Who is like God?
St.
Michael known in Christianity as one of the Archangels, is also recognized in
many traditions and references throughout history in many of the world’s
religions. I found this most
enlightening, I hope you will too.
Christianity -St. Michael mentioned in Scripture
 |
| Early 20th Century Russian Icon of St. Michael |
Both in the Old and New Testament
·
Daniel
10:13 Gabriel (another great Archangel) says to Daniel, when
he asks God to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem: "The Angel of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me . .
. and, behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me . . . and none is my
helper in all these things, but Michael your prince."
·
Daniel
12, the Angel speaking of the end of the world and the
Antichrist says: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who
standeth for the children of thy people."
·
In
the Catholic Epistle of St. Jude: "When Michael the Archangel, disputing
with the devil, contended about the body of Moses", etc. St. Jude
alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of a dispute between Michael and Satan
over the body of Moses, an account of which is also found in the apocryphal
book on the assumption of Moses (Origen, De Principiis III.2.2). St.
Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan, however, by disclosing it, tried to
seduce the Jewish people to the sin of hero-worship. St. Michael also guards
the body of Eve, according to the "Revelation of Moses" ("Apocryphal
Gospels", etc., ed. A. Walker, Edinburgh, p. 647).
·
Revelation
12:7, "And
there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the
dragon." St. John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time,
which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time. According to
the Fathers there is often question of St. Michael in Scripture where his name
is not mentioned. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, "to
keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24), the angel through whom
God published the Decalogue to his chosen people, the angel who stood in the
way against Balaam (Numbers 22:22 sqq.), the angel who routed the army of
Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35).
THE FOUR OFFICES OF ST. MICHAEL
 |
| St. Michael defeating Satan |
- To fight against Satan.
- To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
- To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages.
- To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment ("signifer S. Michael repraesentet eas in lucam sanctam", Offert. Miss Defunct. "Constituit eum principem super animas suscipiendas", Antiph. off. Cf. The Shepherd of Hermas, Book III, Similitude 8, Chapter 3).
 |
| St. Michael the weighing of souls |
Veneration in Roman Catholic Tradition
It would have been natural to St. Michael, the
champion of the Jewish people, to be the champion also of Christians, giving
victory in war to his clients.
The early Christians, however, regarded some of the
martyrs as their military patrons: St. George, St. Theodore, St. Demetrius, St.
Sergius, St. Procopius, St. Mercurius, etc.; but to St. Michael they gave the care of
their sick.
At the place where he was first venerated, in Phrygia,
his prestige as angelic healer obscured his interposition in military affairs.
It was from early times the centre of the true cult of the holy angels,
particularly of St. Michael.
Tradition relates that St. Michael in the earliest ages
caused a medicinal spring to spout at Chairotopa near Colossae, where
all the sick who bathed there, invoking the Blessed Trinity and St. Michael,
were cured.
Still more famous are the springs which St. Michael is
said to have drawn from the rock at Colossae (Chonae, the present
Khonas, on the Lycus). The pagans directed a stream against the sanctuary of
St. Michael to destroy it, but the archangel split the rock by lightning to
give a new bed to the stream, and sanctified forever the waters which came from
the gorge. The Greeks claim that this apparition took place about the middle of
the first century and celebrate a feast in commemoration of it on 6 September
(Analecta Bolland., VIII, 285-328). Also at Pythia in Bithynia and elsewhere in
Asia the hot springs were dedicated to St. Michael.
At
Constantinople likewise, St. Michael was the great heavenly physician.
His principal sanctuary, the Michaelion, was at Sosthenion, some fifty miles
south of Constantinople; there the archangel is said to have appeared to the
Emperor Constantine. The sick slept in this church at night to wait for a
manifestation of St. Michael; his feast was kept there 9 June. Another famous
church was within the walls of the city, at the thermal baths of the Emperor
Arcadius; there the synaxis of the archangel was celebrated 8 November. This
feast spread over the entire Greek Church, and the Syrian, Armenian, and Coptic
Churches adopted it also; it is now the principal feast of St. Michael in the
Orient. It may have originated in
Phrygia, but its station at Constantinople was the Thermae of Arcadius
(Martinow, "Annus Graeco-slavicus", 8 Nov.). Other feasts of St.
