Saint Michel
Saint Archange
Saint Michel, Saint Gabriel et saint Raphaël. Les anges, serviteurs et envoyés de Dieu, sont très présents dans la Bible, depuis celui qui réconforte Agar au désert (livre de la Genèse 16. 7) jusqu'à celui qui mesure la Jérusalem céleste (Apocalypse 21. 17). Parmi eux, trois sont particulièrement personnifiés. Ce sont des archanges, comme des chefs des anges, selon les termes de saint Paul (1ère Thessaloniciens 4. 16) et de Jude (Jude ch. 9). Michel, ("qui est comme Dieu?") est le prince des anges. Il joue un rôle décisif (Apocalypse 12. 7 à 9). Gabriel ("Force de Dieu") est le messager par excellence (Luc 1. 19 et suivants). Raphaël ("Dieu a guéri") accompagne le jeune Tobie et est la figure bienveillante de la Providence de Dieu. La littérature apocryphe a abondamment brodé sur ces trois personnages.
"Trois ou sept?"
"La tradition catholique ne connaît que trois archanges par leur nom. La Bible en évoque sept. Au livre de Tobie, Raphaël dit de lui-même: "Je suis l'un des sept anges qui se tiennent toujours prêts à pénétrer auprès de la Gloire du Seigneur". La vision de Zacharie complète le livre de Tobie en parlant de "sept-là qui sont les yeux de Yahvé et qui vont par toute la terre". ( Les yeux sont alors symboles de l'omniscience et de la vigilance divines.)
Si les livres de la Bible ne parlent pas des quatre compagnons anonymes de Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël, les écrits apocryphes n'épousent pas leur silence. Avec fantaisie, ils nomment ceux qui étaient appelés à rester dans l'ombre de leur Créateur, si on peut parler d'ombre dans le monde de la Gloire céleste.
Par sa discrétion à la suite des livres bibliques, l'Église a préféré suggérer
que le mystère de l'Invisible n'est pas épuisé et que le Paradis nous réserve
de nouvelles connaissances."
(source: diocèse
de Coutances)
...combattant céleste descendant sur la terre des hommes, il était légitime de le choisir comme protecteur du pays et de ses armées; déjà en 709, l'évêque d'Avranches, saint Aubert, fonda une chapelle qui deviendra l'abbaye du Mont Saint-Michel, où viendront en pèlerinage, entre autres, Charlemagne, saint Louis, Louis IX, pour demander la protection pour la France. Dans la même ligne, après la deuxième guerre mondiale, les troupes aéroportées le choisirent comme saint patron, voyant dans l'ange "ailé" qui descend du ciel comme un ancêtre, certes plus agile encore, du parachutiste contemporain... (diocèse aux armées françaises)
Fête des saints Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël, archanges. Au jour de la dédicace
d’une basilique édifiée très anciennement sous le titre de saint Michel sur la
voie Salarienne, à six milles de Rome, l’Église célèbre les trois archanges
dont la sainte Écriture révèle les missions et qui , jour et nuit au service de
Dieu, contemplent sa face et ne cessent de le glorifier.
Martyrologe romain
L’admiration, que leur
fidélité nous inspire, rejaillit jusqu’à Toi. La splendeur de ces créatures
spirituelles nous laisse entrevoir comme Tu es grand et combien Tu surpasses
tous les êtres
Préface des saints anges
SOURCE : http://nominis.cef.fr/contenus/saint/978/Saint-Michel.html
Guariento di Arpo (Padoue ou Venise,
1310/1320 - Padoue, 1368/1370), La pesée des âmes, Museo Civico de
Padoue.
Saint Michel Archange et tous les saints Anges
Le 8 mai, l'Église honore
l'archange saint Michel en souvenir de son Apparition sur le mont Gargan. La
fête du 29 septembre fut établie un peu plus tard pour rappeler la Dédicace de
la basilique construite par l'ordre et en honneur du glorieux Archange, au lieu
même de cette apparition.
Avec saint Michel,
l'Église, en ce jour, honore tous les bons Anges, dont il a été le chef et le
modèle au jour de la révolte de Lucifer et des mauvais anges. D'après nos
Saints Livres, ils sont divisés en neuf Choeurs et en trois Hiérarchies: Les
Anges, les Archanges et les Vertus; les Puissances, les Principautés et les
Dominations; enfin, plus haut encore, les Trônes, les Chérubins et les
Séraphins. Leur occupation est de contempler Dieu, de L'aimer, de Le louer et
d'exécuter Ses Volontés pour la conduite de l'univers et pour le salut des
hommes. Aussi les voyons-nous chargés de différentes missions sur la terre,
auprès des personnes, des familles, des paroisses, des diocèses, des royaumes,
de l'Église entière.
Ceux dont l'Écriture fait
une mention particulière sont, outre saint Michel, l'archange Gabriel, à qui
semble avoir été confié le soin de tout ce qui regarde le mystère de
l'Incarnation, et l'Archange Raphaël, qui conduisit et ramena si
merveilleusement le jeune Tobie. – Saint Michel a été fait non seulement Prince
des anges, mais aussi Prince des âmes qui doivent remplir les places demeurées
vides par la chute des démons. Son nom marque sa fidélité, car il signifie: Qui
est semblable à Dieu!
Les Saints lui attribuent
la plupart des apparitions mentionnées dans l'Ancien Testament. C'est lui,
disent-ils, qui retint la main d'Abraham prêt à immoler son fils Isaac; c'est
lui qui apparut à Josué et le rendit maître de Jéricho par la chute de ses
tours et de ses murailles; c'est lui qui dirigea l'arche de Noé par-dessus les
eaux du déluge; c'est lui qui lutta contre Jacob et le bénit; c'est lui qui
donna la loi à Moïse sur la montagne du Sinaï; qui rendit David victorieux de
Goliath et le préserva de la persécution de Saül, etc. Il a été le protecteur
de la Synagogue; il est le protecteur de l'Église.
L'Histoire nous rapporte
tant de merveilles de cet Ange sublime, qu'on ne peut douter qu'il ne soit,
dans les desseins de Dieu, l'un des principaux instruments de Sa puissance et
de Sa bonté. L'assistance que la France a souvent reçue de lui le fait regarder
comme le protecteur spécial de ce royaume.
Abbé L. Jaud, Vie des Saints pour tous les jours de l'année, Tours, Mame, 1950
SOURCE : http://magnificat.ca/cal/fr/saints/saint_michel_archange_et_tous_les_saints_anges.html
Pfarrkirche
St.Michael in Innichen. Statue des Erzengels Michael an der Fassade ( 1760 )
Chiesa parrocchiale di San Michele a San Candido.
HOMÉLIE DU PAPE BENOÎT
XVI
Chers frères et sœurs,
Nous sommes rassemblés
autour de l'autel du Seigneur en une circonstance dans le même temps solennelle
et heureuse: l'ordination épiscopale de six nouveaux Evêques, appelés à
exercer différentes tâches au service de l'unique Eglise du Christ. Il s'agit
de Mgr Mieckzyslaw Mokrzycki, Mgr Francesco Brugnaro, Mgr Gianfranco Ravasi,
Mgr Tommaso Caputo, Mgr Sergio Pagano, Mgr Vincenzo Di Mauro. J'adresse à tous
mon salut cordial avec un baiser fraternel. Un salut particulier va à Mgr
Mokrzycki qui, avec l'actuel Cardinal Stanislaw Dziwisz, a servi pendant de
nombreuses années le Saint-Père Jean-Paul II comme secrétaire et qui ensuite,
après mon élection comme Successeur de Pierre, a également été mon secrétaire
avec une grande humilité, compétence et dévouement. Avec lui, je salue l'ami du
Pape Jean-Paul II, le Cardinal Marian Jaworski, à qui Mgr Mokrzycki
apportera son aide en tant que Coadjuteur. Je salue en outre les Evêques latins
d'Ukraine, qui sont ici à Rome pour leur visite "ad limina Apostolorum".
Ma pensée va également aux Evêques grecs-catholiques - j'ai rencontré certains
d'eux lundi dernier -, et à l'Eglise orthodoxe d'Ukraine. Je souhaite à tous
les bénédictions du Ciel pour leurs efforts qui visent à garder active dans
leur terre la force guérissante et corroborante de l'Evangile du Christ et à la
transmettre aux futures générations.
Nous célébrons cette
ordination épiscopale en la fête des trois Archanges qui sont mentionnés par
leur nom dans l'Ecriture: Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël. Cela nous rappelle
à l'esprit que dans l'antique Eglise - déjà dans l'Apocalypse - les Evêques
étaient qualifiés d'"anges" de leur Eglise, exprimant de cette façon
un lien intime entre le ministère de l'Evêque et la mission de l'Ange. A partir
de la tâche de l'Ange, on peut comprendre le service de l'Evêque. Mais
qu'est-ce qu'un Ange? L'Ecriture Sainte et la Tradition de l'Eglise nous
laissent entrevoir deux aspects. D'une part, l'Ange est une créature qui se
trouve devant Dieu, orientée de tout son être vers Dieu. Les trois noms des
Archanges finissent par le mot "El", qui signifie Dieu. Dieu est
inscrit dans leurs noms, dans leur nature. Leur véritable nature est
l'existence en vue de Lui et pour Lui. C'est précisément ainsi que s'explique
également le deuxième aspect qui caractérise les Anges: ils sont les
messagers de Dieu. Ils apportent Dieu aux hommes, ils ouvrent le ciel et
ouvrent ainsi la terre. C'est précisément parce qu'ils sont auprès de Dieu,
qu'ils peuvent être également très près de l'homme. En effet, Dieu est plus
intime à chacun de nous que nous ne le sommes à nous-mêmes. Les Anges parlent à
l'homme de ce qui constitue son être véritable, de ce qui dans sa vie est si
souvent couvert et enseveli. Ils l'appellent à rentrer en lui-même, en le
touchant de la part de Dieu. Dans ce sens également, nous qui sommes des êtres
humains devrions toujours à nouveau devenir des anges les uns pour les autres -
des anges qui nous détournent des voies de l'erreur et qui nous orientent
toujours à nouveau vers Dieu. Si l'Eglise antique appelle les Evêques
"anges" de leur Eglise, elle entend dire précisément cela: les
Evêques eux-mêmes doivent être des hommes de Dieu, ils doivent vivre orientés
vers Dieu. "Multum orat pro populo" - "Prie beaucoup
pour le peuple", dit le Bréviaire de l'Eglise à propos des saints Evêques.
L'Evêque doit être un orant, quelqu'un qui intercède pour les hommes auprès de
Dieu. Plus il le fait, plus il comprend également les personnes qui lui sont
confiées et il peut devenir un ange pour eux - un messager de Dieu, qui les
aide à trouver leur véritable nature, elles-mêmes, et à vivre l'idée que Dieu a
d'elles.
Tout cela devient encore
plus clair si nous regardons à présent les figures des trois Archanges dont
l'Eglise célèbre la fête aujourd'hui. Il y a tout d'abord Michel. Nous le
rencontrons dans l'Ecriture Sainte, en particulier dans le Livre de Daniel,
dans la Lettre de l'Apôtre saint Jude Thaddée et dans l'Apocalypse. Dans ces
textes, on souligne deux fonctions de cet Archange. Il défend la cause de l'unicité
de Dieu contre la présomption du dragon, du "serpent antique", comme
le dit Jean. C'est la tentative incessante du serpent de faire croire aux
hommes que Dieu doit disparaître, afin qu'ils puissent devenir grands; que Dieu
fait obstacle à notre liberté et que nous devons donc nous débarrasser de Lui.
Mais le dragon n'accuse pas seulement Dieu. L'Apocalypse l'appelle également
"l'accusateur de nos frères, lui qui les accusait jour et nuit devant
notre Dieu" (12, 10). Celui qui met Dieu de côté, ne rend pas l'homme plus
grand, mais lui ôte sa dignité. L'homme devient alors un produit mal réussi de
l'évolution. Celui qui accuse Dieu, accuse également l'homme. La
foi en Dieu défend l'homme dans toutes ses faiblesses et ses
manquements: la splendeur de Dieu resplendit sur chaque individu. La
tâche de l'Evêque, en tant qu'homme de Dieu, est de faire place à Dieu dans le
monde contre les négations et de défendre ainsi la grandeur de l'homme. Et que
pourrait-on dire et penser de plus grand sur l'homme que le fait que Dieu
lui-même s'est fait homme? L'autre fonction de Michel, selon l'Ecriture, est
celle de protecteur du Peuple de Dieu (cf. Dn 10, 21; 12, 1). Chers
amis, vous êtes vraiment les "anges gardiens" des Eglises qui vous
seront confiées! Aidez le Peuple de Dieu, que vous devez précéder dans son
pèlerinage, à trouver la joie dans la foi et à apprendre le discernement des
esprits: à accueillir le bien et à refuser le mal, à rester et à devenir
toujours plus, en vertu de l'espérance de la foi, des personnes qui aiment en
communion avec le Dieu-Amour.
Nous rencontrons l'Archange
Gabriel, en particulier dans le précieux récit de l'annonce à Marie de
l'incarnation de Dieu, comme nous le rapporte saint Luc (1, 26-39). Gabriel est
le messager de l'incarnation de Dieu. Il frappe à la porte de Marie et, par son
intermédiaire, Dieu demande à Marie son "oui" à la proposition de
devenir la Mère du Rédempteur: de donner sa chair humaine au Verbe
éternel de Dieu, au Fils de Dieu. Le Seigneur frappe à plusieurs reprises à la
porte du cœur humain. Dans l'Apocalypse, il dit à l'"ange" de
l'Eglise de Laodicée et, à travers lui, aux hommes de tous les temps:
"Voici que je me tiens à la porte, et je frappe. Si quelqu'un entend ma
voix et ouvre la porte, j'entrerai chez lui; je prendrai mon repas avec lui, et
lui avec moi" (3, 20). Le Seigneur se trouve à la porte - à la porte du
monde et à la porte de chaque cœur en particulier. Il frappe pour qu'on le
laisse entrer: l'incarnation de Dieu, son devenir chair doit continuer
jusqu'à la fin des temps. Tous doivent être réunis dans le Christ en un seul
corps: c'est ce que nous disent les grands hymnes sur le Christ dans la
Lettre aux Ephésiens et dans celle aux Colossiens. Le Christ frappe.
Aujourd'hui aussi, Il a besoin de personnes qui, pour ainsi dire, mettent à sa
disposition leur propre chair, qui lui donnent la matière du monde et de leur
vie, servant ainsi à l'unification entre Dieu et le monde, à la réconciliation
de l'univers. Chers amis, votre tâche est de frapper au nom du Christ aux cœurs
des hommes. En entrant vous-mêmes en union avec le Christ, vous pourrez
également assumer la fonction de Gabriel: apporter l'appel du Christ aux
hommes.
Saint Raphaël nous est
présenté, en particulier dans le livre de Tobie, comme l'Ange auquel est
confiée la tâche de guérir. Lorsque Jésus envoie ses
disciples en mission, la tâche de l'annonce de l'Evangile s'accompagne
également toujours de celle de guérir. Le Bon Samaritain, en accueillant et en
guérissant la personne blessée qui gît au bord de la route, devient sans
paroles un témoin de l'amour de Dieu. Cet homme blessé, qui a besoin d'être
guéri, c'est chacun de nous. Annoncer l'Evangile signifie déjà en soi guérir,
car l'homme a surtout besoin de la vérité et de l'amour. Dans le Livre de
Tobie, on rapporte deux tâches emblématiques de guérison de l'Archange Raphaël.
Il guérit la communion perturbée entre l'homme et la femme. Il guérit leur
amour. Il chasse les démons qui, toujours à nouveau, déchirent et détruisent
leur amour. Il purifie l'atmosphère entre les deux et leur donne la capacité de
s'accueillir mutuellement pour toujours. Dans le récit de Tobie, cette guérison
est rapportée à travers des images légendaires. Dans le Nouveau Testament,
l'ordre du mariage, établi dans la création et menacé de multiples manières par
le péché, est guéri par le fait que le Christ l'accueille dans son amour
rédempteur. Il fait du mariage un sacrement: son amour, qui est monté
pour nous sur la croix, est la force qui guérit et qui, au sein de toutes les
confusions, donne la capacité de la réconciliation, purifie l'atmosphère et
guérit les blessures. La tâche de conduire les hommes toujours à nouveau vers
la force réconciliatrice de l'amour du Christ est confiée au prêtre. Il doit
être "l'ange" qui guérit et qui les aide à ancrer leur amour au
sacrement et à le vivre avec un engagement toujours renouvelé à partir de
celui-ci. En deuxième lieu, le Livre de Tobie parle de la guérison des yeux
aveugles. Nous savons tous combien nous sommes aujourd'hui menacés par la
cécité à l'égard de Dieu. Comme le danger est grand que, face à tout ce que
nous savons sur les choses matérielles et que nous sommes en mesure de faire avec
celles-ci, nous devenions aveugles à la lumière de Dieu! Guérir cette cécité à
travers le message de la foi et le témoignage de l'amour, est le service de
Raphaël confié jour après jour au prêtre et, de manière particulière, à
l'Evêque. Ainsi, nous sommes spontanément portés à penser également au
sacrement de la Réconciliation, au Sacrement de la Pénitence qui, au sens le
plus profond du terme, est un sacrement de guérison. En effet, la véritable
blessure de l'âme, le motif de toutes nos autres blessures, est le péché. Et ce
n'est que s'il existe un pardon en vertu de la puissance de Dieu, en vertu de
la puissance de l'amour du Christ, que nous pouvons être guéris, que nous
pouvons être rachetés.
"Demeurez dans mon
amour", nous dit aujourd'hui le Seigneur dans l'Evangile (Jn 15, 9).
A l'heure de l'ordination épiscopale, il vous le dit à vous de manière
particulière, chers amis! Demeurez dans cette amitié avec Lui, pleine de
l'amour qu'en cette heure, Il vous donne à nouveau! Alors, votre vie portera du
fruit - un fruit qui demeure (Jn 15, 16). Chers frères, afin que cela vous
soit donné, prions tous pour vous en cette heure. Amen.
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Saint
Michel combattant le dragon, représentation de Satan, Livre d'heures d'Étienne Chevalier,
enluminé par Jean Fouquet, 1452 à 1460
SAINT MICHEL, ARCHANGE
Michel veut dire : qui
est semblable à Dieu ? et toutes les fois, ainsi le dit saint Grégoire, qu'il
s'agit de choses merveilleuses, c'est Michel qui est envoyé, afin de laisser
comprendre par ses actions comme par son nom que nul ne saurait faire ce que
Dieu se réserve d'accomplir. De là vient qu'on attribue à saint Michel beaucoup
d'actions extraordinaires. D'après Daniel, c'est lui qui, au temps de
l’antéchrist, doit se lever pour défendre les élus en sa qualité de protecteur
et de défenseur. C'est lui qui combattit contre le dragon et ses anges, et qui,
en les chassant du ciel, remporta une grande victoire. C'est lui qui se disputa
avec le diable au sujet du corps de Moïse, que le diable voulait produire au
grand jour, afin que le peuple juif l’adorât à la place de Dieu. C'est lui qui
reçoit les âmes des saints et qui les conduit jusqu'à la joie du paradis.
C'était lui qui était autrefois le prince de la synagogue, mais qui est
maintenant établi comme prince de l’Eglise. C'est lui, dit-on, qui frappa
l’Égypte des sept plaies, qui partagea les eaux de la mer rouge, qui dirigea le
peuple hébreu dans le désert, et qui l’introduisit dans la terre promise. C'est
lui qui porte l’étendard de J.-C. au milieu des bataillons angéliques. C'est
lui qui, par l’ordre du Seigneur, foudroiera l’Antéchrist résidant sur le mont
des Olives. C'est encore à la voix de l’archange Michel que les morts
ressusciteront. C'est lui enfin qui, au jour du jugement, présentera la croix,
les clous, la lance et la couronne d'épines de Notre-Seigneur.
La sainte solennité de la
fête de saint Michel, archange, se nomme Apparition, Dédicace, Victoire et
Mémoire. Les apparitions de cet ange sont nombreuses. La première eut lieu sur
le mont Gargan. C'est une montagne de la Pouille située auprès de la ville de
Siponto (Aujourd'hui Manfredonia, au royaume de Naples). L'an du Seigneur 390,
il y avait, dans Siponto, un homme, qui, d'après quelques auteurs, se nommait
Gargan, du nom de cette montagne, ou bien cette montagne avait pris le nom de
cet homme. Il possédait un troupeau immense de brebis et de boeufs; et un jour
que ces animaux paissaient sur les flancs du mont, un taureau s'éloigna des
autres pour monter au sommet, et ne rentra pas avec le troupeau. Le
propriétaire prit un grand nombre de serviteurs afin de le chercher ; le trouva
enfin au haut de la montagne, vis-à-vis l’entrée d'une caverne. Irrité de ce
que ce taureau errait ainsi seul à l’aventure; il lança aussitôt contre lui une
flèche empoisonnée; mais à l’instant la flèche, comme si elle eût été poussée,
par le vent, revint sur celui qui l’avait lancée et le frappa. Les habitants
effrayés vont trouver l’évêque et demandent son avis sur une chose si étrange.
Il ordonna trois jours de jeune et leur dit qu'on devait en demander
l’explication à Dieu. Après quoi saint Michel apparut à l’évêque, en lui disant
: a Vous saurez que cet homme a été frappé de son dard par ma volonté : car je
suis l’archange Michel, qui, dans le dessein d'habiter ce lieu sur la terre et
de le garder en sûreté, ai voulu donner à connaître parce signe que je suis
l’inspecteur et le gardien de cet endroit. » Alors l’évêque et tous les
citoyens allèrent en procession a la montagne : comme ils n'osaient entrer dans
la caverne, ils restèrent en prières devant l’entrée. — La seconde apparition
(Cf. Mabillon, Actes des saints; — Robert de Torigny, Chronique de saint
Michel, année 708; — Aubert, évêque d'Avranches) eut lieu ainsi qu'il suit,
vers l’an du Seigneur 710. Dans un lieu appelé Tumba, près de la, mer, et
éloigné de six milles de la ville d'Avranches, saint Michel apparut à l’évêque
de cette cité : il lui ordonna de construire une église sur cet endroit, et d'y
célébrer la mémoire de saint Michel, archange, ainsi que cela se pratiquait sur
le mont Gargan. Or, comme l’évêque était incertain de la place sur laquelle il
devait bâtir l’église, l’archange lui dit de la faire élever dans l’endroit ou
il trouverait un taureau que des voleurs avaient caché. L'évêque étant encore
embarrassé sur les dimensions qu'il devait donner à cette construction, reçut
l’ordre de lui donner les proportions que les vestiges des pieds du taureau
auraient tracées sur le sol. Or, il se trouvait là deux rochers qu'aucune
puissance humaine ne pouvait remuer. Saint Michel apparut alors à un homme et
lui donna l’ordre de se transporter là et d'enlever ces deux rochers. Quand l’homme
y fut arrivé, il remua le roc avec une telle facilité qu'il semblait n'avoir
pas la moindre pesanteur. Lors donc que l’église fut bâtie, on y apporta du
mont Gargan une partie du parement que saint Michel y plaça sur l’autel, ainsi
qu'un morceau de marbre sur lequel il se posa. Mais comme on était gêné de
n'avoir point d'eau dans ce lieu, de l’avis de, l’ange, on perça un trou dans
une roche très dure et il en sortit une si grande quantité d'eau qu'aujourd'hui
encore, elle suffit à tous les besoins. Cette apparition en ce lieu se célèbre
solennellement le 17 des calendes de novembre. On raconte qu'il se fit encore
là un miracle digne d'être rapporté: Cette montagne est entourée de tous les
côtés par les eaux de l’Océan ; mais cieux fois, le jour de saint Michel, la
mer se retire et laisse le passage libre: Or, comme une grande multitude de
peuple se rendait à l’église, une femme enceinte et prête d'accoucher se
trouvait sur le chemin avec les autres, quand tout à coup, les eaux reviennent
; la foule saisie de frayeur s'enfuit au rivage, mais la femme grosse ne put
fuir, et même fut prise par les flots de la mer. Alors saint Michel préserva
cette femme, de telle sorte qu'elle mit au monde un fils au milieu de la mer;
elle prit son enfant entre ses bras et lui donna le sein, et la mer lui
laissant de nouveau un passage, elle sortit pleine de joie avec son fils.
La troisième apparition
est celle qu'on rapporte avoir eu lieu du temps de saint Grégoire. Ce pape
avait institué les litanies majeures, à cause de la peste inguinale ; et comme
il adressait de ferventes prières pour le salut du peuple, il vit sur un
château qui s'appelait autrefois la Mémoire d'Adrien, l’ange du Seigneur
essuyant un glaive ensanglanté et le remettant dans le fourreau. Saint Grégoire
comprit par là que ses prières avaient été exaucées du Seigneur. Il fit donc
construire en ce lieu une église en l’honneur des Anges : de là vient le nom de
Château-Saint-Ange que porte aujourd'hui ce fort. Or, cette apparition se
célèbre le 8 des ides de mai, en même temps que celle du Mont-Gargan, qui eut
lieu lors d'une victoire que l’archange fit remporter par les Sypontins.
La quatrième apparition
est celle des Hiérarchies des Anges eux-mêmes. La première se nomme Epiphanie,
c'est-à-dire l’apparition supérieure ; la moyenne se nomme Hyperphanie,
c'est-à-dire moyenne apparition ; la dernière s'appelle Hypophanie,
c'est-à-dire apparition inférieure. Le mot hiérarchie vient de hierar, qui
signifie sacré, et de archos, prince, équivalant à principauté sacrée. Chaque
hiérarchie renferme trois ordres ; la première contient les Séraphins, les
Chérubins et les Trônes; la moyenne renferme, d'après la distribution de saint
Denys, les Dominations, les Vertus et les Puissances ; la dernière, suivant le
même auteur, renferme les Principautés, les Anges et les Archanges. Cet ordre
et cette distribution offrent une certaine analogie avec ce qui se voit chez
les puissances de la terre. Car, parmi les ministres d'un monarque, il y en a
dont les fonctions se rapportent immédiatement à la personne royale; comme sont
les chambellans, les conseillers et les assesseurs, qui représentent la
première hiérarchie. D'autres ont des charges pour gouverner le royaume, sans
être attachés spécialement à telle ou telle province, comme les généraux
d'armée et les juges de la cour. Ils représentent les ordres de la seconde
hiérarchie.. D'autres enfin sont placés à la tête d'une partie du royaume,
comme les prévôts, les baillis et les fonctionnaires inférieurs. Ils
représentent les ordres de la troisième hiérarchie. Les trois premiers ordres
de la première hiérarchie sont ceux qui se tiennent auprès de Dieu et qui le
contemplent. Pour cela, trois qualités leur sont nécessaires : 1° un amour
éminent; ce qui appartient au chœur des Séraphins, dont le nom veut dire
enflammés; 2° une connaissance parfaite : elle est la part des Chérubins, dont
le nom signifie plénitude de science; 3° une compréhension perpétuelle ou
jouissance : ce qui convient aux Trônes, dont la signification est siège, parce
que ce sont les sièges de Dieu et le lieu de son repos, tandis qu'il les fait
se reposer en lui. Les trois ordres de la hiérarchie moyenne sont à la tête de
la communauté humaine en général et la gouvernent. Cette action de gouverner
consiste en trois choses: 1° à présider ou à Ordonner: cela regarde le choeur
des Dominations, qui ont la prééminence sur les inférieurs; les dirigent dans
l’accomplissement du service de Dieu, et leur transmettent tous les ordres, ce
que semble indiquer ce passage du prophète Zacharie (II) où un ange dit à un
autre ange : « Courez, parlez à ce jeune homme et lui dites... » ; 2° à agir :
c'est le propre des Vertus, pour lesquelles il n'y a rien d'impossible à
exécuter de ce qu'on leur commande, parce que à eux fut donné le pouvoir
d'accomplir toutes choses, telles difficiles qu'elles soient, de ce qui regarde
le service de Dieu, et c'est la raison pour laquelle on leur attribue les
miracles ; 3° à lever tous les obstacles et les empêchements : ce qui est du
ressort des Puissances, qui doivent tenir à l’écart des puissances ennemies :
qualité signalée au livre de Tobie (ch. VIII). Où il est dit que Raphaël alla
lier le démon dans le désert de la Haute-Egypte. Les trois ordres de la
dernière hiérarchie ont des fonctions déterminées et limitées. Quelques-uns, en
effet, parmi eux, sont à la tête d'une province. Ce sont ceux de l’ordre des
Principautés : tel le prince qui était à la tête des Perses. Il en est question
dans Daniel (ch. X). D'autres sont préposés pour gouverner une communauté,
comme une ville, par exemple : et ce sont les Archanges ; quelques autres
dirigent une personne en particulier, et ceux-là ont reçu le nom d'anges. C'est
pour cela qu'on les dit chargés d'annoncer des choses minimes, parce que leur
ministère est limité à un seul homme. On dit que les Archanges annoncent les
grandes choses, parce que le bien général l’emporte sur celui d'un particulier.
Dans le partage des fonctions des ordres de la première hiérarchie, saint
Grégoire et saint Bernard sont d'accord avec saint Denys, parce qu'ils
reconnaissent dans ces chœurs la jouissance qui consiste dans l’amour, quant
aux Séraphins; dans la connaissance plénière, quant aux Chérubins, - et dans la
possession continue, quant aux Trônes. Mais dans les fonctions qu'ils assignent
aux deux ordres de la seconde et de la troisième hiérarchie, savoir aux
Principautés et aux Vertus, ils semblent partagés d'opinion. En effet, saint
Grégoire et saint Bernard considèrent la chose à un autre point de vue, en ce
sens que la seconde hiérarchie possède la prééminence, et la dernière le
ministère. La prééminence dans les Anges est de trois sortes : car les Anges
ont la prééminence sur les esprits angéliques, et ce sont ceux qu'on appelle
les Dominations : ils ont la prééminence sur les hommes de bien, ce sont les
Principautés : ils ont la prééminence sur les démons, et on les appelle alors
les Puissances. Leur rang et le degré de leur dignité sont ici évidents. Leur
ministère est de trois genres : il consiste dans les oeuvres, dans l’instruction,
soit des grandes soit des petites choses. Le premier est rempli par les Vertus,
le second par les Archanges, le troisième par les Anges.
La cinquième apparition
est celle qu'on lit dans l’Histoire tripartite (Livre II, c. XIX). Auprès de
Constantinople se trouve un endroit où autrefois était adorée la déesse Vesta,
et sur l’emplacement duquel a été érigée, depuis, une église en l’honneur de
saint Michel. Ce lieu a reçu le nom de Michaelium. Un homme, nommé Aquilin,
était atteint d'une fièvre très forte, causée par des éruptions cholériques
sanguinolentes (Les textes ne s'accordent pas ici. Une version porte rubris
choleris mota, et les ms. disent rubris coloribus nota, ce qui voudrait dire
connu sous le nom de couleurs rouges, ou bien qui se manifestait par des taches
rouges. On voit plus bas reparaître le mot cholericis, qui indiquerait la
première version comme la meilleure). Dans un accès les médecins lui donnèrent
une potion qu'il vomit, et à la suite il rejetait le manger et le boire. Réduit
à la dernière extrémité, il se fit conduire à l’église de saint Michel, dans la
pensée qu'il y mourrait ou qu'il y serait guéri. Saint Michel lui apparut et
lui (lit de faire une potion composée de miel, de vin et de poivré, dans
laquelle il devait tremper tout ce qu'il mangerait, et qu'il serait délivré de
sa maladie. Il le fit et fut entièrement guéri, quoique, d'après les règles de
la médecine, il semble que l’on ne doit pas donner des remèdes échauffants aux
cholériques.
Secondement. La solennité
de saint Michel a le nom de Victoire. On trouve un grand nombre de victoires
remportées par saint Michel archange et parles anges. La première est celle que
l’archange Michel fit remporter aux Sipontins; de la manière suivante, quelque
temps après la découverte rapportée plus haut. Les Napolitains, encore païens,
guerroyèrent avec une armée en bon ordre contré les Sipontins et les
Bénéventins (Naples est cependant éloignée de cinquante milles de Siponto). Ces
derniers, de l’avis de l’évêque, demandèrent une trêve de trois jours, afin de
pouvoir vaquer au jeûne et invoquer à leur secours leur patron saint Michel.
Or, la troisième nuit, l’archange apparaît à l’évêque, lui dit que les prières
ont été exaucées, promet la victoire, et ordonne d'attaquer l’ennemi à la
quatrième heure du jour. Lorsqu'on en vint aux mains, le mont Gargan est
ébranlé d'un immense tremblement; la foudre ne cesse de sillonner les airs, et
un brouillard épais couvre le sommet entier de la montagne, de sorte que 600
ennemis tombent percés sous le fer des chrétiens et par la foudre. Le reste
reconnut la puissance de l’archange, abandonna l’idolâtrie et se soumit à la
foi chrétienne aussitôt après. La seconde victoire est celle que l’archange
Michel remporta quand il chassa du ciel le dragon, c'est-à-dire Lucifer avec
tous ceux de sa suite. Le fait est raconté dans l’Apocalypse : « Il se livra un
grand combat dans le ciel, Michel y combattit avec ses anges; etc.,» Lucifer
voulait s'égaler à Dieu, l’archange Michel, le porte-étendard de l’armée
céleste, vint et chassa du ciel ce Lucifer avec sa suite entière, et le
repoussa dans l’air caligineux pour qu'il y restât jusqu'au jour du jugement.
