Archangel Gabriel

The arch-angel Gabriel is also presented as a female being, then she is the angel of proclamation, resurrection and grace. In the Old Testament, Gabriel lifted up Daniel, who had fallen to the ground, explained his story to him, and prophesied the coming of the Messiah (Daniel 8:16 and 9:20 ff). Gabriel appeared to Mary with the good news of the imminent birth of Jesus (Luke 1:26). The apparition of an angel in the temple with Zacharias, who announced to him the birth of his son John the Baptist (Gospel of Luke 1:11), the angelic message to Joseph in a dream (Matthew 1:20) and to the shepherds in Bethlehem on Holy Night (Luke 2:9) is also attributed to Gabriel in the tradition. The people’s tradition knows Gabriel as the one who brings the – always protesting – soul out of paradise and educates her during the nine months of pregnancy. The motif of the promise of the birth of a divine child is an archetypal image and can be found in many religions. In 1969, with the reform of the liturgical calendar of the Catholic Church, the day of remembrance was moved from March 24 to September 29.

Joachim Schäfer: Article Gabriel, from the Ecumenical Dictionary of Saints: https://www.heiligenlexikon.de/BiographienG/Gabriel.html