Celebrating our Saint of the Month
Saint Michael the Archangel
Feast Day: 29th September
Patron of police officers, paramedics, firefighters, the military, the sick and suffering
In Christian angelology, the Archangel Michael is the greatest of all the Archangels and is honoured for defeating Satan in the war in heaven. He is one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector against the dark of night. His feast day, Michaelmas (or St Michael and All Angels), has also delineated time and seasons for secular purposes, particularly in Britain and Ireland. For example, Michaelmas is used in the extended sense of autumn, as the name of the first term of the academic year at various educational institutions in the Britain and Ireland. The Inns of Court of the English Bar and the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland also have a Michaelmas term as one of their dining terms. It begins in September and ends towards the end of December. The term is also the name of the first of four terms into which the legal year is divided by the courts of Wales and England.
In the New Testament Michael leads God's armies against Satan's forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude, Michael is specifically referred to as 'the archangel Michael'. Christian sanctuaries to Michael appeared in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel and then over time as a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil. By the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches.
Saint Michael is thought to have four main responsibilities or offices:
The early Christians regarded some of the martyrs, such as Saint George and Saint Theodore, as military patrons, but to St Michael they gave the care of their sick and he was first venerated as a healer in Phrygia (modern-day Turkey).
The earliest and most famous sanctuary to Saint Michael in the ancient Near East was also associated with healing waters. It was the Michaelion built in the early 4th century by Emperor Constantine at Chalcedon, on the site of an earlier Temple called Sosthenion.
A painting of the Archangel slaying a serpent became a major art piece at the Michaelion after Constantine defeated Licinius near there in 324, eventually leading to the standard iconography of Archangel Michael as a warrior saint slaying a dragon. The Michaelion was a magnificent church and in time became a model for hundreds of other churches in Eastern Christianity which spread devotions to the Archangel.
In the 4th century, Saint Basil the Great's homily (De Angelis) placed Saint Michael over all the angels. He was called 'Archangel' because he heralds other angels, the title Αρχαγγέλος (archangelos) being used of him in Jude 1:9. Into the 6th century, the view of Michael as a healer continued in Rome, where after a plague, the sick slept at night in the church of Castel Sant'Angelo (dedicated to him for saving Rome), waiting for his manifestation.
There is a late 5th century legend in Cornwall that the Archangel appeared to fishermen on St Michael's Mount and so in the calendar of the Church of England diocese of Truro, 8th May is the feast of St. Michael, Protector of Cornwall. The archangel St. Michael is one of the three patron saints of Cornwall.
According to Norman legend, Michael is said to have appeared to St Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, in 708, giving instruction to build a church on the rocky islet now known as Mont Saint-Michel. In 966, the Duke of Normandy commissioned a Benedictine abbey on the mount and it remains a major pilgrimage site.
In Christian art, Archangel Michael may be depicted alone or with other angels such as Gabriel. Some depictions with Gabriel date back to the 8th century, e.g. the stone casket at Notre Dame de Mortain church in France.
The widely reproduced image of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, an icon of the Cretan school, depicts Michael on the left carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus, with Gabriel on the right side of Mary and Jesus.
In many depictions Michael is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield. The shield may bear the Latin inscription Quis ut Deus ('Who is like God?', which is a literal translation of the name 'Michael'). He may be standing over a serpent, a dragon, or the defeated figure of Satan, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance.
In other depictions Michael may be holding a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed and may hold the book of life (as in the Book of Revelation), to show that he takes part in the judgement. However this form of depiction is less common than the slaying of the dragon. Michelangelo depicted this scene on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
In Byzantine art, Michael was often shown as a princely court dignitary, rather than a warrior who battled Satan or with scales for weighing souls on the Day of Judgement.
