Who was Michael the angel and what’s his significance?

29 September is Michaelmas also often called the Feast of St Michael and All Angels. Who was St Michael and what’s Michaelmas all about? This is the story …

The name Michael

The name Michael only appears because the name of several figures within the Bible. The name Michael comes from the Hebrew מִיכָאֵל, which implies ‘who’s God?’. The English spelling comes from the Greek spelling Μιχαήλ, where the Greek letter χ chi is often written in English as ‘ch’. The name Michael is popular across European languages and appears in French as Michel, in Spanish as Miguel and as Mikhail in Russian. It is usually shortened to Mickey.

Female form

The modern female type of the name Michael is Michaela. The biblical female type of the name is Michal, who was one in every of two daughters of King Saul (1 Sam 14:4) who married King David (1 Sam 18:27) but remained childless (2 Samuel 6:23). There are at the least 10 other people called Michael within the Old Testament. The most well-known figure with the name Michael is the angel.

Angels within the Bible

Angels appear over and over within the Old Testament but they don’t get names until the post-exilic era, and even then, only a number of angels are named. The essential two named angels are Michael and Gabriel. Satan is described as a fallen angel. If you include the Apocrypha, you may also add Raphael (Tobit 12:15-22) and Uriel (2 Esdras 4:1, 5:20 and 10:28). The book of Enoch also mentions Michael, Gabriel, Raphael, and Uriel. Only Michael is specifically called an archangel (Jude verse 9). The Church historically recalled the angels on the Feast of St Michael and All Angels.

Michaelmas

The Feast of St Michael and All Angels became often called Michael’s Mass which was shortened to Michaelmas. This has been observed every 12 months on 29 September for the reason that early centuries. During the Middle Ages, Michaelmas was widely observed with customs including feasting, hiring fairs, and settling leases and rents. It became related to the top of the harvest and a time of reckoning and recent beginnings in the neighborhood.

Historically, Michaelmas was one in every of the historical quarter days of the 12 months. The quarter days are Lady Day on 25 March, Midsummer Day on 24 June, Michaelmas on 29 September, and Christmas Day on 25 December. 

It became 1 / 4 day when recent servants were hired and leases signed. It signalled the beginning of the autumn quarter of the 12 months when quarterly rents were due, which continues to be the case for some industrial and agricultural leases. Oxford and Cambridge universities still talk of Michaelmas term. 

Michaelmas is marked in traditional Catholic, Anglican, and Lutheran churches. It will not be observed in lots of evangelical churches outside these traditions, however it reminds us of spiritual warfare (Ephesians 6:12) and God’s angels on guard (Psalm 91:11-12).

Michael within the Old Testament

Michael is barely named in three books of the Bible: Daniel, Jude, and Revelation. He is first named within the book of Daniel where he is named a prince (Daniel 10:13 and 10:21) and the protector of God’s people (Daniel 12:1). The idea of angels as protectors and guardians is echoed in Psalm 91:11-12.

Michael within the New Testament

The story of Michael is expanded within the New Testament. In Jude’s letter there’s a mysterious reference to the archangel Michael disputing with the Devil over Moses’s body (Jude 1:9). This references a story in ancient Jewish tradition which was known to the readers if to not us today. It is in Jude where he is known as because the archangel. St Paul wrote: “For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trump of God: and the dead in Christ shall rise first” (1 Thessalonians 4:16). In this verse Michael just isn’t mentioned by name here, however it could also be Michael who’s referred to. Then in Revelation we read of Michael and his angels fighting against the good dragon (Revelation 12:7).

Patron Saint

The angels Michael and Gabriel are each considered saints in Church tradition. The Feast of St Michael and All Angels goes back to the sixth century, and it appears within the liturgy from the seventh century within the western Church. In the Eastern Orthodox Church, a related feast honouring all angels is widely known on 8  November.St Michael’s role in spiritual warfare means he is taken into account because the patron saint of people that fight and face danger. The date of St Michael’s Day at the top of September also led him to be related to harvest time, and so he can be considered the patron saint of grocers, bakers, and pastry cooks. St Michael can be considered the patron saint of soldiers, sailors, law enforcement officials, paramedics, firefighters, and all who fight for justice and protection. In 1941 Pope Pius XII even declared him to be the patron saint of radiologists.

Famous island churches dedicated to St Michael

Many churches are dedicated to St Michael or to St Michael and All Angels. They are sometimes positioned in significant places or on hilltops. There are 816 churches within the Church of England dedicated to St Michael or St Michael and All Angels. The most famous places dedicated to St Michael are perhaps Mont Saint-Michel in Normandy, and St Michael’s Mount near Penzance in Cornwall. These are each built on tidal islands and at the moment are each major tourist attractions. The Norman Mont Saint-Michel appears on the Bayeaux Tapestry. The shared name is not any coincidence because they’re linked historically. The Cornish island was the positioning of an earlier Celtic monastery. It is claimed that King Edward the Confessor gave the positioning to the Benedictine order of Mont Saint-Michel, who established a link between the 2 monasteries which lasted until 1424.

St Michael in heraldry

Some places around the globe have St Michael as a patron saint or are named after him and have him in heraldic emblems. St Michael is taken into account the patron saint of Kiev in Ukraine, where there’s an impressive St Michael’s Monastery, and where he appears on the town coat of arms. The White Sea port of Arkhangelsk in northeastern Russia is known as after Michael the Archangel, where he also appears on the town coat of arms. He can be considered the patron saint of Brussels, the capital city of Belgium, and appears on their coat of arms too, in addition to the heraldic arms of Sunderland in England and Linlithgow in Scotland.

St Michael the brand name

In the UK, St Michael might be best often called a label for garments from the high street store Marks & Spencer. The brand name was introduced in 1927 and was registered as a trade name in 1928. The name was developed by the firm Corah and Sons of Leicester who supplied Marks & Spencer, who already had a line of girls’s clothing under the brand name of St Margaret’s. The name St Michael’s is believed to have been chosen, not due to any link to the angel, but since the co-founder of Marks and Spencer who was Michael Marks.

Collect

The collect prayer on 29 September for Michael and All Angels is: “Everlasting God, you have got ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and mortals in a beautiful order: grant that as your holy angels at all times serve you in heaven, so, at your command, they might help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ your Son our Lord, who’s alive and reigns with you, within the unity of the Holy Spirit, one God, now and for ever.”