Michael at Constantinople were: 27 October, in the "Promotu" church;
18 June, in the Church of St. Julian at the Forum; and 10 December, at Athaea.
The Christians of Egypt placed their life-giving river,
the Nile, under the protection of St. Michael; they adopted the Greek feast and kept it 12
November; on the twelfth of every month they celebrate a special commemoration
of the archangel, but 12 June, when the river commences to rise, they keep as a
holiday of obligation the feast of St. Michael "for the rising of the
Nile", euche eis ten symmetron anabasin ton potamion hydaton.
At Rome the Leonine Sacramentary (sixth century) has
the "Natale Basilicae Angeli via Salaria", 30 September; of the five
Masses for the feast three mention St. Michael. The Gelasian Sacramentary
(seventh century) gives the feast "S. Michaelis Archangeli", and the
Gregorian Sacramentary (eighth century), "Dedicatio Basilionis S. Angeli
Michaelis", 29 Sept. A manuscript also here adds "via Salaria"
(Ebner, "Miss. Rom. Iter Italicum", 127). This church of the Via
Salaria was six miles to the north of the city; in the ninth century it was
called Basilica Archangeli in Septimo (Armellini, "Chiese di Roma",
p. 85). It disappeared a thousand years ago. At Rome also the part of heavenly
physician was given to St. Michael. According to an (apocryphal?)
legend of the tenth century he appeared over the Moles Hadriani (Castel di S.
Angelo), in 950, during the procession which St. Gregory held against the
pestilence, putting an end to the plague. Boniface IV (608-15) built on the
Moles Hadriani in honour of him, a church, which was styled St. Michaelis inter
nubes (in summitate circi).
 |
| Apparition of St. Michael at Mount Gargano |
In Normandy St. Michael is the patron of mariners
in his famous sanctuary at Mont-Saint-Michel in the Diocese of Coutances. He is
said to have appeared there, in 708, to St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches. In
Normandy his feast "S. Michaelis in periculo maris" or "in Monte
Tumba" was universally celebrated on 18 Oct., the anniversary of the
dedication of the first church, 16 Oct., 710; the feast is now confined to the
Diocese of Coutances. In Germany, after its evangelization, St. Michael
replaced for the Christians the pagan god Wotan, to whom many mountains were
sacred, hence the numerous mountain chapels of St. Michael all over Germany.
The hymns of
the Roman Office are said to have been composed by St. Rabanus Maurus of Fulda
(d. 856). In art St. Michael is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with
helmet, sword, and shield (often the shield bears the Latin inscription: Quis
ut Deus), standing over the dragon, whom he sometimes pierces with a
lance. He also holds a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the
departed (cf. Rock, "The Church of Our Fathers", III, 160),
or the
book of life, to show that he takes part in the judgment. His feast (29
September) in the Middle Ages was celebrated as a holy day of obligation, but
along with several other feasts it was gradually abolished since the eighteenth
century (see FEASTS). Michaelmas Day, in
England and other countries, is one of the regular quarter-days for settling
rents and accounts; but it is no longer remarkable for the hospitality with
which it was formerly celebrated. Stubble-geese being esteemed in
perfection about this time, most families had one dressed on Michaelmas Day. In
some parishes (Isle of Skye) they had a procession on this day and baked a
cake, called St. Michael's bannock.
Information and excerpts taken from the following
sites:
Eastern and Oriental Orthodoxy
The Eastern Orthodox accord Michael the title
"Archistrategos", or "Supreme Commander of the Heavenly Hosts."
The Eastern Orthodox pray to their guardian angels and above all to Michael and
Gabriel.
The Eastern Orthodox have always had strong devotions
to angels, and the trend continues to date with the term "Bodiless
Powers" applied to them.[43] A number of feasts dedicated to Archangel
Michael are celebrated by the Eastern Orthodox throughout the year.
Archangel
Michael is mentioned in a number of Eastern Orthodox hymns and prayer, and his
icons are widely used within Eastern Orthodox churches.[44] In many Eastern
Orthodox icons, Christ is accompanied by a number of angels, Michael being a predominant
figure among them.
 |
| Byzantine icon of St. Michael 13th century |
The place of
Michael in the Coptic Orthodox Church of Alexandria is a saintly intercessor,
where he is seen as the one who presents to God the prayers of the just, who
accompanies the souls of the dead to heaven, who defeats the devil. He is
celebrated liturgically on the 12th of each month.[47] In Alexandria, a church
was dedicated to him in the early fourth century on the 12th of the month of
Ba'unah. On the 12th of the month of Hathor is the celebration of Michael's
appointment in heaven, where Michael became the chief of the angels.
