Saint Michael the Archangel is one of the three archangels recognized by Christianity, and not only. His figure is in fact the object of worship and veneration also by other professions of faith, such as Judaism and Islam. Rather, we can say that he is recognized by all as the Archangel par excellence, before this term was used for Gabriel and Raphael. His name means “Who is like God?”, his symbols have always been the sword, or the spear and armor. Michael is a celestial warrior, in fact, THE warrior, commander of the angelic hosts, he who led the armies of Paradise against Lucifer and his rebels, expelling them beyond the clouds and making them fall to hell.

For Muslims he was the angel who, together with Gabriel, instructed Muhammad in the Koran, an austere and somber angel who never laughed. Some traditions, especially Eastern ones, depict him with a scale in his hand, while he weighs and judges the souls of the dead.

Saint Michael the Archangel is an emblematic figure, which extends through the history of Europe, not only the religious one, object of veneration by the Byzantines and the Lombards, compared by them to the God Odin, of whom he imitated the warrior virtues and dimension military, and elsewhere of Hercules, Mithras, Hermes. His cult has spread to the East and West, leading to the construction of places of veneration placed along a straight line, the so-called Sacred Line, which connects Ireland with Israel, passing through England, France, Italy, Greece.

Patron saint of numerous cities and towns, Protector of the Jewish people, Guardian of the Catholic Church, Protector of the Sick and Paramedics; from the Police Forces, from the Police to the Sailors, from the Paratroopers to the Firefighters; Radiologists and Grocers and all those who use scales, such as pharmacists, pastry chefs, merchants; of swordsmen, masters of weapons; of the gilders; from bathtub manufacturers.

It is definitely worth getting to know it better.

History of Saint Michael the Archangel

Saint Michael the Archangel is mentioned five times in the Bible, and always as the supreme leader of the heavenly army.

Once, he and Lucifer led the divine militias together, as the brightest among the angels, the strongest, the bravest, the closest to God.

Revelation 12,7-8:7 Then there was a great battle in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought; 8 But they did not prevail, nor was a place found for them in heaven.

After Lucifer's betrayal, after his rebellion, the perfection represented by these two angels was broken and they became bitter enemies. Michael made the war against his old brother the reason for his own existence, expelling him from heaven, pursuing him through the millennia, defending humanity from his traps and temptations. Since then, Archangel Michael has become the punisher of all those who rise up against God, the proud, defender of the Faith, of the Truth, of the Church itself.

As we have already written, his name derives from the Hebrew Mi-ka-El which means “who is like God?”

“Archangel” derives from the Greek and is a word composed of àrchein, “to command” and ànghelos, “messenger.” So the Archangels, and Michael in particular, are the ones who command the other angels.

Often, the cult of Saint Michael is intertwined with that of the Virgin Mary. They both fight the demon, both are depicted as crushing it under their feet, in the form of a snake or a dragon. Both, above all, are protectors of humanity against its adulations, guardians of God's flock against Evil. According to an ancient tradition, Saint Michael the Archangel will be the one who will sound the trumpet of Judgment announcing the end of the world.

San Miguel Arcangel It is celebrated along with the other two Archangels, Gabriel and Raphael, on September 29.

We have already mentioned how the cult of Saint Michael the Archangel developed from East to West, and how its spread in the West was largely due to the Lombards, who reserved it since the 6th century, on the occasion of their passage to Italy, a great devotion and erected in his name many religious buildings, including the Sanctuary of Saint Michael the Archangel on Monte Gargano, in Apulia. Here, where the town of Monte Sant'Angelo is today, with its splendid sanctuary dedicated precisely to Saint Michael, it is said that the Archangel appeared to the young archer Galgano, while he was chasing a wonderful white bull. Through the intercession of the Archangel, the arrows shot at the bull returned and struck its hunter, who converted to Christianity.

