On 29 September the Church jubilantly celebrated the feast of Saint Michael the Archangel. The original significance of his mighty name is “Who is like God?” The well-known Latin phrase that still reverberates around the entire spiritual fabric of the Church as a song of sure hope of the definite victory over Satan and his diabolical rotten kingdom by the Archangel Michael, is ‘Quis ut Deus?’ The universal Church sees in this princely seraph her ardent protector against evil’s destructive forces as well as a powerful intercessor on her behalf before the supreme majesty of the throne of Almighty God.
Both the eastern and western wings of Christianity rightly place Saint Michael over all the angels. In fact, they consider him as prince of the Seraphim. The very word ‘archangel’, which is derived from the two Greek words ‘arche’ meaning ‘prince’ and ‘angelos’ meaning ‘seraph’, indicates this justified placing. Additionally the word archangel suggests that the power of these heavenly spirit lies within the type of messages they proclaim. On this point Pope Saint Gregory the Great wrote: “You should be aware that the word ‘angel’ denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven indeed always have been spirits. They can only be called angels when they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels”.
Why is the content of Saint Michael’s message still of the highest importance? The crux of it is that God’s infinite goodness continually overcomes the fragmented and farcical dominion of evil. Evil does not have a future. It is certainly doomed to fail. And when it fails, it does so miserably and tragically. Furthermore, being the principal and eternal enemy of Satan, Saint Michael defeats him twice. The first victory occurred when he ousted him from Paradise, whereas the second eventual victory will take place at the end of time. Indeed, the book of Daniel prophesises: “At that time shall arise Michael, the great prince” (Dan 12:1).
Both angles and archangels have specific roles. The catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that “the whole life of the Church benefits from the mysterious and powerful help of angels… From its beginning until death, human life is surrounded by their watchful care and intercession” (§ 334-335). In Saint Michael’s case, one notices that he possesses four definite roles. First, he is the main enemy of Satan and the fallen angels. He chucked Satan out of Paradise and will achieve victory at the hour of the ultimate battle with him. He is also the angel of death in that at the hour of death Saint Michael comes down from heaven and provides each soul the chance to redeem itself before facing God for its particular judgment. In this way he subdues the devil and his accompanying evil spirits from capturing the soul for eternal perdition. Furthermore, the archangel’s third role is that of weighing souls in his scales on Judgment Day. Lastly, Saint Michael is the guardian of the whole Church.
Among the prayers and novenas that are devoted to him, the most popular is undoubtedly the Prayer to Saint Michael that was promoted by Pope Leo XIII in 1888. In his Regina Caeli address of 12 April 1994, Blessed John Paul II encouraged Catholics to keep praying it when he said: “I ask everyone not to forget it, and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world”.
Saint Michael’s powerful prayer goes: “Saint Michael the 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, thrust into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen”.
Why not pray it every day as a sound protection against the destructive influence of evil that constantly assails you and me without us noticing it?
Fr Mario Attard OFM Cap