St. Michael in Judaism
 |
| St. Michael's name in Hebrew |
The idea that Michael was the advocate of the Jews
became so prevalent that in spite of the rabbinical prohibition against
appealing to angels as intermediaries between God and his people, Michael came
to occupy a certain place in the Jewish liturgy. There were two prayers written
beseeching him as the prince of mercy to intercede in favor of Israel: one
composed by Eliezer ha-Kalir, and the other by Judah ben Samuel he-Hasid. But
appeal to Michael seems to have been more common in ancient times. Thus Jeremiah
is said to have addressed a prayer to him.[19] "When a man is in need he
must pray directly to God, and neither to Michael nor to Gabriel."
The rabbis
declare that Michael entered upon his role of defender at the time of the
biblical patriarchs. Thus, according to Rabbi Eliezer ben Jacob, it was Michael
who rescued Abraham from the furnace into which he had been thrown by Nimrod
(Midrash Genesis Rabbah xliv. It was Michael, the "one that had
escaped" (Genesis 14:13), who told Abraham that Lot had been taken captive
(Midrash Pirke R. El.), and who protected Sarah from being defiled by
Abimelech. He announced to Sarah that she would bear a son and he rescued Lot
at the destruction of Sodom.
St. Michael in Midrash
The
Hebrew term Midrash (Hebrew: מדרש; plural midrashim, "story" from "to investigate" or
"study") also "Interpretation" or "Exposition"[1]
is a homiletic method of biblical exegesis. The term also refers to the whole
compilation of homiletic teachings on the Bible.
Midrash
is a way of interpreting biblical stories that goes beyond simple distillation
of religious, legal or moral teachings. It fills in many gaps left in the
biblical narrative regarding events and personalities that are only hinted at.
It is said that
Michael
prevented Isaac from being sacrificed by his father by substituting a
ram in his place, and saved Jacob, while yet in his mother's womb,
from being killed by Samael. Later Michael prevented Laban
from harming Jacob.(Pirke De-Rabbi Eliezer, xxxvi). It was Michael who wrestled
with Jacob and who afterward blessed him.
The midrash Exodus Rabbah holds that Michael
exercised his function of advocate of Israel at the time of the Exodus also,
when Satan (as an adversary) accused the Israelites of idolatry and declared that
they were consequently deserving of death by drowning in the Red Sea.
Michael is also said to have destroyed the army of Sennacherib.
Protestant views of St. Michael
St. Michaelis Luthern Church on the €2 coin 2008
Most Protestant Christians (excluding Anglicans)
generally reject the intercession of saints as a whole. However, the
Anglican prayer of preparation before Mass includes a confession to
"Michael the Archangel" as well as other saints such as John the Baptist.
Protestant
denominations generally recognize only two archangels, Michael and Gabriel,
usually emphasizing Michael, unlike Judaism, Roman Catholicism, and Eastern
Orthodoxy which may at times recognize seven (and in rare cases eight) archangels,
with Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael generally regarded with an elevated status,
e.g. being the only archangels honored by name in Catholicism.
 |
| St. Michael in Victory by Murillo |
Some early Protestant scholars identified Michael with
the pre-incarnate Christ, basing their view, partly on the juxtaposition of the
"child" and the archangel in Revelation 12, and partly on the
attributes ascribed to him in Daniel. Similarly in 1751 Anglican bishop
Robert Clayton held that Michael was the Logos and Gabriel the Holy Spirit, an
extreme position which resulted in his prosecution, just before he died.
Michael continues to be recognized among Protestants
by key churches dedicated to him, e.g. St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg, a famous
Lutheran Church which appears on the coins of the European Union.[54]
St. Michael mentioned in the Qur'an
Michael
(Arabic: ميخائيل, Mikhail ميكائيل, Mikael ), is one
of the two archangels mentioned in the Qur'an, alongside Jibreel (Gabriel). In
the Qur'an, Michael is mentioned once only, in Sura 2:98: "Whoever is an
enemy to God, and His angels and His messengers, and Jibreel and Mikhail! Then, lo! God (Himself) is an enemy to the
disbelievers." Some Muslims believe that the reference in Sura 11:69
is Michael, one of the three angels who visited Abraham.
Jehovah's Witnesses
beliefs of St. Michael
beliefs of St. Michael
Jehovah's Witnesses believe Michael to be another name
for Jesus Christ in heaven, in his pre-human and post-resurrection existence.