Il ne leur fut pas permis d'habiter le ciel, ni la partie supérieure de l’air,
parce que c’est un endroit clair et agréable, ni de rester sur la terre avec
nous, parce qu'ils nous incommoderaient trop ; mais ils résident dans l’air,
entre le ciel et la terre, afin qu'en regardant au-dessus d'eux et en voyant la
gloire qu'ils ont perdue, ils en ressentent de la douleur, et qu'en regardant
en bas et en voyant l’humanité au ciel d'où ils sont tombés, ils en soient
souvent tourmentés d'envie. Cependant Dieu permet souvent qu'ils descendent
auprès de nous pour nous éprouver, et il a été montré à quelques saints personnages
qu'ils voltigent souvent autour de nous comme des mouches. Ils sont
innombrables, et l’air en est rempli comme -par ces insectes. C'est ce qui fait
dire à Haymon : « Ainsi que l’ont avancé les philosophes et nos docteurs, l’air
qui nous environne est rempli de démons et d'esprits malins, comme le rayon de
soleil l’est des plus minces atomes. » Quoiqu'ils soient en aussi grand nombre,
cependant, d'après le sentiment d'Origène, leurs bataillons diminuent quand
nous les avons vaincus ; en sorte que celui d'entre eux qui a été vaincu par un
saint ne peut plus le tenter pour le vice à l’égard duquel il a été vaincu. La
troisième victoire est celle que les anges remportent tous les jours contre les
démons, quand ils nous délivrent des mauvaises tentations en combattant pour
nous contre nos ennemis. Or, ils nous délivrent de la tentation en trois
manières : 1° en maîtrisant la puissance du démon (Apocalypse) 2° l’ange qui
lie le démon et le jette dans l’abîme (Tobie (VIII), le diable lié dans le
désert), ce qui n'est autre chose que la puissance du démon enchaînée; 3° en
refroidissant la concupiscence, effet signalé dans la Genèse (c. XXXII) où il
est dit que l’ange toucha le nerf de Jacob et il se sécha aussitôt; 4° en
rappelant à notre souvenir la passion de Notre-Seigneur. L'Apocalypse l’indique
en disant (VII) : « Ne frappez ni la terre, ni la mer, ni les arbres avant que
nous ayons marqué au front les serviteurs de notre Dieu. » Et dans Ezéchiel
(IX) : « Marquez un Thau sur le front des hommes qui gémissent. » La lettre
Thau a la forme d'une croix, et ceux qui en ont été marqués n'ont plus à
craindre les coups de l’ange. Il est encore écrit au même livre : « Celui sur
lequel vous verrez le Thau, ne le tuez point. » — La quatrième victoire est
celle que l’archange Michel doit remporter sur l’antéchrist quand il le tuera.
« Alors est-il dit dans Daniel (XII), Michel, le grand prince s'élèvera ! lui
qui est le protecteur et le soutien des êtres, il se posera vigoureusement
contre l’antéchrist. Après quoi l’antéchrist (d'après la glose sur ce passage
de l’Apocalypse (XIII) : « Je vis une des têtes de la bête, blessée à mort »)
simulera qu'il est mort, et pendant trois jours il se cachera; puis il
apparaîtra en disant qu'il est ressuscité. Par des procédés magiques, les
démons le prendront et le transporteront dans les airs, et tout le monde, dans
l’admiration, l’adorera. Enfin il gravira le mont dés Olives, ainsi que le dit
la glose sur ce passage de la IIe épître aux Thessaloniciens (II) : « Le
Seigneur Jésus le détruira par le souffle de sa bouche », et tandis qu'il sera
dans son pavillon, et sur le trône qui lui aura été préparé en ce lieu, d'où le
Seigneur est monté au ciel, Michel viendra et le tuera. C'est de ce tombât et
de cette victoire qu'il est question, d'après saint Grégoire, dans ces paroles
de l’Apocalypse (XII): « alors il se donna une grande. bataille dans le ciel. »
Paroles qui ont rapport aux trois batailles de saint Michel : à celle qu'il
livra contre Lucifer quand il le chassa du paradis ; à celle qu'il livre aux
démons qui nous incommodent, et à celle enfin dont il est ici question, et qui
sera livrée à la fin du monde contre l’antéchrist.
Troisièmement, cette
solennité se nomme Dédicacé parce que l’archange Michel révéla que cet endroit;
sur le mont Gargan, avait été dédié par lui-même à pareil jour (Siméon
Métaphraste; — Bréviaire romain). Quand les Sipontains furent revenus après le
carnage de leurs ennemis sur lesquels ils avaient remporté une victoire si
éclatante, ils conçurent des doutes s'ils devaient entrer dans cet endroit ou
en faire la dédicace. Alors l’évêque envoya consulter à cet égard le pape
Pélage, lequel répondit : « Si c'était un homme qui dût faire la dédicace de
cette église, il le faudrait faire certainement au jour où la victoire a été
accordée. Si au contraire saint. Michel est d'un avis opposé, il faut là-dessus
s'enquérir de sa volonté.» Quand le pape, l’évêque et les citoyens de Siponto,
eurent passé trois jours dans la prière et le jeûne, saint. Michel apparut à
l’évêque en ce jour et lui dit : « Vous n'avez pas besoin de dédier l’église
que j'ai édifiée. Je l’ai dédiée comme je l’ai bâtie moi-même. »
Il lui ordonna de s'y
rendre le lendemain avec le peuple, d'y faire leur prière et qu'on ressentirait
alors qu'il était leur patron spécial. Ensuite il lui donna un signe auquel il
reconnaîtrait que l’église avait été consacrée : c'était d'y monter du côté de
l’orient par un sentier de traverse : ils y devaient trouver les pas d'un homme
empreints sur le marbre. Le lendemain matin l’évêque et tout le peuple vinrent,
à cet endroit et étant entrés dans une grande crypte, ils trouvèrent trois
autels, dont deux étaient placés, au midi et le troisième qui se trouvait du
côté de l’orient était magnifique et enveloppé d'une couverture rouge. La messe
y fut célébrée solennellement et tous ayant. reçu la. sainte communion,
revinrent chez eux remplis d'une joie extraordinaire. L'évêque y établit des
prêtres et des clercs pour célébrer continuellement l’office divin. Il coule
dans cette caverne une source d'eau limpide et fort agréable au goût. Le peuple
en boit après la communion et divers malades en sont guéris. Alors le souverain
pontife, ayant appris ces merveilles, établit qu’en ce jour on célébrerait par
tout l’univers la fête de saint Michel et de tous les esprits bienheureux.
Quatrièmement cette
solennité a reçu le nom de Mémoire : Nous y faisons en effet la mémoire de tous
les saints anges en général. Ils ont droit à nos. louanges et à nos honneurs
pour plusieurs motifs. Ils sont nos gardiens, nos directeurs, nos frères et nos
concitoyens : ce sont eux qui portent nos âmes au ciel; ils présentent nos
prières à Dieu, ce sont les plus nobles soldats du roi éternel, et les
consolateurs des affligés. 1° Vous devons les honorer, parce qu'ils sont nos
gardiens. A chaque homme sont donnés deux anges, un mauvais pour l’exercer, et
un bon pour le garder. L'homme est gardé par un bon ange dès le sein de sa
mère, dès sa naissance, et aussitôt qu'il voit le jour, et il l’est encore
quand il est devenu grand. Or, dans ces trois états, l’homme a besoin de la
garde de l’ange : car quand il est tout petit dans le sein de sa mère, il peut être
tué et être damné; hors du sein de sa mère, avant l’âge adulte il peut être
empêché de recevoir le baptême; parvenu à l’âge adulte, il peut être entraîné à
commettre différents péchés; le diable séduit la raison de l’adulte par ses
artifices; il allèche sa volonté par des caresses, il opprime sa vertu par la
violence. Il était donc nécessaire qu'il y eût un bon ange chargé de garder
l’homme pour l’instruire, le protéger contre les tromperies, l’exhorter, et le
pousser au bien malgré les caresses et enfin le défendre de toute pression
contre la violence. On peut assigner quatre résultats que l’homme obtient de la
protection de son ange gardien. Le premier, c'est de faire avancer l’homme dans
l’acquisition de la grâce l’ange le fait en trois manières : 1° en écartant
tout ce qui empêche d'opérer le bien. Ceci est indiqué dans l’Exode (XII) où il
est dit que l’ange frappa les premiers-nés de l’Egypte. 2° En chassant la
paresse, comme il est dit dans le livre du Prophète Zacharie (IV): « L'ange du
Seigneur me réveilla comme un homme qu'on réveille de son sommeil. » 3° En le
conduisant dans la voie de la pénitence et en le ramenant: ce qui est signifié
par l’ange qui conduisit et ramena Tobie (V). Le second, c'est de l’empêcher de
tomber en faute : ce que l’ange fait de trois manières : 1° En empêchant par
avance que le péché ne soit commis, cè qui est indiqué au livre des Nombres
(XXII) où il est dit que Balaam qui allait pour maudire Israël en fut empêché
par un auge. 2° En reprenant du péché passé afin de s'en corriger : comme au
livre des Juges (II) où l’on voit que quand l’ange reprit les enfants d'Israël
de leur prévarication, ils élevèrent leurs voix et se mirent à pleurer. 3° En
faisant pour ainsi dire violence afin de quitter le péché actuel : ainsi que cela
est signifié dans la violence apportée par l’ange pour chasser Loth et sa femme
de Sodome, c'est-à-dire, de l’habitude du péché. Le troisième, c'est de
s'élever après la chute: l’ange l’obtient en trois manières : 1° En excitant à
la contrition : fait signalé dans le livre de Tobie (XI) où d'après les ordres
de l’ange ; le jeune Tobie enduisit du fiel du poisson (ce qui signifiait la
contrition) les yeux de son père, c'est-à-dire, les yeux du coeur. 2° En
purifiant les lèvres pour se confesser dignement, comme Isaïe (VI) eut les
lèvres purifiées par un ange. 3° En faisant accepter avec joie la satisfaction
: d'après ce passage de saint Luc (XV) qu'il y aura une plus grande joie dans
le ciel pour un seul pécheur qui fait pénitence que pour quatre-vingt-dix-neuf
justes restant dans la persévérance. Le quatrième résultat, c'est que l’homme
ne succombe ni si souvent, ni en tant de maux, chaque fois que le diable l’y
porte et l’y entraîne. Ce que l’ange fait, de trois manières : «En mettant un
frein à la puissance du démon. 2 ° En affaiblissant la concupiscence. 3° Et en
gravant dans nos coeurs le souvenir de la passion de Notre-Seigneur. Ce qui a
été dit ci-dessus suffit pour le prouver.
Secondement, nous devons
les honorer parce qu'ils sont nos directeurs. Car tous les anges, dit l’épître
aux, Hébreux (I), sont des esprits qui tiennent lieu de serviteurs et de
ministres. Tous ont une mission par rapport à nous ; les supérieurs sont
envoyés à ceux du second rang, ceux-ci aux derniers, et ces derniers à nous. Or,
cette mission est bien en rapport : 1° Avec la bonté de Dieu. Car cette divine
bonté est manifeste en tant qu'elle veut et aime notre salut quand elle envoie
et nous transmet les plus nobles esprits qui lui sont intimement unis, pour
nous donner les moyens d'être sauvés. 2° Avec la charité des anges; parce que
c'est la fin d'une charité parfaite de désirer ardemment le salut des autres.
C'est pourquoi Isaïe dit
« Me voici, Seigneur,
envoyez-moi. » Or, les anges peuvent nous aider parce qu'ils nous voient privés
de leurs secours et attaqués par les mauvais anges. S'ils sont envoyés vers
nous, c'est que la loi de la charité angélique l’exige. 3° Avec l’indigence de
l’homme: car les bons anges sont envoyés : 1° Pour enflammer notre coeur
d'amour. Le char de feu qui les porte en est la figure. 2° Pour éclairer
l’intelligence dans la connaissance de ses devoirs. Ceci est figuré dans l’ange
de l’Apocalypse (X) qui avait un livre à la main. 3° Pour fortifier notre
faiblesse jusqu'à la fin. Ce qui est indiqué dans le IIIe livre des Rois (XIX)
où on lit qu'un ange porta à Elie un pain cuit sous la cendre et un vase d'eau.
Alors ce prophète mangea et marcha, après s'être fortifié par cette nourriture,
jusqu'à Oreb, la montagne de Dieu. Troisièmement, nous devons les honorer parce
qu'ils sont nos frères et nos concitoyens. Tous les élus, en effet, sont
appelés à faire partie des chœurs des anges ; quelques-uns des supérieurs,
quelques autres des inférieurs un certain nombre sont choisis pour rester avec
ceux qui occupent une place intermédiaire, selon leurs mérites ; mais la
bienheureuse Vierge est au-dessus de tous. Saint Grégoire paraît n'être pas de
ce sentiment dans une de ses homélies. a Il y en a, dit-il, qui ne conçoivent
que peu de choses, mais qui cependant ne laissent pas d'en faire part à leurs
frères : ceux-ci sont mis au rang des Anges. Il v en a qui parviennent à
comprendre et à manifestera ce qu'il y a de plus sublime dans les secrets du
ciel ; ils sont au rang des Archanges. Il y en a qui opèrent des miracles
prodigieux et dont les oeuvres sont marquées au coin de la puissance ; ils sont
avec les Vertus. Il yen a qui, par la force de leurs prières. et par l’effet de
la puissance qu'ils ont reçue, mettent en fuite les esprits malins ; ils 'sont
avec les Puissances. Il y en a qui, par les vertus qu'ils ont reçues,
surpassent les élus en mérite, et sont à la tète de ceux qui sont élus comme
eux ; ils partagent alors les prérogatives des Principautés. Il y en a encore
qui exercent un tel empire en eux-mêmes sur tous les vices, qu'en raison de
cette pureté, ils reçoivent des hommes le nom de Dieux; ainsi qu'il est dit à
Moïse: « Voici que je t'ai établi le Dieu de Pharaon » (Exode, VII) : ceux-là
sont avec les Dominations. Il y en a d'autres dans la personne desquels le
Seigneur, comme sur son trône, juge les actes des autres, et qui, en gouvernant
la sainte Eglise, jugent devoir être admis au nombre des élus la plupart de
ceux qui la composent et dont les actions pourraient être attribuées à la
faiblesse ; ce sont ceux qui se trouvent avec les Trônes. Il y en a qui sont
remplis plus que d'autres de l’amour de Dieu et du prochain et qui ont mérité
de partager le rang des Chérubins, parce que chérubin veut dire plénitude de
science et que, d'après saint Paul, la plénitude de la loi c'est l’amour. Il
s'en trouve encore qui, enflammés par l’amour de la contemplation des choses du
ciel, tendent de tous leurs efforts vers leur créateur, ne désirent plus rien
de ce qui est ici-bas, se rassasient de l’amour seul de l’éternité, méprisent
tout ce qui est de la terre, s'élèvent en esprit au-dessus de ce qui appartient
au temps, aiment et brûlent, en même temps qu'ils trouvent le repos dans leur
amour, qui brûlent en aimant, qui embrasent par le feu de leurs paroles, et dont
le langage a la vertu d'embraser de suite de l’amour de Dieu ceux auxquels ils
s'adressent, et alors ils n'ont pu être appelés ailleurs que dans le chœur des
Séraphins. »
Quatrièmement, on doit
honorer les anges parce qu'ils portent nos âmes au ciel ; ce qu'ils font en
trois manières : 1° En leur préparant la voie (Malach., III). « Je vais vous
envoyer mon ange qui préparera ma voie devant ma face.» 2° En les portant au
ciel sur la voie qui a été préparée (Exod., XXIII) : « Je vais envoyer mois
ange qui te gardera en route et qui t'introduira dans la terre que j'ai promise
à tes pères. » 3° En les plaçant dans le ciel (Luc, XVI) : « Il arriva que le
pauvre mourut et fut emporté par les anges dans le sein d'Abraham. »
Cinquièmement, nous
devons honorer les Anges; parce qu'ils présentent eux-mêmes nos prières à Dieu
: 1° Ils offrent eux-mêmes nos prières à Dieu, comme il est dit au livre de
Tobie (XII) : « Lorsque vous priiez avec larmes et que vous ensevelissiez les
morts, j'ai présenté moi-même vos prières au Seigneur. » 2° Ils s'interposent
en notre faveur, ainsi qu'on le voit au livre de Job (XXXIII) : « Si l’ange
choisi entre mille parle pour l’homme et qu'il annonce au Seigneur l’équité de
cet homme, Dieu aura compassion de lui. » Le prophète Zacharie dit encore (I) :
« L'ange du Seigneur parla ensuite et dit : Seigneur des armées, jusqu'à quand
différerez-vous de faire miséricorde à Jérusalem et aux villes de Juda contre
lesquelles votre colère est émue ? Voici déjà la soixante et dixième année de leur
ruine. » 3° Ils nous apportent les ordres de Dieu. Daniel (IX) rapporte que
Gabriel vola vers lui pour lui dire: « Dès le commencement de votre prière,
j'ai reçu cet ordre de Dieu (la Glose), et je suis venu pour vous découvrir les
choses dont le Seigneur m’a chargé de vous instruire, parce que vous êtes un
homme de désirs. » Saint Bernard parle ainsi sur ces trois fonctions des anges
dans son livre sur le Cantique des Cantiques: « L'ange court du bien-aimé à la
bien-aimée, offrant les voeux, rapportant les présents. Il émeut celle-ci et
apaise celui-là. » Sixièmement, il faut les honorer parce qu'ils sont les
nobles soldats du roi éternel, d'après ce qu'il est dit dans Job (XXV) : «
Peut-on compter le nombre de ses soldats? » Parmi les soldats du roi, nous en
voyons qui demeurent à sa cour, l’accompagnent et se livrent à des chants en
son honneur pour le distraire; quelques-uns gardent les villes et les places
fortes du royaume ; d'autres combattent ses ennemis; il en est de même des
soldats de J.-C. dont nous venons de parler ; toujours à la cour céleste,
c'est-à-dire au ciel empirée, ils accompagnent le Roi des rois, et. en son
honneur ils chantent constamment des cantiques de liesse et de gloire en
disant: « Saint, saint, saint : Bénédiction, gloire, sagesse, action de grâces,
honneur, puissance et force à notre Dieu dans les siècles des siècles. »
(Apoc., VII.) D'autres sont préposés à la garde des villes, des banlieues, des
campagnes et des camps. Ce sont ceux qui sont établis pour nous garder, qui sont
les gardiens des vierges, des continents, des mariés et des communautés
religieuses : « Jérusalem, est-il dit au ch. XIII d'Isaïe, j'ai établi des
gardiens sur tes murs. » D'autres enfin combattent les ennemis de Dieu,
c'est-à-dire les démons. « Il y eut, dit l’Apocalypse, un grand combat dans le
ciel, c'est-à-dire d'après une explication, dans l’église militante. Michel et
ses anges combattaient avec le dragon. » Septièmement enfin, on doit honorer
les anges, parce qu'ils sont les consolateurs des affligés. « L'ange, dit
Zacharie (I), m’adressait de bonnes et consolantes paroles.» L'ange dit à Tobie
(V) : « Ayez bon courage. » Ils exécutent cette fonction de trois manières : 1°
en donnant de la vigueur et de la force. Daniel était tombé de frayeur, quand l’ange
le toucha et lui dit (X) : « Ne craignez pas; la paix soit avec vous : reprenez
vigueur et soyez ferme. » 2° En préservant de l’impatience. « Le Seigneur, dit
le Psaume XC a ordonné à ses anges de vous garder dans toutes vos voies ; ils
vous porteront sur leurs mains, de peur que votre pied ne heurte contre la
pierre. » 3° En calmant et affaiblissant la tribulation elle-même : Daniel
l’indique (III) quand il rapporte que l’ange du Seigneur descendit avec les
trois enfants dans la fournaise et excita au milieu d'elle un vent frais et une
douce rosée.
La Légende dorée de Jacques de Voragine nouvellement traduite en français avec introduction, notices, notes et recherches sur les sources par l'abbé J.-B. M. Roze, chanoine honoraire de la Cathédrale d'Amiens, Édouard Rouveyre, éditeur, 76, rue de Seine, 76, Paris mdccccii
SOURCE : http://www.abbaye-saint-benoit.ch/voragine/tome03/146.htm
Skopje,
Macedonia
01 La troisième
année du règne de Cyrus, roi de Perse, une parole fut révélée à Daniel,
surnommé Beltassar : parole vraie et grand combat. Il comprit la
parole : la compréhension lui vint dans une vision.
02 En ces jours-là,
moi, Daniel, je portai le deuil pendant trois semaines entières.
03 Je ne mangeai pas
de nourriture agréable ; ni viande ni vin ne passèrent par ma bouche, je
m’abstins de tout parfum jusqu’au terme de ces trois semaines.
04 Et le
vingt-quatrième jour du premier mois, étant au bord du grand fleuve, le Tigre,
05 je levai les yeux
et regardai. Voici : il y avait un homme vêtu de lin, qui portait une
ceinture d’or pur autour des reins ;
06 son corps était
comme de la chrysolithe, son visage comme un éclair, ses yeux comme des torches
de feu, ses bras et ses jambes avaient l’éclat du bronze poli, et le son de ses
paroles était comme la rumeur d’une multitude.
07 Moi seul, Daniel,
je vis cette apparition. Les hommes qui étaient avec moi ne voyaient pas
l’apparition, mais une grande terreur s’abattit sur eux, et ils s’enfuirent
pour se cacher.
08 Je demeurai donc
seul et regardai cette apparition impressionnante. J’étais sans force aucune,
mes traits bouleversés se décomposèrent, ma force m’abandonna.
09 J’entendis le
bruit de ses paroles, et lorsque je l’entendis, je fus pris de torpeur et
tombai face contre terre.
10 Alors une main me
toucha et me redressa sur les genoux et les paumes de mes mains.
11 Il me dit :
« Daniel, homme aimé de Dieu, comprends les paroles que je vais te dire,
mets-toi debout. Oui, maintenant j’ai été envoyé vers toi. » Tandis qu’il
me parlait, je me mis debout en tremblant.
12 Il me dit :
« N’aie pas peur, Daniel. Dès le premier jour où tu as eu à cœur de
comprendre et de t’humilier devant ton Dieu, tes paroles ont été entendues :
c’est à cause de tes paroles que je suis venu.
13 L’ange du royaume
de Perse m’a résisté pendant vingt et un jours, mais Michel, l’un des premiers anges, est venu à mon aide. Moi, je l’ai
laissé avec l’ange des rois de Perse.
14 Alors, je suis
venu pour t’expliquer ce qui arrivera à ton peuple à la fin des jours. Voici
une nouvelle vision pour ces jours-là. »
15 Tandis qu’il me
parlait, je me prosternai à terre en silence.
16 Voici comme une
forme de fils d’homme qui me toucha les lèvres. J’ouvris la bouche et parlai.
Je dis à celui qui était devant moi : « Mon seigneur, à cause de
l’apparition, l’angoisse me submerge et ma force m’abandonne.
17 Comment le
serviteur de mon seigneur pourra-t-il parler avec toi, mon seigneur, alors que
je n’ai plus de force, et qu’il ne me reste pas de souffle ? »
18 Celui qui avait
l’apparence d’un homme me toucha de nouveau et me réconforta.
19 Il me dit :
« N’aie pas peur, homme aimé de Dieu ! La paix soit avec toi !
Sois très fort ! » Tandis qu’il parlait, je repris des forces et
dis : « Que mon seigneur parle, car tu m’as rendu la force. »
20 Il dit :
« Sais-tu pourquoi je suis venu vers toi ? Maintenant, je vais
retourner combattre l’ange de la Perse. À l’issue de ce combat, l’ange de la
Grèce viendra.
21 Personne ne me
prête main-forte contre ceux-ci, sauf
Michel, votre ange. Mais je t’annonce ce qui est inscrit dans le livre de
vérité.
Livre de Daniel, X, 1-21
SOURCE : https://www.aelf.org/bible/Dn/10
pt:Arcanjo
Miguel em Chora
01 En ce temps-là se
lèvera Michel, le chef des anges,
celui qui se tient auprès des fils de ton peuple. Car ce sera un temps de
détresse comme il n’y en a jamais eu depuis que les nations existent, jusqu’à
ce temps-ci. Mais en ce temps-ci, ton peuple sera délivré, tous ceux qui se
trouveront inscrits dans le Livre.
02 Beaucoup de gens
qui dormaient dans la poussière de la terre s’éveilleront, les uns pour la vie
éternelle, les autres pour la honte et la déchéance éternelles.
03 Ceux qui ont
l’intelligence resplendiront comme la splendeur du firmament, et ceux qui sont
des maîtres de justice pour la multitude brilleront comme les étoiles pour
toujours et à jamais.
04 Et toi, Daniel,
tiens secrètes ces paroles, garde le Livre scellé jusqu’au temps de la fin.
Beaucoup seront perplexes, mais la connaissance augmentera. »
05 Et moi, Daniel,
je regardai : Voici que deux autres hommes se tenaient, chacun sur une
rive du fleuve.
06 L’un d’eux dit à
celui qui, vêtu de lin, se tenait au-dessus des eaux du fleuve : « À
quand la fin de ces choses surprenantes ? »
07 J’entendis
l’homme vêtu de lin qui se tenait au-dessus des eaux du fleuve. Il leva la main
droite et la main gauche vers le ciel et jura par Celui qui vit à jamais :
« Pendant un temps, des temps, et la moitié d’un temps. Lorsque la force
du peuple saint sera entièrement brisée, tout cela s’arrêtera. »
08 Et moi,
j’entendis sans comprendre. J’insistai : « Mon seigneur, quel sera le
terme de tout cela ? »
09 Il dit :
« Va, Daniel, car ces paroles resteront secrètes et scellées jusqu’au
temps de la fin. »
10 Beaucoup seront
purifiés, blanchis, épurés. Les méchants feront le mal, aucun d’entre eux ne
comprendra, mais ceux qui ont l’intelligence comprendront.
11 Depuis l’instant
où le sacrifice perpétuel aura cessé, quand l’Abomination de la désolation sera
installée, 1 290 jours passeront.
12 Heureux celui qui
attendra et parviendra à 1 335 jours !
13 Et toi, va
jusqu’à la fin. Tu te reposeras, puis tu te tiendras debout pour recevoir ta
part à la fin des jours.
Livre de Daniel, XII, 1-13
SOURCE : https://www.aelf.org/bible/Dn/12
Ugolino di Nerio (1280–1330), San Michele arcangelo, circa 1310, 58,5 x
33,5, musée Czartoryski
01 JUDE, SERVITEUR
DE JESUS CHRIST et frère de Jacques, aux appelés qui sont aimés de Dieu le Père
et gardés pour Jésus Christ :
02 que la
miséricorde, la paix et l’amour vous soient accordés en abondance.
03 Bien-aimés,
j’avais la ferme intention de vous écrire au sujet du salut qui nous est
commun ; or me voici dans l’obligation de le faire pour vous exhorter à
combattre pour la foi qui a été transmise aux fidèles une fois pour toutes.
04 Car il s’est
infiltré parmi vous des individus, qui sont marqués depuis longtemps en vue de
ce jugement, des impies qui tournent la grâce de notre Dieu en prétexte à la
débauche, et qui renient notre seul maître et Seigneur, Jésus Christ.
05 Bien que vous
sachiez déjà tout cela, je veux néanmoins vous le rappeler : le Seigneur,
qui avait sauvé une fois pour toutes son peuple en le faisant sortir du pays
d’Égypte, a pourtant supprimé ensuite ceux qui ont refusé de croire ;
06 quant aux anges
qui n’ont pas gardé la dignité de leur rang, mais ont quitté la demeure qui
était la leur, le Seigneur les maintient enchaînés à perpétuité dans les
ténèbres en vue du jugement du grand jour ;
07 il en va de même
pour Sodome et Gomorrhe et les villes d’alentour : elles s’étaient livrées
à la prostitution d’une manière semblable à ces anges-là et elles étaient
allées avec des êtres d’une autre nature ; elles sont soumises pour
l’exemple au châtiment du feu éternel.
08 Et pourtant, ces
coureurs de songes font la même chose : ils souillent la chair, ils
méprisent la seigneurie de Dieu, ils outragent les anges appelés
« Gloires ».
09 Or l’archange Michel, discutant avec le démon dans la
querelle au sujet du corps de Moïse, n’osa pas porter contre lui un jugement
qui l’outrage ; il lui dit seulement : Que le Seigneur te
blâme !
10 Eux, au contraire,
tout ce qu’ils ne connaissent pas, ils l’outragent ; et tout ce qu’ils
savent les corrompt, car ils ne le saisissent que par l’instinct, comme des
bêtes privées de raison.
11 Malheureux
sont-ils ! Ils sont partis sur le chemin de Caïn ; pour un salaire,
ils se sont laissés emporter par l’égarement de Balaam ; ils ont péri par
la même révolte que Coré.
12 Ces individus
sont une souillure pour vos repas fraternels, ils font bombance sans pudeur,
ils ne se préoccupent que d’eux-mêmes : nuages sans eau emportés par le
vent ; arbres de fin d’automne sans fruits, deux fois morts,
déracinés ;
13 flots sauvages de
la mer, crachant l’écume de leur propre honte ; astres errants, pour
lesquels est réservée à jamais l’obscurité des ténèbres.
14 C’est encore
contre eux qu’a prophétisé Hénok, le septième patriarche depuis Adam, qui
disait : Voici que le Seigneur est venu avec ses saints anges par myriades
15 pour exercer le
jugement universel et accuser toutes les âmes pour tous les actes d’impiété
qu’elles ont commis, et pour toutes les paroles intolérables que les pécheurs
impies ont prononcées contre lui.
16 Ce sont des gens
qui récriminent, qui protestent contre leur sort, qui marchent au gré de leurs
convoitises ; leur bouche dit des énormités, ils n’ont d’égard pour les
personnes qu’en fonction de leur intérêt.
17 Mais vous,
bien-aimés, souvenez-vous des paroles dites à l’avance par les Apôtres de notre
Seigneur Jésus Christ.
18 Ils vous disaient
en effet qu’aux derniers temps, il y aura des moqueurs qui iront au gré de
leurs convoitises impies.
19 Ce sont des
fauteurs de divisions, menés par l’instinct, ils ne possèdent pas l’Esprit.
20 Mais vous,
bien-aimés, construisez votre vie sur votre foi très sainte, priez dans
l’Esprit Saint,
21 gardez-vous dans
l’amour de Dieu, attendant la miséricorde de notre Seigneur Jésus Christ en vue
de la vie éternelle.
22 Ceux qui sont
hésitants, prenez-les en pitié ;
23 d’autres,
sauvez-les en les arrachant au feu ; d’autres enfin, prenez-les aussi en
pitié, mais avec crainte, en détestant jusqu’au vêtement souillé par leur
chair.
24 À Celui qui peut
vous préserver de la chute et vous faire tenir debout, irréprochables et pleins
d’allégresse, en présence de sa gloire,
25 au Dieu unique,
notre Sauveur, par notre Seigneur Jésus Christ, gloire, majesté, souveraineté,
pouvoir, avant tous les siècles, maintenant et pour tous les siècles. Amen.
Lettre de saint Jude
SOURCE : https://www.aelf.org/bible/Jude/1
Rilievo
con San Michele arcangelo uccide il drago, XII secolo,
Borgogna
01 Un grand signe
apparut dans le ciel : une Femme, ayant le soleil pour manteau, la lune
sous les pieds, et sur la tête une couronne de douze étoiles.
02 Elle est
enceinte, elle crie, dans les douleurs et la torture d’un enfantement.
03 Un autre signe
apparut dans le ciel : un grand dragon, rouge feu, avec sept têtes et dix
cornes, et, sur chacune des sept têtes, un diadème.
04 Sa queue,
entraînant le tiers des étoiles du ciel, les précipita sur la terre. Le Dragon
vint se poster devant la femme qui allait enfanter, afin de dévorer l’enfant
dès sa naissance.
05 Or, elle mit au
monde un fils, un enfant mâle, celui qui sera le berger de toutes les nations,
les conduisant avec un sceptre de fer. L’enfant fut enlevé jusqu’auprès de Dieu
et de son Trône,
06 et la Femme
s’enfuit au désert, où Dieu lui a préparé une place, pour qu’elle y soit
nourrie pendant mille deux cent soixante jours.
07 Il y eut alors un
combat dans le ciel : Michel,
avec ses anges, dut combattre le Dragon. Le Dragon, lui aussi, combattait avec
ses anges,
08 mais il ne fut
pas le plus fort ; pour eux désormais, nulle place dans le ciel.
09 Oui, il fut
rejeté, le grand Dragon, le Serpent des origines, celui qu’on nomme Diable et
Satan, le séducteur du monde entier. Il fut jeté sur la terre, et ses anges
furent jetés avec lui.
10 Alors j’entendis
dans le ciel une voix forte, qui proclamait : « Maintenant voici le
salut, la puissance et le règne de notre Dieu, voici le pouvoir de son
Christ ! Car il est rejeté, l’accusateur de nos frères, lui qui les
accusait, jour et nuit, devant notre Dieu.
11 Eux-mêmes l’ont
vaincu par le sang de l’Agneau, par la parole dont ils furent les
témoins ; détachés de leur propre vie, ils sont allés jusqu’à mourir.
