brother John to do just what Simon and Andrew had done. Without argument or discussion, James and John left their boat and even their father behind, and followed Jesus.

The first thing James saw after he followed Jesus was his teaching with authority in the synagogue and the cure of Simon's mother-in-law.

We all know that Jesus was the focus of James' life from then on, but it is also evident that James held a special place in Jesus' life.

He was chosen by Jesus to be one of the twelve apostles, given the mission to proclaim the good news, and authority to heal and cast out demons. To be named one of the twelve James must have had faith and commitment.

But even among the apostles he held a special place. When Jesus raised Jairus' daughter when all thought her dead, he only allowed James, John, and Peter to come with him. Even more important when he went up to the mountain to pray, he wanted James, John, and Peter to go with him. And it was there on the mountain they were privileged to witness what no one else had seen -- Jesus transfigured in his glory, speaking to Moses and Elijah, as the voice of God spoke from a cloud.

And with Simon Peter, James and John were the only ones of the apostles that Jesus gave a special name: Sons of Thunder.

To be singled out in these ways, James must have been a close and respected friend of Jesus.

It's no wonder then that James, along with John, felt that he had the right to go to Jesus and ask him to give them whatever they asked. As a mark of his love, Jesus didn't rebuke them but asked them what they wanted. They showed their lack of understanding of his mission when the asked that he let one of them sit on his right and the other on his left when he came into his glory. He replied that they didn't know what they were asking. They didn't see the cross in his future, but an earthly throne. Could they drink of the cup he would drink of? They replied that they could. He assured them they would indeed drink of that cup.

(Matthew has their mother asking for this favor for her sons. Despite the bad reputation their mother got for this, it should be remembered that she too had followed Jesus in his travels, providing for him, and was one of the women who stayed with Jesus as he was crucified when the apostles, including her son James, had fled.)

The other apostles were furious at this request. But Jesus used this opportunity to teach all of them that in order to be great one must be a servant.

James and John did show further lack of understanding of their friend and Lord when he was turned away by Samaritans. They wanted to use their newfound authority as apostles not to heal but to bring fire down on the town. (Perhaps Jesus gave them their Sons of Thunder nickname because of their passion, their own fire, or their temper.) Jesus did reprimand them for their unforgiving, vengeful view of their power.

But despite all these misunderstandings, it was still James, Peter, and John that Jesus chose to join him in prayer at the Garden of Gethsemane for his final prayer before his arrest. It must have hurt Jesus that the three of them fell asleep on this agonizing evening.

James did drink of the cup Jesus drank of, all too shortly after the Resurrection. Acts 12:1 tells us that James was one of the first martyrs of the Church. King Herod Agrippa I killed him with a sword in an early persecution of the Church. There is a story that the man who arrested James became a convert after hearing James speak at his trial and was executed with him.

James is called James the Greater because another younger apostle was named James. He should not be accused with this James, or the James who is a relative of Jesus, or the James who was an elder of the Church in Jerusalem and heard Peter's defense of baptizing Gentiles. James, son of Thunder, was dead by then.

Legends have sprung up that James evangelized Spain before he died but these stories have no basis in historical fact.

James is the patron saint of hatmakers, rheumatoid sufferers, and laborers.

In His Footsteps
What name would Jesus give you if he would describe who you are and your gifts?

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. John the Apostle




St. John, Apostle and Evangelist (Feast day - December 27th)

St. John, the son of Zebedee, and the brother of St. James the Great, was called to be an Apostle by our Lord in the first year of His public ministry. He became the "beloved disciple" and the only one of the Twelve who did not forsake the Savior in the hour of His Passion. He stood faithfully at the cross when the Savior made him the guardian of His Mother. His later life was passed chiefly in Jerusalem and at Ephesus. He founded many churches in Asia Minor. He wrote the fourth Gospel, and three Epistles, and the Book of Revelation is also attributed to him. Brought to Rome, tradition relates that he was by order of Emperor Dometian cast into a cauldron of boiling oil but came forth unhurt and was banished to the island of Pathmos for a year. He lived to an extreme old age, surviving all his fellow apostles, and died at Ephesus about the year 100.

St. John is called the Apostle of Charity, a virtue he had learned from his Divine Master, and which he constantly inculcated by word and example. The "beloved disciple" died at Ephesus, where a stately church was erected over his tomb. It was afterwards converted into a Mohammedan mosque.