It was Pope Gregory the Great who brought the Longobards to conversion, especially thanks to Queen Theodolinda. These fierce warriors from the north immediately liked Saint Michael, because he embodied the talents of Odin and they chose him as their protector. Thanks to the Lombards, the cult of Saint Michael spread throughout Northern Italy. Even today there are testimonies of this diffusion in Pavia, former capital of the Lombard kingdom, and in the Susa Valley, in Piedmont, where the Sacra di San Michele (Sacred of Saint Michael) is still located, a monastery perched on the top of the mountain. Pirchiriano, which for centuries was a destination and transit for pilgrims between Italy and France. This magnificent architectural complex was inspired by Umberto Eco for his novel The Name of the Rose.

The sacred line of Saint Michael the Archangel

We also talked about the sacred line that connects all the most important places of worship dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, also known as the Ley line of Saint Michael:

• Skellig Michael in Ireland
• St Michael's Mount in Cornwall, England
• Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, France
• the Sacra di San Michele in Susa Valley,
• St. Michael, Monte Sant'Angelo, Apulia
• St. Michael's Monastery on the island of Symi, Greece
• Monastery of Our Lady of Mount Carmel in Israel.

In addition to being along the same imaginary straight line, three of these important places are also equidistant from each other: it is Monte Saint-Michel in France, the Sacra di San Michele in Susa Valley and the sanctuary of Monte Sant Angelo in the Gargano.

The “Ley Lines” are straight lines that join places on Earth that have always been considered special, perhaps energetic nodes of the planet, impossible to trace their true meaning. The Law line of Saint Michael, or the Law line of the Dragon, is, among other things, perfectly aligned with the configuration of the Sun on the day of the Summer Solstice. Therefore, it is no secret that, since ancient times, the cult of Saint Michael the Archangel has been studied from many points of view, following suggestions that often transcended religion and the spiritual value of places of devotion.

Prayers to Saint Michael the Archangel

We have already mentioned that sometimes the cult of Saint Michael the Archangel is associated with that of the Virgin Mary. Both are emblems of the fight against evil, both are guardians and protectors of humanity, both fight against the Devil, crush him under their feet and take him to hell.

Prayers addressed to Saint Michael the Archangel are, above all, requests for help and protection.

One trusts in the Prince of the Celestial Militia for everyday problems, but also in view of the final Judgment. It is invoked as a guide, as a protector, as a shield against evil and as a support. Never, as in the prayers addressed to other Saints, is it clear that the invocations to Saint Michael the Archangel are true weapons of faith, to be wielded in daily battles. And how could it be otherwise, given the iconography that characterizes this beautiful and implacable Archangel? From the origins of his cult, therefore, the invocations, the consecration, the angelic crowns were dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel.

One sentence in particular deserves more attention. It is written in October 1884 by Pope Leo XIII, after a terrifying vision in which the Devil threatened to destroy the Church and Saint Michael stood in its defense. Leo XIII demanded that this prayer be recited after each mass, and inserted it among the most powerful exorcisms, in the Exorcismus in Satanam et Angelos Apostaticos. This exorcism hides a prophecy that touches us closely, since the exorcism dates back to 800, and speaks about events that would occur in the immediate future. According to the prophecy, Lucifer and his allies will take control of the Papacy, but they will still fail to destroy the Church. Exorcism can only be recited by an authorized priest, but the prayer written by Pope Leo place, protecting the people who have been targeted by the Evil One.

We report only the abbreviated version reported by the Roman Ritual and published in 1902:

Most Glorious Prince of the Celestial Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the combat against the principalities and powers, against the leaders of this darkness of the world, against the evil spirits scattered through the air.

Come to the aid of men whom God made in his image and likeness, and rescued at great price from the tyranny of the devil. The Church venerates you as its guardian and patron. The Lord entrusted the redeemed souls to you to place them in the place of supreme happiness.

Pray, therefore, to the God of peace to crush the devil at our feet, taking away all his power to hold men captive and harm the church. Place our prayers under the gaze of the Most High, so that the mercies of the Lord may descend as soon as possible, and subject the dragon, that ancient serpent, which is the devil and satan, to precipitate him chained into the abysses, so that he cannot never again seduce the nations.