They assert that, because a definite article is used at Jude 9 when referring
to "Michael the Archangel", and because the term
"archangel" is used only in the singular in the Bible, never clearly
in the plural, that therefore Michael is the only archangel, and therefore
synonymous with Jesus, who is described at 1 Thessalonians 4:16 as descending
"with a cry of command, with the voice of an archangel, and with the sound
of the trumpet".
They believe the prominent roles assigned to Michael
at Daniel 12:1 and Revelation 12:7; 19:14, 16 are identical to Jesus' roles, as
the one chosen to lead God's people, and as the one who "stands up",
identifying them as the same spirit being. Because they identify Michael with
Jesus, he is therefore considered the first and greatest of all God's heavenly
sons, God's chief messenger who takes the lead in vindicating God's
sovereignty, sanctifying his name, fighting the wicked forces of Satan, and
protecting God's covenant people on earth.[56] Jehovah's Witnesses also
identify Michael with the "Angel of the Lord" who led the Israelites
in the wilderness.[57]
Seventh-day Adventists
beliefs of St.
Michael
 |
| St. Michael defeats Satan by Giordano, Luca |
Seventh-day Adventists believe that Michael is another
name for the Heavenly Christ, and another name for the Word-of-God (as in John
1) before He became incarnate as Jesus. Archangel (meaning "Chief of the
Angels") was the leadership position held by the Word-of-God as Michael
while among the angels. So according to Adventist theology, Michael was considered
the "eternal Word", and not a created being or created angel, and the
one by whom all things were created. The Word was then born incarnate as Jesus.
Seventh-day
Adventists believe the name "Michael" is significant in showing who
it is, just as "Immanuel" (which means "God with us") is
about who Jesus is. They believe that name "Michael" signifies
"one who is God" and that as the "Archangel" or "chief
or head of the angels" He led the angels and thus the statement in
Revelation 12:7-9 identifies Jesus as Michael.[59]
Seventh-day
Adventists believe that the term 'Michael' is but one of the many titles
applied to the Son of God, the second person of the Godhead. But, according to
Adventists, such a view does not in any way conflict with the belief in His full
deity and eternal pre-existence, nor does it in the least disparage His person
and work.[60]
In the
Seventh-day Adventist view, the statement in 1 Thessalonians 4:13-18: "For
the Lord himself shall descend from heaven, with a shout, with the voice of the
archangel, and with the trump of God" identifies Jesus as Archangel, which
is Michael.[61] And the Seventh-day Adventists believe that John 5:25-29 also
confirms that Jesus and Michael are the same.[61]
Seventh-day Adventists believe there is and can only
be one archangel and that one Archangel is named Michael and yet in Scripture
is shown as doing what also applies to Christ even from the beginning, so is
Christ pre-incarnate. There was a perception that Adventists were relegating
Jesus to something less than divine or less than God but that is not valid
since Seventh-day Adventism theology teaches and is expressly
Trinitarian.[62][63]
Beliefs of The Church of Jesus Christ of
Latter-day Saints
Latter-day Saints (also known informally as Mormons)
believe that Michael is Adam, the Ancient of Days (Dan. 7), a prince, and the
patriarch of the human family and that Michael assisted Jehovah (the heavenly
form of Jesus Christ) in the creation of the world under the direction of God
the Father.
St. Michael as Patron Saint and Names of
Religious Orders
What IS a patron saint?
“Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes -- anything that is important to us. The earliest records show that people and churches were named after apostles and martyrs as early as the fourth century.
“Patron saints are chosen as special protectors or guardians over areas of life. These areas can include occupations, illnesses, churches, countries, causes -- anything that is important to us. The earliest records show that people and churches were named after apostles and martyrs as early as the fourth century.
Recently, the popes have named
patron saints but patrons can be chosen by other individuals or groups as well.
Patron saints are often chosen today because an interest, talent, or event in
their lives overlaps with the special area. Angels can also be named as patron
saints. A patron saint can help us when we follow the example of that saint's
life and when we ask for that saint's intercessory prayers to God.” Definition
taken from http://www.catholic.org/saints/patron.php More on Patron Saints under separate
post.
 |
| Bulgarian women at the Feast of St. Michael |
In the Roman Catholic calendar of saints, Anglican
Calendar of Saints, and the Lutheran Calendar of Saints, the archangel's feast
is celebrated on Michaelmas Day. The day is also considered the feast of Saints
Gabriel, and Raphael or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels. On
the Western Christian calendar the feast is celebrated on 29 September.
He is known worldwide as the Patron saint of Law Enforcement and soldiers.
