Saint Michael the Archangel

Michael is one of the three angels named in the Bible, with Gabriel and Raphael, and the Church keeps their feast together on 29 September. His name is a question in Hebrew: Mi-ka-El, “Who is like God?” It is the answer to the pride of the angel who wanted to be like God.

In the Book of Daniel, Michael is “one of the chief princes” and “the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people” (Daniel 12). In the Letter of Jude he disputes with the devil over the body of Moses and says, “The Lord command thee.” In the Apocalypse, “there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon… And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan” (Revelation 12).

The Church honours him as the defender of God’s people in their struggle against evil, the guardian of the Church, and the one who accompanies souls at the hour of death to the judgment of God. Churches were dedicated to him from very early times. His famous shrines include Monte Gargano in southern Italy, where he is said to have appeared in the fifth century, and Mont-Saint-Michel off the coast of Normandy.

In 1886 Pope Leo XIII composed a prayer to Saint Michael to be said after Low Mass: “Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil…” It has been prayed ever since, and Pope Saint John Paul II urged Catholics to take it up again.