As the days grow shorter and colder and the trees and plants appear to die in this season of autumn, this is a season that many ancient peoples and cultures tended to ponder things like death, the creatures associated with the “beyond realms” like ghosts and (often evil) spirits. Thus in this season, the Church reminds us of the “good spirits” (what we call “angels”) that battle and fight for us. Tomorrow, September 29th we celebrate the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (and the other archangels St. Gabriel and Raphael).
St. Michael is first named in the book of Daniel, where he is revealed as fighting with evil spiritual forces and reveals he is the specially assigned Guardian of Israel (see Daniel 10:13, 20-1, Dan. 12:1). Some have speculated that the unnamed Angel who appears to Joshua before the battle of Jericho is the same special guardian St. Michael.
In the Book of Revelation, John has the vision: “… a war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail…The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan … was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it.” (Rev. 12:7-9). St. Jude also makes a reference to St. Michael’s struggle against the devil (see Jude 9).
Thus, just as St. Michael was the special guardian of the people of Biblical Israel, so now he is the special guardian, protector and defender, of Church of Christ.
In 1884, Pope Leo XIII (in honor of whom our current Pope took his own name) wrote the St. Michael prayer and actively encouraged the faithful to pray this prayer, for he sensed that there were terrible things that were going to happen in the coming century. And indeed he was right, as the last century has seen two World Wars, the development of nuclear weapons, a Great Depression, not to mention the horrors of the Holocaust and the horrors of people killed under reigns of Stalin and Lenin….And also, in the wake of the sexual revolution, the breakdown of ethics and morals and of the marriage and family!
If you turn on the news, it is easy to see that there are still forces of evil at work. So it is a good reminder for us as the faithful to continue to do as Pope Leo encouraged and continue to invoke St. Michael’s help in our spiritual battle:
Saint Michael Archangel,
defend us in battle,
be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil;
may God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God, cast into hell
Satan and all the evil spirits
who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Peace,
-Fr. Kevin