John is credited with the authorship of three epistles and one Gospel, although many scholars believe that the final editing of the Gospel was done by others shortly after his death. He is also supposed by many to be the author of the book of Revelation, also called the Apocalypse, although this identification is less certain.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Philip



Philip was born in Bethsaida, Galilee. He may have been a disciple of John the Baptist and is mentioned as one of the Apostles in the lists of Matthew, Mark, Luke, and in Acts. Aside from the lists, he is mentioned only in John in the New Testament. He was called by Jesus Himself and brought Nathanael to Christ. Philip was present at the miracle of the loaves and fishes, when he engaged in a brief dialogue with the Lord, and was the Apostle approached by the Hellenistic Jews from Bethsaida to introduce them to Jesus. Just before the Passion, Jesus answered Philip's query to show them the Father, but no further mention of Philip is made in the New Testament beyond his listing among the Apostles awaiting the Holy Spirit in the Upper Room. According to tradition he preached in Greece and was crucified upside down at Hierapolis under Emperor Domitian. His feast day is May 3.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Bartholomew



St. Bartholomew, 1st. century, one of the 12.

All that is known of him with certainty is that he is mentioned in the synoptic gospels and Acts as one of the twelve apostles. His name, a patronymic, means "son of Tolomai" and scholars believe he is the same as Nathanael mentioned in John, who says he is from Cana and that Jesus called him an "Israelite...incapable of deceit." The Roman Martyrology says he preached in India and Greater Armenia, where he was flayed and beheaded by King Astyages. Tradition has the place as Abanopolis on the west coast of the Caspian Sea and that he also preached in Mesopotamia, Persia, and Egypt. The Gospel of Bartholomew is apochryphal and was condemned in the decree of Pseudo-Gelasius. Feast Day August 24.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Thomas



St. Thomas was a Jew, called to be one of the twelve Apostles. He was a dedicated but impetuous follower of Christ. When Jesus said He was returning to Judea to visit His sick friend Lazarus, Thomas immediately exhorted the other Apostles to accompany Him on the trip which involved certain danger and possible death because of the mounting hostility of the authorities. At the Last Supper, when Christ told His Apostles that He was going to prepare a place for them to which they also might come because they knew both the place and the way, Thomas pleaded that they did not understand and received the beautiful assurance that Christ is the Way, the Truth, and the Life. But St. Thomas is best known for his role in verifying the Resurrection of his Master. Thomas' unwillingness to believe that the other Apostles had seen their risen Lord on the first Easter Sunday merited for him the title of "doubting Thomas." Eight days later, on Christ's second apparition, Thomas was gently rebuked for his scepticism and furnished with the evidence he had demanded - seeing in Christ's hands the point of the nails and putting his fingers in the place of the nails and his hand into His side. At this, St. Thomas became convinced of the truth of the Resurrection and exclaimed: "My Lord and My God," thus making a public Profession of Faith in the Divinity of Jesus. St. Thomas is also mentioned as being present at another Resurrection appearance of Jesus - at Lake Tiberias when a miraculous catch of fish occurred. This is all that we know about St. Thomas from the New Testament. Tradition says that at the dispersal of the Apostles after Pentecost this saint was sent to evangelize the Parthians, Medes, and Persians; he ultimately reached India, carrying the Faith to the Malabar coast, which still boasts a large native population calling themselves "Christians of St. Thomas." He capped his left by shedding his blood for his Master, speared to death at a place called Calamine. His feast day is July 3rd and he is the patron of architects.

[~@Little lamb@~]

Saint Matthew



St. Matthew, one of the twelve Apostles, is the author of the first Gospel. This has been the constant tradition of the Church and is confirmed by the Gospel itself. He was the son of Alpheus and was called to be an Apostle while sitting in the tax collectors place at Capernaum. Before his conversion he was a publican, i.e., a tax collector by profession. He is to be identified with the "Levi" of Mark and Luke.

His apostolic activity was at first restricted to the communities of Palestine. Nothing definite is known about his later life. There is a tradition that points to Ethiopia as his field of labor; other traditions mention of Parthia and Persia. It is uncertain whether he died a natural death or received the crown of martyrdom.

St. Matthew's Gospel was written to fill a sorely-felt want for his fellow countrymen, both believers and unbelievers. For the former, it served as a token of his regard and as an encouragement in the trial to come, especially the danger of falling back to Judaism; for the latter, it was designed to convince them that the Messiah had come in the person of Jesus, our Lord, in Whom all the promises of the Messianic Kingdom embracing all people had been fulfilled in a spiritual rather than in a carnal way: "My Kingdom is not of this world." His Gospel, then, answered the question put by the disciples of St. John the Baptist, "Are You He Who is to come, or shall we look for another?"

