Raphʹael
.The sociable archangel who travelled with Tobiʹas into Meʹdia and back again, instructing him on the way how to marry Sara and to drive away the wicked spirit. Milton introduces him as sent by God to advertise Adam of his danger. (See Seven Spirits.)
“Raphael, the sociable spirit, hath deigned
To travel with Tobias, and secured
Whose flaming wheels began to run
Said to the darkness and the night,
‘Let there be light,ʹ and there was light,—
I bring the gift of faith.”
St. Raphael, the archangel, is usually distinguished in Christian art by a pilgrim’s staff, or carrying a fish, in allusion to his aiding Tobias to capture the fish which performed the miraculous cure of his father’s eyesight.
The French Raphael. Eustace Lesueur (1617–1655).
