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Saint Michael the Archangel

Scriptural identity and tradition

Saint Michael the Archangel is one of three angels named in the canon of Catholic Scripture, alongside Gabriel and Raphael. The Hebrew name Mikha'el translates as "Who is like God?" and is read by the patristic tradition as a battle cry against the prideful claim of Satan to be like God, repudiated by the angel who rallied the heavenly host in fidelity to the Creator.1

Michael appears by name in five passages of Scripture. The Book of Daniel identifies him as "one of the chief princes" who came to the prophet's aid in his vision (Dn 10:13), as the angelic protector of Israel (Dn 10:21), and as the great prince standing for the people of God in the time of distress at the end (Dn 12:1). The Epistle of Jude records Michael disputing with the devil over the body of Moses, refusing to bring a railing accusation against the fallen angel and saying instead, "The Lord rebuke thee" (Jude 1:9). The Book of Revelation describes the war in heaven in which Michael and his angels fought against the dragon: "And there was a great battle in heaven; Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought, and his angels. And they prevailed not" (Rev 12:7-8).2

The patristic and medieval tradition developed these scriptural anchors into a fuller theology of Michael as prince of the heavenly host. He is held to have led the loyal angels in the rejection of Satan's pride at the moment of the angelic creation, to be the angel who guards Israel and the Church through history, and to be the angel who will lead the souls of the just to judgment at the end. The traditional Catholic burial liturgy invokes him as the standard-bearer of the Lord at the moment of death.3

Theological significance

The Catechism of the Catholic Church teaches that the existence of angels is a truth of faith and that the angels are personal and immortal creatures of God who serve and contemplate him in the heavenly court. Among the angels, the Catechism specifically names Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the three named in the canonical books of Scripture. The Catechism cites the angels' presence throughout salvation history and their continuing service to the Church and to individual souls.4

The role of Michael in the Catholic spiritual tradition is concentrated in three offices: defender against the devil, guardian of the Church, and conductor of souls to judgment. Each is grounded in Scripture and developed in the magisterial tradition. Pope Saint John Paul II, in a 1986 catechesis on the angels, treated Michael as the angel through whom God exercises a particular protection over the Church and over individual souls in the spiritual struggle against evil. Pope Saint John Paul II also famously prayed the Saint Michael Prayer publicly at the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo in 1987.5

The Saint Michael Prayer was composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 following what tradition holds to have been a vision the Pope received while celebrating Mass. The vision is said to have shown a coming century of grave trial for the Church, and the Pope responded by composing the prayer for the protection of the faithful and ordering it to be said at the conclusion of every Low Mass throughout the universal Church. The practice was discontinued in the 1960s liturgical reforms but restored in many parishes after Pope John Paul II's 1994 catechesis on the spiritual battle, in which he encouraged Catholics to resume the recitation of the prayer privately or publicly after Mass.6

Devotion and liturgical observance

The feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the three Archangels, is celebrated on 29 September in the universal Roman Calendar with the rank of feast. The feast was historically Michaelmas, observed across medieval Europe with particular solemnity in the British Isles, where it served as a quarter day for the settling of accounts and as a major civic observance. In the post-Vatican II Roman Calendar, the three named archangels were combined into a single feast on 29 September; in the Tridentine calendar, Michael had his own feast on 29 September while Gabriel was on 24 March and Raphael on 24 October.7

The two principal sanctuaries of Michael devotion in the Catholic world are Monte Sant'Angelo on the Gargano Peninsula in southern Italy and Mont Saint-Michel on the Normandy coast of France. The Italian sanctuary commemorates a series of apparitions of Michael to the Bishop of Siponto beginning in 490 AD, which led to the establishment of one of the oldest continuously operating Christian shrines in Europe. The French sanctuary, founded in 708 by Bishop Aubert of Avranches following an apparition of Michael, sits atop a tidal island and has been a major pilgrimage destination for over a thousand years. Both shrines are on the so-called Sword of Saint Michael, a line of seven Michael sanctuaries traditionally said to mark the path of his sword across Europe and the Mediterranean.

