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September 27, 2025 – Next Monday, September 29, is the Feast Day for “St. Michael and All Angels,” also called Michaelmas. “In the Christian angelology of some traditions, the Archangel Michael is considered as the greatest of all the angels; being particularly honored for defeating satan [Satan] in the war in heaven.” I’ll get to Saint Michael in a bit, but first a few words about angels in general. For one thing, there are good angels and bad angels.

As it says in Revelation 12:7, “Then there was war in heaven. Michael and his angels fought against the dragon and his angels.” (With the dragon being Satan, as clarified in Revelation 12:9.*) But let’s stick with the good angels for this post.

For example, in Matthew 18:10 Jesus warns not to despise children because “their angels in heaven always see the face of my Father in heaven.” Then there are guardian angels, “a type of angel that is assigned to protect and guide a particular person, group or nation.” (Is our nation’s guardian angel working overtime these days?) And there are said to be three levels (“spheres”) of angels, inside each of which there are three orders. See Wikipedia for the full list of orders and sub-orders, but they include Seraphim and Cherubim, the latter seen at left.

The Catechism of the Catholic Church says that “the existence of the spiritual, non-corporeal beings that Sacred Scripture usually calls ‘angels’ is a truth of faith.” And turning to other sources, consider the theologian Emanuel Swedenborg, who said all angels “originate from the human race, and there is not one angel in heaven who first did not live in a material body. Moreover, all children who die not only enter heaven but eventually become angels.”

As for those guardian angels (Swedenborg added), they should be approached with caution: “Due to man’s sinful nature it is dangerous to have open direct communication with angels and they can only be seen when one’s spiritual sight has been opened.” (All the more reason to read the Bible on a daily basis, and understand it with an open mind, per Luke 24:45.)

And then there are archangels, which brings us back to Saint Michael. The word is used twice in the New Testament, in 1 Thessalonians 4:16 and Jude 1:9. Further, the term “appears only in the singular, never plural, and only in specific reference to Michael.” Further – for those of us (theoretically and statistically) closer to life’s end than the beginning – he is the “Christian angel of death: at the hour of death, Saint Michael descends and gives each person the chance to redeem oneself before passing.” (Something I didn’t know but found quite comforting, for those who may need that extra chance: “Who’d be stupid enough to pass up that deal?”)  

And as noted, Michael is mentioned most prominently in Revelation 12:7-10:

[T]here was war in heaven: Michael and his angels fought against the dragon; and the dragon fought and his angels. And prevailed not… [T]he great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, called the Devil, and Satan, which deceiveth the whole world; he was cast out into the earth, and his angels were cast out with him. And I heard a loud voice saying … the accuser of our brethren is cast down, which accused them before our God day and night.

See Michael (archangel) – Wikipedia, which added that he is also mentioned three times in the Book of Daniel, once as a “great prince who stands up for the children of your people.” But now comes the tricky part, for me anyway. I attend the Episcopal Church, part of the Anglican Communion. We use the Book of Common Prayer, and it says the idea of purgatory is both a “Romish doctrine” and “repugnant to the Word of God.” But I’m willing to be flexible.

The thing is, without purgatory your dying day is pass-fail. No Via Media, no “way between two extremes.” You’re either in or out. You go to heaven or “down, down the down-down way.”  But with purgatory you get another chance, an “intermediate state after physical death,” where some ultimately destined for heaven can first undergo “purification, so as to achieve the holiness necessary to enter the joy of heaven.” And so, like I said, I’m willing to be flexible. So here’s to Michael (archangel), and his reaching out to save souls in purgatory.”

“Hey, I’ll take all the help I can get!”

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The upper image is courtesy of Saint Michael in the Catholic Church – Wikipedia. The full caption: “St. Michael’s church in Hammerfest, Norway, the northernmost Catholic church in the world.” (To which I like to add, jokingly, “It’s okay. Catholics are almost Episcopalians! And they sure got Gregorian chant right.”) Then too the Catholic Church – Wikipedia link added this:

Saint Michael is one of the angels presumed present at the hour of death. Traditionally, he is charged to assist the dying and accompany them to their particular judgment, where he serves as an advocate.

But see also 1st John 2:1, “if anyone does sin, we have an advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ.” (BTW: I’ve compared Jesus with “the Ultimate Public Defender.”)

The Book of Common Prayer reference: The “corporate-mystical” prayer is on page 339, the post-communion prayer for Holy Eucharist, Rite I.

Feast days are designated days on the liturgical (church) calendar “set aside to commemorate events, saints, or doctrines that are important in the life of the Church. These can range from Solemnities, which are the highest-ranking feast days like Easter and Christmas, to optional memorials that celebrate lesser-known saints.” Feast Days: Celebrating the Church’s Calendar.

For this post I borrowed from 2014’s St. Matthew, and 2018’s On Holy Cross, Matthew, and Michael – “Archangel.” Also from 2023’s An update – “Feast Days in France.” (It included notes on St Matthew, Evangelist and St Michael and All Angels, and some on hiking the Robert Louis Stevenson Trail.) Also, Angels in Christianity – Wikipedia. And for future reference (future posts on this feast day), see St. Michael & All Angels on the The Lectionary – Satucket website. It includes “Everything You Never Wanted to Know about Angels,” along with information about the Nine Choirs and “Cherubs, Griffins, and Grimm Shifts.” (Which is being interpreted: “I had to work my way through a number of such readings, this morning, September 29, leading to this update.”

On dragons in the Bible, see What the Bible Says About the Meaning of Dragons: “In the Bible, the term ‘dragon’ often symbolizes chaos, evil, and opposition to God, particularly representing Satan or the forces of darkness… The imagery utilized in these verses evokes a sense of impending threat and turmoil, indicating that the forces of darkness are ever-present in the lives of believers and the history of salvation.” (And is that so hard to believe these days?)

Re:  Purgatory as a “Romish doctrine.”  See page 872 of the BCP, or The Online Book of Common Prayer under Historical Documents of the Church, Articles of Religion, Part XXII:

The Romish Doctrine concerning Purgatory, Pardons, Worshipping and Adoration, as well
of Images as of Relics, and also Invocation of Saints, is a fond thing, vainly invented, and
grounded upon no warranty of Scripture, but rather repugnant to the Word of God.

But another note on Purgatory and the Episcopal Church:  “Although denying the existence of purgatory as formulated in Roman Catholic doctrine, the Anglican and Methodist traditions … affirm the existence of an intermediate state, Hades, and thus pray for the dead.”  The latter will be addressed later this month, as noted in 2017’s On the THREE days of Hallowe’en.

Re: “Theoretically and statistically closer to life’s end.” I’ve noted that – if the Lord wills and I help with right diet and good exercise – I hope to live to 120, like Moses, with “eye undimmed and vigor unabated,” like it says at the end of Deuteronomy. See From two years ago – “Will I live to 141?”

See also – on the “way between two extremes” – Via Media – The Episcopal Church, and Via media – Wikipedia, on the Latin phrase meaning “the middle road” or the “way between (and avoiding or reconciling) two extremes… Its use in English is highly associated with Anglican self-characterization, or as a philosophical maxim for life akin to the golden mean which advocates moderation in all thoughts and actions.” And the “[it went] down, down the down-down way” is what my brother said many years ago after he flushed our grandmother’s expensive watch down the toilet.

The lower image is courtesy of the Wikipedia article, with the full caption: “Guido Reni‘s painting in Santa Maria della Concezione, Rome, 1636 is also reproduced in mosaic at the St. Michael Altar in St. Peter’s Basilica, in the Vatican.”

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