The ministry fulfilled in our regard by the heavenly spirits is
admirably set forth in the graceful scenes depicted in the history of
Tobias. Rehearsing the good services of the guide and friend, whom he
still called his brother “Azarias”, the younger Tobias said to his father:
‘Father, what wages shall we give him? Or what can be worthy of his
benefits? He conducted me and brought me safe again, he received the
money of Gabelus, he caused me to have my wife, and he changed
from her the evil spirit, he gave joy to her parents, myself he delivered
from being devoured by the fish, thee also he hath made to see the light
of heaven, and we are filled with all good things through him’. (Tobias
xxii: 2,3)
And when father and son endeavored, after the fashion of men, to
return thanks to him who had rendered them such good service, the
angel discovered himself to them, in order to refer their gratitude to
their supreme Benefactor. ‘Bless ye the God of heaven, give glory to
Him in the sight of all that live, because He hath shown His mercy to
you…When thou didst pray with tears, and didst bury the dead…I
offered thy prayer to the Lord. And because thou wast acceptable to
God, it was necessary that temptation should prove thee. And now the
Lord hath sent me to heal thee, and to deliver Sara thy son’s wife from
the devil. For I am the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand
before the Lord…Peace be to you, fear not;…bless ye Him and sing
praises to Him.’ (Tobias xii: 6-18)
We too will celebrate the blessings of heaven. For as surely as
Tobias beheld with his bodily eyes the Archangel Raphael, we know
by faith that the angel of the Lord accompanies us from the cradle to
the tomb. Let us have the same trustful confidence in him. Then, along
the path of life, more beset with perils than the road to the country of
the Medes, we shall be in perfect safety; all that happens to us will be
for the best, because prepared by our Lord; and, as though we were
already in heaven, our angel will cause us to shed blessings upon all
around us.

The Liturgical Year, XIV, Book V, pages 439-440