Feast Day: 29th September
Patron of police officers, paramedics, firefighters, the military, the sick and suffering
In Christian angelology, the Archangel Michael is the greatest of all the Archangels and is honoured for defeating Satan in the war in heaven. He is one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector against the dark of night. His feast day, Michaelmas (or St Michael and All Angels), has also delineated time and seasons for secular purposes, particularly in Britain and Ireland. For example, Michaelmas is used in the extended sense of autumn, as the name of the first term of the academic year at various educational institutions in the Britain and Ireland. The Inns of Court of the English Bar and the Honorable Society of King's Inns in Ireland also have a Michaelmas term as one of their dining terms. It begins in September and ends towards the end of December. The term is also the name of the first of four terms into which the legal year is divided by the courts of Wales and England.
In the New Testament Michael leads God's armies against Satan's forces in the Book of Revelation, where during the war in heaven he defeats Satan. In the Epistle of Jude, Michael is specifically referred to as 'the archangel Michael'. Christian sanctuaries to Michael appeared in the 4th century, when he was first seen as a healing angel and then over time as a protector and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil. By the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were widespread both in the Eastern and Western Churches.
Saint Michael is thought to have four main responsibilities or offices:
- The first is to combat Satan
- The second is to escort the faithful to heaven at their hour of death
- The third is to be a champion of all Christians, and the Church itself
- The fourth is to call people from life on Earth to their heavenly judgement
The early Christians regarded some of the martyrs, such as Saint George and Saint Theodore, as military patrons, but to St Michael they gave the care of their sick and he was first venerated as a healer in Phrygia (modern-day Turkey).
The earliest and most famous sanctuary to Saint Michael in the ancient Near East was also associated with healing waters. It was the Michaelion built in the early 4th century by Emperor Constantine at Chalcedon, on the site of an earlier Temple called Sosthenion.
A painting of the Archangel slaying a serpent became a major art piece at the Michaelion after Constantine defeated Licinius near there in 324, eventually leading to the standard iconography of Archangel Michael as a warrior saint slaying a dragon. The Michaelion was a magnificent church and in time became a model for hundreds of other churches in Eastern Christianity which spread devotions to the Archangel.
In the 4th century, Saint Basil the Great's homily (De Angelis) placed Saint Michael over all the angels. He was called 'Archangel' because he heralds other angels, the title Αρχαγγέλος (archangelos) being used of him in Jude 1:9. Into the 6th century, the view of Michael as a healer continued in Rome, where after a plague, the sick slept at night in the church of Castel Sant'Angelo (dedicated to him for saving Rome), waiting for his manifestation.
There is a late 5th century legend in Cornwall that the Archangel appeared to fishermen on St Michael's Mount and so in the calendar of the Church of England diocese of Truro, 8th May is the feast of St. Michael, Protector of Cornwall. The archangel St. Michael is one of the three patron saints of Cornwall.
According to Norman legend, Michael is said to have appeared to St Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, in 708, giving instruction to build a church on the rocky islet now known as Mont Saint-Michel. In 966, the Duke of Normandy commissioned a Benedictine abbey on the mount and it remains a major pilgrimage site.
In Christian art, Archangel Michael may be depicted alone or with other angels such as Gabriel. Some depictions with Gabriel date back to the 8th century, e.g. the stone casket at Notre Dame de Mortain church in France.
The widely reproduced image of Our Mother of Perpetual Help, an icon of the Cretan school, depicts Michael on the left carrying the lance and sponge of the crucifixion of Jesus, with Gabriel on the right side of Mary and Jesus.
In many depictions Michael is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield. The shield may bear the Latin inscription Quis ut Deus ('Who is like God?', which is a literal translation of the name 'Michael'). He may be standing over a serpent, a dragon, or the defeated figure of Satan, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance.
In other depictions Michael may be holding a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed and may hold the book of life (as in the Book of Revelation), to show that he takes part in the judgement. However this form of depiction is less common than the slaying of the dragon. Michelangelo depicted this scene on the altar wall of the Sistine Chapel.
In Byzantine art, Michael was often shown as a princely court dignitary, rather than a warrior who battled Satan or with scales for weighing souls on the Day of Judgement.
