Feast of St. Michael, the Archangel

We call them messengers of God, protectors, companions, defenders and allies, but in reality, they are known as Archangels. In the Roman Catholic faith, we have three Archangels and they are Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. Some might ask, what is the difference between an angel and an archangel? Aren't they the same? Pope St. Gregory the Great clearly makes a differentiation where he says "Those who deliver messages of lesser importance are called angels; and those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels." Ideally, archangels hold a higher rank than regular angels. Today, we celebrate one of our Archangels, St. Michael and the role in which he plays. We also learn about the other two Archangels (St. Gabriel & St. Raphael) whose feast days are venerated on March 24th and October 24th respectively. Let us now see why these three archangels are held in such high esteem:

St. Michael (whose name means "Who is like God?") was the archangel who fought against Satan and all the evil Spirits. He is the protector and defender of all humanity against the snares of the evil one. 

St. Gabriel (whose name means "Strength of God") proclaimed to Zachariah the birth of John the Baptist and to Mary that she would bear a son and his name is to be 'Emmanuel' which means 'God with us'. 

St. Raphael (whose name means "Medicine of God") is the archangel who cared for Tobias during his journey. 

We continue to call on St. Michael to protect us in all our undertakings and also protect our world especially during this time of injustice. 

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Holy Mass in honour of St. Michael is celebrated at 6.30PM at St. Michael's R.C. Church, Maracas Valley, St. Joseph.  St. Michael, Pray for Us and Protect Us!

Iconic St. Michael statue which is represented on the altar of St. Michael's R.C. Church, Maracas Valley, St. Joseph.