12 Cieux, soyez donc
dans la joie, et vous qui avez aux cieux votre demeure ! Malheur à la
terre et à la mer : le diable est descendu vers vous, plein d’une grande
fureur ; il sait qu’il lui reste peu de temps. »
13 Et quand le
Dragon vit qu’il était jeté sur la terre, il se mit à poursuivre la Femme qui
avait mis au monde l’enfant mâle.
14 Alors furent
données à la Femme les deux ailes du grand aigle pour qu’elle s’envole au
désert, à la place où elle doit être nourrie pour un temps, deux temps et la
moitié d’un temps, loin de la présence du Serpent.
15 Puis, de sa
gueule, le Serpent projeta derrière la Femme de l’eau comme un fleuve, pour
qu’elle soit emportée par ce fleuve.
16 Mais la terre
vint au secours de la Femme : la terre ouvrit la bouche et engloutit le
fleuve projeté par la gueule du Dragon.
17 Alors le Dragon
se mit en colère contre la Femme, il partit faire la guerre au reste de sa
descendance, ceux qui observent les commandements de Dieu et gardent le
témoignage de Jésus.
18 Et il se posta
sur le sable au bord de la mer.
Livre de l'Apocalypse,
XII, 1-18
SOURCE : https://www.aelf.org/bible/Ap/12
Simon Ushakov, Icona con San
Michele arcangelo (XVII secolo), tavola
SAINT MICHEL ARCHANGE
Anniversaire de la dédicace
de la basilique dédiée à St Michel sur la via Salaria au Vème siècle et
détruite lors des guerres gothiques au VIème siècle.
Depuis, ce jour, bien que
conservant son titre de dédicace, est la fête principale de l’archange, même
s’il n’a plus aucun caractère, ni au niveau des textes ni des rubriques, de
fête de la dédicace.
Dans le sacramentaire
Léonien, 5 messes sont consacrées ce jour à St Michel.
Fête attestée depuis le
Vème siècle.
(Leçons des Matines)
AU PREMIER NOCTURNE.
Du Prophète Daniel.
Première leçon. Je
regardais jusqu’à ce que des trônes furent placés, et un vieillard s’assit ;
son vêtement était blanc comme la neige, et les cheveux de sa tête blancs comme
une laine pure ; son trône comme des flammes de feu ; ses roues, un feu
brûlant. Un fleuve de feu et rapide sortait de sa face ; des milliers de
milliers d’Anges le servaient, et dix milliers de centaines de milliers d’Anges
assistaient devant lui ; le jugement se tint, et des livres furent ouverts. Je
regardais à cause de la voix des grandes paroles que cette corne prononçait ;
et je vis que la bête fut tuée et que son corps périt, et qu’il fut livré pour
être brûlé par le feu.
R/. Il se fit un silence
dans le ciel lorsque le dragon combattait contre l’Archange Michel. * La voix
de milliers de milliers d’Anges fut entendue, disant : Salut, honneur et
puissance au Dieu tout-puissant. V/. Des milliers de milliers d’Anges le
servaient, et dix milliers de centaines de milliers d’Anges assistaient devant
lui. * La voix.
Deuxième leçon. Le
vingtquatrième jour du premier mois, j’étais près du grand fleuve qui est le
Tigre. Et je levai mes yeux, et je vis ; et voici un homme vêtu de lin, et ses
reins ceints d’un or très pur ; et son corps était comme une chrysolithe, et sa
face comme l’aspect de la foudre, et ses yeux comme une lampe ardente ; et ses
bras et ses parties basses jusqu’aux pieds, comme une apparence d’airain
étincelant, et la voix de ses paroles, comme la voix d’une multitude. Or, moi
Daniel, je vis seul la vision, et les hommes qui étaient avec moi ne la virent
pas ; mais une terreur extraordinaire se saisit d’eux, et ils s’enfuirent dans
un lieu caché. Mais moi, étant demeuré seul, je vis cette grande vision ; et il
ne resta pas en moi de force ; mais même mon visage fut changé en moi, et je
séchai, et je n’eus aucune force.
R/. L’Ange se tint devant
l’autel du temple, ayant un encensoir d’or à la main ; et une grande quantité
de parfums lui fut donnée : * Et la fumée des parfums monta de la main de l’Ange,
en présence du Seigneur. V/. En présence des Anges je vous chanterai des hymnes
; j’adorerai vers votre saint temple, et je glorifierai votre nom, Seigneur. *
Et la fumée.
Troisième leçon. Et
j’entendis la voix de ses paroles ; et, en l’entendant, j’étais couché tout
consterné sur ma face, et mon visage était collé à la terre. Et voici qu’une
main me toucha, et me dressa sur mes genoux et sur le plat de mes mains. Et la
voix me dit : Daniel, homme de désirs, entends les paroles que je te dis, et
tiens-toi sur tes pieds ; car je suis maintenant envoyé vers toi. Et lorsqu’il
m’eut dit ces paroles, je me tins debout, tremblant. Et il me dit : Ne crains
pas, Daniel, parce que dès le premier jour où tu as appliqué ton cœur à
comprendre, afin de t’affliger en présence de ton Dieu, tes paroles ont été
entendues ; et je suis venu à cause de tes discours. Or le prince du royaume
des Perses m’a résisté durant vingt et un jours : et voilà que Michel, un des
premiers princes, est venu à mon secours, et moi, je suis demeuré là près du
roi des Perses. Mais je suis venu afin de t’apprendre ce qui doit arriver à ton
peuple dans les derniers jours, parce que la vision est encore pour ces jours.
R/. En présence des Anges
je vous chanterai des hymnes ; j’adorerai vers votre saint temple, * Et je
glorifierai votre nom, Seigneur. V/. A cause de votre miséricorde et de votre
vérité : parce que vous avez élevé au-dessus de nous la grandeur de votre nom
saint. * Et je glorifierai. Gloire au Père. * Et je glorifierai.
AU DEUXIÈME NOCTURNE.
Sermon de saint Grégoire,
Pape.
Quatrième leçon. Nous
disons qu’il y a neuf ordres d’Anges. En effet, nous savons positivement par le
témoignage de la sainte Écriture, qu’il y a : des Anges, des Archanges, des
Vertus, des Puissances, des Principautés, des Dominations, des Trônes, des
Chérubins et des Séraphins. Qu’il y ait des Anges et des Archanges, presque
toutes les pages sacrées l’attestent ; quant aux Chérubins et aux Séraphins, il
en est souvent question, comme on le sait, au livre des Prophètes. De plus,
l’Apôtre saint Paul énumère les noms de quatre ordres dans ce passage de son
Épître aux Éphésiens : « Au-dessus de toute Principauté, de toute Puissance, de
toute Vertu, de toute Domination. » [1] Il dit encore en écrivant aux Colossiens
: « Soit les Trônes, soit les Puissances, soit les Principautés, soit les
Dominations. » [2] En joignant donc les Trônes aux quatre ordres dont il a
parlé aux Éphésiens, on a cinq ordres ; et si l’on y ajoute les Anges et les
Archanges, les Chérubins et les Séraphins, on trouve qu’il existe réellement
neuf ordres d’Anges.
R/. Celui-ci est
l’Archange Michel, le prince de la milice des Anges : * Le culte qu’on lui rend
est une source de bienfaits pour les peuples, et sa prière conduit au royaume
des cieux. V/. C’est l’Archange Michel, glorieusement élevé dans le paradis,
c’est celui à qui rendent honneur tous les citoyens de la cité angélique. * Le
culte.
Cinquième leçon. Or, il
faut savoir que cette dénomination d’Anges désigne leur fonction et non leur
nature ; car si ces bienheureux esprits de la céleste patrie sont toujours des
esprits, ils ne peuvent pas toujours être appelés des Anges ; ils sont Anges
seulement lorsqu’ils annoncent quelque chose. C’est pour cela qu’un Psaume dit
en parlant de Dieu : « Lui qui, des esprits, fait ses Anges. » [3] Comme s’il
disait explicitement : ceux qu’il a toujours comme esprits, il en fait ses
Anges quand il veut. Or, ceux qui portent les messages les moins importants
sont appelés simplement du nom d’Anges, et on nomme Archanges ceux qui
annoncent les plus grands mystères. Et voilà pourquoi ce n’est pas un Ange
quelconque, mais bien l’Archange Gabriel, que Dieu envoya à la Vierge Marie.
Comme il s’agissait du plus grand de tous les messages, il convenait que le plus
grand des Anges remplît ce ministère. En outre, ces Archanges reçoivent des
noms particuliers, qui expriment les effets de leur opération. Ainsi Michel
signifie : Qui est semblable à Dieu ? Gabriel, Force de Dieu ; Raphaël, Remède
de Dieu.
R/. L’Archange Michel est
venu avec une multitude d’Anges ; c’est à lui que Dieu a confié les âmes des
saints, * Pour qu’il les fasse parvenir aux joies du paradis. V/. Seigneur,
envoyez du ciel votre Esprit-Saint, l’esprit de sagesse et d’intelligence. *
Pour qu’il.
Sixième leçon. Toutes les
fois qu’il s’agit d’une chose où il faut une puissance extraordinaire, c’est
Michel que l’Écriture cite comme envoyé, afin que son nom aussi bien que l’acte
même, donne à comprendre que nul ne peut faire ce que Dieu fait par son
incomparable puissance. Aussi l’antique ennemi qui disait, dans son
orgueilleuse ambition de s’égaler à Dieu : « Je monterai jusqu’aux cieux,
j’élèverai mon trône au-dessus des astres du ciel, je serai semblable au
Très-Haut ; » [4] cet ancien ennemi, dis-je, lorsqu’à la fin du monde il sera
laissé dans toute sa force, pour être ensuite écrasé dans l’éternel supplice,
est-il mentionné comme devant combattre contre l’Archange Michel, d’après cette
parole de saint Jean : « Et un combat s’est engagé avec l’Archange Michel. »
[5] De même, l’Archange envoyé à Marie, c’est Gabriel, dont le nom signifie :
Force de Dieu. Il venait effectivement annoncer celui qui, pour faire sentir sa
force aux puissances de l’air, a daigné paraître dans l’humiliation. Enfin, comme
nous avons dit plus haut, Raphaël signifie : Remède de Dieu ; et en effet, cet
Archange, en touchant les yeux de Tobie comme pour le guérir, dissipa les
ténèbres de sa cécité.
R/. En ce temps-là
s’élèvera Michel, qui est pour vos fils, * Et viendra un temps, tel qu’il n’y
en a pas eu depuis que les nations ont commencé d’être jusqu’alors. V/. En ce
temps-là, sera sauvé quiconque de ton peuple sera trouvé écrit dans le livre de
vie. * Et. Gloire au Père. * Et.
AU TROISIÈME NOCTURNE.
Lecture du saint Évangile
selon saint Matthieu.
En ce temps-là : Les
disciples s’approchèrent de Jésus, disant : Qui, pensez-vous, est le plus grand
dans le royaume des cieux ? Et le reste.
Homélie de saint Jérôme,
Prêtre.
Septième leçon. Le
statère vient d’être trouvé et le tribut payé, pourquoi cette question inopinée
des Apôtres : « Qui, pensez-vous, est le plus grand dans le royaume des cieux ?
» Parce qu’ils avaient vu payer un même tribut pour Pierre et le Seigneur, de
cette égalité dans le prix, ils concluaient que Pierre était élevé au-dessus de
tous les Apôtres, lui qui, pour la reddition du tribut, semblait être comparé
au Seigneur ; et voilà pourquoi ils demandent : « Qui est le plus grand dans le
royaume des cieux ? » Jésus, connaissant leurs pensées et discernant la cause
de leur méprise, veut guérir en eux le désir de la gloire, en leur inspirant
une généreuse émulation pour l’humilité.
R/. En présence des
Gentils, ne craignez point : mais en vos cœurs adorez et craignez le Seigneur,
* Car son Ange est avec vous. V/. L’Ange se tint devant l’autel du temple,
ayant à la main un encensoir d’or. * Car.
Bened. Que ceux dont nous
célébrons la Fête, etc. [6]
Huitième leçon. « Si donc
ta main ou ton pied te scandalise, coupe-le et jette-le loin de toi. » Il faut,
à-la vérité, que les scandales arrivent ; cependant, malheur à l’homme qui, par
sa faute, est la cause de ce qui ne peut manquer de se produire dans le monde.
En conséquence, toute affection est à briser, toute parenté est à rompre, quand
il y a lieu de craindre que les croyants, dans leurs rapports de piété filiale
ou de fidélité, ne soient exposés à des scandales. S’il y a quelqu’un, semble
dire le Sauveur, qui vous soit aussi étroitement uni que la main, le pied, ou
l’œil est uni au corps ; quelqu’un qui vous soit utile et dévoué, qui mette à
votre service sa clairvoyance et sa pénétration, mais qui vous soit en même
temps un sujet de scandale, et qui, par l’opposition des mœurs, vous entraîne
dans l’enfer, il vaut mieux vous priver de son intimité et des avantages
temporels qui en résultent, de peur qu’en voulant gagner vos proches et vos
amis, vous n’ayez auprès d’eux des occasions de vous perdre.
R/. L’Archange Michel est
venu au secours du peuple de Dieu, * Il a couvert de sa protection les âmes
justes. V/. L’Ange se tint près de l’autel du temple, ayant à la main un
encensoir d’or. * Il. Gloire au Père. * Il.
Neuvième leçon. « Je vous
dis que leurs Anges voient sans cesse, dans le ciel, la face de mon Père. »
Plus haut, sous l’image de la main, du pied et de l’œil dont il faut se
défaire, il avait dit qu’on doit se séparer des parents et des amis, qui
peuvent être des sujets de scandale Voici maintenant qu’il tempère la rigueur
de ce principe, par cette recommandation qu’il ajoute à la suite. « Prenez
garde de mépriser un seul de ces petits. » Comme s’il disait : Je ne commande
pas la sévérité de conduite, sans apprendre en même temps qu’il y faut mêler de
la douceur : « Car leurs Anges voient sans cesse, dans les deux, la face du
Père. » Grandeur et dignité des âmes, en ce que chacun des hommes a, dès le
moment de sa naissance, un Ange préposé à sa garde. Aussi lisons-nous dans
l’Apocalypse de saint Jean : « Écris ceci à l’Ange d’Éphèse, et .aux Anges des
autres Églises. » [7] Comme aussi l’Apôtre veut que, dans les églises, les
femmes aient la tête voilée, à cause des Anges. [8]
[1] Ephés. 1, 21
[2] Col. 1, 16
[3] Ps. 103, 4
[4] Is. 14, 13
[5] Ap. 12, 7
[6] Même si
historiquement la fête du 29 septembre commémore une dédicace d’église, elle
n’est en rien une fête de la dédicace (c’est à dire une fête du Seigneur), mais
une fête des saints Anges.
[7] Ap. 2, 1
[8] 1 Cor. 11, 10
SOURCE : https://www.introibo.fr/29-09-Dedicace-de-St-Michel
Rogier van der Weyden (1443-1446). Saint Michel pesant les âmes, Polyptyque du Jugement dernier, Hospices de Beaune
Saint Michel,
« boss » de tous les anges gardiens et peseur des âmes
Bernard
Plessy | 27 septembre 2019
L’Archange Michel a tant
de fonctions auprès de nous que nous pouvons être tenté de croire qu’il est à
la limite de ce qu’il peut. Mais rassurons-nous d’emblée : il peut toujours
tout pour nous. Et pour cause, son nom signifie : "Qui est comme Dieu".
Voyons voir du coup tout ce qu’il fait pour nous.
Michel n’est pas un saint
incarné, c’est un être céleste. Il ne relève pas du temps humain. S’il a un
commencement, il n’a pas de fin ; son existence permanente n’est pas
linéaire, mais ponctuelle ou sporadique, au gré de ses manifestations, ou
apparitions. Michel est créature de Dieu, prestigieuse, chef de corps de la
légion des anges, les anges du bien. On dit aussi Prince de la milice céleste.
Flanqué de ses adjoints Gabriel et Raphaël.
Lire aussi :
À
quelle vitesse les anges se déplacent-ils ?
Et c’est donc lui qui
livre bataille au Dragon. Qui est le Dragon ? C’est l’Ennemi. Le Rebelle,
qui dit : Non serviam, je ne servirai pas. L’Insoumis. Combat
décisif : ou lui ou Dieu. Sur le front, en première ligne, Michel, avec
casque, armure, épée. Coups terribles. Autre chose qu’Olivier et Roland
dans La Légende des Siècles. Michel l’emporte. Le Dragon est précipité dans
l’abîme. Et Michel y gagne ses galons de porte-étendard, signifer.
Quand cela se
passe-t-il ? Aux origines ? L’Apocalypse, qui raconte le combat,
permet cette lecture (Ap
12, 7-9). Elle ne la garantit pas. Elle-même est hors du temps. Sa nature
est de révéler. Elle peut le faire par préfiguration, et mettre aux
origines ce qui sera lutte finale. Jésus, dans ses prédictions apocalyptiques,
puisque les Évangiles le font donner dans ce genre d’époque, concourt à cette
lecture ambiguë : « Je regardais le Satan tomber du ciel comme un
éclair ! » (Lc,
10, 18).
Veiller à la victoire
anticipée de chaque âme
Pour nous la seule chose
qui importe, c’est que Michel ait gagné. De provisoirement on passera
à définitivement. Mais en attendant la victoire finale, Michel a la lourde
tâche de s’occuper de nous. Laissons ses apparitions — et même notre
Mont-Saint-Michel, trop à dire. L’immense victoire collective de la fin des
temps — when the stars begin to fall, comme dit un beau spiritual — ne le
dispense pas de veiller à la victoire anticipée de chaque âme venue en ce
monde. Quel travail !
Lire aussi :
13
infos que vous ignorez sûrement sur le Mont-Saint-Michel
Il s’y emploie au moins
de trois façons. Responsable des anges gardiens, il vient s’assurer que chacun
fait bien son office. Il se promène parmi nous. Mais nous ne le voyons pas !
Jeanne d’Arc, elle, le voyait. Parlant des saints : « Ils viennent très
souvent, et très souvent je les ai vus parmi les chrétiens… Je vis saint Michel
et ses anges des yeux de mon corps aussi bien que je vous vois… » Mon
Dieu, donnez-nous le regard de Jeanne. Puis il s’active au moment de notre mort,
comme en témoigne cet Offertoire de funérailles : « Seigneur Jésus-Christ,
Roi de gloire, délivrez les âmes de tous les fidèles défunts des peines de
l’enfer et du gouffre sans fond ; délivrez-les de la gueule du lion
pour que l’abîme ne les engloutisse pas et qu’elles ne soient pas précipitées
dans les ténèbres, mais que saint Michel, le porte-étendard, les introduise
dans la sainte Lumière. » Dans ce rôle les savants disent qu’il est psychopompe,
il accompagne les âmes, comme Hermès ou Mercure. Car il y a dans tout cela,
sans la moindre irrévérence, une discrète part mythologique, dont il serait
bien de parler un jour.
Et puis surtout il
continue son combat contre le Malin ou le Mauvais, tant que ce monde reste dans
le temps. Il n’y a pas si longtemps, à la fin de la messe, le prêtre, au bas de
l’autel, récitait une prière composée et prescrite par Léon XIII : « Saint
Michel Archange, défendez-nous dans le combat ; soyez notre secours contre
la malice et les embûches du démon. Que Dieu exerce sur lui son empire, nous le
demandons en suppliant : et vous, Prince de la milice céleste, repoussez
en enfer, par la vertu divine, Satan et les autres esprits mauvais qui rôdent
dans le monde pour perdre les âmes. » Les autres esprits mauvais… Ô saint Michel,
nous pourrions vous en faire une belle liste. Voilà l’Archange et ses états
d’incessants services. Et il en a d’autres. Il protège la France. Henri Pourrat
l’appelle l’Ange de la Nation. Chaque nation a son ange : nous, c’est
saint Michel. Tous les 29 septembre, il reprend sa tenue militaire à la tête
(et à la fête) des parachutistes.
Michel, le peseur d’âmes
Nous, nous avons
rendez-vous avec saint Michel au dernier jour. Cette fois Michel psychostase :
le peseur d’âmes. Nous le voyons au tympan des cathédrales, Autun par exemple,
balance à deux plateaux en main. La pesée d’une vie. Il est beau, il est sûr,
il est souriant. Le plateau des bonnes actions descend : c’est le plus
lourd. Agrippé à l’autre plateau, Satan grimace : il ne fait pas le poids.
Comment laisser Michel ? Il faut plutôt lui demander de ne pas nous
quitter. Faisons nôtre une antienne des IIes vêpres de sa fête :
« Prince très glorieux, Archange Michel, souvenez-vous de nous ; ici
et en tous lieux, priez toujours pour nous le Fils de Dieu, alleluia,
alleluia. »
Lire aussi :
Michel,
Raphaël, Gabriel : quels sont les pouvoirs des archanges ?
San Michele arcangelo
L’Archange Saint Michel, terrassant Satan représenté par un dragon, avec
inscription Quis ut Deus ? sur son bouclier. Entrée
principale de l'université de Bonn
La prière toute simple
pour apprendre aux enfants à invoquer saint Michel
Bénédicte
de Saint-Germain | 27 septembre 2019
Le 29 septembre, toute
l’Église fête les saints archanges. L’occasion de parler aux enfants de saint
Michel et de leur apprendre à l’invoquer avec une prière toute simple.
Revêtu de son armure,
brandissant son épée, terrassant le démon, … le grand saint Michel, « chef
de la milice céleste », peut paraître un peu éloigné des préoccupations
enfantines. N’est-il pas le spécialiste des grands combats, invoqué par les
papes pour défendre l’Église ? L’archange est pourtant un allié précieux
dans la vie quotidienne. Nous pouvons l’expliquer aux enfants en leur
enseignant une courte prière. Très facile à mémoriser et, même à gestuer, elle
reprend trois missions fondamentales de l’archange :
« Saint Michel
archange, de ta lumière, éclaire-nous,
Saint Michel archange, de tes ailes, protège-nous,
Saint Michel archange, de ton épée, défends-nous. »
Saint Michel nous éclaire
Avec tous les anges,
saint Michel voit « sans cesse la face de mon Père qui est aux
cieux », nous dit Jésus (Mt
18, 10). Comme tous les bons anges, il resplendit de la gloire de Dieu.
Avec tous les esprits bienheureux, il s’émerveille de Sa grandeur et il chante
sa splendeur.
Lire aussi :
Un
Tour de France pour saint Michel
À la messe, quand nous
chantons le Sanctus, nous sommes en communion avec tous les anges et tous
les saints. Comme eux, toute notre vie doit être une louange à la gloire du
Père. Demandons à saint Michel de nous apprendre à louer le Seigneur pour
toutes les merveilles de la Création, pour tout ce qu’Il accomplit dans le
monde et dans le cœur des hommes.
Saint Michel nous protège
Le Seigneur « a donné
mission à ses anges de nous garder sur tous nos chemins » (Ps
90). Avec notre ange gardien, les archanges veillent sur nous. Les enfants,
qui éprouvent si simplement le besoin d’être protégés, avec tendresse et
confiance, comprendront la puissance de saint Michel.
Lire aussi :
Est-ce
que mon ange gardien achève ma prière si je m’endors ?
Michel signifie
« Qui est comme Dieu ? ». Ce nom un peu énigmatique nous
rappelle le combat que saint Michel a mené contre le démon, l’ange orgueilleux
qui a voulu se faire l’égal de Dieu (Ap
12, 7-9). « Chaque fois qu’il est besoin d’un déploiement de force
extraordinaire, c’est Michel qui est envoyé, explique Monique Berger dans Vivre
l’année liturgique avec les enfants (éditions Transmettre) : son
action et son nom font comprendre que nul ne peut faire ce qu’il appartient à
Dieu seul de faire. » Demandons-lui son aide pour nous protéger de
l’orgueil.
Saint Michel nous défend
Le grand saint Michel a
pour mission la
lutte contre le démon et la défense de l’Église. « Le diable
(dia-bolos) est celui qui “se jette en travers” du dessein de Dieu et de son
œuvre de salut accomplie dans le Christ » (Catéchisme de l’Église
catholique, n° 2851). Nous voulons faire le bien mais le diable met des
obstacles à notre bonne volonté : il nous présente des tentations, nous
séduit et nous détourne de nos bonnes résolutions. Demandons à saint Michel de
nous aider à enlever ces obstacles et à rendre droit notre chemin vers Dieu.
Confions-lui aussi l’Église et le monde.
Lire aussi :
Trois
façons efficaces de prier l’archange saint Michel
Mosaïque du tympan avec les trois archanges, église orthodoxe roumaine des Saints-Archanges, 5e arrondissement de Paris, en France, au no 9bis de la rue Jean-de-Beauvais
.jpg)
L'église orthodoxe roumaine des Saints-Archanges, 5e arrondissement de Paris, en France, au no
9bis de la rue Jean-de-Beauvais. Depuis 2009, elle
possède le rang de cathédrale et est le siège de la métropole d'Europe
occidentale et méridionale de l'Église orthodoxe roumaine. Elle est dédiée
aux archanges Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_des_Saints-Archanges
L'église orthodoxe roumaine des Saints-Archanges, 5e arrondissement de Paris, en France, au no
9bis de la rue Jean-de-Beauvais. Depuis 2009, elle
possède le rang de cathédrale et est le siège de la métropole d'Europe
occidentale et méridionale de l'Église orthodoxe roumaine. Elle est dédiée
aux archanges Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël. https://fr.wikipedia.org/wiki/%C3%89glise_des_Saints-Archanges
Les saints archanges,
bien plus que des messagers de Dieu
Edifa |
28 septembre 2020
Saint Raphaël, saint
Michel et saint Gabriel… En cette fin de septembre, l’Église nous invite à
fêter des saints pas comme les autres.
Le 29 septembre, l’Eglise
fête les archanges Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël. Des super-anges, en plus légers.
Comme tout ange,
ils sont des envoyés de Dieu auprès des hommes : « Messagers du Seigneur,
bénissez le Seigneur, vous, les invincibles porteurs de ses ordres, prompts à
exécuter sa Parole » (antienne d’ouverture).
Les archanges arrivent
les premiers parmi ces créatures spirituelles qui proclament l’inouï de Dieu.
Ils sont souvent mandatés pour des missions impossibles. Ces agents très
spéciaux ne cessent de se tenir devant la face de Dieu, Le servant jour et
nuit. Lorsqu’ils sortent de l’anonymat, ils portent un nom d’homme, et avec ce
nom une fonction.
Le combattant, le
diplomate et le compatissant
Il y a d’abord le
chef Michel,
« Qui est comme Dieu », combattant du Dragon. C’est le plus grand des
esprits angéliques. C’est le lutteur par excellence contre les forces du Mal.
Lorsque Dieu a besoin d’un ange fort et rapide, Il envoie Michel.
Lire aussi :
Le
chapelet de saint Michel, l’indispensable prière pour les combats quotidiens
Voici le diplomate
Gabriel, nom qui signifie « homme de Dieu ». Le livre de Daniel
présente Gabriel comme un ange-interprète. On le connaît surtout dans le
Nouveau Testament pour ses apparitions à Zacharie et à Marie. Lorsque Dieu veut
faire une grande annonciation, Il envoie Gabriel.
Lire aussi :
Michel,
Raphaël, Gabriel : quels sont les pouvoirs des archanges ?
Enfin, il y a le compatissant
Raphaël, qui veut dire « Dieu guérit ». Cet ange débonnaire
accompagne le jeune Tobie pour qu’il fasse un beau voyage. Avis aux pèlerins et
voyageurs, il délivre aussi des esprits mauvais. Il se présente lui-même comme
l’un des sept anges qui sont devant Dieu, Lui offrant nos supplications
gratuitement. Lorsque Dieu veut faire avancer quelqu’un sur le chemin de la
vie, Il envoie Raphaël.
Quand les anges nous
envoient de discrets signes
Ces archanges de la
lumière nous disent combien Dieu est beau. Avec d’autres anges anonymes, ils
nous font signe discrètement, sans forcer aucune porte : c’est une intuition à
faire le bien, une chute évitée de justesse, une aide à devenir soi-même, une
voix que l’on discerne, un geste au bon moment, une joie à vivre le moment
présent…
En fêtant les archanges,
l’Eglise nous dit que nous ne sommes pas seuls sur Terre. Ils combattent avec
nous contre les puissances des Ténèbres. Ils nous invitent surtout à louer
Dieu, et à faire avec eux des haltes d’adoration. C’est alors qu’on les entend
parfois passer, avec ou sans ailes, dans le silence amoureux de la
prière.
Lire aussi :
Combien
d’archanges y a-t-il dans la Bible ?
Jacques Gauthier
Juan de la Abadia (–1498), Sant
Miquel pesant les ànimes, circa 1490, Tempera, stucco reliefs, gold leaf and
metal plate on wood, 127 x 78, musée national d'Art de
Catalogne
29 septembre
Saints Archanges
Homélie
XXXIV sur les péricopes évangéliques.
Chaque fois qu'il est
besoin d'un déploiement de force extraordinaire, c'est Michel qui est envoyé :
son action et son nom font comprendre que nul ne peut faire ce qu'il appartient
à Dieu seul de faire. L'antique ennemi, qui a désiré par orgueil être semblable
à Dieu, disait : J'escaladerai les cieux, par-dessus les étoiles du ciel
j'érigerai mon trône, je ressemblerai au Très-Haut. Or, l'Apocalypse nous
dit qu'à la fin du monde, lorsqu'il sera laissé à sa propre force, avant d'être
éliminé par le supplice final, il devra combattre contre l'archange Michel
: Il y eut un combat contre l'archange Michel.
Saint Grégoire le Grand
Josse Lieferinxe (–1508), Saint
Michel terrassant le Dragon / St. Michael killing the Dragon /Der Hl. Michael
tötet den Drachen, circa 1493, huile sur panneau, 87,5 x
57, musée du Petit Palais, Inv
22648, dépôt du musée Calvet - Avignon, musée du Petit, Collection
permanente : Les Peintures de l'Ecole d'Avignon
Puisse la prière nous
fortifier pour ce combat spirituel dont parle la lettre aux Ephésiens : « Rendez-vous
puissants dans le Seigneur et dans la vigueur de sa force » (Ephésiens,
VI, 10). C'est à ce même combat que se réfère le Livre de l'Apocalypse, nous
mettant devant les yeux l'image de Saint Michel Archange (cf. Ap 12,
7). Le pape Léon XIII avait certainement bien présente cette image quand, à la
fin du siècle dernier, il introduisit dans l'Église toute entière une prière
spéciale à Saint Michel : « Saint Michel Archange, défends-nous dans le
combat contre le mal et les embûches du malin, soit notre rempart.... »
Même si aujourd'hui on ne
récite plus cette prière à la fin de la célébration eucharistique, je vous
invite tous à ne pas l'oublier mais à la réciter pour obtenir d'être aidés dans
le combat contre les forces des ténèbres et contre l'esprit de ce monde.
Jean-Paul II
Simone Memmi de Sienne (–1344), Altarretabel
von Cambridge, Detail: Hl. Michael, circa 1320, tempera sur panneau, 59 x 35,
Fitzwilliam Museum
Simone Memmi de Sienne (–1344), Saint
Geminianus, Saint Michael and Saint Augustine,
Altarretabel
von Cambridge, Detail: Hl. Michael, circa 1320, tempera sur panneau, 59 x 35,
Fitzwilliam Museum
Glorieux Archange ! que
votre fidélité et votre soumission aux or-dres de Dieu attachent si constamment
au maintien de sa gloire et aux intérêts des hommes, employez, en ma faveur, ce
crédit inséparable du bonheur dont vous jouissez. Portez au trône du Saint des
Saints tous les vœux que je confie aujourd'hui à votre puissante protection.
Ayez égard aux besoins d'un Royaume dont vous avez été si longtemps le patron
spécial, et qui depuis n'a été dévoué à votre Reine, que pour vous accroître,
par votre médiation auprès d'elle, nos ressources et notre défense. Bannissez,
écartez de nos contrées tout ce que le dérèglement des moeurs, l'hérésie et
l'impiété s'efforcent d'y répandre de contagieux. Vainqueur des attentats de
Lucifer contre la majesté du Très-Haut, ne permettez pas qu'il triomphe de
votre héritage et qu'il l'enlève au Rédempteur qui l'a conquis au prix de son
Sang. Chargé, enfin, de présenter nos âmes au Tribunal de Dieu, dans l'instant
de notre mort, remplissez, en faveur de la mienne, un ministère de charité pour
toute ma vie, et de sauvegarde pour l'instant qui la terminera. Ainsi soit-il.
Madame Louise France,
fille de Louis XV, en religion Mère Thérèse de Saint-Augustin.
Ugolino
di Nerio, San Michele arcangelo, XIV sec, Museo
archeologico e d'arte della Maremma
Rien n’est assurément
plus mystérieux que le culte des anges dont les origines plongent dans la nuit
des temps. Nous savons que si les anges se présentèrent aux hommes comme des
messagers de Dieu, ils sont avant tout, de purs esprits qui se
déploient dans une dimension étrangère à notre espace, sans être soumis à la
durée ni au rythme du temps. L’ordinaire de la vie immortelle de ces créatures
personnelles, pour parler comme Jésus, est de contempler sans cesse la face du
Père qui est aux cieux1, bonheur dont ils s’éloignent par amour de
Dieu et des hommes, pour porter la parole de l’un aux autres. « Ange, dit
saint Augustin, désigne la fonction non pas la nature. Tu demandes comment
s’appelle cette nature ? Esprit. Tu demandes la fonction ? Ange.