Writing for his countrymen of Palestine, St. Matthew composed his Gospel in his native Aramaic, the "Hebrew tongue" mentioned in the Gospel and the Acts of the Apostles. Soon afterward, about the time of the persecution of Herod Agrippa I in 42 AD, he took his departure for other lands. Another tradition places the composition of his Gospel either between the time of this departure and the Council of Jerusalem, i.e., between 42 AD and 50 AD or even later. Definitely, however, the Gospel, depicting the Holy City with its altar and temple as still existing, and without any reference to the fulfillment of our Lord's prophecy, shows that it was written before the destruction of the city by the Romans in 70 AD, and this internal evidence confirms the early traditions.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. James the Lesser



St. James the Less, the author of the first Catholic Epistle, was the son of Alphaeus of Cleophas. His mother Mary was either a sister or a close relative of the Blessed Virgin, and for that reason, according to Jewish custom, he was sometimes called the brother of the Lord. The Apostle held a distinguished position in the early Christian community of Jerusalem. St. Paul tells us he was a witness of the Resurrection of Christ; he is also a "pillar" of the Church, whom St. Paul consulted about the Gospel.

According to tradition, he was the first Bishop of Jerusalem, and was at the Council of Jerusalem about the year 50. The historians Eusebius and Hegesippus relayed that St. James was martyred for the Faith by the Jews in the Spring of the year 62, although they greatly esteemed his person and had given him the surname of "James the Just."

Tradition has always recognized him as the author of the Epistle that bears his name. Internal evidence based on the language, style, and teaching of the Epistle reveals its author as a Jew familiar with the Old Testament, and a Christian thoroughly grounded in the teachings of the Gospel. External evidence from the early Fathers and Councils of the Church confirmed its authenticity and canonicity.

The date of its writing cannot be determined exactly. According to some scholars it was written about the year 49 A.D. Others, however, claim it was written after St. Paul's Epistle to the Romans (composed during the winter of 57-58 A.D.). It was probably written between the years 60 and 62 A.D.

St. James addresses himself to the "twelve tribes that are in the Dispersion," that is, to Christians outside Palestine; but nothing in the Epistle indicates that he is thinking only of Jewish Christians. St. James realizes full well the temptations and difficulties they encounter in the midst of paganism, and as a spiritual father, he endeavors to guide and direct them in the faith. Therefore, the burden of his discourse is an exhortation to practical Christian living.

[~@Little lamb@~]

Saint Matthias
Apostle



How does one qualify to be an apostle?

The first act of the apostles after the Ascension of Jesus was to find a replacement for Judas. With all the questions, doubts, and dangers facing them, they chose to focus their attention on finding a twelfth apostle. Why was this important? Twelve was a very important number to the Chosen People: twelve was the number of the twelve tribes of Israel. If the new Israel was to come from the disciples of Jesus, a twelfth apostle was needed.

But Jesus had chosen the original twelve. How could they know whom he would choose?

One hundred and twenty people were gathered for prayer and reflection in the upper room, when Peter stood up to propose the way to make the choice.

Peter had one criterion, that, like Andrew, James, John, and himself, the new apostle be someone who had been a disciple from the very beginning, from his baptism by John until the Ascension. The reason for this was simple, the new apostle would must become a witness to Jesus' resurrection. He must have followed Jesus before anyone knew him, stayed with him when he made enemies, and believed in him when he spoke of the cross and of eating his body -- teachings that had made others melt away.

Two men fit this description -- Matthias and Joseph called Barsabbas. They knew that both these men had been with them and with Jesus through his whole ministry. But which one had the heart to become a witness to his resurrection. The apostles knew that only the Lord could know what was in the heart of each. They cast lots in order to discover God's will and Matthias was chosen. He was the twelfth apostle and the group was whole again as they waited for the coming of the Holy Spirit.

That's the first we hear of Matthias in Scripture, and the last. Legends like the Acts of Andrew and Matthias testify to Matthias' enthusiastic embrace of all that being an apostle meant including evangelization, persecution, and death in the service of the Lord.

How does one qualify to be an apostle?

Clement of Alexandria says that Matthias, like all the other apostles, was not chosen by Jesus for what he already was, but for what Jesus foresaw he would become. He was elected not because he was worthy but because he would become worthy. Jesus chooses all of us in the same way. What does Jesus want you to become?