He is known worldwide as the Patron saint of Law Enforcement and soldiers.
In the Eastern Orthodox Church, Saint Michael's
principal feast day is November 8 (November 21 by most Orthodox churches since
they use the Julian calendar), where he is honored along with the rest of the "Bodiless Powers
of Heaven" (i.e. angels) as their Supreme Commander, and the Miracle at
Chonae is commemorated on September 6.
In late medieval Christianity, Michael, together with
Saint George, became the patron saint of chivalry and is now also
considered the patron saint of police officers and the military.
In mid to late 15th century, France was one of only
four courts in Western Christendom without an order of knighthood.
Later in
the 15th century, Jean Molinet glorified the primordial feat of arms of the
archangel as "the first deed of knighthood and chivalrous prowess that was
ever achieved."Thus Michael was the natural patron of the first
chivalric order of France, the Order of Saint Michael of 1469.
In the British honours system, a chivalric order founded in 1818 is also named for these two saints, the Order of St Michael and St George.
The Order of Michael the Brave is Romania's highest military decoration.
Later in
the 15th century, Jean Molinet glorified the primordial feat of arms of the
archangel as "the first deed of knighthood and chivalrous prowess that was
ever achieved."Thus Michael was the natural patron of the first
chivalric order of France, the Order of Saint Michael of 1469.In the British honours system, a chivalric order founded in 1818 is also named for these two saints, the Order of St Michael and St George.
The Order of Michael the Brave is Romania's highest military decoration.
Apart from his being a patron of warriors, the sick
and the suffering also consider Archangel Michael their patron saint.
Based on the legend of his 8th century apparition at Mont-Saint-Michel, France, the Archangel is the patron of mariners in this famous sanctuary.
After the evangelisation of Germany, where mountains were often dedicated to pagan gods, Christians placed many mountains under the patronage of the Archangel, and numerous mountain chapels of St. Michael appeared all over Germany.
He has been the patron saint of Brussels since the Middle Ages.
The city of Arkhangelsk in Russia is named for the Archangel. Ukraine and its capital Kiev also consider Michael their patron saint and protector.
Based on the legend of his 8th century apparition at Mont-Saint-Michel, France, the Archangel is the patron of mariners in this famous sanctuary.
After the evangelisation of Germany, where mountains were often dedicated to pagan gods, Christians placed many mountains under the patronage of the Archangel, and numerous mountain chapels of St. Michael appeared all over Germany.
He has been the patron saint of Brussels since the Middle Ages.
The city of Arkhangelsk in Russia is named for the Archangel. Ukraine and its capital Kiev also consider Michael their patron saint and protector.
 |
| Michaelite Fathers http://www.michaelites.ca/congregationintro.htm |
The Congregation of Saint Michael the Archangel (CSMA), also known as the Michaelite Fathers, is a religious order of the Roman Catholic Church founded in 1897.
Major shrines to St. Michael
•St. Michael and St. Gudula Cathedral, in Brussels,
Belgium
•Mont Saint-Michel, Normandy, France - a World
Heritage Site
•St. Michael's Cathedral (Toronto), Canada
·
St.
Michael's Golden-Domed Monastery in Kiev (Ukraine).
•St. Michael's Cathedral (Izhevsk), Russia
•St. Michael's
Cathedral, Qingdao, China
•Chudov
Monastery in the Moscow Kremlin
•Archangel
Cathedral in the Moscow Kremlin - a World Heritage Site
•Monte
Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, Gargano, Italy
•St Michael's
Mount, Cornwall, UK
•St. Michael's
Basilica, Miramichi, Canada
•Skellig
Michael, off the Irish west coast - a World Heritage Site
•St Michael's
Cathedral, Coventry, UK
 |
| St. Micheal's Golden-Domed Monastery, Kiev, Ukraine |
•St. Michael's
Golden-Domed Monastery, Kiev, Ukraine
•St Michael's
Church in Vienna, Austria
•Basilica of St
Michael the Archangel, Tayabas, Quezon, Philippines
•Saint
Michael's church, Berlin
•St. Michael's
Cathedral in Belgrade, Serbia
Legends
Judaism
·
There is a legend which seems to be of Jewish origin, and which was adopted by the Copts, to the effect
that Michael
was first sent by God to bring Nebuchadnezzar (c. 600 BC) against Jerusalem,
and that Michael was afterward very active in freeing his nation from
Babylonian captivity. According to midrash Genesis Rabbah, Michael saved Hananiah
and his companions from the Fiery furnace. Michael was active in the time of
Esther: "The more Haman accused Israel on earth, the more Michael
defended Israel in heaven".[80] It was Michael who reminded Ahasuerus that
he was Mordecai's debtor; and there is a legend that Michael
appeared to the high priest Hyrcanus, promising him assistance.
