Celebrating the Archangels

Depending on whether you follow the New Calendar with the Feast of the Archangels on September 29 or whether you are more familiar with Michaelmas (the feast of St. Michael) on the same date and the other two Archangels in October and March, you are still probably familiar with the idea that September into early October (Feast of the Guardian Angels) especially belongs to the heavenly host of angelic beings. 

There’s a sort of fittingness in the weather with September 29 being traditionally held as the day that Lucifer was cast out of Heaven by St. Michael. We keep that memory in a more trivial fashion when we remember not to eat blackberries after this date since Satan supposedly fell into a blackberry bramble on said date and for the rest of the season blackberries are said to be too shriveled and bitter to eat due to his spite. But the greater fittingness is that—as the daylight starts to wane, cooler weather begins to get its grip, and harvest sees the beginning of its end after summer of plenty—right now is the time the Church remembers the fall of Lucifer and the bitterness of the fall of Adam and Eve. The days will grow colder and eviler still, and then out of the darkness of the year’s end will spring forth the Morning Star at Bethlehem. Yet in the meantime, we’ve been given a warrior to champion our journey in the Vale of Tears we must travel through before Christmas—three warriors, in fact—each with a special role in the epic of salvation. 

St. Michael: Warrior

The name “Michael” means in Hebrew “Who Is Like God.” This powerful question is posed forever as the battle cry of the angelic armies. St. Michael gives it further meaning by his personally leading Heaven in the overthrow and casting out of Lucifer and the other unyielding angels who refuse to bow down to the Will of God. Not only is he the finest warrior of Heaven, but he also bears the title of the Prince and Commander of the hosts of angels. 

If the Biblical story in Revelations 12:7-9 of how he stood forth to challenge Lucifer and cast him out is not captivating enough, St. Michael has four major roles recognized by the Church—Leader of the Army of God, the Angel of Death who accompanies faithful departing souls and thwarts Satan attempts to claim them, the Weigher of Souls at the Last Judgment, and the Guardian of the Church particularly invoked by the Papal military orders and since 1886 through the St. Michael Prayer that Pope Leo XIII composed to be prayed at the end of every Low Mass.

St. Michael is also the archangel specifically invoked in the Holy Mass to carry the incense offered to the throne of God.

There is a breathtaking visual of St. Michael as the Defender of the Faithful that can be seen extended across Europe and the Holy Land. Various apparition sites and chapels (including Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy and Monte Sant’Angelo in Apulia) dedicated to him across Western Civilization make the arc of his angelic sword in a geographical phenomena called St. Michael’s Line. The foundations of Christendom are literally marked with the protection of God’s Defender.

St. Gabriel: Herald

St. Gabriel the Archangel sometimes comes across as the more nebulous of the three with his primary appearance being the Annunciation to Our Lady. Yet his role in salvation history is one of the most profound. Can you imagine being the one to petition Our Lady to accept her role as the Mother of God and then to witness the overshadowing of the Holy Spirit at the moment of the Incarnation? His is simultaneously a role requiring the utmost humility as an angelic being—and so the complete antithesis of Lucifer’s disobedience—as well as a role of unbelievable privilege. 

Gabriel’s name is most commonly translated from the Hebrew as “Man of God” or “Power of God,” and in Catholic tradition his role is especially seen as the messenger of God. He not only heralds the Annunciation but also the conception of John the Baptist to Zechariah as well as being the interpreter of the Prophet Daniel’s dreams in Babylon and later Israel. Whereas St. Michael is seen particularly as the angel of Judgement, St. Gabriel is the angel of Consolation or Mercy. This seems to stem especially from his role in the Incarnation. It is interesting to note though that Judaism of the Old Testament gave Gabriel the role of judgement as the destructor of Sodom and Gomorrah. The Archangel who symbolizes the power of God carries utmost strength and justice even in his image of mercy. 

St. Raphael: Healer and Guide

St. Raphael’s role may seem a little less glamorous than the Leader of Heavenly Armies or the Herald of the Annunciation; however, he is perhaps the most endeared of the three Archangels when it comes to some of daily life’s needs. First, because of his guidance of young Tobias he is the Angel of Healing. Second, because of his leading of Tobias to Sarah, facilitating their marriage, and protection of them on their wedding night he is the Angel of Happy Meetings and Holy Marriages. Third, because he instructs Tobias in the way to heal Tobit of his blindness he is the Angel of Healing.

In Hebrew his name means “God has healed” and that aspect of intercessory prayer to him since early Christendom is probably rivaled most by his intercession for sailors. It was such a prominent devotion that on a corner of the Doge’s Palace in Venice there is a painting of St. Raphael and Tobias with a scroll invoking the saint to "Efficia fretum quietum - Keep the Gulf quiet.” In Portugal in 1497 Vasco de Gama’s flagship was christened the Santo Raphael, and when the fleet rounded the Cape of Africa they disembarked to build a column in honor of the Archangel in thanksgiving for their safe travels thus far. Coupling these with his care for a young couple and their marriage, St. Raphael offers his patronage throughout the many moments of need we encounter every day. 

Despite this vale of tears and waning of days that experiences on earth and the shortening sunlight this time of year can seem, such glimpses into who the Archangels are serve as a good reminder to us that we are not alone. Heaven never leaves us in the lurch no matter how dark the way may seem, and the three Archangels hover as testament to God’s eternal care, wisdom, and protection. Foolish would we be not to count them among our greatest allies and most deserving of developing relationships with. 

Fostering Devotion

Whether you nurture a long time devotion to the Archangels or reading this entry has inspired you to focus on them more, here are some simple ways to make them part of your family culture: 

• Feature them in your home whether through statues or a painting of St. Michael conquering Satan, or an art piece of St. Raphael as the guardian of travelers such as Tobias and the Angel by Jean Charles Cazin to remind you of hospitality near your entryway or as the protector of Tobit and Sarah in your master bedroom, or a work such as Fra Angelico’s Annunciation to remind you of St. Gabriel’s role as God’s messenger. 
• Add the St. Michael prayer to your Morning Prayer routine every day.
• Invoke St. Raphael along with St. Christopher for safe travels every time you get in the car to drive somewhere. 
• Spread devotion to St. Raphael by sharing the novena for marriage discernment with young couples or single adults you know.