In His Footsteps:
Have you ever felt like an afterthought, a latecomer? Or have you ever resented someone new who was added to your group? Try to see your community as not complete without the newcomer, whether you or someone else. Welcome any newcomers to your parish, work, or family community this week as someone chosen by God.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Simon



ST. SIMON is surnamed the Cananaean or Canaanite, and the Zealot, to distinguish him from St. Peter, and from St. Simeon, the brother of St. James the Less, and his successor in the see of Jerusalem. From the first of these surnames some have thought that St. Simon was bom at Cana, in Galilee. Certain modern Greeks pretend that it was at his marriage that our Lord turned the water into wine. It is not to be doubted but he was a Galilaean: Theodoret says, of the tribe either of Zabulon or Nepthali But as for the surname of Cananaean, it has in Syro- Chaldaic the same signification which the word Zelotes bears in Greek. St. Luke translated it, the other evangelists retained the original name; for Canath in Syro-Chaldaic, or modern Hebrew, signifies Zeal, as St. Jerome observes. Nicephorus Calixti, a modern Greek historian, tells us this name was given to St. Simon only from the time of his apostleship, wherein he expressed an ardent zeal and affection for his Master, was an exact observer of all the rules of his religion, and opposed with a pious warmth all those who swerved from it. As the evangelists take no notice of such a circumstance, Hammond and Grotius think that St. Simon was called the Zealot, before his coming to Christ, because he was one of that particular sect or party among the Jews called Zealots, from a singular zeal they professed for the honor of God, and the purity of religion. A party called Zealots were famous in the war of the Jews against the Romans. They were main instruments in instigating the people to shake off the yoke of subjection; they assassinated many of the nobility and others, in the streets, filled the temple itself with bloodshed and other horrible profanations, and were the chief cause of the ruin of their country. But no proof is offered by which it is made to appear that any such party existed in our Savior's time, though some then maintained that it was not lawful for a Jew to pay taxes to the Romans. At least if any then took the name of Zealots, they certainly neither followed the impious conduct, nor adopted the false and inhuman maxims of those mentioned by Josephus in his history of the Jewish war against the Romans.

St. Simon, after his conversion, was zealous for the honor of his Master, and exact in all the duties of the Christian religion; and showed a pious indignation towards those who professed this holy faith with their mouths, but dishonored it by the irregularity of their fires. No further mention appears of him in the gospels, than that he was adopted by Christ into the college of the apostles. With the rest he received the miraculous gifts of the Holy Ghost, which he afterwards exercised with great zeal and fidelity. Nicephorus Calixti, and some other modern Greeks, pretend, that after preaching in Mauritania, and other parts of Africa, he sailed into Britain, and having enlightened the minds of many with the doctrine of the gospel, was crucified by the infidels. But of this there appears no shadow of probability, and the vouchers, by many inconsistencies, destroy the credit of their own assertion. If this apostle preached in Egypt, Cyrene, and Mauritania, he returned into the East; for the Martyrologies of St. Jerome, Bede, Ado, and Usuard place his martyrdom in Persia, at a city called Suanir, possibly in the country of the Suani, a people in Colchis, or a little higher in Sarmatia, then allied with the Parthians in Persia, which may agree with a passage in the Acts of St. Andrew, that in the Cimmerian Bosphorus there was a tomb in a grot, with an inscription, importing that Simon the Zealot was interred there. His death is said in these Martyrologies to have been procured by the idolatrous priests. Those who mention the manner of his death say he was crucified. St. Peter's church on the Vatican a Rome, and the cathedral of Toulouse are said to possess the chief portions of the relics of SS. Simon and Jude.

[~@Little lamb@~]

คนสุดท้าย ไม่ได้เป็นSaint เนื่องจากทรยศพระเยซูคะ


Judas Iscariot



The Apostle who betrayed his Divine Master. The name Judas (Ioudas) is the Greek form of Judah (Hebrew "praised"), a proper name frequently found both in the Old and the New Testament. Even among the Twelve there were two that bore the name, and for this reason it is usually associated with the surname Iscariot [Heb. "a man of Kerioth" or Carioth, which is a city of Judah (cf. Joshua 15:25)]. There can be no doubt that this is the right interpretation of the name, though the true origin is obscured in the Greek spelling, and, as might be expected, other derivations have been suggested (e.g. from Issachar).

Very little is told us in the Sacred Text concerning the history of Judas Iscariot beyond the bare facts of his call to the Apostolate, his treachery, and his death. His birthplace, as we have seen, is indicated in his name Iscariot, and it may be remarked that his origin separates him from the other Apostles, who were all Galileans. For Kerioth is a city of Judah. It has been suggested that this fact may have had some influence on his career by causing want of sympathy with his brethren in the Apostolate. We are told nothing concerning the circumstances of his call or his share in the ministry and miracles of the Apostles. And it is significant that he is never mentioned without some reference to his great betrayal.

