The Angel Uriel

Uriel ( אוּרִיאֵל "El/ God is my light ", Auriel/Oriel
(God is my light) Standard Hebrew Uriʾel,
Tiberian Hebrew ʾÛrîʾēl) is one of the
archangels of post-Exilic Rabbinic tradition,
and also of certain Christian traditions. More
pragmatically, Uriel should be interpreted as
"lamp of God;" which shines forth light, in
part; since archaic languages are often
broader and less definitive in general.
In apocryphal, kabbalistic and occult works
Uriel has been equated or confused with Urial,
[1] Nuriel , Uryan, Jeremiel, Vretil, Sariel, Suriel,
Puruel, Phanuel, Jacob , Azrael and Raphael.
In Judaism and Christianity
Name and origins
The angels mentioned in the older books of
the Hebrew Bible are without names. Indeed,
rabbi Simeon ben Lakish of Tiberias (230–
270), asserted that all the specific names for
the angels were brought back by the Jews
from Babylon, and some modern
commentators would tend to agree. [ who? ] Of
the seven Archangels in the angelology of
post-Exilic Judaism, only two, Gabriel, and
Michael , are mentioned by name in the
Scriptures consistently recognised by both the
post- Jamnia Jewish tradition and the books
common to both the Catholic biblical canon
and the Protestant one. Raphael features
prominently in the deuterocanonical Book of
Tobit (initially accepted by both the Jewish
and Christian canons, but removed from the
Jewish canon in late antiquity and rejected by
the Protestant reformers in the 17th century).
The Book of Tobit is accepted as scriptural
by the Roman Catholic Church, the Eastern
Orthodox Church, and the Oriental Orthodox
Church.
Where a fourth archangel is added to the
named three, to represent the four cardinal
points, Uriel is generally the fourth. [2] Uriel is
listed as the fourth angel in Christian Gnostics
(under the name Phanuel ), by Gregory the
Great , and in the angelology of Pseudo-
Dionysius . However, the Book of Enoch clearly
distinguishes the two Angels; Uriel means
"the Light of God" while Phanuel means "the
Face of God". Uriel is the third angel listed in
the Testament of Solomon, the fourth being
Sabrael . [3]
Uriel appears in the Second Book of Esdras [4]
found in the Biblical apocrypha (called Esdras
IV in the Vulgate ) in which the prophet Ezra
asks God a series of questions, and Uriel is
sent by God to instruct him. According to the
Revelation of Esdras , the angels that will rule
at the end of the world are Michael , Gabriel,
Uriel, Raphael , Gabuthelon , Beburos , Zebuleon ,
Aker , and Arphugitonos . The last five listed
only appear in this book and nowhere else in
apocryphal or apocalyptic works. [3]
Uriel, right, in the Virgin of the Rocks
( Louvre version) by Leonardo da
Vinci , 1483–86.
In Christian apocryphal gospels Uriel plays a
role, differing between sources, in the rescue
of Jesus ' cousin John the Baptist from the
Massacre of the Innocents ordered by King
Herod . He carries John and his mother Saint
Elizabeth to join the Holy Family after their
Flight into Egypt . Their reunion is depicted in
Leonardo da Vinci 's Virgin of the Rocks . [5]
Uriel is often identified as a cherub and angel
of repentance. [6] He "stands at the Gate of
Eden with a fiery sword", [7] or as the angel
who "watches over thunder and terror". [8] In
the Apocalypse of Peter he appears as the
Angel of Repentance, who is graphically
represented as being as pitiless as any
demon. In the Life of Adam and Eve, Uriel is
regarded as the spirit (i.e., one of the
cherubs) of the third chapter of Genesis. He
is also identified as one of the angels who
helped bury Adam and Abel in Paradise. [3]
Stemming from medieval Jewish mystical
traditions, Uriel has also become the Angel of
Sunday ( Jewish Encyclopedia ), the Angel of
Poetry, and one of the Holy Sephiroth . Uriel is
depicted as the destroyer of the hosts of
Sennacherib.
He checked the doors of Egypt for lamb's
blood during the plague. He also holds the key
to the Pit during the End Times and led
Abraham to the West.
In modern angelology , Uriel is identified
variously as a seraph , cherub, regent of the
sun, flame of God, angel of the Divine
Presence, presider over Tartarus (hell),
archangel of salvation, and, in later scriptures,
identified with Phanuel "face of God". He is
often depicted carrying a book or a papyrus
scroll representing wisdom. Uriel is a patron
of the Arts.
"The Angelic Council" ("Ангельский
Собор"). Eastern Orthodox Church
icon of the "Seven Archangels ".
From left to right: St Jehudiel , St
Gabriel, St Selatiel, St Michael , St
Uriel, St Raphael , St Barachiel .