Christendom
· A 12th-century icon of the Miracle at Chonae, from Saint Catherine's
Monastery, Mount Sinai.
 |
| St. Michael icon at Sinai (Egypt) by K. Weitzmann |
The Orthodox Church celebrates the Miracle at Chonae
on September 6. The legend states that the pagans directed a stream against the
sanctuary of St Michael to destroy it, but Archippus (the custodian) prayed to
Michael, the archangel appeared and split the rock to open up a new bed for the
stream, directing the flow away from the church and sanctifying forever the
waters which came from the new gorge. The spring which came forth after this
event is said to have special healing powers. The legend existed in earlier
times, but the 5th-7th century texts that refer to the miracle at Chonae formed
the basis of specific paradigms for "properly approaching" angelic
intermediaries for more effective prayers within the Christian culture.
There is a late 5th century legend in Cornwall, UK
that the
Archangel appeared to fishermen on St Michael's Mount. According to author Richard Freeman Johnson
this legend is likely a nationalistic twist to a myth. Cornish legends also
hold that the mount itself was constructed by giants and that King Arthur
battled a giant there.
·
The legend of the apparition of the Archangel at
around 490 AD at a secluded hilltop cave on Monte Gargano in Italy gained a
following among the Lombards in the immediate period thereafter, and by the 8th
century pilgrims arrived from as far away as England. The Roman Breviary then
recorded it on May 8, the date on which the Lombards attributed their 663
victory over the Greek Neopolitan to the intercession of the Archangel.
 |
| Micheal's statue at Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome |
Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, with Michael's statue atop
According to Roman legends, while a devastating plague
persisted in Rome, Archangel Michael appeared with a sword over the mausoleum
of Hadrian, in apparent answer to the prayers of Pope St Gregory I the Great (c. 590-604) that the plague should cease. After the
plague ended, in honor of the occasion, the pope called the mausoleum
"Castel Sant'Angelo" (Castle of the Holy Angel), the name by which it
is still known.
·
The Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France
 |
| Mont Saint Michel in Normandy, France |
A Portuguese Carmelite nun, Antónia d'Astónaco, had reported an apparition and private revelation of
the Archangel Michael who had told to this devoted Servant of God, in 1751,
that she would like to be honored, and God glorified, by the praying of nine
special invocations. These nine invocations correspond to invocations to the nine
choirs of angels and origins the famous Chaplet of Saint Michael. This
private revelation and prayers were approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851. (*The prayer Chaplet of Satin Michael and Nine Choirs of Angels will be under their own
posts)
·
From
1961 to 1965, four young schoolgirls had reported several
apparitions of Archangel Michael in the small village of Garabandal, Spain.
At Garabandal, the apparitions of the
Archangel Michael were mainly reported as announcing the arrivals of the Virgin
Mary. The Catholic Church has neither approved, nor condemned the Garabandal
apparitions.
 |
| Garabandal, Spain |
Art and literature
In literature
In the English epic poem Paradise Lost by John Milton, Michael commands the army of angels
loyal to God against the rebel forces of Satan. Armed with a sword from God's
armory, he bests Satan in personal combat, wounding his side.
Artistic depictions of St. Michael
Archangel Michael
in Christian art
·
Early
20th century Russian icon of the 7 Holy Angels, with Michael in the front.
·
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.
 | |
| St. Michael reaching to save souls in purgatory |
Constantine
felt that Licinius was an agent of Satan, and associated him with the serpent
described in the Book of Revelation (12:9). After the victory, Constantine
commissioned a depiction of himself and his sons slaying Licinius represented
as a serpent - a symbolism borrowed from the Christian teachings on the
Archangel to whom he attributed the victory. A similar painting, this time with
the Archangel Michael himself slaying a serpent then became a major art piece
at the Michaelion and eventually lead to the standard iconography of Archangel
Michael as a warrior saint.
·
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 judgment. 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.
Judaism
Most Jewish
teachings interpret the Second Commandment as against the use of "graven
images" as visual art.
Islam Islamic art's focus on calligraphy, rather than
painting and sculpture, similarly derives from the association of idolatry with
the depiction of human or angelic forms.