[~@Little lamb@~]

แต่เรามี นักบุญ ยูดา พี่เราเชื่อว่าเป็นญาติของพระเยซู


St. Jude of Thaddaeus



St. Jude, known as Thaddaeus, was a brother of St. James the Less, and a relative of Our Saviour. St. Jude was one of the 12 Apostles of Jesus.

Ancient writers tell us that he preached the Gospel in Judea, Samaria, Idumaea, Syria, Mesopotamia, and Lybia. According to Eusebius, he returned to Jerusalem in the year 62, and assisted at the election of his brother, St. Simeon, as Bishop of Jerusalem.

He is an author of an epistle (letter) to the Churches of the East, particularly the Jewish converts, directed against the heresies of the Simonians, Nicolaites, and Gnostics. This Apostle is said to have suffered martyrdom in Armenia, which was then subject to Persia. The final conversion of the Armenian nation to Christianity did not take place until the third century of our era.

Jude was the one who asked Jesus at the Last Supper why He would not manifest Himself to the whole world after His resurrection. Little else is known of his life. Legend claims that he visited Beirut and Edessa; possibly martyred with St. Simon in Persia.

Jude is invoked in desperate situations because his New Testament letter stresses that the faithful should persevere in the environment of harsh, difficult circumstances, just as their forefathers had done before them. Therefore, he is the patron saint of desperate cases and his feast day is October 28. Saint Jude is not the same person as Judas Iscariot who betrayed Our Lord and despaired because of his great sin and lack of trust in God's mercy.

[~@Little lamb@~]

ต่อไปเป็น อัครเทวดานะคะ


St. Michael the Archangel



(Hebrew "Who is like God?").

St. Michael is one of the principal angels; his name was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers. Four times his name is recorded in Scripture:

(1) Daniel 10:13 sqq., Gabriel says to Daniel, when he asks God to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem: "The Angel [D.V. prince] of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me . . . and, behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me . . . and none is my helper in all these things, but Michael your prince";

(2) Daniel 12, the Angel speaking of the end of the world and the Antichrist says: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people."

(3) In the Catholic Epistle of St. Jude: "When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses", etc. St. Jude alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of a dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, an account of which is also found in the apocryphal book on the assumption of Moses (Origen, "De principiis", III, 2, 2). St. Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan, however, by disclosing it, tried to seduce the Jewish people to the sin of hero-worship. St. Michael also guards the body of Eve, according to the "Revelation of Moses" ("Apocryphal Gospels", etc., ed. A. Walker, Edinburgh, p. 647).

(4) Apocalypse 12:7, "And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon." St. John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time. According to the Fathers there is often question of St. Michael in Scripture where his name is not mentioned. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, "to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24), the angel through whom God published the Decalogue to his chosen people, the angel who stood in the way against Balaam (Numbers 22:22 sqq.), the angel who routed the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35).

Following these Scriptural passages, Christian tradition gives to St. Michael four offices:

To fight against Satan.
To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages.
To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment ("signifer S. Michael repraesentet eas in lucam sanctam", Offert. Miss Defunct. "Constituit eum principem super animas suscipiendas", Antiph. off. Cf. "Hermas", Pastor, I, 3, Simil. VIII, 3).
Regarding his rank in the celestial hierarchy opinions vary; St. Basil (Hom. de angelis) and other Greek Fathers, also Salmeron, Bellarmine, etc., place St. Michael over all the angels; they say he is called "archangel" because he is the prince of the other angels; others (cf. P. Bonaventura, op. cit.) believe that he is the prince of the seraphim, the first of the nine angelic orders. But, according to St. Thomas (Summa Ia.113.3) he is the prince of the last and lowest choir, the angels. The Roman Liturgy seems to follow the Greek Fathers; it calls him "Princeps militiae coelestis quem honorificant angelorum cives". The hymn of the Mozarabic Breviary places St. Michael even above the Twenty-four Elders. The Greek Liturgy styles him Archistrategos, "highest general" (cf. Menaea, 8 Nov. and 6 Sept.).

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Raphael




The name of this archangel (Raphael = "God has healed") does not appear in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the Septuagint only in the Book of Tobias. Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself "Azarias the son of the great Ananias". The story of the adventurous journey during which the protective influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding "in the desert of upper Egypt" of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of Sara, daughter of Raguel, is picturesquely related in Tobit 5-11, to which the reader is referred. After the return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tobit 12:15. Cf. Revelation 8:2). Of these seven "archangels" which appear in the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, Gabriel, Michael and Raphael, are mentioned in the canonical Scriptures. The others, according to the Book of Enoch (cf. xxi) are Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel, while from other apocryphal sources we get the variant names Izidkiel, Hanael, and Kepharel instead of the last three in the other list.

