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"Hail, full of grace the Lord is with thee." The archangel Gabriel in the form and figure of a man spoke these words to Mary, she did not speak. Who was this person? Why the greeting? What was the meaning of it? The messenger of God continued, "Fear not Mary, for thou hast found grace with God. Behold thou shalt conceive in thy womb, and thou shalt bring forth a son; and thou shalt call him Jesus. He shall be great and called the Son of the Most High; and the Lord God shall give him the throne of David his father; and he shall reign in the house of Jacob forever. And of his kingdom there shall be no end." The young virgin was bewildered, why should she be chosen the Mother of the Messiah, she had vowed her virginity to God. Not to doubt the Word of God, Mary said, "How shall this be done, I know not man?" To quiet her anxiety and to assure her that her virginity would be spared, Gabriel answered, "The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee and the power of the Most High shall overshadow thee. And therefore also the Holy which shall be born of thee shall be called the Son of God." To indicate the truth of his word, the archangel told Mary of the conception of St. John with the words, "And behold, thy cousin Elizabeth; she also has conceived a son in her old age, and this is the sixth month with her that is called barren: Because no word shall be impossible with God." To this Mary replied, "Behold the handmaid of the Lord, be it done to me according to thy word." 
This, the Annunciation of the Blessed Virgin Mary, was the last and most important of the four errands recorded in the Scriptures that God had sent his messenger, Saint Gabriel, to perform. It is this errand for which the archangel is most remembered and it was the motif for the designs of the airmail definitive issue released by the Vatican Postal Administration on February 22, 1956. The designs of the stamps were taken from paintings by the Annunciation by Melozzo da Forli, Leonardo di Vinci, and Pietro Cavallini. The detail of each depicting the archangel was used for the design of three of the stamps of the airmail issue. But what of the other three errands St. Gabriel performed for God? 
In 554 B.C., while the Israelites were held captive by the Babylons, Gabriel made his first recorded visit to Daniel, the prophet. Daniel had had a dream of a ram with two horns pushing them against the west, the north, and the south. No beast could withstand the ram nor be delivered from it. The ram did as it pleased and became great. Then out of the west came a he-goat with a horn between its eyes. The he-goat destroyed both of the Ram's horns and overcame him. God sent the archangel to explain the dream. Gabriel related that the ram symbolized the empire of the Medes and Persians. The he-goat from the west was the king of the Greeks, Alexander the Great, who would destroy the empire as the he-goat had destroyed the ram. This prophecy was fulfilled nearly 200 years later. 
At a later date, Gabriel again appeared to Daniel as he was praying for the people of Israel. He explained to Daniel the mysterious prophecy of the "seventy weeks" of years that were to pass before the coming of Christ. Gabriel went on and foretold the destruction of Jerusalem and its sanctuary. 
The third visit of St. Gabriel recorded in the Scriptures was to St. Zachary, a member of the priestly class. It was customary for priests whose week it was to serve in the temple to caste lots to determine which of the various rituals they would perform. Zachary was chosen to offer incense upon the altar in the holy place. While he was alone before the altar executing this rite the angel Gabriel appeared to him, standing at the right side of the altar. At the appearance of the angel, Zachary was troubled and afraid. Gabriel spoke to him and told him that the prayers of the priest and his wife, St. Elizabeth, would be answered. A son would be born to them and he would be called John. Zachary found this hard to believe as he and Elizabeth were advanced in years. Gathering his wits and overcoming his fear, he asked Gabriel for some sort of a sign. Because Zachary had indicated that he doubted this message Gabriel had brought from God, the angel announced that he would be stricken dumb and would not regain his speech until the prophecy had been fulfilled. 
Six months after John the Baptist had been conceived Gabriel appeared to Mary and announced that she was to be the Mother of God. 
Though Gabriel is mentioned only four times in the Scriptures, Christian tradition holds him to be the unnamed angel who appeared to St. Joseph in a dream to reveal to him the Mystery of the Incarnation and later to flee with is family to Egypt to escape the wrath of the jealous Herod. Gabriel is also thought to be the angel who appeared to the shepherds to announce the Birth of Christ as well as the angel who "strengthened" Christ in the Garden of Gethsemani. 
The angel Gabriel is not reserved to those of the Christian faith alone. His name is derived from a Hebrew word meaning, "Hero of God". In Jewish as well as Christian tradition, Gabriel is one of the seven archangels who stand before the Lord. 
Those of the Jewish faith venerate him as the angel of Judgment. To Gabriel they attribute the destruction of Sodom and of the host of Sennacherib, as the angel who buried Moses, and is the one appointed to mark the figure of Tau on the foreheads of the elect. In later Jewish literature the names of angels were regarded as having a peculiar curing power. The British Museum possesses some magic bowls: inscribed with Aramaic, Hebrew, and Syriac incantations, in which the names of Gabriel, Michael, and Raphael occur. These bowls were found at Hillah, the site of Babylon, and constitute interesting relics of the Jewish captivity. 
Gabriel is also known to the religion of Islam. Mohammedans believe him to be the angel who served as the mouthpiece of God in dictating the Koran to their prophet, Mohammed. 
Saint Gabriel, the archangel, whose feast is celebrated by the Catholic Church on March 24th, has a special meaning to philatelists. As a messenger of God, he was chosen as the patron of postal and telecommunications workers, the messengers of the people. 
In 1954, the Reverend Aloysius S. Horn of Fremont, Ohio, with the assistance of Francis Cardinal Spellman, Archbishop of New York founded the St. Gabriel Philatelic Academy, an honor society of outstanding philatelists the world over who are engaged in the study and research of religious stamps. Each year, on March 24th, the feast of St. Gabriel, diplomas are awarded to new members who have attained the honor of membership in this philatelic organization.

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