D’après ce qu’il est, c’est un esprit, d’après ce qu’il fait, c’est un ange.2 »
Tout au long de l’Ancien
Testament, les anges sont présents pour instruire, protéger, réconforter et
conduire les hommes. Après l’expulsion de nos premiers parents, l’ange à l’épée
flamboyante interdit l’entrée du Paradis terrestre3. Un ange consola Agar dans le désert4. C’est un ange qui arrêta le bras d’Abraham
prêt à immoler Isaac5. Avant que Sodome fût détruite par le feu du
ciel, un ange fit sortir Loth et sa famille de la ville6. Le patriarche Jacob vit en songe des
multitudes d’anges monter et descendre l’échelle qui allait de la terre au ciel7. Dieu envoya un ange pour conduire à travers
le désert les Hébreux vers la Terre Promise8. Elie fut réconforté dans le désert par un
ange9.
Le Nouveau Testament est
aussi tout rempli du ministère des anges. L’ange Gabriel fut le messager du
mystère de l’Incarnation auprès de Zacharie10 et de Marie11. Un ange fut préposé à instruire saint
Joseph de ce mystère12 et à l’assister dans sa vocation de
père nourricier13. Un ange annonça la naissance du Messie aux
bergers de Bethléem et des multitudes d’anges chantèrent dans le ciel de Noël14. Des anges servirent Jésus après sa
victoire sur la triple tentation, après le jeûne au désert15, et un ange le réconforta lors de son
Agonie, dans la nuit du jardin des Oliviers16. Des anges furent envoyés par Dieu pour
annoncer la Résurrection du Sauveur aux saintes femmes17, à Marie-Madeleine18. Des anges, enfin, introduisirent les
Apôtres après l’Ascension19. Dans son enseignement, Jésus parla souvent
des anges comme les auxiliaires à la fin du monde20, et il parla des anges gardiens21.
L’Eglise primitive, comme
le Seigneur, est assistée par les anges dont l’un fait échapper les Apôtres des
mains des Saducéens22, et dont un autre délivre saint Pierre de
la prison d’Hérode23. Un ange conduisit le centurion Corneille
vers saint Pierre24, un autre sauva saint Paul d’un naufrage25. Saint Paul, dans ses épîtres, et saint
Jean, dans l’Apocalypse, enseignèrent bien des choses sur les anges.
Or, l’Ecriture ne nous a
révélé les noms que de trois d’entre les anges26 : Gabriel qui veut dire « la
force Dieu », Raphaël « Dieu guérit », et Michel « Qui est
comme Dieu ? » L’Eglise les célèbre aujourd’hui tous les trois
ensemble, mais, traditionnellement, le 29 septembre est la fête de saint Michel
archange. En effet, le martyrologe hieronymien27 célèbre, au 29 septembre, « à
Rome, au sixième mille, sur la voie Salaria, dédicace de la basilique de saint
Michel. »
La seule signification du
nom du saint archange Michel nous indique le rôle qui lui est échu depuis le
commencement jusqu’à la fin des temps. A la tête des armées célestes, il rejeta
Lucifer des cieux, au moment de ce grand déchirement où s’ouvre le porche
tragique de l’histoire ; Lucifer qui, oubliant son état de créature, ne veut
pas servir les desseins de Dieu, est repoussé par la victorieuse question de
Michel : Qui est comme Dieu ?
La force de saint Michel
archange ne procède pas de la cuirasse ou des armes étincelantes que notre
impuissance à représenter les réalités spirituelles lui attribue, mais de son
amour de Dieu qu’il proclame. Cet amour que les bons anges ont pour Dieu ne consiste
pas seulement à vouloir l’adorer, le servir et lui plaire, mais aussi, et
peut-être surtout, à se mettre au service de l’homme, en sachant que, par le
mystère de l’Incarnation du Verbe divin, cette créature moins parfaite que lui,
lui deviendra supérieure. Il faut en convenir, même si l’on peut considérer que
les anges sont membres du Christ, qu’ils ne le sont pas aussi parfaitement que
les hommes, puisqu’ils n’ont pas avec lui cette identité d’espèce et cette
solidarité en vertu desquelles la grâce s’écoule du Christ en nous, d’un
mouvement en quelque sorte naturel28. De plus, n’ayant pas péché, ils n’ont pas
eu besoin de la Rédemption et la grâce leur a été conférée indépendamment du
sacrifice du Sauveur. Dieu nous dit, affirme saint Jean Chrysostome :
« Je commande aux anges, et toi aussi par les prémices (le Christ). Je
suis assis sur le trône royal, et toi aussi par les prémices. ‘Il nous a
ressuscités avec lui, est-il écrit, et assis avec lui à la droite du Père.29’ Les chérubins et les séraphins et
toute l'armée céleste, les principautés, les puissances, les trônes et les
dominations t'adorent à cause des prémices.30 »
Si, à la seule question
de saint Michel, les cieux s’ouvrirent pour laisser choir Lucifer et ses démons
éternellement maudits, la lutte, bien loin de se terminer, devint comme le
moteur de l’histoire et saint Paul, dans un texte fameux, nous rappelle ces
combats terribles que ne cessent de se livrer les puissances invisibles autour
de nos âmes. Si saint Michel archange fut, avant l’origine des temps, le chef
des cohortes célestes, il est raisonnable de croire qu’il est encore et jusqu’à
la fin du monde, le stratège de cette guerre implacable où nous sommes engagés.
« Toutes les fois, dit saint Grégoire le Grand, qu’il s’agit d’une
œuvre de merveilleuse puissance, c’est Michel que l’on nous dit envoyé, pour
que son intervention même et son nom nous donnent à entendre que personne ne
peut faire ce que Dieu seul a le privilège de faire. L'antique ennemi, qui
a désiré par orgueil être semblable à Dieu, disait : J'escaladerai les
cieux, par-dessus les étoiles du ciel j'érigerai mon trône, je ressemblerai au
Très-Haut. Or, l'Apocalypse nous dit qu'à la fin du monde, lorsqu'il sera
laissé à sa propre force, avant d'être éliminé par le supplice final, il devra
combattre contre l'archange Michel : Il y eut un combat contre l'archange
Michel.31 »
Si vous pensez que les
temps sont mauvais et que nous sommes affrontés à de formidables systèmes qui,
s’arrogeant le droit de réviser la Loi divine, veulent emprisonner les âmes
pour les rendre incapables de vivre avec Dieu en esprit et en vérité, qui
pourriez-vous mieux appeler à votre secours que saint Michel archange ? La
sublime question qui nomme l’Archange, Qui est comme Dieu ? ne
s’adresse pas au seul Lucifer, ni même à ses seuls anges, elle s’adresse aussi
à chaque homme et, singulièrement, aux chefs des peuples.
Si l’affreuse bête de
l’Apocalypse dont les exploits funèbres remplissent les derniers temps, recule
devant l’archange saint Michel, ce n’est point seulement parce qu’il crie sa
formidable question, mais parce qu’il est lui-même cette question. Vous aussi,
à son imitation, devenez cette question redoutable qui terrasse les démons ;
criez-la aux ténèbres répandues sur le monde, par votre attention à la parole
de Dieu, par votre stricte observance et par votre pratique cultuelle.
Criez-la en appliquant votre intelligence à la vérité révélée que l’Eglise vous
enseigne, en soumettant votre volonté aux commandements divins que l’Eglise
vous rappelle, en nourrissant vos vies des grâces que le Seigneur vous a
préparées et que l’Eglise vous distribue.
Vous demandez que saint
Michel vous protège et vous voulez gagner avec lui le combat contre les
puissances démoniaques, alors battez-vous avec ses armes en étant, à la face du
monde de ceux qui proclament que nul n’est comme Dieu. Sachez-le bien, vous ne
vous battez pas, quoi qu’il puisse vous en paraître, contre des hommes, sous
leurs systèmes immondes qui offensent la face du Tout-Puissant ; ce sont
les démons qui agissent et ceux-là, vous n’en serez pas vainqueurs par des
discours, par des suffrages électoraux, par des finesses diplomatiques ou par
les armes du monde, mais par la pénitence, la prière, le sacrifice et
l’observance.
Puissent vos cœurs
s’ouvrir largement au mystère de l’archange saint Michel de sorte qu’il vous
aide à devenir plus droits, plus forts et plus purs, témoins incorruptibles de
la vérité divine qui demande notre aveu.
1 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu XVIII 10.
2 Saint
Augustin : commentaire du sermon CIII.
3 Genèse
III 24.
4 Genèse
XVI 9 & XXI 17.
5 Genèse
XXII 11.
6 Genèse
XIX.
7 Genèse
XXVIII 12.
8 Exode
XXIII 20-23.
9 Premier
livre des Rois XIX 5.
10 Evangile
selon saint Luc I 11-20.
11 Evangile
selon saint Luc I 26-38.
12 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu I 20-23.
13 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu II 13-21.
14 Evangile
selon saint Luc II 8-14.
15 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu IV 11.
16 Evangile
selon saint Luc XXII 43.
17 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu XXVIII 5-6 & Evangile selon saint Luc XXIV 22.
18 Evangile
selon saint Jean XX 11.
19 Actes
des Apôtres I 9.
20 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu XIII 36-43, XVI 27 & XXIV 31.
21 Evangile
selon saint Matthieu XVIII 10.
22 Actes
des Apôtres V 19-20.
23 Actes
des Apôtres XII 6-17.
24 Actes
des Apôtres X 1-8.
25 Actes
des Apôtres XXVII 23-26.
26 Les
auteurs apocryphes imaginèrent quatre autres archanges, fort vénérés en
Orient : Uriel, Salathiel, Jéhudiel et Barachiel. A un concile romain qui
se tint sous la présidence du pape Zacharie (745), on déclara que les chrétiens
ne connaissaient que trois noms d’anges : Michel, Gabriel et Raphaël.
Cette condamnation fut réitérée par un concile d’Aix-la-Chapelle (789). En
1516, dans une église de Palerme dédiée au carme martyr saint Ange, on
découvrit une fresque sous le badigeon dont on l’avait recouverte, et l’on y
distingua sept archanges nettement identifiés. Outre les archanges Michel,
Gabriel et Raphaël, on voyait Uriel, l’épée nue, foulant des flammes, qui
gardait l’entrée du Paradis terrestres ; on voyait aussi Jehudiel, muni
d’un fouet et d’une couronne, qui exécutait les sentences divines ; on
voyait encore Barachiel, portant des roses blanches dans son manteau ; on
voyait enfin Salathiel, les mains jointes, portant le repentir de l’humanité
devant Dieu. L’affaire fit grand bruit et le prêtre Angelo Duca répendit si
bien la dévotion au sept archanges que Charles Quint dota une église construite
à Palerme en leur honneur (1523). Angelo Duca triompha de la résistance de
Pie IV et, après Naples et Venise, Rome connut cette nouvelle dévotion, au
point que lors d’une « épidémie de possession » on y invoqua les sept
archanges (1553). La grande salle des Thermes de Dioclétien, transformée en
église par Michel-Ange, fut dédiée à la Vierge Marie et aux sept archanges qui
furent représentés sur un retable avec les attributs des archanges de Palerme
(1561). Des missels contenant un office pour les sept archanges furent imprimés
à Rome d’où les pèlerins d’Allemagne, de Flandre, de France et d’Espagne
rapportèrent chez eux la dévotion. Chacun des électeurs du Saint-Empire
choisirent un des sept archanges comme protecteurs. Les Jésuites firent
beaucoup pour la diffusion de cette dévotion aux sept archanges et, en France,
au siècle suivant, le R.P. Paul de Barry, dans un livre publié à Lyon (1644), affirmait :
« le quatrième, Uriel, illumine et instruit les hommes par ses
inspirations ; le cinquième les incite à la prière ; le sixième les
invite à la louange de Dieu ; le septième nous procure les bénédictions du
Ciel et nous exhorte au remerciement. » On trouvait encore des traces
solides de cette dévotion après le milieu du XIX° siècle où, en 1860, on forma,
en Italie et en Allemagne, une association pour la défense et la promotion du
culte des sept Esprits.
27 Le
martyrologie hiéronymien est le plus ancien martyrologe latin ; il est
ainsi appelé parce qu’il est précédé d’une lettre adressée à saint Jérôme (mort
en 420) par les évêques Chromace d’Aquilée et Héliodore d’Altino, suivie de la
réponse de saint Jérôme. Quoi qu’il en soit de l’authenticité de cette
correspondance préliminaire, ce martyrologe date du milieu du V° siècle et à
été composé en Italie du Nord, probablement en Aquilée.
28 R.P.
Emile Mersch : « Le Corps mystique du Christ » (Bruxelles,
1936.)
29Epître
de saint Paul aux Ephésiens II 6.
30 saint
Jean Chrysostome : commentaire de la première épître de saint Paul à
Timothée, XV).
31 Saint
Grégoire le Grand : homélie XXXIV sur les péricopes évangéliques.
SOURCE : http://missel.free.fr/Sanctoral/09/29.php
Michael
the Archangel. The cathedral icon of the Archangel Cathedral in the Moscow
Kremlin, circa 1410
8 May –
Apparition of Saint Michael and Protector of Cornwall
Profile
Archangel.
Leader of the army of God during
the Lucifer uprising. Devotion is common to Muslims, Christians and
Jews, and there are writings about
him in all three cultures. Considered the guardian angel of
Israel, and the guardian and protector of the Church. In the Book of Daniel
(12:1), Michael is described as rising up to defend the Church against the
Anti-Christ.
The feast of
the Apparition of Saint Michael commemorates appearance of the archangel to
a man named Gargan in 492 on
Mount Gargano near Manfredonia in southern Italy.
Gargan and others were pasturing cattle on
the mountain; a bull wandered off and hid in a cave. An arrow was
shot into the cave, but it came flying back out and wounded the archer.
The cowherds went to their bishop who
ordered three days of fasting and prayer to
seek an explanation for the mystery. At the end of the three days Michael
appeared to the bishop and
requested a church built in the honour of the Holy Angels in the cave. If you
find medals or holy cards with ‘relics‘ of
Michael, they are probably rock chips from the cave, or pieces of cloth that
have touched it.
Born
wasn’t
hasn’t
Name
Meaning
Who is like God? (the
battle cry of the army of heaven)
cutlers,
knife grinders, knife sharpers
emergency
medical technicians, EMTs, paramedics
Guild
of Tanners and Weavers of Barcelona, Spain
hatmakers,
hatters, cap makers
mariners,
sailors, watermen, boatmen
radiologists (proclaimed
on 15
January 1941 by Pope Pius XII)
Vatican
City (given in 2013)
Worshipful
Company of Plumbers
Albenga-Imperia, Italy, diocese of
Alghero-Bosa, Italy, diocese of
Altamura–Gravina–Acquaviva
delle Fonti, Italy, diocese of
Caltanissetta, Italy, diocese of
Chieti-Vasto, Italy, archdiocese of
Coimbatore, India, diocese of
Iligan, Philippines, diocese of
Keta-Akatsi,
Ghana, diocese of
Mobile, Alabama, archdiocese of
Pensacola-Tallahassee, Florida, diocese of
Rouyn-Noranda, Québec, diocese of
San
Angelo, Texas, diocese of
Seattle, Washington, archdiocese of
Sherbrooke, Canada, archdiocese of
Springfield, Massachusetts, diocese of
Toronto,
Ontario, archdiocese of
in Belgium
in Brazil
in England
in Germany
in Italy
Domanins, San
Giorgio della Richinvelda
Zugliano,
Pozzuolo del Friuli
in Malta
in Mexico
in the Philippines
Basey,
Samar
San
Miguel, Iloilo
in Puerto
Rico
in Switzerland
Congregation
of Saint Michael the Archangel
Sisters
of Reparation to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus
balance (helping
to judge at the Last Judgment)
banner (as
the leader of the army of God)
dragon (representing
the defeated devil)
scales (helping
to judge at the Last Judgment)
Storefront
Additional
Information
A
Garner of Saints, by Allen Banks Hinds, M.A.
Act
of Consecration to Michael the Archangel
Angelic
Crown in Honor of Saint Michael the Archangel
Angels
in Art, by Clara Erskine Clement
Book
of Saints, by the Monks of
Ramsgate
Butler’s
Lives of the Saints: Dedication of Saint Michael’s Church
Butler’s
Lives of the Saints: Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel
Legend
of Saint Michael and the Hermit, from Catholic World
Light
From the Altar, edited by Father James
J McGovern
Litany
to Michael the Archangel
Lives
of the Saints, by Father Francis
Xavier Weninger
Meditations
on the Gospels for Every Day in the Year, by Father Pierre
Médaille
‘Neath
Saint Michael’s Shield, by the Benedictine Convent of
Perpetual Adoration
New
Catholic Dictionary: Michaelmas Day
New
Catholic Dictionary: Saint Michael
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints: Saint Michael, Archangel
Pictorial
Lives of the Saints: Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel
Prayer
to Michael the Archangel
Roman
Martyrology, 1914 edition
Saint
Michael, Defender in the Day of Battle, by Michael Derrick
Saint
Michael, Protector of the Church, by Bishop John
Edward Cuthbert Hedley
Saints
and Saintly Dominicans, by Blessed Hyacinthe-Marie
Cormier, O.P.
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
Short
Lives of the Saints, by Eleanor Cecilia Donnelly
Three
Archangels and the Guardian Angels in Art, by Eliza
Allen Starr
books
Our Sunday Visitor’s Encyclopedia of Saints
other
sites in english
Billy Ryan: Inside the Cave-Shrine Where Saint Michael the
Archangel Appeared
Catholic
Exchange: Prayer to Michael the Archangel
Catholic Exchange: Intercession of Michael in Christian
History
Catholic Herald: Five Shrines to Michael
Christian
Biographies, by James E Kiefer
Liturgical
Year, by Dom Gueranger
New Liturgical Movement: On the Apparition of Michael
TFP Student Action: What is the Sword of Saint Michael?
Wikipedia:
Michael the Archangel
Wikipedia: Saint Michael
Wikipedia:
Chaplet of Saint Michael
Wikipedia:
Michaelmas Day
Wikipedia:
Prayer to Saint Michael
images
audio
video
webseiten
auf deutsch
sitios
en español
Martirologio Romano, 2001 edición
sites
en français
Abbé
Christian-Philippe Chanut
fonti
in italiano
Wikipedia:
Arcangelo Michele
Wikipedia: Santi patroni della città di Venezia
nettsteder
i norsk
Readings
You should be aware that
the word “angel”
denotes a function rather than a nature. Those holy spirits of heaven have
indeed always been spirits. They can only be called angels when
they deliver some message. Moreover, those who deliver messages of lesser
importance are called angels; and
those who proclaim messages of supreme importance are called archangels.
Whenever some act of
wondrous power must be performed, Michael is sent, so that his action and his
name may make it clear that no one can do what God does
by his superior power. – from a homily by Pope Saint Gregory
the Great
MLA
Citation
“Michael the
Archangel“. CatholicSaints.Info. 21 September 2023. Web. 29 September
2023. <https://catholicsaints.info/michael-the-archangel/>
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/michael-the-archangel/
%2C_l'arc%C3%A0ngel_Miquel.jpg)
l'arcàngel
Miquel, Chiesa del Purgatorio Nuovo, Via Domenico Ridola 8, Matera
EPISCOPAL ORDINATION OF
SIX NEW BISHOPS
HOMILY OF HIS HOLINESS
BENEDICT XVI
Dear Brothers and
Sisters,
We are gathered together
around the Lord's altar on an occasion both solemn and joyful: the Episcopal
Ordination of six new Bishops, called to carry out different offices at the
service of the one Church of Christ. They are Mons. Mieczysław Mokrzycki, Mons.
Francesco Brugnaro, Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, Mons. Tommaso Caputo, Mons. Sergio
Pagano and Mons. Vincenzo Di Mauro. I offer my cordial greeting to them all,
with a fraternal embrace. I extend a special greeting to Mons. Mokrzycki who,
together with the present Cardinal Stanisław Dziwisz, served for many years as
Secretary to the Holy Father John Paul II and then, after my election as
Successor of Peter, also served as my Secretary with great humility, competence
and dedication. Together with him, I greet Pope John Paul II's friend, Cardinal
Marian Jaworski, to whom Mons. Mokrzycki will offer his assistance as
Coadjutor. I also greet the Latin Bishops of Ukraine who are here in Rome for
their ad limina Apostolorum visit. My thoughts also go to the
Greek-Catholic Bishops, some of whom I met last Monday, and to the Orthodox
Church of Ukraine. May Heaven bless all their efforts to keep the healing and
strengthening power of Christ's Gospel active in their Land and to pass it on
to future generations.
We are celebrating this
Episcopal Ordination on the Feast of the three Archangels who are mentioned by
name in Scripture: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. This reminds us that in the
ancient Church - already in the Book of Revelation - Bishops were described as "angels"
of their Church, thereby expressing a close connection between the Bishop's
ministry and the Angel's mission. From the Angel's task it is possible to
understand the Bishop's service. But what is an Angel? Sacred Scripture and the
Church's tradition enable us to discern two aspects. On the one hand, the Angel
is a creature who stands before God, oriented to God with his whole being. All
three names of the Archangels end with the word "El", which
means "God". God is inscribed in their names, in their nature. Their
true nature is existing in his sight and for him. In this very way the second
aspect that characterizes Angels is also explained: they are God's messengers.
They bring God to men, they open heaven and thus open earth. Precisely because
they are with God, they can also be very close to man. Indeed, God is closer to
each one of us than we ourselves are. The Angels speak to man of what
constitutes his true being, of what in his life is so often concealed and
buried. They bring him back to himself, touching him on God's behalf. In this
sense, we human beings must also always return to being angels to one another -
angels who turn people away from erroneous ways and direct them always, ever
anew, to God. If the ancient Church called Bishops "Angels" of their
Church, she meant precisely this: Bishops themselves must be men of God, they
must live oriented to God. "Multum orat pro populo" -
"Let them say many prayers for the people", the Breviary of the
Church says of holy Bishops. The Bishop must be a man of prayer, one who
intercedes with God for human beings. The more he does so, the more he also
understands the people who are entrusted to him and can become an angel for
them - a messenger of God who helps them to find their true nature by
themselves, and to live the idea that God has of them.
All this becomes even clearer if we now look at the figures of the three Archangels whose Feast the Church is celebrating today. First of all there is Michael. We find him in Sacred Scripture above all in the Book of Daniel, in the Letter of the Apostle St Jude Thaddeus and in the Book of Revelation.
Two of this Archangel's roles become obvious in these texts. He defends the cause of God's oneness against the presumption of the dragon, the "ancient serpent", as John calls it. The serpent's continuous effort is to make men believe that God must disappear so that they themselves may become important; that God impedes our freedom and, therefore, that we must rid ourselves of him.
However, the dragon does not only accuse God. The Book of Revelation also calls
it "the accuser of our brethren..., who accuses them day and night before
our God" (12: 10). Those who cast God aside do not make man great but
divest him of his dignity. Man then becomes a failed product of evolution. Those
who accuse God also accuse man. Faith in God defends man in all his frailty and
short-comings: God's brightness shines on every individual. It is the duty of
the Bishop, as a man of God, to make room in the world for God, to counter the
denials of him and thus to defend man's greatness. And what more could one say
and think about man than the fact that God himself was made man? Michael's
other role, according to Scripture, is that of protector of the People of God
(cf. Dn 10: 21; 12: 1). Dear friends, be true "guardian angels" of
the Church which will be entrusted to you! Help the People of God whom you must
lead in its pilgrimage to find the joy of faith and to learn to discern the
spirits: to accept good and reject evil, to remain and increasingly to become,
by virtue of the hope of faith, people who love in communion with God-Love.
We meet the Archangel Gabriel especially
in the precious account of the annunciation to Mary of the Incarnation of God,
as Luke tells it to us (1: 26-38). Gabriel is the messenger of God's
Incarnation. He knocks at Mary's door and, through him, God himself asks Mary
for her "yes" to the proposal to become the Mother of the Redeemer:
of giving her human flesh to the eternal Word of God, to the Son of God. The
Lord knocks again and again at the door of the human heart. In the Book of
Revelation he says to the "angel" of the Church of Laodicea and,
through him, to the people of all times: "Behold, I stand at the door and
knock; if any one hears my voice and opens the door, I will come in to him and
eat with him, and he with me" (3: 20). The Lord is at the door - at the
door of the world and at the door of every individual heart. He knocks to be
let in: the Incarnation of God, his taking flesh, must continue until the end of
time. All must be reunited in Christ in one body: the great hymns on Christ in
the Letters to the Ephesians and to the Colossians tell us this. Christ knocks.
Today too he needs people who, so to speak, make their own flesh available to
him, give him the matter of the world and of their lives, thus serving the
unification between God and the world, until the reconciliation of the
universe. Dear friends, it is your task to knock at people's hearts in Christ's
Name. By entering into union with Christ yourselves, you will also be able to
assume Gabriel's role: to bring Christ's call to men.
St Raphael is presented
to us, above all in the Book of Tobit, as the Angel to whom is entrusted the
task of healing. When Jesus sends his disciples out on a mission, the task of
proclaiming the Gospel is always linked with that of healing. The Good
Samaritan, in accepting and healing the injured person lying by the wayside,
becomes without words a witness of God's love. We are all this injured man, in
need of being healed. Proclaiming the Gospel itself already means healing in
itself, because man is in need of truth and love above all things. The Book of
Tobit refers to two of the Archangel Raphael's emblematic tasks of healing. He
heals the disturbed communion between a man and a woman. He heals their love.
He drives out the demons who over and over again exhaust and destroy their
love. He purifies the atmosphere between the two and gives them the ability to
accept each other for ever. In Tobit's account, this healing is recounted with
legendary images. In the New Testament, the order of marriage established in
creation and threatened in many ways by sin, is healed through Christ's
acceptance of it in his redeeming love. He makes marriage a sacrament: his
love, put on a cross for us, is the healing power which in all forms of chaos
offers the capacity for reconciliation, purifies the atmosphere and mends the
wounds. The priest is entrusted with the task of leading men and women ever
anew to the reconciling power of Christ's love. He must be the healing
"angel" who helps them to anchor their love to the sacrament and to
live it with an ever renewed commitment based upon it. Secondly, the Book of
Tobit speaks of the healing of sightless eyes. We all know how threatened we are
today by blindness to God. How great is the danger that with all we know of
material things and can do with them, we become blind to God's light. Healing
this blindness through the message of faith and the witness of love is
Raphael's service, entrusted day after day to the priest and in a special way
to the Bishop. Thus, we are prompted spontaneously also to think of the
Sacrament of Reconciliation, the Sacrament of Penance which in the deepest
sense of the word is a sacrament of healing. The real wound in the soul, in
fact, the reason for all our other injuries, is sin. And only if forgiveness
exists, by virtue of God's power, by virtue of Christ's love, can we be healed,
can we be redeemed.
"Abide in my
love", the Lord says to us today in the Gospel (Jn 15: 9). At the moment
of your Episcopal Ordination he says so particularly to you, dear friends.
Abide in his love! Abide in that friendship with him, full of love, which he is
giving you anew at this moment! Then your lives will bear fruit, fruit that
abides (cf. Jn 15: 16). Let us all pray for you at this time, dear Brothers, so
that this may be granted to you. Amen.
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
.jpg)
Hans
Memling (vers 1433–1494), Le Jugement Dernier, triptyque / retable à volets, circa 1466, huile sur panneau de bois, 223,5 x 306, Musée National de Gdánsk. Altar des
Jacopo Tani und seiner Frau Caterina Tanagli
Hans
Memling (vers 1433–1494), Le Jugement Dernier, triptyque / retable à volets, circa 1466, huile sur panneau de boisMusée National de Gdánsk.
Act of
Consecration to Michael the Archangel
O
Saint Michael the Archangel, most Noble Prince of the Angelic Hierarchies,
valorous warrior of Almighty God, and zealous lover of His Glory, terror of the
rebellious angels, and love and delight of all the just, desiring to be
numbered among thy devoted servants, I, today offer and consecrate myself to
thee, and place myself, my family and all I possess under thy most powerful
protection.
I entreat thee not to
look at how little, I, as thy servant have to offer, being only a wretched
sinner, but rather gaze, with favorable eye, at the heartfelt affection with
which this offering is made. Remember that, if from this day onward, I am under
thy patronage, thou must assist me during all my life and procure for me the
pardon of my many sins, and the grace to love God, my dear Savior Jesus, and my
Sweet Mother Mary with all my heart. Obtain for me the help necessary to arrive
at my crown of glory.
Defend me always from my
spiritual enemies, particularly in the last moments of my life.
Come then, O Glorious
Prince. Succor me in my last struggle. With thy powerful weapon cast far from
me and into the infernal abyss that prevaricator and proud angel that thou
prostrated in the celestial battle.
Saint Michael, defend us
in our daily battles so that we may not perish in the Last Judgment.
Amen.
(An indulgence of
two-hundred days is granted to everyone who devoutly says this prayer once a
day, praying for the needs of the holy Church and the Supreme Pontiff.)
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/act-of-consecration-to-michael-the-archangel/
Giuseppe
Frattallone (1832-1874). San Michele arcangelo, Museo d'arte sacra di
Caltanissetta
Golden Legend
– Feast of Saint Michael
Here followeth the feast
of Saint Michael the archangel, and first the exposition of his name.
Michael is expounded
sometimes as God. And oft-times, as Saint Gregory saith, when a thing of
marvellous virtue is done, Michael is sent forth, so that he, by the deed and
the name, be given to understand that none may do that God may do, and
therefore be attributed to him many things of marvellous virtue. For like as
Daniel witnesseth, he shall arise and address in the time of Antichrist against
him, and shall stand as a defender and keeper for them that be chosen. He also
fought with the dragon and his angels, and casting them out of heaven, had a
great victory. He also had a great plea and altercation with the devil for the
body of Moses, because he would not show it; for the children of Israel should
have adored and worshipped it. He received the souls of saints and brought them
into the paradise of exultation and joy. He was prince of the synagogue of the
Jews, but now he is established of our Lord, prince of the church of Jesu
Christ. And as it is said, he made the plagues of Egypt, he departed and
divided the Red Sea, he led the people of Israel by the desert and set them in
the land of promission, he is had among the company of holy angels as bannerer,
and bearing the sign of our Lord, he shall slay by the commandment of God,
right puissantly, Antichrist that shall be in the Mount of Olivet. And dead men
shall arise at the voice of this same archangel. And he shall show at the day
of judgment the cross, the spear, the nails and the crown of thorns of Jesu
Christ.
Of Saint Michael.
The holy solemnity of
Saint Michael is said, appearing, dedication, victory and memory. The
apparition of this angel is manifold. The first is when he appeared in the
Mount of Gargan. This mountain is in Naples, which is named Gargan and is by
the city named Syponte. And in the year of our Lord three hundred and ninety,
was in the same city of Syponte a man which was named Garganus, which, after
some books, had taken that name of the mountain, or else the mountain took the
name of the man. And he was right rich, and had a great multitude of sheep and
beasts, and as they pastured about the sides of the mountains it happed that a
bull left the other beasts, and went upon high on the mountain and returned not
home again with the other beasts. Then this rich man, the owner, took a great
multitude of servants, and did do seek this bull all about, and at the last he
was founden on high on the mountain by the entry of a hole or a cave. And then
the master was wroth because he had strayed alone from other beasts, and made
one of his servants to shoot an arrow at him. And anon the arrow returned with
the wind and smote him that had shot it, wherewith they of the city were
troubled with this thing, and went to the bishop and inquired of him what was
to be done in this thing, that was so wonderful. And then he commanded them to
fast three days and to pray unto God. And when this was done Saint Michael
appeared to the bishop, saying: Know ye that this man is so hurt by my will. I
am Michael the archangel, which will that this place be worshipped in earth,
and will have it surely kept. And therefore I have proved that I am keeper of
this place by the demonstrance and showing of this thing. And then anon the
bishop and they of the city went with procession unto that place, and durst not
enter into it, but made their prayers withoutforth.
The second apparition was
in the year of our Lord seven hundred and ten, in a place which was named
Tumba, by the seaside, six miles from the city of Apricens. Saint Michael
appeared to the bishop of that city and commanded him to do make a church in
the foresaid place, like as it was made in the mount of Gargan, and in like
wise should hallow the memory of Saint Michael there. And the bishop doubted in
what place it should be made. And Saint Michael said to him in the place where
he should find a bull hid of thieves. And yet he doubted of the largeness of
the place, and Saint Michael appeared to him, and said that he should make it
of the brede that he should find that the bull had trodden and traced with his
feet. And there were two rocks which no man’s power might remove. Then Saint
Michael appeared to a man and commanded him that he should go to that same
place and take away the two rocks. And when he came, he removed the two rocks as
lightly as they had weighed nothing. And when the church was edified there,
Michael set a piece of stone of marble there, upon which he stood, and a part
of the pall that he had laid on the altar of that other church he brought
thither to this church. And because they had great penury and need of water,
they made, by the admonishment of the angel, a hole in a stone of marble, and
anon there flowed out so much water that unto this day they be sustained by the
benefit thereof. And this apparition is solemnly hallowed the seventeenth
kalends of November in that place.
