Uriel facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Uriel
Mosaic of St. Uriel by James Powell and Sons, at St John’s Church, Warminster, Wiltshire.
Archangel
Venerated in	Rabbinic Judaism, Anglicanism, Eastern Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Esoteric Christianity
Feast	September 29 (Western), November 8 (Eastern), 28 July (Ethiopian)
Attributes	Archangel; Fire in palm; Carrying a book, a scroll, a flaming sword and a disc of the sun.
Patronage	Arts, confirmation, poetry

Uriel (Hebrew: אוּרִיאֵל‎‎‎, Greek: Ουριήλ, Coptic: ⲟⲩⲣⲓⲏⲗ, meaning “God is my light” or “fire of God”) is an archangel in Jewish and Christian traditions. The Eastern Orthodox, Oriental Orthodox and Anglicans call him “Saint Uriel the Archangel” or simply “Saint Uriel”.

In Judaism and Christianity

The Roman Catholic Church only recognizes three archangels which are mentioned in the Bible: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. But according to the certain rabbinic and Christian traditions, there are four or even seven archangels, Uriel is generally the fourth. In the Deuterocanonical book 2 Esdras, Uriel is sent by God to answer the questions which are asked by Ezra.

The role of Uriel in Christian apocryphal traditions is different from answering Ezra's questions. He is said to have rescued John the Baptist from the Massacre of the Innocents(the murder of all boys under the age of two in the area of Bethlehem) as a child and reunited him and his mother Saint Elizabeth with John's cousin, Jesus. This is shown in Leonardo da Vinci's painting Virgin of the Rocks.

Uriel is often described as a cherub and the angel of repentance and is the angel at the Gate of Eden. In The Apocalypse of Peter, Uriel is shown to be as cruel as any demon when enforcing repentance. He is also supposed to be one of the angels that buried Adam and Abel in Eden.

Gallery

• 

  Stained glass, depicted with fire as the attribute, Church of St James, Grimsby

• 

  Stained glass, with flaming sword as the attribute, St James' Church, Ewhurst Green

• 

  Stained glass of archangel Uriel as regent of the sun, Chester Cathedral

• 

  Fresco of archangel Uriel at the Hanging Church in Cairo, 13th century

• 

  Enamel plaque of Saint Uriel the Archangel, part of the Pala d'Oro at St Mark's Basilica, Venice

• 

  Painting of archangel Uriel by Henry Oliver Walker at the Library of Congress

• 

  Stained glass of St Uriel at Puebla Cathedral, Puebla, Mexico

• 

  Statue of archangel Uriel wearing an Eye of Providence headgear at the Old Cemetery of Paysandú

Related pages

• St. Uriel's Episcopal Church

Images for kids

• 

  Uriel, right, in the Virgin of the Rocks (Louvre version) by Leonardo da Vinci, 1483–1486.

• 

  A rare medieval stained-glass panel depicting the Archangel Uriel with Esdras. St Michael and All Angels Church, Kingsland, Herefordshire.

• 

  "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).

• 

  Uriel is said to have interpreted prophecies to Enoch and Ezra. Panel painting in St Michael and All Angels Church, Howick.

• 

  14th-century Russian mosaic fragment of Uriel

• 

  Mosaic of archangel Uriel in Hosios Loukas

• 

  18th-century Cuzco School painting of Uriel as a warrior angel

• 

  Uriel Standing in the Sun by Washington Allston, 1817

• 

  Archangel Uriel, fresco at the ceiling by Johann Georg Unruhe from Saint Michael parish church, Untergriesbach, 1780

• 

  Fresco of archangel Uriel at a Russian Orthodox church

• 

  Archangel Uriel as the regent of constellations, St Martin in the Bull Ring

• 

  Statue of archangel Uriel at the San Miguel Church

• 

  Carving of St Uriel at St Augustine's, Kilburn

• 

  A stained glass window of Uriel in St. Anthony of Padua Catholic Church (Dayton, Ohio)

• 

  Uriel as the regent of the sun and of constellations, St Andrew's Church, Chippenham

• 

  St Uriel as the regent of constellations, St Mary the Virgin's Church, Lynton

• 

  Stained glass of St Uriel at the Holy Trinity Church, Hull

See also

In Spanish: Uriel para niños