In the Americas, the Sanctuary of Saint Michael of the Wells in Tlaxcala, Mexico, commemorates an apparition of Michael in 1631 and is the principal Latin American center of Michael devotion. In the United States, parishes named for Saint Michael are particularly common in police and military chaplaincies, where the archangel is invoked as patron of those who serve in dangerous duty.

The traditional iconography of Michael shows him in armor with a sword raised, standing in victory over the dragon (Rev 12:7-9), often holding a set of scales (representing his role at the Last Judgment), and sometimes carrying a shield bearing the legend Quis ut Deus. His liturgical color on the feast is white.

Prayers and novenas associated with Saint Michael

The principal devotion to Saint Michael is the Saint Michael Prayer by Pope Leo XIII, recited at the conclusion of Mass in many parishes and as a personal devotion against spiritual evil. The prayer is brief, fitting on a single page, and is one of the most widely memorized prayers in the modern Catholic devotional tradition.

A traditional novena to Saint Michael, the Saint Michael Novena, is prayed for protection in spiritual or physical danger, and is most commonly recited in the nine days leading up to his 29 September feast. The Chaplet of Saint Michael, an older devotion structured around nine salutations corresponding to the nine choirs of angels, is associated with the Servite Order and with private revelation to Antonia d'Astonac, a seventeenth-century Portuguese Carmelite.

Catholics commonly pair Saint Michael devotions with the Pater Noster, the Angelic Salutation, and the Doxology. The Litany of Saint Michael, longer and more comprehensive than the simple prayer, is a traditional component of Michael devotions, particularly during the nine days of preparation for the feast.

For broader theological context, see the Communion of Saints, the angelic hierarchy, and the Symbol of the Apostles, which professes faith in the Maker of "all things visible and invisible," the latter category including the angels.

Sources

Footnotes

  1. The Hebrew etymology of Mikha'el (מִיכָאֵל) is treated in standard biblical reference works including the Catholic Encyclopedia (1907), "Saint Michael the Archangel," available at newadvent.org. The patristic reading of the name as a battle cry against Satan's pride is developed in Saint Gregory the Great's Moralia in Job and is summarized in the Catholic Encyclopedia entry. ↩

  2. New Testament references to Michael by name: Jude 1:9, Rev 12:7-8. Old Testament references: Dn 10:13, Dn 10:21, Dn 12:1. Catholic Bible citations follow the standard Douay-Rheims abbreviations. ↩

  3. Butler's Lives of the Saints, September 29 entry on the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael (1894 edition, public domain). The traditional invocation of Michael as standard-bearer at the hour of death is preserved in the Offertory of the Requiem Mass in the 1962 Roman Missal. ↩

  4. Catechism of the Catholic Church, paragraphs 328 to 336, on the existence and nature of the angels, with paragraph 332 specifically on the angels in salvation history. Available at vatican.va. ↩

  5. Pope Saint John Paul II, General Audience of 13 August 1986, on the angels and their role in salvation history. The address at the Sanctuary of Monte Sant'Angelo was given on 24 May 1987. Available in the Vatican archive at vatican.va. ↩

  6. Pope Leo XIII, Exorcismus in Satanam et Angelos Apostaticos (1890), the longer version of the Saint Michael invocation, and the shorter prayer composed in 1886 for use after Low Mass. The 1994 Pope John Paul II Regina Caeli address of 24 April 1994, encouraging the resumption of the Saint Michael Prayer, is available at vatican.va. ↩

  7. General Roman Calendar, current edition, on the combined feast of the three Archangels on 29 September. The pre-1969 Tridentine calendar separated Michael (29 September), Gabriel (24 March), and Raphael (24 October) into distinct feasts. ↩

Last reviewed: May 1, 2026. Sources verified.