And there happed in the
same place a miracle worthy to be put in remembrance. This mountain is
environed about with the sea-ocean, but on Saint Michael’s day it avoideth
twice and giveth way to the people. And as a great company of people went to
the church, it happed that a woman great with child, nigh her time of
deliverance, was in the company, and when they returned, the waves and water
came with great force, so that the company for dread fled to the rivage. And
the woman great with child might not flee, but was taken and wrapped in the
floods of the sea, but Saint Michael kept the wife all whole, and she was
delivered and childed among the waves in the middle of the sea. And she took
the child between her arms and gave it suck, and after, when the sea was
withdrawn, she went a-land all whole with her child.
The third apparition
happed in the time of Gregory the pope. For when the said pope had established
the litanies for the pestilence that was that time, and prayed devoutly for the
people, he saw upon the castle which was said sometime: The memory of Adrian,
the angel of God, which wiped and made clean a bloody sword, and put it into a
sheath. And thereby he understood that his prayers were heard. Then he did do
make there a church in the honour of Saint Michael, and that castle is yet
named the Castle Angel. And yet another apparition was in the Mount of Gargan
when he appeared and gave victory to them of Syponte, which is hallowed the
eighth ides of July.
The fourth apparition is
that which is in the Gerarchy of the same angels. For the first apparition is
said Epiphany, that is, the apparition of sovereigns, the second is said
Hyperphania, that is, the mean apparition, and that other is said Hypophania,
that is, the most low apparition. And Gerarchia is said of gerar, that is,
holy, and of archos, that is, a prince, and so Gerarchia is to say a holy
principate, and every Gerarchia containeth three orders of angels. For the
sovereign Gerarchia after the assignation of Saint Denis containeth Cherubim,
Seraphim, and the thrones: the middle containeth the dominations, the virtues,
and the potestates; and the last containeth the principates, angels, and
archangels. And the ordinance and disposition of them may be seen by semblable
and like in earthly principates. For of the ministers that be about a king,
some work immediately about the person of the king, as cubiculers, counsellors,
and the assistants, and they be like unto the order of the first Gerarchia.
Some there be that have the rule of the realm, some in one province, some in
another, as be lieutenants, captains of chivalry, and judges, and they be like
unto the second Gerarchia. And others be assigned to particular offices in the
divers parts of the realm, as mayors, sheriffs, bailiffs, and such other less
offices, and these be like to the orders of the third Gerarchia. The three
orders of the first Gerarchia be taken inasmuch as they assist God and be
converted to him. And thereto be three things necessary, that is to wit,
sovereign love, and that is as touching the order of seraphim, which be said
fiery; perfect knowledge, that is touching cherubim, which is as much to say as
plenitude of science and perpetual fruition or usance; as touching the thrones
which be said sitting, for God sitteth and resteth in them. The three orders of
the middle Gerarchia be taken and had inasmuch as they dominate and govern the
university of people in common. This seigniory and this governing is in three
things: the first in seigniory and commanding, and that appertaineth to the
order of domination, which seignioreth above others that be lower, and
addresseth them in all the ministries divine, and commandeth to them all
things. And that saith Zechariah, in the fifth chapter, that one angel saith to
another: Run and speak to the child. Secondly, in doing, and this appertaineth
to the order of virtues. To whom nothing ne is impossible to execute which that
is commanded to them, for to them is given power to do all things difficult
which be pertaining to divine mystery, and therefore it is attributed to them
to do miracles.
Thirdly, in constraining,
for to constrain the impediments and destourbles, and this appertaineth to the
order of the potestates. And this is signified in Tobit, where Raphael bound
the devil in the overest desert. The three orders of the last Gerarchia be
taken after that they have government and limited. Some of them seigniory and
govern in one province, and that be they of the order of the principates, like
as the prince of Persia seignioreth upon the Persians, like as it is read in
Daniel in the tenth chapter. And some be deputed to the governance of a
multitude of a city, and they be said archangels, and the other be committed to
the governance of one person, and they be said angels, and be said to show the
small things and little, because that their service and ministry is limited
unto one man. Archangels be said more and greater, for the weal of a multitude
is better and more worthy than the weal of one man. In the assignation of the
orders of the first Gerarchia, Gregory accordeth with Dionysius, and Bernard
also, which is taken about their fruition, which is in burning love as touching
to Seraphim, in profound cognition as to Cherubim, and in perpetual retention
as touching the thrones. But they discord in the assignation of the middle and
last two orders, that is, principates and virtues. Gregory and Bernard have
another consideration, that is to wit. that the middle Gerarchia is in his seigniory
or prelacy, and the last is taken in his pity or ministration. The prelacy in
angels is treble. For angels dominate over spirits angelic, and they be said
dominations, and they dominate also over good works, and they be said
principates, and they dominate over devils, and they be said potestates, and
the order and the degrees of their dignity appeareth in these things. The
ministry of them is threefold. Some standeth in working, some in teaching, and
in teaching, some more and some less. The first appertaineth to virtues, the
second to archangels, and the third to angels. The fifth apparition is it which
is read in the History Tripartite. There is a place beside Constantinople
whereas sometime the goddess Vesta was worshipped, but now there is builded a church
in the honour of Saint Michael, and is named Michael’s place. There a man that
was named Aquiline was taken with a right great fever, moved of red colour, and
the physicians gave to him, so burning in an ague, a drink, which anon he
vomited out at his mouth, and what he ate or drank always he vomited and casted
out, so that he was nigh dead, and did him to be borne to that place, and
supposed well there to be soon dead or healed. And then Saint Michael appeared
to him and said to him that he should make a confection of honey and wine and
pepper, and whatsomever he ate he should wet therein, and so should he have
plein health. Which thing he did, and anon he was delivered from his malady,
how well that after the judgment of the physicians that drink or medicine was
contrary to them that be choleric. This is had in the History Tripartite.
Secondly, this solemnity
of Saint Michael is said victory, and the victory of Saint Michael is manifold.
And also of other angels, the first is that Saint Michael gave to them of
Syponte in this manner. After a certain time that the place was found, they of
Naples were yet paynims, and ordained their host for to fight against them of
Syponte and Benevento. And by the counsel of the bishop, the christian men took
truce for three days that they might fast those three days and require their
patron Saint Michael unto their aid and help. In the third night the holy Saint
Michael appeared to the said bishop and said that their prayers were heard, and
promised them to have victory, and commanded them to run on their enemies at
the fourth hour of the day without more tarrying. And when they ran against
them the mountain of Gargan began strongly to tremble and a great tempest
arose, so that lightning flew about and a dark cloud covered the mountain, so
that six hundred of their adversaries died of the fiery arrows which came from
the air. And all the residue of them, that were not slain, left their idolatry
and submitted them anon to the christian faith. The second victory of Saint Michael
was when he put out of heaven the dragon Lucifer with all his followers. Of
which is said in the Apocalypse: Factum est prelium magnum, Apocalypsis
duodecimo. For when Lucifer coveted to be like to God, the archangel which bare
the banner of the celestial host, came and chased Lucifer out of heaven with
all them that followed him, and hath inclosed them in dark air unto the day of
doom. For they be not suffered to dwell in heaven, neither in the upper part of
the air, because that place is clear and delectable, ne yet to be in earth with
us, to the end that they should not overmuch tempt ne torment us. But they be
in the air between heaven and earth, so that when they look upward they may
behold the joy that they have lost, and have thereof great sorrow, and when
they look downward they may see the men mount up to heaven from whence they
fell. Notwithstanding, by the divine dispensation they descend oft unto us in
earth, as like it hath been showed to some holy men. They fly about us as
flies, they be innumerable, and like flies they fill the air without number.
Whereof saith Haymo: As the philosophers said, and doctors have opinion, this
air is also full of devils and of wicked spirits as the sunbeams be full of
small motes, which is small dust or powder. And how well that they be so many,
nevertheless after the sentence of Origen, their power ne strength is but right little, and that
we may overcome them here. And if any of them be overcome of any holy man, he
may never after tempt a man of that vice of which he is overcome. The third
victory is that angels have every day of the devils when they fight for us
against them, and deliver us from their temptations. And they deliver us in
three manners. First, in refraining the power of the devil, like as it is said
(Apocalypsis vicesimo), of the angel that bound the devil and sent him into
abysm, that is the pit of hell; and Tobit, which saith that the angel Raphael
bound the devil in the outerest desert. And this binding is none other thing
but the refraining of his puissance and might. Secondly, he delivereth us in
refraining our covetise, the which thing is in Genesis xxxii. chap.: there
where he saith that, the angel took the sinew of Jacob, and anon it dried up.
Thirdly, in impressing in our hearts the memory of the passion of our Lord,
this is signified Apocalypsis vii., where it is said: Ne will ye not grieve ne
noye in the earth ne in the sea, ne the trees, till we have marked them.
Ezechiel saith: The sign of Thau be in the foreheads of the people. Thau is
made like a headless cross, and they that be marked therewith dread not the
angel smiting, whereof is said: Upon whom ye see Thau, slay them not. The
fourth victory is that the archangel Michael shall have of Antichrist when he
shall slay him. Then Michael, the great prince, shall arise, as it is said
Danielis xii.: He shall arise for them that be chosen as a helper and a
protector, and shall strongly stand against Antichrist. And after, as the gloss
saith: Antichrist shall feign him to be dead, and shall hide him three days,
and after, he shall appear saying that he is risen from death to life, and the
devils shall bear him by art magic, and shall mount up into the air, and all
the people shall marvel and worship him. And at the last he shall mount up on
the Mount of Olivet, and when he shall be in a pavilion, in his siege, entered
into that place where our Lord ascended, Michael shall come and shall slay him.
Of which victory is understood, after Saint Gregory, that which is said in the
Apocalypse. The battle is made in heaven. This word of the treble battle in
heaven is expounded of the battle that he had with Lucifer when he expulsed him
out of heaven, and of the battle that he had with the devils that torment us.
And of this last solemnity is said dedication, because on this day the said
place in the Mount Gargan was dedicate and hallowed of him by revelation. For
when they of Syponte were returned from the occision of their adversaries, and
had so noble victory, yet doubted they to enter into the said place and hallow
it to the archangel. Then the bishop went and asked counsel of Pope Pelagius,
and he answered: If the church ought to be dedicated, that ought to be on that
day that the victory was done, and if it please otherwise to Saint Michael, men
ought to require his will thereof. And then the pope, the bishop, and the men
of the city, fasted three days, and Saint Michael appeared to the bishop and
said: It is no need to you to dedicate and hallow that I have hallowed, and
commanded that he should enter into that place the next day with the people,
and should frequent it with prayers, and they should feel that he should be a
special patron to them. And he gave to them a sign of consecration, that was
that they should go up thereto by a postern towards the east, and they should
find there the steps of a man impressed in a marble stone. Then the bishop on
the morn, and much great people, came to the place and entered in, and found a
great cave and three altars of which two were set toward the south, and the
third toward the east much honourably, and was covered all about with a red
mantle. And when the solemnities of the masses were done, and the people had
taken holy communion, all returned to their proper places, and the bishop left
there priests
and clerks for to sing and say goodly the divine office. And within the said
church sourdeth clear water and sweet, which the common people drinketh and be
healed thereby of many diverse maladies. And when the pope heard these things
he established to hallow this day in the honour of Saint Michael and of all the
holy angels, and to be kept holy through all the world. Fourthly, this
solemnity is said the Memory of Saint Michael, how well that we all solemnise
this feast in the honour of all the archangels of our Lord. We do the memory
and the honours generally, and it appertaineth, and is behoveful to us, to give
to them laud, praising, and honour, by manifold reasons expert, that is to wit,
for they be our keepers, our ministers, our brethren, our neighbours, the
bearers of our souls into heaven, and representers of our prayers unto God,
right noble knights of the king of heaven, and perdurable comforters of them
that be in heaviness and tribulations. And first we ought to honour them for
they be our keepers, wherefore we ought to worship them. To every man be given
two angels, one evil, or to stir him to ill, and one good, to keep him. The
good angels be deputed to the keeping of men in their birth, and after the
nativity also, and be always with them when they be full grown. And in these
three estates is an angel necessary to a man. For when he is yet little in the
womb he may be dead and be damned. When he is out of the womb before he be
grown, he may be let from baptism, and when he is grown he may be drawn to
divers sins. The devil deceiveth them that be grown, by fallacy and by
hearkening, he flattereth them by delices and blandishes, and oppresseth virtue
by violence. Therefore it is need that a good angel be deputed to the keeping
of a man to the end that he address and induce man against the fallacy, that he
exhort, and summon him to do good against fiattering and blandishes, and that
he defend him from oppression against violence. And the profit of the keeping
of the angel to a man may be assigned in four manners. The first, that the soul
may profit in the weal and good of grace, and this doth the angel to the soul
in three manners. And the first is in to removing all letting to do well and good,
and that is signified in Exodi duodecimo, where the angel smote all the first
begotten of Egypt Secondly, in awaking or exciting from sloth and that is
signified Zachariæ quarto: The angel of the Lord hath aroused me as a man that
is waked out of his sleep. Thirdly, in leading a man in the way of penance and
bringing again and this is signified in Tobit, in the fifth chapter in the
angel that led him and brought him again. The second profit that the angel
doth, is that he fall not into sin, and this doth the angel in three manners.
First, in letting the evil to be done that it be not done, and this is
signified in the book of Numbers in the twenty-second chapter. For Balaam,
which went for to curse Israel, was let of the angel. Secondly, in blaming the sin
past, that man depart from it, and that is signified in the book of Judges in
the second chapter, how the angels blamed the children of Israel for breaking
of the law, wherefor they wept. Thirdly in bringing strength for to take away
the sin present, and this is signified in Lot, when he was led out by force,
he, his wife, and his daughters from the city of Sodom, that is to wit, from
the customance of sin. The third effect and profit is that if he fall, that he
arise anon again, and this doth the angel in three manners. First, in moving a
man to contrition, and this is signified in Tobit, in the twelfth chapter,
where, as he taught Tobias to anoint the eyes of his father with gall, that is
to understand, contrition of the heart anointeth the eyes of the heart.
Secondly, in purging lips by confession, and that this is signified in Isaiah,
the fifth chapter, where the angel purged the lips of Isaiah. Thirdly, in
enjoying to satisfaction, and that is signified in Luke, fifteenth chapter,
that saith that greater joy is in heaven of a sinner doing penance than of
ninety-nine rightful men which need no penance. The fourth profit is that man
fall not so oft into sin as the devil inciteth him thereto, and this doth he in
three manners, that is to wit, in refraining the puissance and might of the
devil, in affeebling the covetise and desire of sin, and in imprinting in our
minds the passion of our Lord Jesu Christ, of which things it is said tofore.
We ought to honour them, secondly, for they be our administrators, like as the
apostle saith, ad Hebreos x. They be spirits of administration, all spirits be
sent for us. The superiors be sent to the moyens, the moyens be sent to the
lowest, and the lowest be sent to us, and this sending cometh of the divine
bounty. And in this sending appeareth how much the divine bounty appertaineth
to the love of our health. Secondly, of the charity of the angel; for this
sending appertaineth that it be of ardent charity specially to desire the
health of others, wherefore Isaiah saith: Lo! I am here Lord, send me forth.
And the angels may help us because they see that we have need of them, and may
well overcome the evil spirits and angels, and therefore the law of charity
angelic requireth that they be sent to us. Thirdly, this sending is needful to
the need of man, for they be sent to inflame our affection to love, wherefore,
in sign hereof, it is read that they were sent in a fiery chair. Secondly, they
be sent to enlumine to understanding unto knowledge, and this is signified
Apocalypsis x. in the angel which had a book open in his hand. Thirdly, they be
sent for to strengthen in us all our perfection unto the end, and that is
signified I Regum xix., where the angel brought to Elijah a loaf of bread baked
under ashes and a vessel of water, and he ate and walked in the strength of
that meat unto the mount of God, Oreb. Thirdly, they ought to be honoured for
they be our brethren and our neighbours, for all they that be chosen be taken
to the orders of angels, the some unto the overeat, and some to the lowest, and
some to the middle, for the diversity of their merits. And howbeit that the
Blessed Virgin be above all, like as Saint Gregory showeth in his homily. For
he saith: There be some that take the small things, but yet they leave not to
show it to the brethren, and they run in the number of angels. And there be
they that may take the sovereignties of the secrets celestial and show it to
others, and these be the archangels celestial. And these be the archangels, and
be they that make marvellous signs and works puissantly, and these be they that
with virtues work. And some there be that chase away the wicked spirits by the
virtue of prayer and by strength of their power received of God, and these have
their merits with the potestates. And there be some that by their virtues mount
above the merits of them that be chosen, and dominate over the brethren, and
sort their merit with the principates. And there be some that overcome and
dominate over all vices in themselves, and they by right be called of the
world, gods among men. Like as God said to Moses: Lo! I have established the
god of Pharaoh, and these be with the dominations. And there be some that sit
in the thrones like presidents and examine the works and deeds of others, by
whom when holy church is governed, all they that be chosen be judged, and these
be with the thrones, and be they that with the charity and love of God and
their neighbour before others be full, and these by their merits have taken
their sort in the number of cherubim, for cherubim is said the plenitude of
science, and as Paul saith, the plenitude of the law is love and charity. And
these be they that, embraced in the burning love of supernal contemplation,
wish only to be in the desire of their maker. They desire nothing of this
world, but only be fed in the love of the Lord perdurable, they eschew all
earthly things, and overpass by thought all temporal things. They love, they
burn, and rest in that burning love, they burn in loving and be inflamed in
speaking, and all that ever they touch in any manner by word, they make them
anon to burn in the love of God. And where shall these take their sort but
among the number of Seraphim? Hæc Gregorius; this saith Saint Gregory.
Fourthly, they ought to be honoured because that they be bearers of our souls
into Paradise, and this do they in three manners. The first, in making ready
the way, as Malachi saith in the third chapter: Lo! here I send mine angel
which shall make ready thy way tofore thy face. Secondly, in bearing them to
heaven by the way made ready, like as it is said in Exodus the four and
twentieth chapter: I send to thee mine angel which shall keep thee in thy way,
and shall bring thee to the land which I have promised to thy fathers. Thirdly,
in setting them in heaven, and hereof saith Luke, cap. xvi. It was done when
the beggar died, his soul was borne of angels into Abraham’s bosom. Fifthly,
they ought to be honoured because they be representers of our souls tofore God,
and this representation is in three manners. First, they represent our prayers
tofore God, and this saith Tobit the xii. chapter. When thou prayedest with
tears and buryedest the dead men, I offered thy prayer to our Lord. Secondly,
they allege for us tofore our Lord, and hereof saith Job the xxxiii. chapter.
If there were an angel speaking for him and said one of a thousand, that he
show the equity of the man, our Lord should have mercy and pity on him. Also
Zechariah primo. And the angel of our Lord answered and said: O Lord of all
strengths, shalt not thou have pity of Jerusalem and of the cities of Judah to
whom thou art wroth? This is the seventieth year. Thirdly, they show the
sentence of God, as it is said in Daniel that the angel Gabriel flying
said: Sith the beginning of the prayers the
word issued out, that is to wit, the sentence of God, and I am come for to show
it to thee, for thou art a man of desires. Of these three things saith Bernard
upon the Canticles. The angel seeketh moyen between the love and the lover in
offering the desires and bringing gifts, and moveth her and pleaseth him.
Sixthly, they ought to be honoured, for they be the right noble knights of the
king perdurable, after that Job saith in the twenty-fifth chapter: Is not this
the noble number of his knights? For as we see in the knights of some king,
that some of them dwell always in the hall of the king, and accompany the king,
and sing honour and solace to the king, and some others keep the cities and
castles of the king, and others fight against the enemies of the king, thus is
it of the knights of Christ. Some be in the hall royal, that is to say in the
heaven imperial, and accompany always the king of kings, and sing always songs
and gladness to his honour and glory, saying: Sanctus, sanctus, sanctus,
blessing, and clearness, and wisdom. And the others keep the cities, the towns,
the castles, and the faubourgs, they be deputed to the keeping of us, keeping
the state of virgins, of continents, of married people, and the castles of religion,
whereof Isaiah saith: Upon the walls of Jerusalem I have established keepers.
Others there be that fight and vanquish the enemies of God, of whom it is said
in the Apocalypse: There is a battle made in heaven, that is, after some
exposition in the church militant, Michael and his angels fought with the
dragon. The seventh and the last they ought to be honoured, because they be
comforters of them that be in tribulation, and hereof saith Zechariah in the
first chapter: The angel that spake to me good words were words of comfort. And
this do they in three manners. First, in comforting and strengthening, Danielis
decimo. For whereas Daniel fell, the angel of our Lord touched him and said: Be
not afeard ne dread thee nothing, peace be to thee, comfort thyself and be
boystous. Secondly, in keeping from impatience, and this saith David: He hath
commanded his angels to keep thee in all thy ways. Thirdly, in refreshing and
lessing that tribulation, and that is signified in Daniel, the third chapter,
there whereas the angel of our Lord descended in the furnace with three
children, and made the middle of the furnace as it had been a wind blowing with
a soft dew. By these ensamples we may understand that we ought to give honour
to the holy company of angels, and to pray them to keep us in this wretched
life from our enemies the devil, the world, and the flesh, that after, when we
shall depart, they present our souls unto Almighty God in heaven, there to
dwell and
Amen.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/the-golden-legend-the-feast-of-saint-michael/
Limbourg brothers (fl. 1402–1416),
The Mass of Saint Michael / La Fête de l'archange : le Mont Saint-Michel, Très Riches Heures du duc de
Berry, Ms.65, folio 195 recto, circa 1411, 29 x 21, Condé Museum. Combat entre l'Archange Saint-Michel
et le dragon au dessus du Mont Saint-Michel, à marée basse. Sept anges
entourent la miniature et observent la scène dans des médaillons entourés de
nuages argentés. L'un d'entre eux, en bas à gauche, tient l'écu du duc de Berry
Le Mont-Saint-Michel vu depuis son
pont-passerelle, Normandie, France.
The Mont Saint-Michel seen from its new
bridge, Normandy, France.
St. Michael the Archangel
St. Michael is one of the
principal angels;
his name was the war-cry of the good
angels in the battle fought in heaven against
the enemy and his
followers. Four times his name is recorded in Scripture:
(1) Daniel
10:13 sqq., Gabriel says
to Daniel,
when he asks God to
permit the Jews to
return to Jerusalem:
"The Angel [D.V. prince]
of the kingdom
of the Persians resisted me . . . and, behold Michael, one of the
chief princes, came to help me . . . and none is my helper in all these things,
but Michael your prince."
(2) Daniel
12, the Angel speaking
of the end
of the world and the Antichrist says:
"At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for
the children of thy people."
(3) In the Catholic
Epistle of St. Jude: "When Michael the Archangel, disputing with
the devil,
contended about the body of Moses",
etc. St.
Jude alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of
a dispute between Michael and Satan over
the body of Moses,
an account of which is also found in the apocryphal book
on the assumption of Moses (Origen, De
Principiis III.2.2). St. Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan,
however, by disclosing it, tried to seduce the Jewish
people to the sin of
hero-worship. St. Michael also guards the body of Eve,
according to the "Revelation of Moses" ("Apocryphal
Gospels", etc., ed. A. Walker, Edinburgh,
p. 647).
(4) Apocalypse
12:7, "And there was a great battle in heaven,
Michael and his angels fought
with the dragon." St.
John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time,
which reflects also the battle in heaven at
the beginning of time.
According to the Fathers there
is often question of St. Michael in Scripture where
his name is not mentioned. They say he was the cherub who
stood at the gate of paradise,
"to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis
3:24), the angel through
whom God published
the Decalogue to
his chosen
people, the angel who
stood in the way against Balaam (Numbers
22:22 sqq.), the angel who
routed the army of Sennacherib (2
Kings 19:35).
Following these Scriptural passages, Christian
tradition gives to St. Michael four offices:
To fight against Satan.
To rescue the souls of
the faithful from
the power of the enemy,
especially at the hour of death.
To be the champion
of God's people,
the Jews in
the Old
Law, the Christians in
the New
Testament; therefore he was the patron of
the Church,
and of the orders
of knights during the Middle
Ages.
To call away from earth
and bring men's souls to judgment ("signifer
S. Michael repraesentet eas in lucam sanctam", Offert. Miss Defunct.
"Constituit eum principem super animas suscipiendas", Antiph.
off. Cf. The
Shepherd of Hermas, Book III, Similitude 8, Chapter 3).
Regarding his rank in the
celestial hierarchy opinions
vary; St.
Basil (Hom. de angelis) and other Greek Fathers,
also Salmeron, Bellarmine,
etc., place St. Michael over all the angels;
they say he is called "archangel" because he is the prince of the
other angels;
others (cf. P. Bonaventura, op. cit.) believe that he is the prince of
the seraphim,
the first of the nine angelic orders.
But, according to St.
Thomas (Summa
Ia.113.3) he is the prince of the last and lowest choir, the angels.
The Roman
Liturgy seems to follow the Greek Fathers;
it calls him "Princeps militiae coelestis quem honorificant angelorum
cives". The hymn of
the Mozarabic Breviary places
St. Michael even above the Twenty-four Elders. The Greek
Liturgy styles him Archistrategos, "highest general"
(cf. Menaea, 8 Nov. and 6 Sept.).
Veneration
It would have been
natural to St. Michael, the champion of the Jewish
people, to be the champion also of Christians,
giving victory in war to
his clients. The early Christians,
however, regarded some of the martyrs as
their military patrons: St.
George, St.
Theodore, St.
Demetrius, St.
Sergius, St. Procopius, St. Mercurius, etc.; but to St. Michael they gave
the care of their sick. At the place where he was first venerated,
in Phrygia, his prestige as angelic healer
obscured his interposition in military affairs. It was from early times the
centre of the true cult
of the holy
angels, particularly of St. Michael. Tradition relates
that St. Michael in the earliest ages caused a medicinal spring to spout at
Chairotopa near Colossae,
where all the sick who bathed there, invoking the Blessed
Trinity and St. Michael, were cured.
Still more famous are the
springs which St. Michael is said to have drawn from the rock at Colossae (Chonae,
the present Khonas, on the Lycus). The pagans directed
a stream against the sanctuary of St. Michael to destroy it, but the archangel
split the rock by lightning to give a new bed to the stream, and sanctified
forever the waters which came from the gorge. The Greeks claim
that this apparition took
place about the middle of the first century and celebrate a feast in
commemoration of it on 6 September (Analecta Bolland., VIII, 285-328). Also at
Pythia in Bithynia and elsewhere in Asia the
hot springs were dedicated to
St. Michael.
At Constantinople likewise,
St. Michael was the great heavenly physician. His principal sanctuary, the
Michaelion, was at Sosthenion, some fifty miles south of Constantinople;
there the archangel is said to have appeared to
the Emperor
Constantine. The sick slept in this church at
night to wait for a manifestation of
St. Michael; his feast was
kept there 9 June. Another famous church was
within the walls of the city, at the thermal baths of the Emperor Arcadius;
there the synaxis of
the archangel was celebrated 8 November. This feast spread
over the entire Greek
Church, and the Syrian, Armenian,
and Coptic
Churches adopted it also; it is now the principal feast of
St. Michael in the Orient.
It may have originated in Phrygia, but its station
at Constantinople was the Thermae of Arcadius (Martinow, "Annus
Graeco-slavicus", 8 Nov.). Other feasts of
St. Michael at Constantinople were: 27 October, in the
"Promotu" church; 18 June, in the Church of St. Julian at the Forum;
and 10 December, at Athaea.
The Christians
of Egypt placed their life-giving river, the Nile, under the protection
of St. Michael; they adopted the Greek feast and
kept it 12 November; on the twelfth of every month they celebrate a special
commemoration of the archangel, but 12 June, when the river commences to rise,
they keep as a holiday of obligation the feast of
St. Michael "for the rising of the Nile", euche eis ten
symmetron anabasin ton potamion hydaton.
At Rome the
Leonine Sacramentary (sixth century) has the "Natale Basilicae Angeli via
Salaria", 30 September; of the five Masses for
the feast three
mention St. Michael. The Gelasian Sacramentary (seventh century) gives
the feast "S.
Michaelis Archangeli", and the Gregorian Sacramentary (eighth century),
"Dedicatio Basilionis S. Angeli Michaelis", 29 Sept. A manuscript also
here adds "via Salaria" (Ebner, "Miss. Rom. Iter Italicum",
127). This church of
the Via Salaria was six miles to the north of the city; in the ninth century it
was called Basilica Archangeli in Septimo (Armellini,
"Chiese di Roma", p. 85). It disappeared a thousand years ago.
At Rome also
the part of heavenly physician was given to St. Michael. According to an (apocryphal?) legend of
the tenth century he appeared over
the Moles Hadriani (Castel di S. Angelo), in 950, during the procession which St.
Gregory held against the pestilence, putting an end to the
plague. Boniface
IV (608-15) built on the Moles Hadriani in honour of him, a church,
which was styled St. Michaelis inter nubes (in summitate circi).
Well known is the apparition of
St. Michael (a. 494 or 530-40), as related in the Roman
Breviary, 8 May, at his renowned sanctuary on Monte Gargano, where his
original glory as patron in war was
restored to him. To his intercession the Lombards of
Sipontum (Manfredonia)
attributed their victory over the Greek Neapolitans,
8 May, 663. In commemoration of this victory the church
of Sipontum instituted a special feast in honour of
the archangel, on 8 May, which has spread over the entire Latin
Church and is now called (since the time of Pius
V) "Apparitio S. Michaelis", although it originally did not
commemorate the apparition,
but the victory.
In Normandy St.
Michael is the patron of
mariners in his famous sanctuary at Mont-Saint-Michel in
the Diocese
of Coutances. He is said to have appeared there,
in 708, to St. Aubert, Bishop of
Avranches. In Normandy his feast "S.
Michaelis in periculo maris" or "in Monte Tumba" was universally
celebrated on 18 Oct., the anniversary of the dedication of
the first church,
16 Oct., 710; the feast is
now confined to the Diocese
of Coutances. In Germany,
after its evangelization, St. Michael replaced for the Christians the pagan god
Wotan, to whom many mountains were sacred, hence the numerous mountain chapels of
St. Michael all over Germany.
The hymns of
the Roman
Office are said to have been composed by St.
Rabanus Maurus of Fulda (d.
856). In art St.
Michael is represented as an angelic warrior,
fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield (often the shield bears the Latin inscription:
Quis ut Deus), standing over the dragon,
whom he sometimes pierces with a lance. He also holds a pair of scales in which
he weighs the souls of
the departed (cf. Rock, "The Church of Our Fathers", III, 160), or
the book of life, to show that he takes part in the judgment.
His feast (29
September) in the Middle
Ages was celebrated as a holy day of obligation,
but along with several other feasts it
was gradually abolished since the eighteenth century (see FEASTS).
Michaelmas Day, in England and
other countries, is one of the regular quarter-days for settling rents and
accounts; but it is no longer remarkable for the hospitality with which it was
formerly celebrated. Stubble-geese being esteemed in perfection about this
time, most families had
one dressed on Michaelmas Day. In some parishes (Isle
of Skye) they had a procession on
this day and baked a cake, called St. Michael's bannock.
Holweck, Frederick. "St.
Michael the Archangel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. 29 Sept.
2016 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Sean Hyland. Image scanned by Wm
Stuart French Jr.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. October 1, 1911. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/10275b.htm
Bartolomeo della Gatta (1448–1502),
San Michele arcangelo e Teodora Visconti col
figlio, 1480 ca., tempera sur panneau, 166 x
86, église
Sant'Angelo, Castiglion Fiorentino
Angels
(Latin angelus;
Greek aggelos; from the Hebrew for "one going" or "one
sent"; messenger). The word is used in Hebrew to denote indifferently
either a divine or human messenger.
The Septuagint renders
it by aggelos which also has both significations. The Latin version,
however, distinguishes the divine or spirit-messenger from the human,
rendering the original in the one case by angelus and in the other
by legatus or more generally by nuntius. In a few passages the
Latin version is misleading, the word angelus being used where nuntius would
have better expressed the meaning, e.g. Isaiah
18:2; 33:3-6.
It is with the
spirit-messenger alone that we are here concerned. We have to discuss
the meaning of the term
in the Bible,
the offices of the
angels,
the names assigned to the
angels,
the distinction between
good and evil spirits,
the divisions of the
angelic choirs,
the question of angelic
appearances, and
the development of the
scriptural idea of
angels.
The angels are
represented throughout the Bible as
a body of spiritual beings intermediate between God and men:
"You have made him (man)
a little less than the angels" (Psalm
8:6). They, equally with man,
are created beings; "praise ye Him, all His angels: praise ye Him, all His
hosts . . . for He spoke and they were made. He commanded and they were
created" (Psalm
148:2-5; Colossians
1:16-17). That the angels were created was laid down in the Fourth
Lateran Council (1215). The decree "Firmiter"
against the Albigenses declared
both the fact that they were created and that men were
created after them. This decree was
repeated by the Vatican
Council, "Dei Filius". We mention it here because the words:
"He that liveth for ever created all things together" (Ecclesiasticus
18:1) have been held to prove a simultaneous creation of all things; but it
is generally conceded that "together" (simul) may here mean
"equally", in the sense that all things were "alike"
created. They are spirits; the writer of the Epistle
to the Hebrews says: "Are they not all ministering spirits, sent
to minister to them who shall receive the inheritance of salvation?"
(Hebrews
1:14).
Attendants at God's
throne
It is as messengers that
they most often figure in the Bible,
but, as St.
Augustine, and after him St.
