In the Middle Ages, in England and much of Europe, the feast eventually outgrew its local celebration to become a hallmark cultural moment in the lives of our Christian ancestors. Closing out the harvest with the autumn equinox, this was a day when debts were paid,  governments transitioned to new leadership and a new harvest season began.

St. Michael is the helper we call on when life becomes uncertain. When we experience fear, temptation, grief or sudden jubilation, we turn to the archangel whose name means “Who is like God?” He is a model of fidelity to God’s will for us all. The archangel teaches us that honoring God is a task to be approached with consistency and humility.

Little is known of St. Michael’s story outside of Scripture and the lives of the saints who encountered him. In the Book of Daniel, he is present among the “thousands upon thousands” who ministered to God before the Ancient of Days (7:10), and in Revelation, he leads the heavenly host in battle against the dragon (12:7). He does not act on his own authority but answers, with his whole being, to God.

He is a fitting model for the ministries of service in our diocese, such as the Knights of Columbus and those who accompany people through grief and suffering. Those who sit with the sorrowful, as St. Michael sits with souls at the hour of death, accomplish work that mirrors heaven’s order. That order, as Christ told Nathanael, is where the angels ascend and descend upon the Son of Man (Jn 1:51).

“St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle” (Pope Leo XIII).

In Christ’s love,

Most Rev. Jacques Fabre-Jeune, CS

Bishop of Charleston