Beneath the mandorla of Christ
Emmanuel are representations of
Cherubim (blue) and Seraphim
(red).
In the Orthodox Churches , Uriel is
commemorated together with the other
archangels and angels with a feast day of the
" Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the
Other Bodiless Powers" on November 8 of the
liturgical calendar (for those churches which
follow the Julian Calendar, November 8 falls
on November 21 of the modern Gregorian
Calendar). In addition, every Monday
throughout the year is dedicated to the
angels.
In Thomas Heywood's Hierarchy of Blessed
Angels (1635), Uriel is described as an Angel
of the Earth. Heywood's list is actually of the
Angels of the Four Winds: Uriel (south),
Michael (east), Raphael (west) (serving also a
governor of the south, with Uriel), and Gabriel
(north). He is also listed as an Angel of the
four winds in the medieval Jewish Book of the
Angel Raziel[9] which lists him as Usiel
(Uzziel); according to it, this book was
inscribed on a sapphire stone and handed
down from Seraph to Metatron and then to
Adam.
At the Council of Rome of 745, Pope St.
Zachary , intending to clarify the Church's
teaching on the subject of angels and curb a
tendency toward angel worship, condemned
obsession with angelic intervention and
angelolatry, but reaffirmed the approval of the
practice of the reverence of angels. This
synod struck many angels' names from the
list of those eligible for veneration in the
Church of Rome, including Uriel. Only the
reverence of the archangels mentioned in the
recognized Catholic canon of scriptures,
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, remained licit.
In the first half of the 11th century Bulgarian
followers of the dualist heresy called
Bogomilism who lived in the dukedom of
Ahtum in present day Banat invoked Uriel in
rituals. This is witnessed by Gerard Sagredo ,
Catholic bishop of the area after 1028.
In Henry Wadsworth Longfellow 's translation
of The Golden Legend , Uriel is one of the
angels of the seven planets. Uriel is the angel
of Mars. He is also listed as such in Benjamin
Camfield's A Theological Discourse of Angels
(1678). [10]
Possibly Uriel's highest position is that of an
Angel of Presence, Prince of Presence, Angel
of the Face, Angel of Sanctification, Angel of
Glory. A Prince of the Presence is an angel
who is allowed to enter the presence of God.
Uriel along with Suriel, Jehoel , Zagagel,
Akatriel , Metatron, Yefefiah, Michael , Gabriel,
Raphael , and Nathanel ( Zathael ) holds this
position. The Angel of His Presence title is
often taken to mean Shekinah but it and the
other terms mentioned are also often used as
alternate names for the angel Metatron. R. H.
Charles comments in his translation of The
Book of Enoch that in later Judaism "we find
Uriel instead of Phanuel" as one of the four
angels of the presence.
A scriptural reference to an angel of presence
is found in Isaiah 63:9:
In Enoch
Main article: Book of Enoch
The Book of Enoch, which presents itself as
written by Enoch, mentions Uriel in many of
the component books. In Chapter IX which is
part of "The Book of the Watchers" (2nd
century BCE) only four Angels are mentioned
by name, these are Michael, Uriel, Raphael,
and Gabriel (though some versions have a
fifth angel: Suryal or Suriel). However the
later Chapter XX lists the name and function
of seven angels, these are "Uriel, one of the
holy angels, who is over the world and over
Tartarus ", Raphael, Raguel, Michael, Saraqâêl,
Gabriel, and Remiel .
The Book of the Angels as a whole tells us
that Uriel, Raphael, and Gabriel were present
before God to testify on behalf of Humankind .
They wish to ask for divine intervention during
the reign of the Fallen Gregori (Fallen
Watchers). These fallen take human wives
and produced half-angel, half-human offspring
called the Nephilim . Uriel is responsible for
warning Noah about the upcoming Great
Flood .
Then said the Most High, the Holy and Great
One spoke, and sent Uriel to the son of
Lamech, and said to him: "<Go to Noah> and
tell him in my name 'Hide thyself!' and reveal
to him the end that is approaching: that the
whole earth will be destroyed, and a deluge
is about to come upon the whole earth, and
will destroy all that is on it."
After judgment has been brought on the
Nephilim and the fallen ones including the two
main leaders Samyaza and Azazel, Uriel
discusses their fates.
"And Uriel said to me: 'Here shall stand the
angels who have connected themselves
with women, and their spirits assuming
many different forms are defiling mankind
and shall lead them astray into sacrificing
to demons 'as gods', (here shall they
stand,) till 'the day of' the great judgment
in which they shall be judged till they are
made an end of. And the women also of
the angels who went astray shall become
sirens.' And I, Enoch alone, saw the vision,
the ends of all things; and no man shall
see as I have seen."