Beyond the prophecy and exorcism of Leo as to be normal, taken for granted, requires the intervention of a benign force equipped with the appropriate weapons to defeat evil. Saint Michael the Archangel is a symbol of inexhaustible spiritual strength, of courage, loyalty and purity who is still capable of guiding and saving souls who wish to follow the right path.

Another prayer dedicated to Saint Michael the Archangel, which is worth remembering, is the Chaplet to Saint Michael the Archangel, also called the Rosary of the Angels, composed by Antónia de Astónaco, a Portuguese Carmelite nun, in 1751. Recognized by Pope Pius IX, It is a kind of Rosary, which is directed above all to the Archangels and the angelic choirs. It is in fact composed of an invocation to God (Glory), an invocation (consisting of one Our Father and three Hail Marys) for each of the nine angelic choirs and four Our Fathers, three for each of the Archangels and another for the Guardian Angel.

The presentations of Saint Michael the Archangel in art and in the collective imagination

In general, the main characteristics with which Saint Michael the Archangel is represented are the armor, the sword or the spear, and the attitude of war. Because the cult of Saint Michael the Archangel was born in the East, or at any rate in the Byzantine context, this means that he is very often portrayed in the elegant clothing of a Byzantine dignitary, as can be seen in many icons of Saint Michael the Archangel, but also in the works of Simone Martini, for example. In this area, the Saint is generally dressed in the purple chlamys or the imperial loros; in the hand that carries the labarum, a banner on which appears the trisághion, an ancient hymn that says «Holy God, Holy Mighty One, Holy Immortal One, have mercy on us.». Regarding the devotion to Saint Michael by the Byzantines, it is worth remembering that Emperor Constantine I had the Michaelion, a great sanctuary, built in his name in Constantinople, while in the West the first basilica dedicated to the Saint probably dates back to the V century.

With respect to Byzantine iconography, Western iconography prefers Saint Michael presented in the Apocalypse, the celestial warrior, the prince in armor who with his outstretched wings guides the divine armies against the Evil One. The Archangel Michael is usually represented on foot, with the appearance of a beardless, hieratic young man, with outstretched wings, in one hand a spear or a sword, in the other the globe surmounted by a cross. He wears a flowing tunic, sometimes a cloak, always armor.

On the contrary, we owe to the Islamic tradition the recurrence, in some of its representations, of the balance with which the Archangel weighs souls, in view of the Judgment. It is a tradition that has its origins in paganism, particularly in the Egyptian myth of Osiris and Persian mythology, but which has been taken up pictorially by many artists. It spread especially in the Romanesque-Gothic area, both in the East and the West. In this sense, Saint Michael the Archangel appears as protector of the deceased, psychopomp, that is, their guide, as Hermes or Charon was in Greek tradition, and weigher of souls.

On the other hand, the iconography of Saint Michael, as it appears in the icons, paintings, and statues that represent him, owes much to that of the gods and heroes of pagan myths, where the figure has been produced since the dawn of time. of the brilliant hero who defeats Evil, often represented by a monster. Think of the Babylonian god Marduk, Mithras, Hermes, all accumulated by characteristics of mediators between heavenly powers and man, bearers of light and salvation, and other qualities that we find in Saint Michael.

As for the statues dedicated to Archangel Michael, which are innumerable, and resume the pictorial iconography of the warrior armed with a sword who defeats the Devil, or the Dragon, but also the, more eastern, of Saint Michael who judges souls.

In addition to the Byzantine and Romanesque bas-reliefs, of which there are many examples throughout the world, we think especially of the statue of the Archangel Michael in the Basilica on Monte Sant'Angelo, or the numerous statues of Saint Michael that have been produced in the upper part of the Castel Sant'Angelo in Rome, the first, made of wood, from the 11th century, and so on, to Saint Michael by Raffaello da Montelupo, in marble and metal, painted with magnificent wings, which have unfortunately been lost, and the bronze statue by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, erected in 1752, which still watches over the Eternal City today.