Saint Raphael / San Rafael - Roman bridge / Puente Romano - Córdoba, Spain
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N 37° 52.596 W 004° 46.667
30S E 343647 N 4193612
Oldest of the statues of of Archangel Raphael, patron saint of Cordoba, was made in 1651 and it is located in the middle of the Roman bridge of Córdoba across the Guadalquivir river.
Waymark Code: WM15EFZ
Location: Andalucía, Spain
Date Posted: 12/19/2021
Views: 8
Many visitors to Cordoba are surprised to find, in a small square, or on top of a tower, a commemorative monument dedicated to the Archangel San Rafael. Their surprise is even greater when they learn just how many of these sculptures there are to be found all over the city. The triumphs, to give them their popular name, were a fervent expression of popular religious devotion. In years of great suffering or plagues, the people of Cordoba expressed their veneration of their Guardian Angel by building these triumphal statues all over the city.
Probabbly most famous can be found in the middle of the the Roman Bridge. This statue is the oldest of all. Created by Bernabé Gómez del Río, a sculptor who produced most of his artistic work in Cordoba, it dates from 1651, and was incorporated into a parapet on the Roman Bridge to bless all visitors who pass through the Puerta del Puente. The residents of the nearby Campo de la Verdad neighbourhood show their special devotion by leaving offerings of candles and flowers.
Archangel Raphael
St. Raphael is one of the seven Archangels who stand before the throne of the Lord, and one of the only three mentioned by name in the Bible. He appears, by name, only in the Book of Tobit. Raphael's name means "God heals." This identity came about because of the biblical story that claims he "healed" the earth when it was defiled by the sins of the fallen angels in the apocryphal book of Enoch.
Disguised as a human in the Book of Tobit, Raphael refers to himself as "Azarias the son of the great Ananias" and travels alongside Tobit's son, Tobiah. Once Raphael returns from his journey with Tobiah, he declares to Tobit that he was sent by the Lord to heal his blindness and deliver Sarah, Tobiah's future wife, from the demon Asmodeus. It is then that his true healing powers are revealed and he makes himself known as "the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord" Tobit 12:15.
The demon Asmodeus killed every man Sarah married on the night of the wedding, before the marriage could be consummated. Raphael guided Tobiah and taught him how to safely enter the marriage with Sarah.
Raphael is credited with driving the evil spirit from Sarah and restoring Tobit's vision, allowing him to see the light of Heaven and for receiving all good things through his intercession.
Although only the archangels Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name in the New Testament, the Gospel of John speaks of the pool at Bethesda, where many ill people rested, awaiting the moving of the water. "An angel of the Lord descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under" John 5:1-4. Because of the healing powers often linked to Raphael, the angel spoken of is generally associated with St. Raphael, the Archangel.
St. Raphael is the patron saint of travelers, the blind, bodily ills, happy meetings, nurses, physicians and medical workers. He is often pictured holding a staff and either holding or standing on a fish. His feast day is celebrated on September 29, along with St. Michael and St. Gabriel.
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