Uriel then acts as a guide for Enoch for the
rest of the Book of Watchers. He fulfills this
capacity in many of the other books that
make up 1 Enoch.
In Anglican tradition
In the traditions and hagiography of the
Episcopal and other Anglican churches, Uriel
is mentioned as an archangel. He is also
recognized as the Patron Saint of the
Sacrament of Confirmation . He is celebrated
in the Anglican liturgical calendars on the
Feast of the Archangels . [12][13][14][15]
The Anglican intercessional prayer to Saint
Uriel the Archangel is as follows;
Oh holy Saint Uriel, intercede for us that
our hearts may burn with the fire of the
Sacred Heart of Jesus.
Assist us in co-operating with the graces
of our confirmation that the gifts of the
Holy Spirit may bear much fruit in our
souls.
Obtain for us the grace to use the sword
of truth to pare away all that is not in
conformity to the most adorable
Will of God in our lives, that we may fully
participate in the army of the Church
Amen [16]
In literature and popular
culture
In literature
In Milton's Paradise Lost Book III, Uriel, in
charge of the Orb of the Sun, serves as the
eyes of God, but unwittingly steers Satan
towards the newly created earth. He also fills
the role of fourth cardinal point (see above).
Milton describes him as the "sharpest sighted
spirit in all of Heaven." He is also responsible
along with Raphael for defeating Adramelech .
In Haydn's Creation, Uriel (tenor) is one of
the three angelic narrators (with Gabriel
(soprano) and Raphael (bass)).
In Ralph Waldo Emerson 's poem " Uriel",
regarded as a poetic summary of many strains
of thought in Emerson's early philosophy, Uriel
is a young god in Paradise , who upsets the
world of gods by proclaiming relativism and
the eternal return .
In George Eliot's Middlemarch, ch. XLI, to
Uriel, "watching the progress of planetary
history from the sun, the one result would be
just as much of a coincidence as the other".
In Madeleine L'Engle 's book, A Wrinkle In
Time , Uriel is a fictional planet of the galaxy
Messier 101 with mountains and beautiful
flowers.
In L'Engle's novel Many Waters , Uriel is a
character, one of the Seraphim.
In Dean Koontz 's book Hideaway , Uriel
speaks and acts through Hatch, one of the
book's protagonists, to battle the demon
Vassago , who "hitched a ride" with Jeremy
Nyebern after he was reanimated.
In Katherine Kurtz's Deryni novels, Uriel
appears along with Gabriel, Raphael and
Michael at major rituals in which they are
invoked by name as representatives of the
four quarters (Uriel's position is the north, and
his colour is green); in some instances the
four archangels seem to be luminous energy
beings that give their mortal viewers the
fleeting impression of having wings. Uriel is
the angel of death, escorting souls across the
line of life to the afterlife. In Camber the
Heretic , the ailing King Cinhil Haldane
arranges for a ritual to bestow arcane powers
on his three young sons to help ensure the
Haldane succession; Cinhil dies once the
ritual is complete and Uriel stays behind to
conduct Cinhil's soul to join those of his
deceased wife and firstborn son.
In Clive Barker's novel Weaveworld , the
Scourge declares its eternal name as Uriel.
The major character Shadwell recognizes
learning "...of all the angels and archangels
by heart: and amongst the mighty Uriel was
of the mightiest. The archangel of salvation;
called by some the flame of God." and "Uriel
had been the angel left to stand guard at the
gates of Eden."
In the apocrypha of White Wolf Publishing 's
Vampire: The Masquerade series, Uriel is the
last of the angels sent to Cain, after Cain
rejects the offers of redemption from Michael,
Gabriel, and Raphael. Uriel tells Cain of
Golconda, and that it is the last road of
redemption open to Cain and his "children".
Uriel is a character in The Dresden Files
book series by Jim Butcher . In Small Favor,
Uriel is a subtle but powerful player in the war
with the Black Council and the Fallen/
Denarians. Called the "Watchman", he only
reveals himself to the book's protagonist,
Harry Dresden, as a janitor named "Jake". In
the novel, Harry receives the power of soulfire
and believes that it came from Uriel. He is
also referred to as Heaven's "spook". Uriel
also appears at the end of Jim Butcher's
novella The Warrior , which was released as a
part of the anthology, Mean Streets . Uriel
appears again in Changes, when Harry Dresden
asks him for help, after being paralyzed from
the waist down. Uriel tells him that he cannot
help him, and that he is limited to what he
has already done. He also tells Harry that
Maggie is indeed his daughter, something that
he hadn't been entirely sure of. In Ghost Story ,
Uriel uses his influence to offer Harry the
opportunity to come back to Earth as a spirit
to find out the identity of his killer. This is not
revealed until close to the end of the book,
when Uriel also shows Harry that his friends
and family will be okay in his absence. He
also shows how Harry was unduly influenced
to take up the mantle of the Winter Knight
and redresses this imbalance by telling him
that Mab, the Winter Queen cannot change
who he is. At another point in the book, Uriel
becomes enraged when Harry nicknames him
"Uri" (omitting "el" (God) from the phrase
making up Uriel's name). Unlike his
appearances in Small Favor and The Warrior ,
Uriel's form in Changes and Ghost Story is that
of a young man with blond hair, rather than an
old janitor. During his appearance in Skin
Game , his form is that of an olive skinned
young man with dark hair. He is not bound by
linear time, and is responsible for protecting
Free Will. The author has described the
character as a VP of Creation.