Gregory, expresses it: angelus est nomen officii ("angel is
the name of the office") and expresses neither their essential nature nor
their essential function, viz.: that of attendants upon God's throne
in that court of heaven of
which Daniel has left us a vivid picture:
I behold till thrones
were placed, and the Ancient
of Days sat: His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head
like clean wool: His throne like flames of fire: the wheels of it like a
burning fire. A swift stream of fire issued forth from before Him: thousands of
thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood
before Him: the judgment sat and the books were opened. (Daniel
7:9-10; cf. also Psalm
96:7; Psalm
102:20; Isaiah
6, etc.)
This function of the
angelic host is expressed by the word "assistance" (Job
1:6; 2:1),
and our
Lord refers to it as their perpetual occupation (Matthew
18:10). More than once we are told of seven angels whose special function
it is thus to "stand before God's throne"
(Tobit
12:15; Revelation
8:2-5). The same thought may be intended by "the angel of His
presence" (Isaiah
63:9) an expression which also occurs in the pseudo-epigraphical "Testaments
of the Twelve Patriarchs".
God's messengers to
mankind
But these glimpses of
life beyond the veil are only occasional. The angels of the Bible generally
appear in the role of God's messengers
to mankind.
They are His instruments by whom He communicates His will to men,
and in Jacob's vision
they are depicted as ascending and descending the ladder which stretches from
earth to heaven while
the Eternal
Father gazes upon the wanderer below. It was an angel who found Agar
in the wilderness (Genesis
16); angels drew Lot out
of Sodom;
an angel announces to Gideon that
he is to save his people; an angel foretells the birth of Samson (Judges
13), and the angel Gabriel instructs Daniel (Daniel
8:16), though he is not called an angel in either of these passages, but
"the man Gabriel" (9:21).
The same
heavenly spirit announced the birth of St.
John the Baptist and the Incarnation
of the Redeemer, while tradition ascribes
to him both the message to the shepherds (Luke
2:9), and the most glorious mission
of all, that of strengthening the King
of Angels in His Agony (Luke
22:43). The spiritual nature of
the angels is manifested very clearly in the account which Zacharias gives
of the revelations bestowed
upon him by the ministry of an angel. The prophet depicts the angel as speaking
"in him". He seems to imply that he was conscious of
an interior voice which was not that of God but
of His messenger. The Massoretic text,
the Septuagint,
and the Vulgate all
agree in thus describing the communications made by the angel to the prophet.
It is a pity that the "Revised Version" should, in apparent defiance
of the above-named texts, obscure this trait by persistently giving the
rendering: "the angel that talked with me: instead of "within
me" (cf. Zechariah
1:9-14; 2:3; 4:5; 5:10).
Such appearances of
angels generally last only so long as the delivery of their message requires,
but frequently their mission is prolonged, and they are represented as the
constituted guardians of
the nations at some particular crisis, e.g. during the Exodus (Exodus
14:19; Baruch
6:6). Similarly it is the common view of the Fathers that
by "the prince of the Kingdom of the Persians" (Daniel
10:13-21) we are to understand the angel to whom was entrusted the
spiritual care of that kingdom, and we may perhaps see in the "man
of Macedonia"
who appeared to St.
Paul at Troas,
the guardian
angel of that country (Acts
16:9). The Septuagint (Deuteronomy
32:8), has preserved for us a fragment of information on this head, though
it is difficult to gauge its exact meaning: "When the Most
High divided the nations,
when He scattered the children of Adam, He established the bounds of the nations according
to the number of the angels of God".
How large a part the ministry of angels played, not merely in Hebrew theology,
but in the religious ideas of
other nations as well, appears from the expression "like to an angel
of God".
It is three times used of David (2
Samuel 14:17-20; 14:27)
and once by Achis of Geth (1
Samuel 29:9). It is even applied by Esther to Assuerus (Esther
15:16), and St.
Stephen's face is said to have looked "like the face of an
angel" as he stood before the Sanhedrin (Acts
6:15).
Personal guardians
Throughout the Bible we
find it repeatedly implied that each individual soul has
its tutelary
angel. Thus Abraham, when sending his steward to seek a wife for Isaac,
says: "He will send His angel before thee" (Genesis
24:7). The words of the ninetieth
Psalm which the devil quoted
to our
Lord (Matthew
4:6) are well known, and Judith accounts
for her heroic deed by saying: "As the Lord liveth, His angel hath been my
keeper" (13:20).
These passages and many like them (Genesis
16:6-32; Hosea
12:4; 1
Kings 19:5; Acts
12:7; Psalm
33:8), though they will not of themselves demonstrate the doctrine that
every individual has his appointed guardian
angel, receive their complement in our
Saviour's words: "See that you despise not one of these little
ones; for I say to you that their angels in Heaven always see
the face of My Father Who is in Heaven"
(Matthew
18:10), words which illustrate the remark of St.
Augustine: "What lies hidden in the Old
Testament, is made manifest in the New".
Indeed, the book
of Tobias seems intended to teach this truth more
than any other, and St.
Jerome in his commentary on the above words of our
Lord says: "The dignity of a soul is
so great, that each has a guardian
angel from its birth." The general doctrine that
the angels are our appointed guardians is
considered to be a point of faith,
but that each individual member of the human
race has his own individual guardian
angel is not of faith (de
fide); the view has, however, such strong support from the Doctors
of the Church that it would be rash to deny it (cf. St.
Jerome, supra). Peter
the Lombard (Sentences, lib. II, dist. xi) was inclined to think that
one angel had charge of several individual human
beings. St.
Bernard's beautiful homilies (11-14)
on the ninetieth
Psalm breathe the spirit of the Church without
however deciding the question. The Bible represents
the angels not only as our guardians,
but also as actually interceding for
us. "The angel Raphael (Tobit
12:12) says: "I offered thy prayer to
the Lord"
(cf. Job 5:1 (Septuagint),
and 33:23 (Vulgate); Apocalypse
8:4). The Catholic cult
of the angels is thus thoroughly scriptural.
Perhaps the earliest explicit declaration of it is to be found in St.
Ambrose's words: "We should pray to
the angels who are given to us as guardians"
(De Viduis, ix); (cf. St.
Augustine, Reply
to Faustus XX.21). An undue cult of angels was reprobated by St.
Paul (Colossians
2:18), and that such a tendency long remained in the same district is
evidenced by Canon 35 of the Synod of Laodicea.
As divine agents
governing the world
The foregoing passages,
especially those relating to the angels who have charge of various districts,
enable us to understand the practically unanimous view of the Fathers that
it is the angels who put into execution God's
law regarding the physical world. The Semitic belief in genii and
in spirits which cause good or evil is
well known, and traces of it are to be found in the Bible.
Thus the pestilence which devastated Israel for David's sin in
numbering the people is attributed to an angel whom David is said to have
actually seen (2
Samuel 24:15-17), and more explicitly, I Par., xxi, 14-18). Even the wind
rustling in the tree-tops was regarded as an angel (2
Samuel 5:23-24; 1
Chronicles 14:14, 15). This is more explicitly stated with regard to the
pool of Probatica (John
5:1-4), though there is some doubt about
the text; in that passage the disturbance of the water is said to be due to the
periodic visits of an angel. The Semites clearly felt that all the orderly
harmony of the universe,
as well as interruptions of that harmony, were due to God as
their originator, but were carried out by His ministers. This view is strongly
marked in the "Book
of Jubilees" where the heavenly host of good and evil
angels is ever interfering in the material
universe. Maimonides (Directorium
Perplexorum, iv and vi) is quoted by St.
Thomas Aquinas (Summa
Theologicæ I.1.3) as holding that the Bible frequently
terms the powers of nature angels, since they manifest the omnipotence
of God (cf. St.
Jerome, In Mich., vi, 1, 2; P.L., iv, col. 1206).
Hierarchical organization
Though the angels who
appear in the earlier works of the Old
Testament are strangely impersonal and are overshadowed by the
importance of the message they bring or the work they do, there are not wanting
hints regarding the existence of certain ranks in the heavenly army.
After Adam's fall Paradise is
guarded against our First Parents by cherubim who
are clearly God's ministers,
though nothing is said of their nature. Only once again do the cherubim figure
in the Bible,
viz., in Ezechiel's marvellous vision, where they are described at great length
(Ezekiel
1), and are actually called cherub in Ezechiel
10. The Ark was
guarded by two cherubim,
but we are left to conjecture what they were like. It has been suggested with
great probability that we have their counterpart in the winged bulls and lions
guarding the Assyrian palaces,
and also in the strange winged men with hawks' heads who are depicted on the
walls of some of their buildings. The seraphim appear
only in the vision of Isaias
6:6.
Mention has already been
made of the mystic seven who stand before God,
and we seem to have in them an indication of an inner cordon that surrounds the
throne. The term archangel occurs only in St.
Jude and 1
Thessalonians 4:15; but St.
Paul has furnished us with two other lists of names of the heavenly cohorts.
He tells us (Ephesians
1:21) that Christ is raised up "above all principality, and power, and
virtue, and dominion"; and, writing to the Colossians
(1:16), he says: "In Him were all things created in heaven and
on earth, visible and invisible, whether thrones or dominations, or
principalities or powers." It is to be noted that he uses two of these
names of the powers of darkness when (2:15)
he talks of Christ as "despoiling the principalities and powers . . .
triumphing over them in Himself". And it is not a little remarkable that
only two verses later he warns his readers not to be seduced into any
"religion of angels". He seems to put his seal upon a certain lawful
angelology, and at the same time to warn them against indulging superstition on
the subject. We have a hint of such excesses in the Book of Enoch, wherein, as
already stated, the angels play a quite disproportionate part. Similarly Josephus tells
us (Bel. Jud., II, viii, 7) that the Essenes had
to take a vow to
preserve the names of the angels.
We have already seen how
(Daniel
10:12-21) various districts are allotted to various angels who are termed
their princes, and the same feature reappears still more markedly in the Apocalyptic "angels
of the seven churches", though it is impossible to decide what is the
precise signification of the term. These seven Angels
of the Churches are generally regarded as being the Bishops occupying
these sees. St.
Gregory Nazianzen in his address to the Bishops at
Constantinople twice terms them "Angels", in the language of
the Apocalypse.
The treatise "De
Coelesti Hierarchia", which is ascribed to St.
Denis the Areopagite, and which exercised so strong an influence upon
the Scholastics,
treats at great length of the hierarchies and orders of the angels. It is
generally conceded that this work was not due to St.
Denis, but must date some centuries later. Though the doctrine it contains
regarding the choirs of angels has been received in the Church with
extraordinary unanimity, no proposition touching the angelic hierarchies is
binding on our faith.
The following passages from St.
Gregory the Great (Hom. 34, In Evang.) will give us a clear idea of
the view of the Church's doctors on the point:
We know on the authority
of Scripture that
there are nine orders of angels, viz., Angels, Archangels, Virtues, Powers,
Principalities, Dominations, Throne, Cherubim and Seraphim.
That there are Angels and Archangels nearly every page of the Bible tell
us, and the books of the Prophets talk
of Cherubim and Seraphim. St.
Paul, too, writing to the Ephesians enumerates
four orders when he says: 'above all Principality, and Power, and Virtue, and
Domination'; and again, writing to the Colossians he
says: 'whether Thrones, or Dominations, or Principalities, or Powers'. If we
now join these two lists together we have five Orders, and adding Angels and
Archangels, Cherubim and Seraphim,
we find nine Orders of Angels.
St.
Thomas (Summa
Theologica I:108), following St.
Denis (De Coelesti Hierarchia, vi, vii), divides the angels into three
hierarchies each of which contains three orders. Their proximity to the Supreme
Being serves as the basis of this division. In the first hierarchy he
places the Seraphim, Cherubim,
and Thrones; in the second, the Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; in the third,
the Principalities, Archangels, and Angels. The only Scriptural names
furnished of individual angels are Raphael, Michael,
and Gabriel,
names which signify their respective attributes. Apocryphal Jewish books,
such as the Book of Enoch, supply those of Uriel and Jeremiel, while many are
found in other apocryphal sources,
like those Milton names in "Paradise Lost". (On superstitious use
of such names, see above).
The number of angels
The number of the angels
is frequently stated as prodigious (Daniel
7:10; Apocalypse
5:11; Psalm
67:18; Matthew
26:53). From the use of the word host (sabaoth) as a synonym for the heavenly army
it is hard to resist the impression that the term "Lord of Hosts"
refers to God's Supreme
command of the angelic multitude (cf. Deuteronomy
33:2; 32:43; Septuagint).
The Fathers see
a reference to the relative numbers of men and
angels in the parable of
the hundred sheep (Luke
15:1-3), though this may seem fanciful. The Scholastics,
again, following the treatise "De Coelesti Hierarchia" of St.
Denis, regard the preponderance of numbers as a necessary perfection of the
angelic host (cf. St.
Thomas, Summa
Theologica I:1:3).
The evil angels
The distinction of good
and bad angels constantly appears in the Bible,
but it is instructive to note that there is no sign of any dualism or
conflict between two equal principles, one good and the other evil.
The conflict depicted is rather that waged on earth between the Kingdom
of God and the Kingdom of the Evil
One, but the latter's inferiority is always supposed. The existence,
then, of this inferior, and therefore created, spirit,
has to be explained.
The gradual development
of Hebrew consciousness on
this point is very clearly marked in the inspired writings. The account of the
fall of our First Parents (Genesis
3) is couched in such terms that it is impossible to see in it anything
more than the acknowledgment of the existence of a principle of evil who
was jealous of
the human
race. The statement (Genesis
6:1) that the "sons of God"
married the daughters of men is
explained of the fall of the angels, in Enoch, vi-xi, and codices, D, E F, and
A of the Septuagint read
frequently, for "sons of God", oi
aggeloi tou theou. Unfortunately, codices B
and C are defective in Genesis
6, but it is probably that they, too, read oi aggeloi in this
passage, for they constantly so render the expression "sons of God";
cf. Job
1:6, 2:1 and 38:7;
but on the other hand, see Psalm
2:1 and 88 (Septuagint). Philo,
in commenting on the passage in his treatise "Quod Deus sit
immutabilis", i, follows the Septuagint.
For Philo's doctrine of Angels, cf. "De Vita Mosis", iii, 2, "De
Somniis", VI: "De Incorrupta Manna", i; "De
Sacrificis", ii; "De Lege Allegorica", I, 12; III, 73; and for
the view of Genesis
6:1, cf. St.
Justin, First
Apology 5. It should moreover be noted that the Hebrew word nephilim rendered gigantes,
in 6:4,
may mean "fallen ones". The Fathers generally
refer it to the sons of Seth, the chosen stock. In 1
Samuel 19:9, an evil spirit is said to possess Saul, though this is
probably a metaphorical expression; more explicit is 1
Kings 22:19-23, where a spirit is
depicted as appearing in the midst of the heavenly army and offering, at the
Lord's invitation, to be a lying spirit in
the mouth of Achab's false prophets.
We might, with Scholastics,
explain this is malum poenae, which is actually caused by God owing
to man's fault.
A truer exegesis would,
however, dwell on the purely imaginative tone
of the whole episode; it is not so much the mould in which the message is cast
as the actual tenor of that message which is meant to occupy our attention.
The picture afforded us
in Job
1 and 2 is
equally imaginative;
but Satan,
perhaps the earliest individualization of the fallen
Angel, is presented as an intruder who is jealous of Job.
He is clearly an inferior being to the Deity and
can only touch Job with God's permission.
How theologic thought advanced as the sum of revelation grew
appears from a comparison of 2
Samuel 24:1, with 1
Chronicles 21:1. Whereas in the former passage David's sin was
said to be due to "the wrath of
the Lord" which "stirred up David", in the latter we read that
"Satan moved
David to number Israel".
In Job
4:18, we seem to find a definite declaration of the fall: "In His
angels He found wickedness."
The Septuagint of Job contains
some instructive passages regarding avenging angels in whom we are perhaps to
see fallen spirits, thus 33:23:
"If a thousand death-dealing angels should be (against him) not one of
them shall wound him"; and 36:14:
"If their souls should
perish in their youth (through rashness) yet their life shall
be wounded by the angels"; and 20:15:
"The riches unjustly
accumulated shall be vomited up, an angel shall drag him out of his
house;" cf. Proverbs
17:11; Psalm
34:5-6 and 77:49,
and especially Ecclesiasticus
39:33, a text which, as far as can be gathered from the present state of
the manuscript,
was in the Hebrew original. In some of these passages, it is true,
the angels may be regarded as avengers of God's justice without
therefore being evil
spirits. In Zechariah
3:1-3, Satan is called the adversary who pleads before the Lord against
Jesus the High
Priest. Isaiah
14 and Ezekiel
28 are for the Fathers the loci
classici regarding the fall of Satan (cf. Tertullian, Against
Marcion 2.10); and Our
Lord Himself has given colour to this view by using the imagery of the
latter passage when saying to His Apostles:
"I saw Satan like lightning falling from heaven"
(Luke
10:18).
In New
Testament times the idea of
the two spiritual kingdoms is clearly established. The devil is a fallen angel
who in his fall has drawn multitudes of the heavenly
host in his train. Our
Lord terms him "the Prince of this world" (John
14:30); he is the tempter of the human
race and tries to involve them in his fall (Matthew
25:41; 2
Peter 2:4; Ephesians
6:12; 2
Corinthians 11:14; 12:7). Christian imagery
of the devil as the dragon is mainly derived from the Apocalypse (9:11-15 and 12:7-9),
where he is termed "the angel of the bottomless pit", "the
dragon", "the old serpent", etc., and is represented as having
actually been in combat with Archangel Michael. The similarity between scenes
such as these and the early Babylonian accounts
of the struggle between Merodach and the dragon Tiamat is very striking.
Whether we are to trace its origin to vague reminiscences of the mighty
saurians which once people the earth is a moot question, but the curious reader
may consult Bousett, "The Anti-Christ Legend" (tr. by Keane, London, 1896).
The translator has prefixed to it an interesting discussion on the origin of
the Babylonian Dragon-Myth.
The term
"angel" in the Septuagint
We have had occasion to
mention the Septuagint version
more than once, and it may not be amiss to indicate a few passages where it is
our only source of information regarding the angels. The best known passage
is Isaiah
9:6, where the Septuagint gives
the name of the Messias,
as "the Angel of great Counsel". We have already drawn attention
to Job
20:15, where the Septuagint reads
"Angel" instead of "God", and to 36:14,
where there seems to be question of evil
angels. In 9:7, Septuagint (B)
adds: "He is the Hebrew (5:19)
say of "Behemoth": "He is the beginning of the ways of God,
he that made him shall make his sword to approach him", the Septuagint reads:
"He is the beginning of God's creation,
made for His Angels to mock at", and exactly the same remark is made about
"Leviathan" (41:24).
We have already seen that the Septuagint generally
renders the term "sons of God"
by "angels", but in Deuteronomy
32:43, the Septuagint has
an addition in which both terms appear: "Rejoice in Him all ye heavens,
and adore Him
all ye angels of God;
rejoice ye nations with
His people, and magnify Him all ye Sons
of God." Nor does the Septuagint merely
give us these additional references to angels; it sometimes enables us to
correct difficult passages concerning them in the Vulgate and Massoretic text.
Thus the difficult Elim of MT in Job
41:17, which the Vulgate renders
by "angels", becomes "wild beasts" in the Septuagint version.
The early ideas as
to the personality of the various angelic appearances are, as we have seen,
remarkably vague. At first the angels are regarded in quite an impersonal way (Genesis
16:7). They are God's vice-regents
and are often identified with the Author of
their message (Genesis
48:15-16). But while we read of "the Angels of God"
meeting Jacob (Genesis
32:1) we at other times read of one who is termed "the Angel of God" par
excellence, e.g. Genesis
31:11. It is true that,
owing to the Hebrew idiom, this may mean no more than "an angel of God",
and the Septuagint renders
it with or without the article at will; yet the three visitors at Mambre seem
to have been of different ranks, though St.
Paul (Hebrews
13:2) regarded them all as equally angels; as the story in Genesis
13 develops, the speaker is always "the Lord". Thus in the
account of the Angel of the Lord who visited Gideon (Judges
6), the visitor is alternately spoken of as "the Angel of the
Lord" and as "the Lord". Similarly, in Judges
13, the Angel of the Lord appears, and both Manue and his wife exclaim:
"We shall certainly die because we have seen God."
This want of clearness is particularly apparent in the various accounts of the
Angel of Exodus. In Judges
6, just now referred to, the Septuagint is
very careful to render the Hebrew "Lord" by "the Angel of the
Lord"; but in the story of the Exodus it is the Lord who goes before them
in the pillar
of a cloud (Exodus
13:21), and the Septuagint makes
no change (cf. also Numbers
14:14, and Nehemiah
9:7-20. Yet in Exodus
14:19, their guide is termed "the Angel of God".
When we turn to Exodus
33, where God is angry with
His people for worshipping the golden
calf, it is hard not to feel that it is God Himself
who has hitherto been their guide, but who now refuses to accompany them any
longer. God offers
an angel instead, but at Moses's petition He says (14)
"My face shall go before thee", which the Septuagint reads
by autos though the following verse shows that this rendering is
clearly impossible, for Moses objects:
"If Thou Thyself dost not go before us, bring us not out of this
place." But what does God mean
by "my face"? Is it possible that some angel of specially high rank
is intended, as in Isaiah
63:9 (cf. Tobit
12:15)? May not this be what is meant by "the angel of God"
(cf. Numbers
20:16)?
That a process of
evolution in theological thought accompanied the gradual unfolding of God's
revelation need hardly be said, but it is especially marked in the
various views entertained regarding the person of the Giver of the Law.
The Massoretic text
as well as the Vulgate of Exodus
3 and 19-20 clearly
represent the Supreme
Being as appearing to Moses in
the bush and on Mount
Sinai; but the Septuagint version,
while agreeing that it was God Himself
who gave the Law, yet makes it "the angel of the Lord" who appeared
in the bush. By New
Testament times the Septuagint view
has prevailed, and it is now not merely in the bush that the angel of the Lord,
and not God Himself
appears, but the angel is also the Giver of the Law (cf. Galatians
3:19; Hebrews
2:2; Acts
7:30). The person of
"the angel of the Lord" finds a counterpart in the personification of
Wisdom in the Sapiential books and in at least one passage (Zechariah
3:1) it seems to stand for that "Son
of Man" whom Daniel (7:13)
saw brought before "the
Ancient of Days". Zacharias says:
"And the Lord showed me Jesus the high
priest standing before the angel of the Lord, and Satan stood
on His right hand to be His adversary". Tertullian regards
many of these passages as preludes to the Incarnation;
as the Word
of God adumbrating the sublime character in which He is one day to
reveal Himself to men (cf. Against
Praxeas 16; Against
Marcion 2.27, 3.9, 1.10, 1.21-22).
It is possible, then, that in these confused views we can trace vague gropings
after certain dogmatic truths regarding
the Trinity, reminiscences perhaps of the early revelation of
which the Protevangelium in Genesis
3 is but a relic. The earlier
Fathers, going by the letter of the text, maintained that it was
actually God Himself
who appeared. He who appeared was called God and
acted as God.
It was not unnatural then for Tertullian,
as we have already seen, to regard such manifestations in the light of preludes
to the Incarnation,
and most of the Eastern Fathers followed
the same line of thought. It was held as recently as 1851 by Vandenbroeck,
"Dissertatio Theologica de Theophaniis sub Veteri Testamento"
(Louvain).
But the great
Latins, St.
Jerome, St.
Augustine, and St.
Gregory the Great, held the opposite view, and the Scholastics as
a body followed them. St.
Augustine (Sermo vii, de Scripturis, P.G. V) when treating of the
burning bush (Exodus
3) says: "That the same person who spoke to Moses should
be deemed both the Lord and an angel of the Lord, is very hard to understand.
It is a question which forbids any rash assertions but rather demands careful
investigation . . . Some maintain that he is called both the Lord and the angel
of the Lord because he was Christ, indeed the prophet (Isaiah
9:6, Septuagint
Version) clearly styles Christ the 'Angel of great Counsel.'" The
saint proceeds to show that such a view is tenable though we must be careful
not to fall into Arianism in
stating it. He points out, however, that if we hold that it was an angel who
appeared, we must explain how he came to be called "the Lord," and he
proceeds to show how this might be: "Elsewhere in the Bible when
a prophet speaks it is yet said to be the Lord who speaks, not of course
because the prophet is the Lord but because the Lord is in the prophet; and so
in the same way when the Lord condescends to speak through the mouth of a
prophet or an angel, it is the same as when he speaks by a prophet or apostle,
and the angel is correctly termed an angel if we consider him himself, but
equally correctly is he termed 'the Lord' because God dwells
in him." He concludes: "It is the name of the indweller, not of the
temple." And a little further on: "It seems to me that we shall most
correctly say that our forefathers recognized the Lord in the angel," and
he adduces the authority of the New
Testament writers who clearly so understood it and yet sometimes
allowed the same confusion of terms (cf. Hebrews
2:2, and Acts
7:31-33).
The saint discusses the
same question even more elaborately, "In Heptateuchum," lib. vii, 54,
P.G. III, 558. As an instance of how convinced some of the Fathers were
in holding the opposite view, we may note Theodoret's words
(In Exod.): "The whole passage (Exodus
3) shows that it was God who
appeared to him. But (Moses)
called Him an angel in order to let us know that it was not God the Father whom
he saw — for whose angel could the Father be? — but the Only-begotten Son, the
Angel of great Counsel" (cf. Eusebius, Church
History I.2.7; St.
Irenaeus, Against
Heresies 3:6). But the view propounded by the Latin Fathers was
destined to live in the Church,
and the Scholastics reduced
it to a system (cf. St.
Thomas, Quaest., Disp., De Potentia, vi, 8, ad 3am); and for a very good
exposition of both sides of the question, cf. "Revue biblique," 1894,
232-247.
Angels in Babylonian
literature
The Bible has
shown us that a belief in
angels, or spirits intermediate between God and man,
is a characteristic of the Semitic people.
It is therefore interesting to trace this belief in
the Semites of Babylonia.
According to Sayce (The Religions of Ancient Egypt and Babylonia, Gifford
Lectures, 1901), the engrafting of Semitic beliefs on
the earliest Sumerian religion of Babylonia is
marked by the entrance of angels or sukallin in their theosophy.
Thus we find an interesting parallel to "the angels of the Lord" in
Nebo, "the minister of Merodach" (ibid., 355). He is also termed the
"angel" or interpreter of the will or Merodach (ibid., 456), and
Sayce accepts Hommel's statement that it can be shown from the Minean
inscriptions that primitive Semitic religion
consisted of moon and star worship, the moon-god Athtar and an
"angel" god standing at the head of the pantheon (ibid., 315).
The Biblical conflict
between the kingdoms of good and evil finds
its parallel in the "spirits of heaven"
or the Igigi--who constituted the "host" of which Ninip was the
champion (and from who he received the title of "chief of the
angels") and the "spirits of the earth", or Annuna-Ki, who dwelt
in Hades (ibid. 355). The Babylonian sukalli corresponded
to the spirit-messengers of the Bible;
they declared their Lord's will and executed his behests (ibid., 361). Some of
them appear to have been more than messengers; they were the interpreters and
vicegerents of the supreme deity, thus Nebo is "the prophet of
Borsippa". These angels are even termed "the sons" of the deity
whose vicegerents they are; thus Ninip, at one time the messenger of En-lil, is
transformed into his son just as Merodach becomes the son of Ea (ibid., 496).
The Babylonian accounts
of the Creation and the Flood do
not contrast very favourably with the Biblical accounts,
and the same must be said of the chaotic hierarchies of gods and angels which
modern research has revealed. perhaps we are justified in seeing all forms of
religion vestiges of a primitive nature-worship which has at times succeeded in
debasing the purer revelation,
and which, where that primitive revelation has
not received successive increments as among the Hebrews, results in an abundant
crop of weeds.
Thus the Bible certainly
sanctions the idea of
certain angels being in charge of special districts (cf. Daniel
10, and above). This belief persists
in a debased form in the Arab notion
of Genii, or Jinns, who haunt particular spots. A reference to it is perhaps to
be found in Genesis
32:1-2: "Jacob also went on the journey he had begun: and the angels
of God met
him: And when he saw then he said: These are the camps of God,
and he called the name of that place Mahanaim, that is, 'Camps.'" Recent
explorations in the Arab district
about Petra have
revealed certain precincts marked off with stones as the abiding-laces of
angels, and the nomad tribes frequent them for prayer and
sacrifice. These places bear a name which corresponds exactly with the
"Mahanaim" of the above passage in Genesis (cf.
Lagrange, Religions Semitques, 184, and Robertson Smith, Religion of the
Semites, 445). Jacob's vision
at Bethel (Genesis
28:12) may perhaps come under the same category. Suffice it to say that not
everything in the Bible is revelation,
and that the object of the inspired writings is not merely to tell us new truths but
also to make clearer certain truths taught
us by nature.
The modern view, which tends to regard everything Babylonian as
absolutely primitive and which seems to think that because critics affix a late
date to the Biblical
writings the religion therein contained must also be late, may be seen
in Haag, "Theologie Biblique" (339). This writer sees in the Biblical angels
only primitive deities debased into demi-gods by the triumphant progress
of Monotheism.
Angels in the Zend-Avesta
Attempts have also been
made to trace a connection between the angels of the Bible and
the "great archangels" or "Amesha-Spentas" of the Zend-Avesta.
That the Persian domination
and the Babylonian captivity
exerted a large influence upon the Hebrew conception of the angels is
acknowledged in the Talmud of
Jerusalem, Rosch Haschanna, 56, where it is said that the names of the angels
were introduced from Babylon. It is, however, by no means clear that the
angelic beings who figure so largely in the pages of the Avesta are to be
referred to the older Persian Neo-Zoroastrianism
of the Sassanides. If this be the case, as Darmesteter holds, we should rather
reverse the position and attribute the Zoroastrian angels to the influence of
the Bible and
of Philo.
Stress has been laid upon the similarity between the Biblical "seven
who stand before God"
and the seven Amesha-Spentas of the Zend-Avesta.
But it must be noted that these latter are really six, the number seven is only
obtained by counting "their father, Ahura-Mazda," among them as their
chief. Moreover, these Zoroastrian archangels are more abstract than concrete;
they are not individuals charged with weighty missions as in the Bible.
Angels in the New
Testament
Hitherto we have dwelt
almost exclusively on the angels of the Old
Testament, whose visits and messages have been by no means rare; but when
we come to the New
Testament their name appears on every page and the number of
references to them equals those in the Old
Dispensation. It is their privilege to announce to Zachary and Mary the
dawn of Redemption,
and to the shepherds its actual accomplishment. Our
Lord in His discourses talks of them as one who actually saw them, and
who, whilst "conversing amongst men", was yet receiving the silent
unseen adoration of
the hosts of heaven.
He describes their life in heaven (Matthew
22:30; Luke
20:36); He tell us how they form a bodyguard round Him and at a word from
Him would avenge Him on His enemies (Matthew
26:53); it is the privilege of one of them to assist Him in His Agony and
sweat of Blood. More than once He speaks of them as auxiliaries and witnesses
at the final
judgment (Matthew
16:27), which indeed they will prepare (13:39-49);
and lastly, they are the joyous witnesses
of His triumphant Resurrection (28:2).
It is easy for skeptical
minds to see in these angelic hosts the mere play of Hebrew fancy and the rank
growth of superstition,
but do not the records of the angels who figure in the Bible supply
a most natural and harmonious progression? In the opening page of the sacred
story the Jewish
nation is chosen out from amongst others as the depositary of God's
promise; as the people from whose stock He would one day raise up a Redeemer.
The angels appear in the course of this chosen people's history, now as God's messengers,
now as that people's guides; at one time they are the bestowers of God's
law, at another they actually prefigure the Redeemer Whose
divine purpose they are helping to mature. They converse with His prophets,
with David and Elias,
with Daniel and Zacharias;
they slay the hosts camped against Israel,
they serve as guides to God's servants,
and the last prophet, Malachi, bears a name of peculiar significance; "the
Angel of Jehovah." He seems to sum up in his very name the previous
"ministry by the hands of angels", as though God would
thus recall the old-time glories of the Exodus and Sinai.
The Septuagint,
indeed, seems not to know his name as that of an individual prophet and its
rendering of the opening verse of his prophecy is peculiarly solemn: "The
burden of the Word of
the Lord
of Israel by the hand of His angel; lay it up in your hearts."
All this loving ministry
on the part of the angels is solely for the sake of the Saviour,
on Whose face they desire to look. Hence when the fullness of time was arrived
it is they who bring the glad message, and sing "Gloria in excelsis
Deo". They guide the newborn King
of Angels in His hurried flight into Egypt,
and minister to Him in the desert.
His second coming and the dire events that must precede that, are revealed to
His chosen
servant in the island of Patmos, It is a question of revelation again,
and consequently its ministers and messengers of old appear once more in
the sacred
story and the record of God's revealing love ends
fittingly almost as it had begun: "I, Jesus,
have sent My angel to
testify to you these things in the churches" (Revelation
22:16). It is easy for the student to trace the influence of surrounding
nations and of other religions in
the Biblical account
of the angels. Indeed it is needful and instructive to do so, but it would be
wrong to shut our eyes to the higher line of development which we have shown
and which brings out so strikingly the marvellous unity and harmony of the
whole divine story of the Bible.
(See also ANGELS
IN EARLY CHRISTIAN ART.)
Sources
In addition to works
mentioned above, see St. Thomas, Summa Theol., I, QQ. 50-54 and 106-114;
Suarez De Angelis, lib. i-iv.