Regarding the functions attributed to Raphael we have little more than his declaration to Tobias (Tobit 12) that when the latter was occupied in his works of mercy and charity, he (Raphael) offered his prayer to the Lord, that he was sent by the Lord to heal him of his blindness and to deliver Sara, his son's wife, from the devil. The Jewish category of the archangels is recognized in the New Testament (1 Thessalonians 4:15; Jude 9), but only Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name. Many commentators, however, identify Raphael with the "angel of the Lord" mentioned in John 5. This conjecture is base both on the significance of the name and on the healing role attributed to Raphael in the Book of Tobias. The Church assigns the feast of St. Raphael to 24 October. The hymns of the Office recall the healing power of the archangel and his victory over the demon. The lessons of the first Nocturn and the Antiphons of the entire Office are taken from the Book of Tobias, and the lessons of the second and third Nocturns from the works of St. Augustine, viz. for the second Nocturn a sermon on Tobias (sermon I on the fifteenth Sunday), and for the third, a homily on the opening verse of John, v. The Epistle of the Mass is taken from the twelfth chapter of Tobias, and the Gospel from John 5:1-4, referring to the pool called Probatica, where the multitude of the infirm lay awaiting the moving of the water, for "an angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved.And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under". Thus the conjecture of the commentators referred to above is confirmed by the official Liturgy of the Church.

[~@Little lamb@~]

St. Gabriel the Archangel



"Fortitudo Dei", one of the three archangels mentioned in the Bible. Only four appearances of Gabriel are recorded:


In Dan., viii, he explains the vision of the horned ram as portending the destruction of the Persian Empire by the Macedonian Alexander the Great, after whose death the kingdom will be divided up among his generals, from one of whom will spring Antiochus Epiphanes.
In chapter ix, after Daniel had prayed for Israel, we read that "the man Gabriel . . . . flying swiftly touched me" and he communicated to him the mysterious prophecy of the "seventy weeks" of years which should elapse before the coming of Christ. In chapter x, it is not clear whether the angel is Gabriel or not, but at any rate we may apply to him the marvellous description in verses 5 and 6.
In N.T. he foretells to Zachary the birth of the Precursor, and
to Mary that of the Saviour.
Thus he is throughout the angel of the Incarnation and of Consolation, and so in Christian tradition Gabriel is ever the angel of mercy while Michael is rather the angel of judgment. At the same time, even in the Bible, Gabriel is, in accordance with his name, the angel of the Power of God, and it is worth while noting the frequency with which such words as "great", "might", "power", and "strength" occur in the passages referred to above. The Jews indeed seem to have dwelt particularly upon this feature in Gabriel's character, and he is regarded by them as the angel of judgment, while Michael is called the angel of mercy. Thus they attribute to Gabriel the destruction of Sodom and of the host of Sennacherib, though they also regard him as the angel who buried Moses, and as the man deputed to mark the figure Tau on the foreheads of the elect (Ezekiel 4). In later Jewish literature the names of angels were considered to have a peculiar efficacy, and the British Museum possesses some magic bowls inscribed with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac incantations in which the names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel occur. These bowls were found at Hillah, the site of Babylon, and constitute an interesting relic of the Jewish captivity. In apocryphal Christian literature the same names occur, cf. Enoch, ix, and the Apocalypse of the Blessed Virgin.

As remarked above, Gabriel is mentioned only twice in the New Testament, but it is not unreasonable to suppose with Christian tradition that it is he who appeared to St. Joseph and to the shepherds, and also that it was he who "strengthened" Our Lord in the garden (cf. the Hymn for Lauds on 24 March). Gabriel is generally termed only an archangel, but the expression used by St. Raphael, "I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" (Tob., xii, 15) and St. Gabriel's own words, "I am Gabriel, who stand before God" (Luke 1, 19), have led some to think that these angels must belong to the highest rank; but this is generally explained as referring to their rank as the highest of God's messengers, and not as placing them among the Seraphim and Cherubim (cf. St. Thomas, I, Q. cxii, a.3; III, Q. xxx, a.2, ad 4um).