In Angelglass by David Barnett , Uriel
meddles in Earth's affairs and is cast down to
see if he can "improve" the course of history
by personal intervention.
In William J. Clark's novel, Winning the
Lottery, Uriel is the guardian angel of the
narrator, and later of his wife and children. He
and the other three archangels, Michael,
Gabriel, and Raphael, play an active role in
various plot elements, and become a common
thread in an attempt to open a dialog between
the Western and the Muslim worlds.
In Richard Kadrey 's Kill the Dead, Uriel is
one of the original fallen angels and revealed
to be the father of protagonist James
"Sandman Slim" Stark.
In Garth Nix 's Abhorsen Trilogy one of the
"nine bright shiners" is named Yrael and
appears as a being of living fire.
In Angelfall by Susan Ee Uriel is shown to
be one of the main antagonists of the series,
one of the surviving Archangels vying for the
role of Messenger.
In Nalini Singh 's romance novel Angels'
Blood , Uriel is the target of vampire hunter
Elena, who is hired by the archangel Raphael.
[17]
In the manga Angel Sanctuary , Uriel is
portrayed as the Angel of Death, being one of
the four elemental archangels. He lives in the
underworld and passes judgment on souls.
In the GetBackers manga, Uriel is the
moniker of one of the Wielders of the Divine
Design.
Uriel is mentioned as Kevin Cecil's true
form in Makai Ouji: Devils and Realist .
In the graphic novel Alabaster Wolves by
Caitlin R. Kiernan, Uriel is depicted as the
angel who drives the protagonist's journey.
In " Something More Than Night" by Ian
Tregillis , Uriel is described as female and one
of the five Seraphim(Gabriel, Uriel, Raphael,
Michael, and Raguel.) She confronts the
protagonist, Bayliss, to warn him against
looking into the murder of Gabriel on his own.
The Seraphim Uriel is described as having six
wings, a flaming sword, and four faces:
human, ox, lion, and eagle.
In The Salvation War, Uriel is a major
antagonist described as " Yahweh 's hitman".
He has the fearsome power to not only cause
humans to drop dead en masse, but
apparently destroy their souls as well. He has
killed a vast number of people in the past and
in poor countries, but shies away from
powerful modern ones unless directly ordered
there, as shielding that gives humans a
fighting chance against his power and
weapons capable of killing him are common in
these places. He is described as having the
greatest power of any angel short of Yahweh
himself, and is Yahweh's first choice when
the latter needs to call upon an ally for a
power boost.
In the second revelation of Jesus
Christ
Uriel is the fifth archangel, a cherub, who is
the false prophet of the first revelation. His
manifestation in visions is at first as a deep
perfection of a man of living bones, arrayed in
the garments of a Catholic priest; who makes
profane jokes, and laughs a lot, with a spirit of
levity, that is attributed to his role as also
being the Norse god Loki. His principality is
over magnifying (pay-to-play style) all of the
general gifts of the Spirit; of arts, music,
intelligence, skills, entertainment, engineering,
knowledge, talents, etc. Gifts that are found in
the broader principality of Mother Nature, the
king of all messengers shinnnesunliquid. Uriel
was once a messenger of God, but had fallen
with the Adversary (Satan) during their great
revolt. His chiefest son (of his host of one
million messengers,) is Apollo, who divides
Uriel's host, and shares his principality among
them in distributing talents. Whilst Uriel has
particular principality over knowledge and
information. His favorite persons of all time
are Charlemagne, for his role in spreading the
Catholic religion, I suppose; and Vlad the
Impaler, for all of the comical Vampire
entertainment out there. His spirit of levity
and entertainment, and desire to covet
knowledge and information, is expounded in
the II Revelation. He bathes all evil works in
false light, and overcomplicates things with
his skilfully crafted guile to mentally exhaust
people, and to lead them astray with spiritual
blindness. The II Revelation is the most
profound and complete writing describing
Uriel, and the other demons, and messengers
of God. [18]