St Michael ('one who is like God') is mentioned in the Apocalypse as the leader of the heavenly host. He is a patron of soldiers. St Gabriel, ('God's Strength'), perhaps the most well known and certainly having the most songs mentioning him, appears in the book of Daniel to explain some of the prophet’s visions, and was also the bearer of the Annunciation to the Blessed Virgin Mary. In the Book of Tobit, Raphael is the angel who heals Tobit of his blindness. His name means 'God heals'.

St Gregory the Great (our patron) wrote of the Archangels, that the title denotes a function rather than a nature. All the angels are Holy Spirits, and are only called Angel when they are delivering a message. The Archangels are so called when delivering messages of greatest importance.