[~@Little lamb@~]

ที่เราทราบประวัติของอัครเทวดา มี 3 องค์คะ

แต่จริงๆแล้วมีมากกว่านั้น

[:+:Regina Pacis:+:]

http://www.newmana.com/yabb/http://newm ... eadid=2169

แบบว่าอันนี้เป็นรวมๆทั่วๆไปที่เคยไปเจอแล้วตั้งกระทู้ไว้น่ะค่ะ
เลยเอามาให้ดูไม่ทราบจะเกี่ยวกันรึเปล่า. .
แต่ยังไงก็หวังดีค่ะอยากให้อ่านอยู่ดี

^____^

[:+:Regina Pacis:+:]

อะโหพี่จิงละเอียดมักๆเลยค่ะขยันๆๆสุดริสส^__^
แม้จะเข้าใจมั่งไม่เข้าใจมั่ง :P
แต่ก็เป็นประโยชน์กับทุกคนค่ะ

ขอบคุณค่ะ

*thx

[King Zadin]

อัครเทวดามีคาเอล

บัดนั้น ที่กลางเวหาได้กลายเป็นสนามต่อสู้กัน ระหว่างเทวดาที่จงรักภักดีต่อพระเจ้า ซึ่งมีอัครเทวดามีคาเอลเป็นผู้บัญชาการ กับฝ่ายเทวดากบฏซึ่งมีลูซีแฟร์เป็นผู้บัญชาการ ฝ่าย เทวดากบฏประกาศก้องว่า

[King Zadin]

อัครเทวดากาเบรียล

อัครเทวดากาเบรียล เป็นผู้ที่พระเจ้าทรงใช้ไปแจ้งข่าวดีแก่พระนางมารีอา และนักบุญเศคาริยาห์ ข่าวดีนั้น เป็นข่าวที่มนุษยชาติรอคอยตั้งแต่หลายพันปีแล้ว เป็นข่าวการบังเกิดเป็นมนุษย์ของพระบุตรพระเจ้า เพื่อช่วยมนุษยชาติใช้โทษบาป และคืนชีวิตพระหรรษทานให้ เราจะสามารถเอาตัวรอดไปสวรรค์ ได้

เมื่อถึงเวลาที่พระบุตรพระเจ้าจะทรงบังเกิดเป็นมนุษย์ พระเจ้าทรงจัดให้มีผู้นำหน้า เพื่อแจ้งให้ประชาชนทราบว่า พระองค์เสด็จมาแล้ว เพื่อประกาศเตรียมจิตใจประชาชนให้ตอนรับพระองค์โดยสมควร ผู้ที่พระเจ้าทรงเลือกให้ทำหน้าที่นี้คือ นักบุญยอห์น บัปติสต์

การบังเกิดของยอห์น บัปติสต์ เป็นมาดังนี้

ในรัชสมัยพระเจ้าเฮโรดมหาราช ที่กรุงเยรูซาเลม มีครอบครัวหนึ่งเป็นคนชอบธรรม ดำเนินชีวิต ตามบัญญัติของพระเจ้า คือ ครอบครัวของปุโรหิตเศคาริยาห์ และนางเอลิซาเบธ วันหนึ่งถึงเวรเศคาริยาห์ ทำหน้าที่เผาเครื่องหอมบูชาในพระวิหาร สถานที่เผาเครื่องหอมบูชานั้นอยู่ภายในห้องศักดิ์สิทธิ์ของพระวิหาร และมีผ้าม่านปิดไม่ให้ใครสามารถเห็นผู้เผาได้ ส่วนประชาชนก็อธิษฐานภาวนาอยู่ภายนอก ขณะที่ กำลังทำหน้าที่อยู่นั้น เทวทูตองค์หนึ่งปรากฏขึ้น เมื่อเศคาริยาห์เห็นก็สะดุ้งตกใจกลัว แต่ทูตสวรรค์แจ้งข่าวดีแก่ท่านว่า

[King Zadin]

อัครเทวดาราฟาเอล

อัครเทวดาราฟาเอล พระเจ้าทรงมอบภารกิจให้ไปบำบัดความทุกข์ร้อนในเหตุการ์ยุ่งยากของผู้ชอบธรรม และแนะนำวิธีรักษาโรคบางอย่าง ดังที่จะกล่าวต่อไปในบทนี้

ครอบครัวโตบี (700 ปีก่อนคริสตกาล)

ที่เมืองซามาเรีย ในภาคกลางของประเทสอิสราเอล มีครอบครัวหนึ่งซึ่งสัตย์ซื่อต่อพระเจ้า และพระธรรมบัญญัติของพระองค์โดยเคร่งครัด คือ ครอบครัวของโตบี ผู้บิดา, อันนาผู้มารดา และ โตเบียบุตรชาย

