Selaphiel

Saint Archangel Selaphiel (Salathiel) is one of the archangels venerated in the Orthodox tradition, protector and prompter of prayer. He is commemorated in the Synaxis of the archangels, on 8 November by the old calendar. His Hebrew name is explained as "I have asked God" or, according to one Russian source, "prayer to God".

He is venerated as a prayerful one of God, always praying for people and moving them to prayer, a prayerful one for the salvation and health of people. This archangel is spoken of in the third book of Ezra, which is not part of the canon. There is an opinion that the archangel Selaphiel appeared to Hagar in the desert when she was praying in great grief.

Saint Innocent of Kherson wrote of Selaphiel that the Lord has given us a whole host of praying angels, with their leader Salathiel, to warm our cold hearts toward prayer with their pure breath, to teach us when and how to pray, and to carry our offerings up to the throne of grace. When we see on an icon an archangel standing in a posture of prayer, eyes lowered, hands on the breast, we are to know that this is Salathiel.

The archangel Selaphiel is depicted with face and eyes bent downward and hands folded on the breast, like a person praying with humility.