The angels Michael and Gabriel play a significant part in the Holy Scriptures. In Revelation we read (Rev. 12:7, 8), "And there was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels, and prevailed not; neither was their place found any more in heaven." And in the Gospel of Luke the angel Gabriel is represented as revealing to the Virgin Mary that she was to be the mother of the Saviour, Christ Jesus.
In the light of Christian Science, Michael and Gabriel symbolize types of spiritual consciousness for which students of this Science must strive. In "Science and Health with Key to the Scriptures," Mary Baker Eddy writes (p. 299): "My angels are exalted thoughts, appearing at the door of some sepulchre, in which human belief has buried its fondest earthly hopes. With white fingers they point upward to a new and glorified trust, to higher ideals of life and its joys."
In the chapter entitled "The Apocalypse," our Leader describes two specific types of exalted thoughts—Michael and Gabriel. She writes (pp. 566, 567): "Michael's characteristic is spiritual strength. He leads the hosts of heaven against the power of sin, Satan, and fights the holy wars. Gabriel has the more quiet task of imparting a sense of the ever-presence of ministering Love." And a few lines farther on she adds, "The Gabriel of His presence has no contests."