Pope,
Hugh. "Angels." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol.
1. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1907. 29 Sept.
2020 <http://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm>.
Transcription. This
article was transcribed for New Advent by Jim Holden.
Ecclesiastical
approbation. Nihil Obstat. March 1, 1907. Remy Lafort, S.T.D.,
Censor. Imprimatur. +John Cardinal Farley, Archbishop of New York.
Copyright © 2020 by Kevin
Knight. Dedicated to the Immaculate Heart of Mary.
SOURCE : https://www.newadvent.org/cathen/01476d.htm
.JPG)
The
Archangels, The wooden church in Stoboru, Sălaj county, Romania
St. Michael, St. Gabriel,
& St. Raphael – The Archangels
Angels—messengers from
God—appear frequently in Scripture, but only Michael, Gabriel and Raphael are
named. The memorials of Gabriel (March 24) and Raphael (October 24) were added
to the Roman calendar in 1921. The 1970 revision of the calendar joined their
feasts to Michael’s.
Michael (meaning: Who Is
Like To God?)
The name Michael
signifies “Who is like to God?” and was the war cry of the God’s angels in the
battle fought in heaven against satan and his followers. Holy Scripture
describes Michael as one of the chief princes, and leader of the forces of
heaven in their triumph over the powers of hell. He has been especially
honoured and invoked as patron and protector by the Church from the time of the
earliest Christians. Although he is called “the Archangel,” the Greek Fathers
and many others place him over all the angels – as Prince of the Seraphim.
Michael is the patron of grocers, mariners, paratroopers, police and sickness.
Michael’s name is
recorded four times in Scripture:
• Daniel 10:13. Gabriel
says to Daniel, when he asks God to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem:
“The Angel of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me . . . and, behold
Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me . . . and none is my helper
in all these things, but Michael your prince”;
• Daniel 12, the Angel
speaking of the end of the world and the Antichrist says: At that time shall
Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people.
• The Epistle of St.
Jude: When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the
body of Moses, St Jude alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of a dispute
between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, an account of which is also
found in the apocryphal book on the assumption of Moses (Origen, “De
principiis”). St. Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan, however, by
disclosing it, tried to seduce the Jewish people to the sin of hero-worship.
Michael also guards the body of Eve, according to the “Revelation of Moses”.
• Revelation 12:7, And
there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the
dragon. St. John speaks of the great war at the end of time, which reflects
also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time. According to the Fathers
there is often question of St. Michael in Scripture where his name is not
mentioned. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, “to
keep the way of the tree of life” (Genesis iii, 24), the angel through whom God
published the Decalogue to his chosen people, the angel who stood in the way against
Balaam (Numbers 22:22), the angel who routed the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings
19:35).
Following these
Scriptural passages, Christian tradition gives Michael four offices.
• To fight against Satan
• To rescue the souls of
the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
• To be the champion of
God’s people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament;
therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during
the Middle Ages
• To call away from earth
and bring men’s souls to judgment
Regarding his rank in the
celestial hierarchy opinions vary; St. Basil and other Greek Fathers place
Michael over all the angels, saying he is called archangel because he is the
prince of the other angels. others believe he is the Prince of the Seraphim,
the first of the nine angelic orders. But, according to Aquinas he is the
prince of the last and lowest choir, the angels. The hymn of the Mozarabic
Breviary places St. Michael even above the Twenty-four Elders.
Its natural to Michael
the champion of the Jewish people, to be the champion also of Christians,
giving victory in war to those who invoke him. The early Christians regarded
some of the martyrs as their military patrons: Sts. George, Theodore,
Demetrius, Sergius, etc.
In art Michael is
represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield
(often the shield bears the Latin inscription: Quis ut Deus), standing over the
dragon, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance. He also holds a pair of scales
in which he weighs the souls of the departed, or the book of life to show that
he takes part in the judgment. In the middle ages, his feast (29 September) was
celebrated as a holy day of obligation, but along with several other feasts it
was gradually abolished since the eighteenth century. Michaelmas Day, in
England and other countries, is one of the regular quarter-days for settling
rents and accounts; but it is no longer remarkable for the hospitality with
which it was formerly celebrated.
Gabriel (meaning: The
Power of God)
One of the three
archangels mentioned in the Bible, only four appearances of Gabriel are
recorded:
• Daniel viii, he
explains the vision of the horned ram as portending the destruction of the
Persian Empire by the Macedonian Alexander the Great, after whose death the
kingdom will be divided up among his generals, from one of whom will spring
Antiochus Epiphanes.
• In Chapter ix, after
Daniel had prayed for Israel, we read that the man Gabriel . . . . flying
swiftly touched me, and he communicated to him the mysterious prophecy of the
“seventy weeks” of years which should elapse before the coming of Christ. In
Chapter x, it is not clear whether the angel is Gabriel or not, but at any rate
we may apply to him the marvellous description in verses 5 and 6.
• He foretells to Zachary
the birth of the Precursor (Luke 1 v8ff)
• At the Annunciation –
to Mary (Luke 1:26)
He is the angel of the
Incarnation and of Consolation, and so in Christian tradition Gabriel is ever
the angel of mercy. At the same time Gabriel is, as his name suggests, the
angel of the Power or strength of God, and it is worth while noting the
frequency with which such words as “great”, “might”, “power”, and “strength”
occur in the passages referred to above. The Jews indeed seem to have dwelt
particularly upon this feature in Gabriel’s character, regarding him as the
angel of judgment. Thus they attribute to Gabriel the destruction of Sodom and
of the host of Sennacherib, though they also regard him as the angel who buried
Moses, and as the one deputed to mark the figure Tau on the foreheads of the
elect (Ezech., 4). In later Jewish literature the names of angels were
considered to have a peculiar efficacy, and the British Museum possesses some
bowls inscribed with Hebrew, Aramaic, and Syriac incantations in which the
names of Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel occur. These bowls were found at Hillah,
the site of Babylon. In apocryphal Christian literature the same names occur,
cf. Enoch, ix, and the Apocalypse of the Blessed Virgin.
Gabriel is mentioned only
twice in the New Testament, but it is not unreasonable to suppose with
Christian tradition that it is he who appeared to Joseph and to the shepherds,
and also that it was Gabriel who strengthened Jesus in the garden.
Gabriel is generally
termed only an archangel, but the expression used by Raphael, I am the angel
Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord (Tobit xii, 15), and
Gabriel’s own words, I am Gabriel, who stand before God (Luke 1, 19), have led
some to think that these angels must belong to the highest rank. This is
generally thought to mean their rank as the highest of God’s messengers, and
not as placing them among the Seraphim and Cherubim.
Raphael (meaning: God has
healed)
Raphael’s name doesn’t
appear in the Hebrew Scriptures, and in the Septuagint only in the Book of
Tobias. Here he first appears disguised in human form as the travelling
companion of the younger Tobias, calling himself Azarias the son of the great
Ananias. The story of the adventurous journey during which the protective
influence of the angel is shown in many ways including the binding “in the
desert of upper Egypt”, of the demon who had previously slain seven husbands of
Sara, daughter of Raguel, is graphically related in Tobit 5-11. After the
return and the healing of the blindness of the elder Tobias, Azarias makes
himself known as the angel Raphael, one of the seven, who stand before the Lord
(Tobit xii, 15. Cf. Apoc., viii, 2). Of these seven archangels who appear in
the angelology of post-Exilic Judaism, only three, Gabriel, Michael and
Raphael, are mentioned in the canonical Scriptures. The others, according to
the Book of Enoch (cf. xxi) are Uriel, Raguel, Sariel, and Jerahmeel, while
from other apocryphal sources we get the variant names Izidkiel, Hanael, and
Kepharel instead of the last three in the other list.
Regarding the functions
attributed to Raphael we have little more than his declaration to Tobias (Tobit
12) that when the latter was occupied in his works of mercy and charity,
Raphael offered his prayer to the Lord, that he was sent by the Lord to heal
him of his blindness and to deliver Sara, his son’s wife, from the devil.
The Jewish category of
the archangels is recognized in the New Testament (I Thess., iv, 16; Jude, 9),
but only Gabriel and Michael are mentioned by name. Many scholars however,
identify Raphael with the “angel of the Lord” mentioned in John 5. This
assumption is based both on the significance of the name, and on the healing
role attributed to Raphael in the Book of Tobias.
It is widely thought that Raphael is the angel in John 5:1-4, at the pool called Bethzatha, where the multitude of the infirm lay awaiting the moving of the water. The blind, the lame and the paralyzed were waiting for an angel of the Lord who, descended at certain times into the pond; and the water was moved. And he that went down first into the pond after the motion of the water was made whole of whatsoever infirmity he lay under.
SOURCE : http://www.ucatholic.com/saints/the-archangels/
Le Pérugin, L'Archange Michel, circa 1499, National Gallery de Londres
Weninger’s
Lives of the Saints – The Feast of the Dedication of the Archangel Saint
Michael
Today’s festival is
called in the breviary of the Church, the Dedication of the Holy Archangel
Saint Michael. To understand this, it is necessary to know an event which took
place at the time of Pope Gelasius I in the latter part of the fifth Century.
In Apulia, there is a mountain formerly called Gargano, now Monte Saint Angelo,
or Angel’s mountain. Near this mountain, a herdsman was keeping his cattle. A
steer strayed away from his herd and went into the woods on the mountain, to
the entrance of a cave which was concealed by bushes. The herdsman, to drive
the animal out of the cave back to the herd, shot an arrow at it. The arrow,
however, turned and flew with great force back to him. The herdsman and those
who were present were terrified at this and none dared to go nearer to the
cave. They went to the bishop, who was at Siponto, a neighboring city, and informed
him of what had occurred. The bishop, not doubting that a divine mystery was
concealed under it, ordered his congregation to fast and pray three days, in
order that God might graciously reveal it to them. At the expiration of the
three days, Saint Michael, the Archangel, appeared to the bishop and announced
to him that the place whither the steer had fled was under his especial
protection, and that he desired that they should dedicate the spot to the honor
of God, and to the memory of Saint Michael and all the Angels.
The bishop, greatly
rejoiced, called the clergy and the people together, and having informed them
of the revelation, formed a large procession and ascended the mountain. They
found a large cave which was like a Church hewn out of the rock. Above the
entrance was an opening by which the whole interior received light. To offer
the holy sacrifice of the Mass in it, only the altar was wanting; but it was
speedily erected by the pious bishop. The Church itself was soon after
dedicated with great solemnity to Saint Michael and all holy Angels. The fame
of this event spread in a short time all around and drew a great many pilgrims
to the Church, while the many miracles that took place there, were a visible
sign that the veneration and invocation of Saint Michael and the other holy
angels must be very agreeable to the Most High. Today’s festival was instituted
to commemorate the dedication of the Church on Mount Gargano, hence it is
called the dedication of Saint Michael, as he is especially venerated in that
Church. The commemoration of the apparition of this holy Archangel on Mount
Gargano is celebrated on May 8th. Besides this, other apparitions of Saint
Michael are recorded, which gave occasion, at different times, to the erection
of splendid Churches in his honor, at Constantinople, at Rome and in France, as
is to be read in the history of the Church. Experience has taught that this
considerably increased the veneration of this great prince of heaven, and in
truth we have most important reasons to show him especial honor; for, he is the
head, or, as the Church expresses it, the prince of the heavenly legions. He is
the first of those happy spirits who are continually in the presence of God,
standing before His throne. It was he who, at the first moment of his
existence, turned to the Almighty and submitted to Him in perfect obedience. It
was he, who, so to say, first took up arms against the proud Lucifer, who would
not be subject, but equal to the Most High. His humility, obedience and zeal
for the honor of God raised him above all in heaven; as pride, disobedience and
perfidy abased the proud Lucifer and precipitated him into hell. Saint Michael
has been chosen by the Almighty as the protector of the Church of Christ, as in
the old Covenant he was the protector of the Synagogue. He was, in olden times,
solicitous for the welfare of the true believers in the Synagogue, as is
evident from the words spoken by the holy Archangel, Saint Gabriel, to the
prophet Daniel: “Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me” (Daniel
10). The angel, under whose protection the Persians were placed, desired that
the Israelites should remain longer in Persia, as many Persians came to the
knowledge of the true God by associating with the chosen people. The holy Archangel
Gabriel, however, desired that the Israelites should be released out of Persia,
because he feared that too great intimacy with the Persians might induce them
to become faithless to the true God. Saint Michael united his prayers with
those of Saint Gabriel, and thus evinced his care for the true believers. Not
less watchful is he now for the faithful of the New Testament and for the
entire Church.’ He comes to help her, prays for her and protects her against
her enemies. At the end of the world, he will manifest his protection of her,
especially against the Antichrist, the greatest enemy of the Christians, as
Saint Gabriel revealed to the holy prophet Daniel, saying: “But at that time,
Michael shall rise up, the great prince, who stands for the children of thy
people” (Daniel 12). This holy Archangel is also appointed to bring the souls
of men to the throne of the Most High, that they may receive their judgment;
and that their sentence may be favorable, he strongly assists them in the last
combat, which, at the end of their days, they have usually to fight with the
Evil one. The devil, at that moment, uses all his powers to overcome man and
make him unhappy for all eternity. Saint Michael, appointed by God to assist
and to strengthen our souls in this dangerous combat, helps us to conquer,
Hence the holy Church addresses him in the name of all the faithful in the
prayers for the dying, as follows: Holy Archangel Michael, protect us in our
fight, that we may not go to perdition on the day of Judgment.” She teaches us
also to invoke this holy Archangel before all other heavenly spirits, in the
litany of all Saints. But if we desire to secure his intercession, and enjoy
his assistance in our last combat, it is necessary that we endeavor to imitate
his example and fight bravely against the evil spirit, whom, at the end of our
lives, we desire to conquer with Saint Michael’s assistance. Among different
representations of Saint Michael there is one in which he has a shield in his
hand, upon which are the words: “Who is like unto God?” The word “Michael”
means in Hebrew, “Who is like God?” Saint Michael used this as a weapon, so to
say, against the proud Lucifer who desired to be equal to the Lord. “Who is
like God?” “Who is equal to God?” With these words, he conquered and
precipitated Lucifer and his followers into hell. The same weapons, the same
shield we also should use in all temptations. “Who is like God?” Who is so
mighty, so wise, so beautiful, so amiable as God.” Who is so much to be feared
as God? Who can recompense my service as God? Who can do so much good or so
much harm to me as God? Whom have I reason to serve and obey as God? Whose
grace have I to seek more than the grace of God? Whose disfavor have I to fear
more than the disfavor of God? Whosoever uses these and other wholesome
thoughts as spiritual weapons against the spirit of hell, fights after the
example of Saint Michael, and will always conquer Satan. And those who accustom
themselves now to combat thus, have reason to hope that they will vanquish
Satan in the last fight, and that the holy Archangel will surely assist them at
that important moment. In conclusion, I will add the beautiful words of Saint
Lawrence Justinian, by which he admonishes all Christians to venerate the holy
Archangel. “It is our duty,” says he, “to give honor to the prince of the
heavenly legions. We ought to praise him especially on account of the elevated
state of grace in which he is; and because God has distinguished him by
bestowing so high a dignity upon him; for his invincible strength, for the
Almighty’s favor to him and his heroic constancy in combats; hut in all these,
we must honor him only in God, who has created him and us, He is very powerful
with the Most High. The glorious victory is well known to us, which he won in
heaven, soon after the Creation, over the rebellious angels. Not without reason
does our Mother, the holy Church, endeavor to honor him especially, because she
knows that the divine Majesty has given him to her as protector, mediator and
receiver of all elect souls. Hence all should recognize Saint Michael as their
protector, and duly praising him, honor him with devout prayers, commend their
cares to him and rejoice him by reforming their lives, as his love is so great,
that he cannot refuse our prayers, nor reject our confidence, nor disregard our
love; as he protects the humble, loves the chaste, guides the innocent, guards
the pious in this temporal life, and leads them to their heavenly home.”
Practical Considerations
• Saint Michael remained
true to God when thousands of other angels became faithless to Him. He followed
not their example. You also should not follow the bad example of others, but
fulfill God’s commandments. Remain faithful to the Lord though thousands of
others leave Him. Saint Michael was zealous in honoring God and opposed those
who would not be obedient to the Creator. You can also do this. When others
speak against the true faith in your presence, against the ceremonies and
commandments of the true Church, against purity, against the honor of your
neighbor; when you see that they transgress the laws of God and of the Church,
you should defend the honor of the Almighty and prevent all the evil you can.
If you are so situated that you cannot say or do much, show, by your silence,
by your seriousness, that you are displeased by such offences against the
Majesty of the Most High. Saint Michael fought valiantly against Lucifer and
his adherents. Therefore God placed him above all the heavenly spirits.
Lucifer, with his adherents, endeavors to induce you to leave God, to become
faithless to Him. Fight bravely against him and you, too, will be exalted. Say
to him: “Who is like God? Who is so kind, so mighty, so amiable as God?” And
that you may fight vigorously, as well in life as in death, call often and
fervently on Saint Michael: “Help us here to fight and to conquer the enemy, O
Saint Michael!”
• Saint Michael is
exalted for his fidelity and for defending the honor of the Almighty. But what
was the fate of Lucifer and his adherents? They were precipitated into hell,
which God had created for the rebels, and for all those who would follow them
in disobedience. Behold, this is the end of those who are disobedient to the
Creator, and offend Him. Consider this point carefully. Lucifer and almost
numberless heavenly spirits have been cast into everlasting fire on account of
sin, of only one and the first sin. God spared not one of so many noble
spirits, nor gave them one single moment to repent; but cast them all
immediately into hell. A single sin is punished with eternal damnation, and
this a sin only in thought. Do you then at last comprehend how great the
wickedness of one single sin must be? Can you still flatter yourself that
thoughts are free, or that you cannot commit great sin with them? Can you still
believe those who say to you that God does not much regard sins; that He
pardons them very easily? Truly you must either say that God is unjust, or that
the wickedness of sin is very great. The first you dare not say, because it would
be blasphemy; hence you say the second: the just God punishes a single sin with
hell; but He punishes it not more severely than it deserves. Thus, a single
mortal sin deserves to be punished during all eternity in hell; hence the
wickedness of a mortal sin must be exceedingly great. What have you to object
to it? Certainly if the example of Lucifer and the just punishment which God
made him and his adherents suffer, have not opened your eyes to recognize the
wickedness of sin, and if this is not sufficient to induce you to avoid all
sin, you are lost. Consider further, the words of Saint Peter, who said, that
God, by chastising the sinful angels, shows all sinners how He will punish
them. If God did not spare such noble spirits, how can you imagine that He will
spare you? Make then this day, the resolution to fear sin, to fear it more than
all the evils on earth, more even than hell itself; for, it is truly a greater
evil than hell itself. “Many consider hell the greatest evil,” says Saint
Chrysostom; “I think that sin is a greater evil.”
MLA
Citation
Father Francis Xavier
Weninger, DD, SJ. “The Feast of the Dedication of the Archangel Saint
Michael”. Lives of the Saints, 1876. CatholicSaints.Info.
9 May 2018. Web. 29 September 2023.
<https://catholicsaints.info/weningers-lives-of-the-saints-the-feast-of-the-dedication-of-the-archangel-saint-michael/>
Entourage
de Maître du Livre de Raison (fl.
entre 1475 et 1500), Erzengel Michael - Margareta von Antiochien , sur panneau et
sur bois mou, 142,2 x 57,3, Musée du
diocèse de Rottenburg
Angels in Art –
The Archangel Michael
The Archangel Michael is
reverenced as the first and mightiest of all created beings. He was worshipped
by the Chaldeans, and the Gnostics taught that he was the leader of the seven
angels who created the universe. After the Captivity the Hebrews regarded him
as all that is implied by the Prophet Daniel when he says, “Michael, the great
prince which standeth for the children of thy people.” It is believed that he
will be privileged to exalt the banner of the Cross on the Judgment Day, and to
command the trumpet of the archangel to sound; it is on account of these
offices that he is called the “Bannerer of Heaven.”
As captain of the heavenly
host, it devolved on Michael to conquer Lucifer and his followers, and to expel
them from heaven after their refusal to worship the Son of Man; and terrible
was the punishment he inflicted on them. Chained in mid-air, where they must
remain until the Judgment Day, they behold all that happens on earth. Man, whom
they disdained, has flourished in their sight, and wields a power that they may
well envy, while the souls of the redeemed constantly ascend to the heaven
which is closed to them. Thus are they constantly tormented by hate, and a
desire for revenge, of which they must ever despair.
Saint Michael is
represented in art as young and severely beautiful. In the earliest pictures
his drapery is always white and his wings of many colors, while his symbols,
indicating that his conquests are made by spiritual force alone, are a lance
terminating in a cross, or a sceptre. Later, it became the custom to represent
him in a costume and with such emblems as indicated the nature of the work in
which he was engaged; and except for the wings, his picture might often be
mistaken for that of a celestially radiant knight, since he is clothed in
armor, and bears a sword, shield, and lance. But his seraphic wings and his
bearing mark him as a mighty spiritual power; and this impression is increased
rather than lessened, when in all humility he is in the act of worship before
the Divine Infant, or stands in reverent attitude near the Madonna, as if to
guard her and her heaven-sent son.
When conquering Satan the
treatment is varied, but the subject is easily recognized. More frequently than
otherwise, the archangel stands on the demon, who is half human and half
dragon, wearing a suit of mail, and is about to pierce the evil spirit with a
lance or bind him in chains.
Such pictures date from
the earliest attempts in religious painting, and the same subject was
represented in ancient sculpture. Some of these works are so crude as to be
absurd, but for their manifest reverence and sincerity. An early sculpture in
the porch of the Cathedral of Cortona, probably dating from the seventh
century, presents the archangel in long, heavy robes, reaching to his feet; he
stands solidly on the back of the dragon, and as if to make the footing more
secure, the beast curls his tail in air and lifts his head as high as possible,
holding his mouth wide open, into which Saint Michael presses his lance without
a struggle. The whole effect is that of some calm and commonplace occurrence,
and is in striking contrast with the spirit of the conflict which is
represented, as well as with the superhuman combat depicted by later artists.
The dragon is personified
by a variety of horrible reptilian forms. Some artists even attempted to follow
the apocalyptic description. “For their power is in their mouth, and in their
tails: for their tails were like unto serpents, and had heads, and with them
they do hurt.”
Lucifer is not always
alone, but is sometimes surrounded by demons, who crouch with him at the feet
of Saint Michael, before whom a company of angels kneel in adoration.
During the sixteenth
century the pictures of this archangel took on the military aspect, to which I
have referred, and but for the wings would have represented Saint George, or a
Crusader of the Cross, as suitably as the great Warrior Angel.
An exquisite small
picture of this type, now in the Academy at Florence, was painted by Fra Angelico. The lance and shield and
the lambent flame above the brow are the only emblems; the latter symbolizing
spiritual fervor. The rainbow-tinted wings are raised and fully spread, meeting
above and behind the head; the armor is of a rich dark red and gold. The pose
and the expression of the countenance indicate the reserved power and the
godlike tranquillity of the celestial warrior, and fitly represent him as the
patron of the Church Militant.
The representations of
Saint Michael conquering Lucifer are so numerous and so interesting
technically, that any adequate account of them and of their artistic and
theological development would fill a volume, and might be considered rather
tiresome. I shall speak especially of two examples which are very generally
accepted as the most satisfactory of them all.
Raphaël (1483–1520), Saint Michel
terrassant le démon dit Le Grand Saint Michel, 1518 : commandé par Leo X pour François Ier, huile sur toile 1751 Bois transposé sur toile, 268 x
160, musée du Louvre. 1er étage salle 08
Denon, 1 e étage, Grande Galerie, Collection de François Ier Département des
Peintures
The first, painted by Raphael when at his best, is in the
Louvre. It was a commission from Lorenzo dei Medici, who presented it to
Francis I. The subject was doubtless chosen by Raphael as a compliment to the
sovereign, who was the Grand Master of the Order of Saint Michael, the military
patron saint of France.
It was painted on wood,
and sent with three other pictures, packed on mules, to Fontainebleau, where
Lorenzo was visiting, in May, 1518. The picture was somewhat injured on the
journey. In 1773 it was transferred to canvas, and “restored” three years
later, but at the beginning of this century the restorations were removed. We
must believe that the picture has suffered from these chances and changes, but
the fact remains that it is still a glorious work by a great master.
The beautiful young angel
does not stand upon the fiend beneath him, but, poised in air, he lightly
touches with his foot the shoulder of the demon in vulgar human form, fiery in
color, having horns and a serpent’s tail. The expression of the angel is
serious, calm, majestic, as he gazes down upon the writhing Satan, whose face,
as he struggles to raise it, is full of malignant hate. This detail is lost in
the black and white reproductions.
Michael grasps the lance
with both hands, and so natural is the action, so easy and graceful, that the
beholder instinctively waits to see the weapon do its work, while flames rise
from the earth as if impatient to engulf the disgusting demon. The head of the
angel, with its light, floating hair is against the background of the brilliant
wings, in which blue, gold, and purple are gloriously mingled; his armor is
gold and silver; a sword hangs by his side, and an azure scarf floats from his
shoulders. His legs are bare, and his feet shod with buskins, which leave the
toes uncovered. The contrast between the exquisite, angelic flesh tints, rosy
in hue, and the brown coloring of the demon, effectively emphasizes the beauty
of purity and the loathsomeness of evil.
Guido Reni (1575–1642), Archangel Michael defeats Satan, circa 1630, 293 x 202, Santa Maria della Concezione dei Cappuccini
The Saint Michael of Guido Reni so closely resembles that of
Raphael in general treatment, that it is more nearly just to compare these
works than is usually the case with pictures of the same subject by different
masters. The attitude of Guido’s saint is like that of a dancing-master when
contrasted with the pose of Raphael’s, and his demon is simply low and base,
devoid of malignity or any supreme evil.
But the head and face of
Guido’s Michael make his picture wonderful; they adequately express divine
purity and beauty, while the studied and fictitious qualities of Guido’s art –
here at their best – serve to enhance the exquisite effect of this angelic
warrior, and the picture is justly esteemed as one of the treasures of the
Cappucini at Rome.
Outside of Italian art,
the Saint Michael of Martin Schoen
is well worth notice. The figure is fully draped in a long, flowing robe and
mantle; the pose is most graceful, and the bearing of the angel dignified and
unruffled. The demon is made up of fins, a savage mouth, and numerous claws
with which to seize its victims; an entirely emblematic and most repulsive
figure.
There are occasional
pictures of the “Fall of the Angels,” in which Saint Michael contends against
the entire company of rebellious spirits. These are illustrative of the text,
“When Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought
and his angels, and the great dragon was cast out.”
The painting of such a
picture at Arezzo, about 1400, caused the death of Spinello d’Arezzo, whose
mind so dwelt upon the demons he had painted that he went mad, and fancied that
Lucifer appeared to him, and cursed him for having represented the fiend and
his angels in so revolting a manner. The horror of the artist induced a fever
of which he died.
Pierre Paul Rubens, Défaite de l’Ange déchu (guerre des anges), 1619, 438 x
291,5, Alte Pinakothek, Munich
The smaller of the two
pictures of this subject by Rubens,
in Munich, is esteemed a miracle of art. It displays the inventive power of the
great Flemish master in a wonderful tour de force, for the rebel angels are not
fallen, but falling, and tumbling headlong out of heaven, down, down, in such
confusion and affright as only Rubens could portray.
In some cases Raphael and
Gabriel are represented as witnesses of the combat between Michael and Lucifer.
To my taste, these figures, with their abundant white draperies, detract from
the simplicity and dignity of this impressive scene. Not only these archangels,
but apostles and saints are sometimes introduced, in spite of the evident
anachronism, as observers of this great spiritual struggle, while hosts of
angels are above and around the picture.
In short, the
representations of this subject, in one form and another, are almost
numberless, and can scarcely be too many, when they are regarded as embodying
the great truth of the spiritual triumph over evil.
Mrs. Jameson says: “This
is the secret of its perpetual repetition, and this the secret of the untired
complacency with which we regard it. . .and if to this primal moral
significance be added all the charm of poetry, grace, animated movement, which
human genius has lavished on this ever-blessed, ever-welcome symbol, then, as
we look up at it, we are ‘not only touched, but wakened and inspired,’ and the
whole delighted imagination glows with faith and hope, and grateful triumphant
sympathy, so, at least, I have felt, and I must believe that others have felt
it, too.”
The representations of
Saint Michael as the Lord of Souls are less numerous than those of the subjects
just mentioned, but are very interesting. In some votive pictures he appears as
the protector of those who have struggled with evil, and gained a victory. In
such pictures the angel has his foot upon the dragon, or holds a dragon’s head
in his hand, and bears the banner of victory.
Again, Michael is
represented with his scales engaged in weighing the souls of the dead; in such
pictures he is unarmed, and bears a sceptre ending in a cross. The souls are
typified by little naked human figures; the accepted spirits usually kneel in
the scales, with hands clasped as in prayer; the attitude of the rejected souls
expresses horror and agony, which is sometimes emphasized by the figure of a
demon, impatient for his prey, who reaches out his talons, or his devil’s fork,
to seize the doomed spirits.
Leonardo
da Vinci represented the angel as presenting the balance to
the Infant Jesus, who has the air of blessing the pious soul in the upper
scale. Signorelli, about 1500, painted a picture of this subject, which is in
the church of San Gregorio at Rome, in which the archangel, in a suit of mail,
stands with his wings spread out, and the balance with full scales held above a
fierce, open-mouthed dragon. The lance of the archangel has pierced through the
under jaw of the beast and entered his body, making an ugly wound, and a
hideous little demon, resting on his tiny black wings, is clutching the
condemned spirits in the lower scale.
In pictures of the
Assumption or Glorification of the Virgin, if Saint Michael is present, it is
in his office of Lord of Souls, as the legends of the Madonna teach that he
received her spirit, and guarded it until it was again united with her sinless
form.
As Lord of Souls it is
taught that Saint Michael conducted the spirits of the just to heaven, and even
cared for their bodies in some instances. The legend of Saint Catherine of
Alexandria teaches that her body was borne by angels over the desert and sea to
the top of Mount Sinai, where it was buried; and later a monastery was built over
her sepulchre. In the picture of the “Translation of Saint Catherine,” which we
give, Saint Michael is one of the four celestial bearers of the martyr saint.
In rare instances Saint
Michael was represented without wings. Such a figure standing on a dragon is a
Saint George, unless the balance is introduced. When the archangel stands upon
the dragon with the balance in his hand, he appears in his double office as
Conqueror of Satan and Lord of Souls. Memorial chapels and tombs were
frequently decorated with this subject, a notable instance being that on the
tomb of Henry VII, in Westminster Abbey.
In pictures of the Last
Judgment, Saint Michael is sometimes seen in the very act of weighing souls,
and, although I have nowhere found this explanation, it has seemed to me that
the souls being thus weighed at the last hour should symbolize those of whom
Saint Paul said, “We shall not all sleep, but we shall all be changed, in a
moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trump: for the trumpet shall
sound, and the dead shall be raised incorruptible, and we shall be changed.”
Since the Archangel
Michael was made the guardian of the Hebrew nation, he was naturally an
important actor in many scenes connected with their history. It was he who
succored Hagar in the wilderness (Genesis 21:17), who appeared to restrain
Abraham from the sacrifice of Isaac (Genesis 22:11). He brought the plagues on
Egypt and led the Israelites on their journey. The Jews and early Christians
believed that God spake through the mouth of Michael in the Burning Bush, and
by him sent the law to Moses on Mount Sinai. When Satan would have entered the
body of Moses, in order to personate the prophet and deceive the Jews, it was
Michael who contended with the Evil One, and buried the body in an unknown
place, as is distinctly stated by Jude. Signorelli chose this as the subject of
one of his frescoes in the Sistine Chapel, and I have seen no other
representation of it, although I believe that a few others exist.
It was Michael who put
blessings instead of curses into Balaam’s mouth (Numbers 22:35), who was with
Joshua in the plain of Jericho (Joshua 5:13), who appeared to Gideon (Judges
6:2), and delivered the three faithful Jews from the fiery furnace (Daniel
3:25). This last subject is one of the earliest in Christian art, and was a
symbol of the redemption of man by Jesus Christ. There are still other like
offices which Saint Michael filled as the protector of the Jews, while several
important works are attributed to him in the Apochrypha and in the Legends of
the Church.
For example, in the
apochryphal story of Bel and the Dragon, it is related that when King Cyrus had
thrown the prophet Daniel into the lions’ den, and he had been six days without
food, the angel of the Lord appeared to the prophet Habakkuk in Jewry, when he
had prepared a mess of potage for the reapers in his field, and the angel
commanded Habakkuk to carry the potage to Babylon and give it to Daniel.
“Then Habakkuk said,
‘Lord, I never saw Babylon; neither do I know where the den is.’ Then the angel
of the Lord took Habakkuk by the hair of his head, and set him in Babylon over
the lions’ den; and Habakkuk cried, saying, ‘O Daniel, Daniel, take the dinner
which God hath sent thee,’ – and the angel again set Habakkuk in his own place.”
At one period this
subject was represented on sarcophagi; but I have only seen it in prints after
the Flemish artist, Hemshirk.
In the legends of Saint
Michael we read that in the sixth century, when the plague was raging in Rome,
and processions threaded the streets chanting the service since known as the
Great Litanies, the Archangel Michael appeared, hovering over the city. He
alighted on the summit of the Mausoleum of Hadrian and sheathed his sword, from
which blood was dripping. From that hour the plague was stayed, and from that
day the Mausoleum, which is surmounted by a statue of the Archangel, has been
called the Castle of Sant’ Angelo.
