Saint Michael The Archangel

First Point

Saint Michael the Archangel was the leader of all the angels who remained faithful to God. He it was who, through zeal for the glory of God, joined with all the holy angels to fight against Lucifer and his adherents,² who were dazzled by the perfections and graces God had placed in them and revolted against him, being unwilling to submit to God’s orders because they did not sufficiently consider how much the One who had created everything great in them was above them and infinitely more worthy than they of honor and glory. They were even so blind that they resisted Saint Michael, who had been commissioned by God to enlighten them by his wisdom and to show them that nothing can be compared to God and, as Saint Paul says, that to him alone is due all honor and glory forever and ever,³ that all creatures, such as they are, are nothing in themselves and must abase themselves and acknowledge their nothingness before God in the sight of his glory and majesty. This was the ray of light that God had impressed on Saint Michael. The mere appearance of this archangel silenced those miserable angels, who became creatures of darkness and were banished to a place of darkness because they did not want to open their eyes to the true light.Will we always resist the light of grace, which tells us that we must leave all for God and that only in God will we find our true happiness even in this life?

Second Point

Saint Michael, inspired by this attitude of faith, which served as his shield⁴ against the evil angels, was victorious over them by these words: Who is like to God? At the same time, he gave glory to God with his followers as they cried out, You are worthy, O Lord, our God, to receive all glory, all honor, and all power, because you have created all things.⁵ Now salvation and power and the reign of our God have been established, because the accuser of our brothers, who day and night accused them before our God, has been thrown down from the heights of heaven.⁶ At that moment all these holy angels were confirmed in eternal glory, from which they have never fallen and which can never have the least alteration in them. What happiness for this holy archangel: to be the first of these blessed spirits who devote themselves entirely to praise God in heaven and, by his zeal and respect for God, to have contributed the most to start bringing others to heaven! Honor this great saint as the first to give glory to God and to cause him to be glorified by his creatures. Pay him the honor he deserves for having been so loyal to God. Join with him and with all the blessed spirits who are with him in heaven, and regard them as the models of what you ought to do for God. Often recall those words that inspired them in the fight and that supported them against the devils: Who is like unto God? So that these words may strengthen you in your temptations when you are under attack, say, Is the pleasure I would have by yielding to this attraction of concupiscence to be compared with the joy I have from God?

Third Point

Saint Michael gives glory to God even now, day after day, by the good that he does for Christians and by the graces he obtains for them, because he has been chosen by God to be the protector of the Church, which he upholds and defends against her enemies. Was he not the one, in fact, who was sent by God to help King Ezechias kill 180,000 men in Sennacherib’s army,⁷ who, according to Saint Jude, struggled against the devil to have control over the body of Moses⁸ and who even, as the Church chants, has been appointed by God to welcome the souls of the just when they leave their bodies and to bring them to heaven? He, likewise, defends the Church, as the well beloved of God, against schism and heresy, which from time to time oppose her holy teaching and disturb her. Let us, then, join with this holy leader of the angels to share in his zeal, both for our own salvation and for that of all Christians. Let us abandon ourselves completely to his care and have confidence in his help. Let us be docile to his interior voice, so that all the means that God offers us through him for our salvation may be effective in us and that we on our part may not place any obstacle to their action. Often pray to Saint Michael to have the goodness to protect this little family and this church of Jesus Christ,⁹ according to the expression of Saint Paul, which is our Community, to give it the means of preserving within it the Spirit of Jesus Christ, to give all its members the graces they need to persevere in their vocation, and to procure the Christian spirit for all those who are under their guidance.

Historical Context

The Archangel Michael was honored by the Jews as a special protector of Israel (see Dan. 10:13) and became for Christians a special protector of the Church (see Jude 1:9 and Rev. 12:7–9). Originally, September 29 was the feast of the Dedication of the Basilica of Saint Michael on the Salarian Way, but since the reform of the liturgy by Vatican II, the feast is celebrated in honor of the three principal archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. De La Salle has another meditation on Saint Michael, May 8, number 125.

Scripture Citation

1. Number 168, one of the six meditations in the Additions, is found at the end both of the original edition and of this edition
2. Rev 12:7
3. 1 Tim 1:17
4. Eph 6:16
5. Rev 4:11
6. Rev 12:10
7. 2 Kgs 19:35
8. Jude 9
9. Rom 16:5