วันหนึ่ง กองทัพของประเทศอัสสิเรีย ได้ยกมาตีเมืองซามาเรีย และสามารถตีแตกได้ ครอบ ครัวโตบี และชาวอิสราเอลมากมาย ถูกกวาดต้อนไปอยู่ที่เมืองนีนิเวในประเทศอัสสิเรีย (ประเทศอิรักปัจจุบัน)ปีแรกๆพวกเขาทำมาหากินอย่างเป็นสุข แต่ต่อมาเมื่อพระจ้าเซนาเคริบขึ้นครองประเทศ นั้น พวกเขาเริ่มถูกเบียดเบียนนานาประการ เป็นต้นทางศาสนา จนชาวอิสราเอลส่วนมากต้องยินยอมทำพิธีทางศาสนาอื่น แต่ครอบครัวโตบีคงเคร่งครัดในการถือตามขนมธรรมเนียมของบรรพบุรุษต่อไป ท่านกลัวบาปยิ่งกว่าภยันตรายใด ๆ ทั้งมีใจเอื้อเฟื้อเผื่อแผ่ทำบุญให้แก่เพื่อนร่วมชาติที่ยากจน ตามมีตามเกิดเสมอ

มีกฎหมายห้ามฝังศพชาวอิสราเอลที่ถูกฆ่าตาย แต่ให้ทิ้งไว้เป็นเหยื่อแร้งกา ถ้าใครบังอาจ ฝ่าฝืนคำสั่งนี้ จะต้องรับโทษอย่างหนัก วันหนึ่ง โตบีใช้โตเบียบุตรชายไปเชิญคนร่วมชาติที่ยากจนคนหนึ่ง ให้มาร่วมรับประทานอาหารเที่ยง เมื่อโตเบียกลับมา ได้แจ้งให้บิดาทราบว่า พี่น้องร่วมชาติคน หนึ่งเพิ่งถูกฆ่า ศพยังทิ้งอยู่กลางตลาด พอโตบีได้ยินดังนั้น ก็พักการรับประทานอาหารไว้ทันที และรีบไปแบกศพจากตลาดาซ่อนไว้ที่บ้านของตน พอตะวันตกดิน ก็จัดแจงขุดหลุมฝังศพนั้น โดยไม่กลัวว่า ตำรวจจะมาจับตัวไปลงโทษ

ค่ำวันนั้นอากาศอบอ้าว เมื่อโตบีกลับบ้าน หลังจากอาบน้ำแล้ว แทนที่จะไปนอนในบ้านท่าน กลับไปนอนชิดกำแพงลานบ้าน ที่โพรงกำแพงมีนกกระจอกอยู่หลายตัว บังเอิญมูลนกตกลงมาเข้านัยน์ตาโตบี ทำให้ตามีเยื่อขาวขึ้น ท่านไปหาหมอรักษาแต่ไม่ได้ผล ที่สุดนัยน์ตาสองข้างก็บอดมอง ไม่เห็นอะไรเลย ข่าวที่โตบีทำผิดกฎหมายโดยฝังศพผู้ตายนั้น ทราบไปถึงพระเจ้าแผ่นดินองค์ใหม่ จึงมีรับสั่งให้ตำรวจไปริบทรัพย์สมบัติของโตบี

บัดนี้ ครอบครัวโตบียากจนมาก นางอันนาจึงต้องรับจ้างปั่นฝ้ายทอผ้า เพื่อหารายได้มาเลี้ยง ครอบครัว วันหนึ่ง นางเอาผ้าที่เศรษฐีคนหนึ่งสั่ให้ทอไปส่ง นอกจากได้ค่าผ้าแล้ว นางยังได้ลูกแพะตัวหนึ่งเป็นบำเหน็จ เมื่อโตบีได้ยินเสียงลูกแพะร้อง ก็สงสัยคิดว่า เป็นของขโมย จึงบอกภรรยาให้เอา ไปคืนเจ้าของเสีย นางก็ตอบด้วยความไม่พอใจว่า

[พญามาราธิราช]

ขอบคุณทุกท่าน ที่ให้ความรู้............ครับ

[Junior Boy]

ได้รับความรู้เหมือนกันดีใจจัง

[~@Little lamb@~]

อะโหพี่จิงละเอียดมักๆเลยค่ะขยันๆๆสุดริสส^__^
แม้จะเข้าใจมั่งไม่เข้าใจมั่ง :P
แต่ก็เป็นประโยชน์กับทุกคนค่ะ

ขอบคุณค่ะ

*thx

เข้าใจมั่งไม่เข้าใจมั่ง ตรงไหนค่ะ :D