Saint Michael the Archangel

Invocation

“Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our safeguard against the snares of the devil.”

Life and Devotion

Saint Michael the Archangel is one of the three angelic figures named in the canonical Christian Bible, alongside Gabriel and Raphael. His name, in Hebrew Mikha'el, means 'Who is like God?' — a rhetorical question asserting the incomparability of the divine. In the Old Testament, he appears in the Book of Daniel (chapters 10 and 12) as the 'great prince' who stands beside Israel in times of tribulation. In the New Testament, the Epistle of Jude (v. 9) shows him in dispute with the devil over the body of Moses. The Book of Revelation (chapter 12) portrays him leading the heavenly armies against the dragon — Satan — whom he casts from heaven. This iconographic scene, rendered by Raphael, Guercino, Guido Reni, and countless others, constitutes the universal image of Michael: the winged warrior, armed with sword or lance, vanquishing the demon. His veneration is shared across the three Abrahamic traditions: Mikha'el in Judaism, Mikail in Islam, Michael in Christianity. In the West, the sanctuary of Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, founded upon an apparition of the archangel to Bishop Aubert in 708, and Monte Gargano in Italy, where he is said to have appeared in the fifth century, are the two great poles of his devotion.

Michael's patronage over spiritual protection, exorcism, and professions linked to order — police, military, border guards — flows directly from his cosmological role as commander of the heavenly armies. Whenever an adversary must be overcome — whether spiritual, physical, or moral — Michael is both the model and the intercessor. Catholic rites of exorcism invoke him explicitly since the prayer of Pope Leo XIII in 1886, composed after the pope's vision of the devil's power in the modern world. This prayer, formerly recited at the end of every low Mass, remains in use in traditionalist communities and during house blessings. His patronage of police and military personnel is more recent (nineteenth-twentieth century) and logically founded: guardians of order against disorder, bearers of arms in the service of the common good.

Invoking Saint Michael rests on two practical pillars: the prayer of Leo XIII and holy water. The novena consists of reciting this prayer nine consecutive days, sprinkling each room with holy water and placing a pinch of blessed salt at the four corners of the space to be protected — a very ancient purification rite in Catholic tradition. His feast on September 29 (Michaelmas in the English-speaking world) marks in several European countries a seasonal turning point associated with harvests and the organization of labor. A Saint Michael medal, depicting the winged warrior vanquishing the dragon, may be worn or placed at the entrance of a home. He is entrusted specifically with situations involving a diffuse sense of spiritual oppression, toxic work environments, and decisions taken under pressure or fear.