The legends also give an
account of two appearances of Saint Michael when he commanded the erection of
churches; one at Monte Galgano, on the east coast of Italy, and the second at
Avranches in Normandy. The first site was found to cover a wonderful stream of
water, which cured many diseases, and made the church of Monte Galgano a much
frequented place of pilgrimage.
The church in Normandy is
on the celebrated Mont Saint Michael, and is famous in all Christian countries.
From the time when the angel appeared to Saint Aubert, the bishop, and
commanded him to build the church, this saint was greatly venerated in France,
and was made patron of France and of the order which Saint Louis instituted in
his honor.
The first church erected
here was small, but Richard of Normandy and William the Conquerer raised a
magnificent abbey, which overlooked the most picturesque scenery, and for this
reason, if no other, remains a much frequented spot.
The old English coin
called an angel was so named from the representation of Saint Michael which was
stamped upon it.
The pictures of Saint
Michael announcing to the Virgin Mary the time of her death, bear so strong a
resemblance to those of the Annunciation, that it is necessary to remember that
these have the symbols of a palm on a lighted taper in the hand of the angel,
instead of the lily of the Archangel Gabriel, as is seen in our illustration of
a beautiful picture in the Florentine Academy.
The legend relates that
on a certain day the heart of Mary was filled with an inexpressible longing to
see her Son, and she wept sorely, when lo! an angel clothed in light appeared
before her, saluting her, and saying, “Hail, O Mary! blessed by Him who hath
given salvation to Israel! I bring thee here a branch of palm gathered in
paradise; command that it be carried before thy bier in the day of thy death;
for in three days thy soul shall leave thy body, and thou shalt enter into
paradise where thy Son awaits thy coming.” Mary answering, said: “If I have
found grace in thy sight tell me thy name, and grant that the Apostles may be
reunited to me, that in their presence I may give up my soul to God. Also, I
pray thee, that after death my soul may not be affrighted by any spirit of
darkness, nor any evil angel be given power over me.” And the archangel
replied: “My name is the Great and Wonderful. Doubt not that the Apostles shall
be with thee today, for he who transported the prophet Habakkuk by the hair of
his head to the lions’ den, can also bring hither the Apostles. Fear thou not
the evil spirit, for thou hast bruised his head, and destroyed his kingdom.”
And the angel departed, and the palm branch shed light from every leaf and
sparkled as the stars of heaven.
And the duty of the
archangel was thus fulfilled until he should again appear as Lord of Souls to
receive the spirit of the Virgin, to guard it until it should again inhabit her
sinless body.
SOURCE : https://catholicsaints.info/angels-in-art-the-archangel-michael/
Blasco de Grañén (–1459), Sant
Miquel Arcàngel, 183 x 80,2, Museu Nacional d'Art de
Catalunya
Butler’s
Lives of the Saints – The Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel
Almighty God displayeth
the riches of his goodness, power, and glory in the production of his
creatures; and in them he manifesteth his own perfections. The whole world is
as it were one great temple, where the divine presence shines, as it did in the
Jewish at the time of its dedication, in visible glory. We owe to him a tribute
of praise and thanksgiving for all his works, but more particularly for the
noble and pure intelligences on whom he has stamped his own spiritual image in
a more perfect manner. He hath enriched them with the treasures of his grace,
and of spotless sanctity, and hath made them the immortal and blessed
inhabitants of his heavenly kingdom. They are, by the perfection of their
nature, superior to man, who seems to hold the lowest rank in the scale of
rational beings, and to be the link between the spiritual and the material
world; he being, by his body, allied to matter, and by his soul to the
celestial intelligences. He is therefore in natural perfections essentially
inferior and subordinate to those pure spirits; nevertheless, in grace he may
surpass them; and the Church assures us, that the Blessed Virgin transcends
their highest Orders. Upon their creation, God placed them in a state of
meriting; and, whilst Lucifer and his adherents fell by pride, and were changed
into devils, the good spirits persevering in justice, were confirmed in grace,
and crowned with glory.
It is manifest from the
holy scriptures, that God is pleased to make frequent use of the ministry of
the heavenly spirits in the dispensations of his providence in this world, and
especially towards man. Hence the name of angel (which is not properly a
denomination of nature, but office) has been appropriated to them, especially
to a certain order among them. The fathers from the sacred oracles distinguish
nine orders of these holy spirits, namely: the seraphim, cherubim, and thrones;
dominations, principalities and powers; virtues, archangels and angels. Though
many think that the apostle hath not enumerated all the ranks of those noble
beings. Saint Gregory the Great, and the ancient author of the book on the
celestial hierarchy, commonly ascribed to Saint Dionysius the Areopagite,
divide these nine orders into three hierarchies, and each of these again into
three ranks. Each order amongst them hath its characteristical perfections and
functions, by which the spirits which compose it, in a particular manner, set
forth and glorify some attribute of the Deity: one, his supreme dominion and
power, another his strength; the cherubim his omniscience or boundless
knowledge, the seraphim his infinite love. Archangels are those spirits whom
God makes his ambassadors in the execution of his greatest designs. The angels
he employs in his ordinary dispensations to men. Their numbers are exceeding
great, they being represented in scripture by thousands of thousands, and ten
thousand times ten thousand: and it is written in the book of Job, “Is there
any numbering of his soldiers?” These numberless armies of glorious spirits are
the bright ornaments of the heavenly Jerusalem. They are called by Saint
Clement of Alexandria, “The first-begotten of God.” And by Saint Sophronius,
“The living images and representatives of God.” As a skilful architect, he
polishes more those stones which he destines to a more noble rank, and to more
excellent purposes.
The angels are all pure
spirits; that is, they are uncompounded immaterial substances, or subsisting
simple beings, which have no parts, as bodies and matter have. In them nothing
is to be found of colour, shape, extension, or any other qualities of matter.
They are, by a property of their nature, immortal, as every spirit is. For a
simple entity, or what has no parts, can only perish by annihilation, which is
a supernatural act of divine omnipotence, no less than creation. On the
contrary, a body being compounded of parts, in naturally mortal; being
obnoxious to continual vicissitudes, and liable to perish by a separation or
dissolution of its parts. Hence the bodies of the elect, after the general resurrection
will be immortal only by a gift of grace. As in their nature, so in its
properties and appendices do the angels surpass inferior creatures. Their
subtilty, quickness of penetration, extensive knowledge and science in natural
things, are undoubtedly perfect in proportion to the excellency of their
beings, inasmuch as they are pure intelligences. It is no less certain that
they enjoy the faculty of communicating to each other their thoughts and
conceptions, which Saint Paul calls the tongues of angels. Their discourse can
only be intellectual, as Theodoret observes, but must on that account be the
more perfect. The prophets frequently express it as a peculiar and
distinguishing property of God alone, that he is the searcher of hearts; so
that his all-seeing eye always penetrates into their most hidden recesses, and
no creature can conceal anything from him before whom all things are light. In
what manner the angels communicate their thoughts or understand those of
others, we are not able clearly to determine. Saint Thomas and divines usually
teach, with Saint Gregory, that God speaks to his angels by interiorly
discovering to them his will, and by inspiring them with a sweet inclination to
execute all his orders; and that these pure spirits speak to one another by the
interior desire or will of communicating their thoughts and sentiments. By
whatever means the angels understand the language of their fellow spirits, by
the like they may hear the desires of a human soul, such at least as are
addressed to them, or which it concerns them to know. Our guardian angels may
in an instant convey or intimate our concerns to spirits that are remote; and
God also can immediately reveal our thoughts, when he pleases, to them. That
they know our concerns, and by charity interest themselves in them, is certain,
or there could not be “joy in heaven, and before the angels of God over one
sinner doing penance.” Even devils can suggest to our minds evil thoughts,
paint in the imagination dangerous objects, frequently see the consent of the
human heart, and accuse men at the divine tribunal. That spirits have a natural
power of exerting their agency on bodies, is proved from several instances in
holy writ, not only of good angels, but also of devils, when God doth not restrain
their natural strength. Evil spirits slew the seven first incontinent husbands
of Sarah, hurled the swine into the lake, and carried Christ in the air Angels
have the power of moving or conveying themselves from place to place; in which
they are swift even as our thought: and such is their activity, that it is not
easy for us to conceive it. If light comes from the sun to our eye in seven
minutes, it must travel 200,000 miles in a second. Yet this is corporeal
motion, which essentially requires succession of time. But the motion of a
spirit, from the highest heaven to the lowest point in the universe is
instantaneous.
This is an imperfect
abstract of what divines deliver from the oracles of holy writ, concerning the
nature and properties of the good spirits. But unspeakably more transcendent
and more admirable are the noble spiritual endowments of grace, and the riches
of immortal glory with which they are adorned. They are the spotless ministers
who approach nearest to the throne of God: and, in the contemplation of his
infinite beauty, and incomprehensible perfections, drink plentifully of the
fountain of his holy joy and love; pouring forth with all their strength,
without intermission, to eternity, a perfect spiritual homage of profound
adoration and praise, to the glory of his holy name. Though in this imperfect
state of human nature we can have but very weak notions of the transcendent
powers and faculties of superior spiritual beings, revelation has, in part,
supplied the defect, and drawn aside the veil, letting us into some knowledge
of this immaterial world of spirits. The holy scripture accordingly admonishes
us to watch and stand upon our guard against the malice and snares of the
wicked apostate spirits, who, by their, evil suggestions, endeavour to seduce
and draw us into sin. It also assures us, that the good angels are often
employed by God in ministering to us, and that they frequently lend us their
friendly succours. It further informs us, that when the material curtain of our
body, which at present hides from our eyes the invisible spiritual world, shall
be rent asunder, immediately a sudden torrent of light will break in upon us,
and we shall see ourselves in the midst of those bright legions. The wicked
indeed shall find themselves in darkness, under the arrest and tyranny of the
accursed spirits, which were here their tempters, and will be hereafter their
tormentors, and their companions in unquenchable flames. But a guard of holy
angels will conduct the soul of every just man, like Lazarus, to the abodes of
light, and it shall be associated to the millions of millions of happy spirits,
being itself a kindred spirit.
Among the holy
archangels, three are particularly distinguished in holy writ: Saints Michael,
Gabriel, and Raphael. Saint Michael, whom the church honours this day, was the
prince of the faithful angels who opposed Lucifer and his associates in their
revolt against God. Michael, in Hebrew, signifies, Who is like God? This was,
as it were, his motto, when by humility he repressed the pride of that apostate
angel, and set up the standard against him. He continues to protect the saints
from his assaults. When the body of Moses was ordered to be secretly buried,
lest it should prove an occasion of idolatry or superstition to the Jews, who
had been accustomed to see the superstitious practices of the Egyptians towards
their dead princes and friends, the devil attempted to prevent the execution of
the divine order, that he might insult the body, or make it an object of the
people’s sin. But Saint Michael checked his insolence, not commanding him in
his own name, but with humility, intimating to him the command of God to
desist. As the devil is the sworn enemy of God’s holy church, Saint Michael is
its special protector against his assaults and stratagems: in this quality he
was the defender of the Jewish synagogue, as is gathered from Daniel, and
Zachary; and it appears from the most ancient books of the Rabbins, that he was
always acknowledged such by the Hebrews; who even think he was the angel that
conducted them into the promised land, and was the instrument or minister of
God in giving them the law, and in other signal favours. This holy archangel
has ever been honoured in the Christian Church, under the same title as her
guardian under God, and as the protector of the faithful; for God is pleased to
employ the zeal and charity of the good angels and their leader against the
malice of the devil. To thank his adorable goodness for this benefit of his
merciful providence, is this festival instituted by the church in honour of the
good angels: in which devotion she has been encouraged by several apparitions
of this glorious archangel. Among others it is recorded, that Saint Michael, in
a vision, admonished the bishop of Siponto to build a church in his honour on
Mount Gargano, now called Monte-de-Sant-Angelo, in the Capitanate, near
Manfredonia, in the kingdom of Naples. This history is confirmed by Sigebert in
his chronicle, and by the ancient tradition of the churches of that country, and
is approved authentic by the judicious critic Mabillon, who visited those
places, and examined the records and monuments. This church was erected in the
fifth century, and is a place of great devotion. When the Emperor Otho III had,
contrary to his word, put to death, for rebellion, Crescentius, a Roman
senator; being touched with remorse, he cast himself at the feet of Saint
Romuald, who, in satisfaction for his crime, enjoined him to walk barefoot, on
a penitential pilgrimage, to Saint Michael’s on Mount Gargano: which penance he
performed in 1002, as Saint Peter Damian relates. In France, Aubert, bishop of
Avranches, moved, it is said, by certain visions, built, in 708, a church in
honour of Saint Michael, on a barren rock which hangs over the sea, between
Normandy and Brittany. In the tenth age, this collegiate church was changed
into a great Benedictin abbey. In imitation of this was the famous church of
Saint Michael refounded in Cornwall, in the reign of William the Conqueror, by
William earl of Moreton, on a mountain which the tide encompasses. It is said
by Borlace, the learned and accurate antiquarian of Cornwall, that this church
of Saint Michael was first built in the fifth century. The Greeks mention, in
their Menæa, a famous apparition of Saint Michael at Chone, the ancient Colossæ
in Phrygia. Many apparitions of good angels in favour of men are recorded, both
in the Old and New Testament. It is mentioned in particular of this special
guardian and protector of the church, that, in the persecution of Antichrist,
he will powerfully stand up in her defence: At that time shall Michael rise up,
the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people. He is not only
the protector of the church, but of every faithful soul. He defeated the devil
by humility; we are enlisted in the same warfare. His arms were humility and
ardent love of God; the same must be our weapons. We ought to regard this
archangel as our leader under God: and, courageously resisting the devil in all
his assaults, to cry out: Who can be compared to God? On the good angels, see
more, September 29, and October 2.
MLA
Citation
Father Alban Butler. “The
Apparition of Saint Michael the Archangel”. Lives
of the Fathers, Martyrs, and Principal Saints, 1866. CatholicSaints.Info.
5 May 2013. Web. 25 September 2024.
<https://catholicsaints.info/butlers-lives-of-the-saints-the-apparition-of-saint-michael-the-archangel/>
Santuario
di Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, province de Foggia, Pouilles.
Santuario di Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, province de Foggia, Pouilles.
Santuario di Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, province de Foggia, Pouilles.
Santuario
di Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, province de Foggia, Pouilles.
Santuario di Monte Sant'Angelo sul Gargano, province de Foggia, Pouilles
The Dedication of St.
Michael’s Church
[Or, the Festival of St.
Michael and All the Holy Angels.] THIS festival has been kept with
great solemnity on the 29th of September ever since the fifth age, and was
certainly celebrated in Apulia in 493. The dedication of the famous church of
St. Michael on Mount Gargano, in Italy, 1 gave
occasion to the institution of this feast in the West, which is hence called in
the Martyrologies of St. Jerom, Bede, and others, The dedication of St.
Michael. The dedication of St. Michael’s church in Rome, upon Adrian’s Mole,
which was performed by Pope Boniface IV. in 610, and that of several other
churches in the West, in honour of this arch-angel, were performed on this same
day. 2 Churches
were likewise erected in the East, in honour of St. Michael and other holy
angels, from the time when the Christian worship was publicly established by
the conversion of Constantine, doubtless upon the model of little oratories and
churches, which had been formerly raised in the intervals of the general
persecutions, in which storms they were again thrown down. Sozomen informs us,
that Constantine the Great built a famous church in honour of this glorious
archangel, called Michaelion, and that in it the sick were often cured, and
other wonders wrought through the intercession of St. Michael. This historian
assures us, that he had often experienced such relief here himself; and he
mentions the miraculous cures of Aquilin, an eminent lawyer, and of Probian, a
celebrated physician, wrought in the same place. This church stood about four
miles from Constantinople; a monastery was afterwards built contiguous to it.
Four churches in honour of St. Michael stood in the city of Constantinople
itself; their number was afterwards increased to fifteen, which were built by
several emperors. 3
Though only St. Michael
be mentioned in the title of this festival, it appears from the prayers of the
church that all the good angels are its object, together with this glorious
prince and tutelar angel of the church. On it we are called upon, in a
particular manner, to give thanks to God for the glory which the angels enjoy,
and to rejoice in their happiness. Secondly, to thank him for his mercy to us
in constituting such glorious beings to minister to our salvation, by aiding
and assisting us. Thirdly, to join them in adoring and praising God with all
possible ardour, desiring and praying that we may do his will on earth with the
utmost fidelity, fervour, and purity of affection, as it is done by these
blessed spirits in heaven; and that we may study to sanctify our souls in
imitation of the spotless angels to whom we are associated. Lastly, we are
invited to honour, and implore the intercession and succour of the holy angels.
Supreme honour
called Latria is essentially reserved to God alone; nor can it ever
be given to any creature without incurring the most heinous guilt of idolatry,
and high treason against the majesty of God. This honour is paid by the
offering of sacrifice, or by any direct or indirect acknowledgment of the
divinity or any divine attribute residing in another. But there is an inferior
or subaltern honour which is due to superior excellency in creatures. Such is
that civil honour which the law of God expressly commands us to pay to parents,
princes, magistrates, and all superiors; also some degree of a religious honour
which the scriptures and law of nature teach us to be due to priests or the
ministers of God, and which even the most wicked of kings often paid to
prophets, who, as to the world, were mean and obscure persons. This inferior
honour differs from divine or supreme honour, as much as infinity in the object
does from what is finite; nor can it be any way derogatory from that which is
due to God, whom it honours in his creatures, whose perfections it acknowledges
merely to be its gifts. The respect which is shown to a governor or an
ambassador is not injurious, but is highly agreeable and honourable to his
master, on whose account it is paid, and whose dignity and authority are
considered in those whom he has made in any part the depositaries of it. This
duty which the law of nature dictates, is inculcated by those words of the
apostle: Render to all men their due.—Honour to whom honour. 4 Hence
St. Bernard expresses no more than what all men must necessarily approve, when
he says: “Give to every one honour according to his dignity.” 5 Honour
being no more than a testimony which we bear to another’s excellency, who can
deny this to be due to the most sublime, most perfect, most holy, and most
glorious heavenly spirits? Abraham prostrated himself before the angels whom he
received in his tent. 6 Daniel
did the same before one whom he saw upon the Tigris. 7 God
commanded the Israelites to fear and respect the angel whom he sent to be their
conductor into the promised land. 8 The
first consideration for which the holy angels claim our respect, is that of the
excellency of their nature, in which they are essentially of an order superior
to men, being pure spirits, exempt from the weaknesses of our frail earthly
frame, and endued with more noble faculties and qualities, suited to the
perfection and simplicity of their unbodied and uncompounded being. Secondly,
the gifts of grace and glory are proportioned in them to the superiority of
their nature; and the scriptures speak of angels as absolutely above men,
though some particular saints may, for ought we know, enjoy a greater felicity
than many angels; and the Blessed Virgin is exalted in glory above all the
heavenly spirits. Nor can any order of the highest spirits boast of an honour
or dignity equal to that which is conferred on mankind by the mystery of the
incarnation, in which the Son of God, who took not the nature of angels,
assumed that of men, 9 and
as man is constituted by his Father Lord of all creatures. Had the blessed
angels no other title to command our veneration, this alone suffices, that they
enjoy a state of bliss and glory, are the high courtiers of heaven, who stand
always in the presence of God, are his officers who surround his throne, and
his faithful ministers in executing in all things his holy will.
A circumstance in the
blessed angels which above all others is most amiable and pleasing to devout
souls, and must particularly excite their praise and reverence, is the constant
and perfect fidelity of these holy spirits to God. Their innocence and sanctity
were never tarnished with the least spot or stain, the purity of their
affections was never debased by the least mixture of any thing inordinate, and
the ardour with which they love God, and exert all their powers to serve him,
and do his holy will, never admits the least abatement. If we love God, and
rejoice when he is served and praised; if we grieve to see him forgotten and
offended by men on earth; if we have the least spark of zeal for his glory,
nothing will give us greater joy than to consider with what perfect fidelity he
is served, and with what ardour and purity of affection he is loved and praised
in heaven. Even those who serve him best on earth, acquit themselves of these
duties very imperfectly amidst the snares and distractions of this life. But
the blessed angels are creatures perfectly holy, who, without either division
or abatement in their affections, or interruption in their happy employment,
obey, love, and glorify God with all their powers. Always employed in the
delightful contemplation of his infinite goodness, and other amiable
perfections, swallowed up in the ocean of his love, they never cease crying out
with all their might: Holy, Holy, Holy, the Lord God of Hosts; all the
earth is full of his glory, which shineth forth in all his works. 10 They
cease not day or night saying, Holy, Holy, Holy Lord God Almighty, who was, and
who is, and who is to come. 11 In
the most profound annihilation of themselves they give all honour and glory to
him alone, and professing their crowns to be entirely his gifts they cast them
at his feet, and sing: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to receive glory, and
honour, and power, &c. 12 Burning
with the most ardent love, and the most eager desire to praise more and more perfectly
his infinite goodness and greatness, they continually repeat their hymns with
new jubilation and an earnestness to outdo themselves, as they are every moment
inebriated with fresh overflowing joy, and pierced more deeply with the darts
of his sweet love. The psalmist, who felt in some degree the impetuosity of
this impulse in his own breast, knew no stronger motive to invite them to love
and praise God with all their powers, than their own insatiable and boundless
ardour for this holy duty and employment. He therefore cries out to
them: Bless the Lord, all you his angels; you that are mighty in strength,
and execute his word, hearken to the voice of his orders. Bless the Lord, all
you his hosts; you his ministers who do his will. 13 Can
we call to mind those holy and glorious spirits without being penetrated with love
and veneration? O truly happy creatures! we also desire to love and praise God;
and we condemn the faintness of our desires. We rejoice in your ardour, and by
it we pray you incessantly to praise God both for yourselves and us, pouring
forth all your affections, and enlarging and exerting all your powers, with the
utmost effort of your strength; because he is infinitely above the love and
praise of all creatures: he infinitely transcends all things out of himself,
nor can the most perfect homage of all created beings ever be commensurate to
his greatness, goodness, mercy, and boundless majesty. Whilst we invite you to
his praise, with what regret, alas! do we reflect that we have often sinned,
and daily continue to heap offences against him! Oh! may we cease to sin; may
your flames, holy angels, kindle a fire of the like holy love in our souls. In
our devotions we will unite our praises with those which you incessantly pour
forth in your heavenly choirs, and animate ourselves to fervour by your example
in this great employment.
Another motive why we
ought to love and honour the holy angels is our relation and close affinity
with them. Our souls are spiritual and immortal like them; and by sanctifying
grace are their co-heiresses and fellow-members. They are glorious citizens of
heaven, and we are called to be one day their companions. They will receive an
additional accidental glory from our company, who are to repair their
losses, and fill the seats forfeited by their apostate fellows. We are to be
eternally united with them in bliss and love, and are already united by grace,
and the communion of saints. They are called the sons of God, 14 so
are we. And in the communion of saints, which we profess in our creed, the good
angels are comprised; for we enjoy with them a holy partnership founded on many
titles, and we are linked with them by many sacred bands and alliances. By
virtue of this communion we owe them love and veneration, and receive from them
many benefits and succours, especially by their patronage and intercession.
God is pleased frequently
to employ the ministry of his angels in affording us many helps, and in the
government of this lower world. He can do all things by the simple act of his
own will, and stands not in need of ministers to execute his decrees, as
earthly kings do. It is not from any want of power, but merely from his
infinite goodness and wisdom that he employs superior spirits in various
dispensations of his providence concerning men. Zeal for the divine honour,
fidelity in executing his will, and affection and charity for us make these
holy spirits most diligent in their commission. Upon how many occasions were
Abraham, Jacob, Moses, and other patriarchs and prophets favoured with
apparitions and visions of these holy spirits! How many mysteries did they
reveal! How many blessings did they bring from God sometimes to the church in
general, sometimes to his faithful servants in particular! How many evils, both
public and private, do they often avert! An angel sent by God relieved and
comforted Agar in her despair. 15 Other
angels delivered Lot from the burning of Sodom, 16 the
three children from the flames, 17 Daniel
from the lions, 18 St.
Peter from his chains, 19 and
the apostles out of their dungeon. 20 God
gave his law to the Jews by an angel who was his ambassador. 21 By
angels he showed to St. John the future state of his church, 22 and
many wonderful visions to Daniel 23 and
other prophets. They were his messengers in the execution of the principal
mysteries relating to the incarnation, birth, flight, temptation, and agony of
Christ. An angel conducted the Israelites into the land of promise. 24 The
apostle St. Jude mentions a contest which St. Michael had with the devil about
the burial of the body of Moses, and recommends humility, piety, and modesty in
behaviour by the example of this archangel, who on that occasion used no curse,
no harsh or reproachful word, but to repress the malicious fiend only
said: The Lord command thee. 25 St.
John describes a great battle of St. Michael and the good angels with the devil
and his angels, 26 which
seems by the context not to belong properly to the expulsion of these latter
out of heaven when they sinned, but to some efforts of the evil spirits, when
they were vanquished by Christ in the mystery of our redemption. By this
victory of St. Michael we see the concern of the good angels for the salvation
of man, and the activity and success with which they exert themselves in his
behalf. Angels carried the soul of Lazarus into the place of rest. 27 Their
host will descend with Christ at the last day, and will assemble men before his
tribunal. 28 The
holy scriptures assure us, that the angels are the ministers of God appointed
to execute his orders, and to do his will in our favour. 29 God
promises their ministry and succour to all who serve him. 30 Who
is not astonished at the condescension with which the archangel Raphael
accompanied the young Toby, and rescued him from all dangers? An angel wrestled
all night with Jacob: another carried Habacuc by the hair to Babylon, to feed
Daniel in the lions’ den.
That the good angels
often intercede with God for us, and that their patronage is piously invoked,
is an article of the Catholic faith. Jacob entreated with earnestness the angel
with whom he had wrestled, that he would give him his blessing: 31 and
on his death-bed he prayed the angel who had conducted and protected him, to
bless his grandchildren Ephraim and Manasses. 32 If
the angels give us their blessing, and do us greater offices, can we imagine
that they do not pray to God for us? If Jacob prayed to his angel, this was
certainly consonant to true religion and the practice of pious persons. The
devils entreat God for permission to use their natural craft and strength to
assail men with extraordinary temptations, as they did with regard to Job 33 and
the apostles. 34 Christ
prayed for St. Peter, that his faith should not fail under the assaults of
Satan. The angels who are solicitous for us oppose these efforts of Satan
against us, by praying for us, and otherwise. The prophet Daniel was informed
in his visions how vigorously the guardian angel of Persia interposed in favour
of that country, and much more what good offices Michael and other angels did
for the Jews, in removing obstacles which retarded their return from the
captivity. The angel Gabriel told Daniel that he had exerted his efforts for this
purpose in Persia one-and-twenty days, and that Michael, the prince or guardian
angel of the Jews, came to his help, 35 so
that they conquered the impediments. Gabriel added: 36 From
the first year of Darius the Mede, I stood up that he might be strengthened and
confirmed; viz.: to promote the deliverance of God’s people. The same
prophet, speaking of the cruel persecution of Antiochus, says: 37 At
that time Michael shall rise up, the great prince that standeth for the
children of thy people. This implies that Michael would support the
Machabees, and other defenders of God’s people, whose protector this archangel
was. Standing up for them must mean principally by praying for them, as it is said
of the priests and Levites. 38 More
ancient books of the holy scripture mention visible succours of holy angels
which the Jews, in their deliverance from the slavery of Egypt, and passage to
Canaan experienced; also many among the patriarchs, several among the judges of
the Jewish nation, and others. From the traditionary notion of such
interpositions of good spirits in favour of men, the Gentiles derived one part
of their monstrous idolatry, into which they fell by a blind abuse of the most
sacred truths; of which Dr. Lucas, an eminent Protestant divine, writes as
follows: 39 “When
I read that angels are the ministering spirits of God; when I read in Daniel of
the princes of Græcia and Persia, and find that provinces were committed to
angels as the viceroys and lieutenants of God, I cannot think that those devout
and charitable spirits did with less zeal in their provinces labour to promote
the honour of God and the good of man, than evil spirits did the dishonour of
the one, and the ruin of the other. And unless the frequent appearances of
angels in the beginning had possessed men’s minds with a firm persuasion that
there was a constant commerce maintained between heaven and earth; and that
spirits very frequently did visibly engage themselves in the protection and
assistance of men; I cannot as much as imagine what foundation there could be
for the numerous impostures of oracles, or upon what ground the custom of
putting themselves under the patronage of some tutelar spirit, could so
generally have prevailed in the pagan world. I do not therefore doubt but that
the Gentile world received very many good offices and advantages from good angels,
as well as suffered many mischiefs from evil ones,” &c.
It is clear from several
of the above-mentioned examples, and many other passages of the holy
scriptures, that the good angels pray for us. The prophet Zacharias was
favoured with a vision of angels in the seventieth year of the desolation of
Jerusalem and the cities of Juda, dated from the beginning of the siege of
Jerusalem, in the ninth year of Sedecias; which seventieth year was the second
of Darius Hystaspis, and the eighteenth from the beginning of the reign of
Cyrus in Babylon, and the end of the captivity. The prophet saw an angel in the
shape of a man (probably Michael, the protector of the Jews) standing in a
grove of myrtle trees, and several angels, the guardians of other provinces,
came to him and said: We have walked through the earth, and behold, all
the earth is inhabited, and is at rest. Then the angel made this
prayer: O Lord of hosts, how long wilt thou not have mercy on Jerusalem,
and on the cities of Juda, with which thou hast been angry? This is now the
seventieth year. 40 The
Lord answered his prayer, that he would return to Jerusalem in mercies, and
that his house should be built in it. In the book of Job, Elihu says: 41 If
there shall be an angel speaking for him among thousands; that is, if an
angel chosen out of a thousand to be the guardian of a sinner, shall pray to
God for him, and bring him to repentance, the sick sinner shall recover his
health. The angel Raphael told Toby: When thou didst pray with tears, I
offered thy prayers to the Lord, 42 doubtless
to recommend them to God by his own intercession. St. John saw an angel
offering to God the prayers of all the saints. 43 If
the good angels pray for us, and often present our supplications to God, in
order to strengthen them by their own prayers, they certainly know and hear our
petitions. Jacob could not pray to the angel that he would bless his two boys, 44 if
the angel could not hear him. Isaias had no sooner complained that his lips
were defiled, but a seraph purified them with a burning coal from the altar. 45 How
can the angels be offended at scandals given to the little ones, who are
committed by God to their charge, 46 if
they do not know them? How could they otherwise represent to God the
afflictions of his people, as the prophets so often mention? In the first
chapter of Zacharias the good angels (and the devil in the first and second
chapters of Job) are said to walk over the earth, and to lay before God both
the prayers and good works, and the neglects and sins of men; not as if he by
his own all-piercing eye did not see them, but as witnesses of their actions,
the ministers of divine providence in its dispensations towards them, and the
patrons and defenders, or the accusers of our souls.
The church has always
invoked, and paid a religious honour to the holy angels. 47 Origen
teaches, that they assist us in our devotions, and join their supplications to
ours. “The angel of the Christian,” says he, “offers his prayers to God through
the only high priest; himself also praying for him who is committed to his
charge.” 48 He
tells us, that the angels carry up our prayers to God, and bring back his
blessings and gifts to us; but that Christians do not invoke or adore them as
they do God. 49 He
addresses a prayer to the angel of a person who is going to be baptized, that
he would instruct him. 50 The
martyr Nemesian and his companions, writing to St. Cyprian, say: “Let us assist
one another by our prayers, and beg that we may have God and Christ and the
angels favourers in all our actions.” 51 St.
Gregory Nazianzen writes: “The angelical powers are a succour to us in all
good.” 52 He
prays the good angels to receive his soul at the hour of death; and threatens
the devil with the sign of the cross, if he should approach him. 53 St.
Ephrem says of heaven: “Where all the angels and saints of God reign, praying
the Lord for us.” 54 He
repeats, that the angels with joy offer our prayers to God. 55 The
English Protestants have retained in their book of Common Prayer the collect of
this day, in which we desire Almighty God “to grant that, as his holy angels
always do him service in heaven, so, by his appointment, they may defend and
succour us upon earth.”
If we desire to live for
ever in the company of the holy angels, we must lead on earth the life of
angels. We must learn here to converse with God by assiduous prayer and holy
contemplation, and to walk in his presence by frequent aspirations, withdrawing
our minds, as much as we can, from a vain distracting world; adoring and loving
God, rejoicing in him, bending our wills cheerfully under all his appointments,
and studying with our whole strength to obey his law, and fulfil his holy will
in all things. We must also work our minds into the holy temper and
dispositions of the blessed angels, putting on the same perfect humility, the
same uninterrupted tranquillity, constancy, meekness, patience, pure and
vehement love of God, and zeal for his glory, with all other virtues. Neither
do certain transient acts suffice to denominate a person meek, humble, or
virtuous; these dispositions must be wrought into his very frame, and be the
firm, habitual, permanent, reigning affections of his soul. They must, as far
as our state will allow, be pure without allay, or mixture of anything
inordinate or irregular. No one can be admitted into the society of the
spotless angels, or stand in the presence of a God of infinite purity and
sanctity; no one can find a place in the region of the blessed, who is not
perfectly without spot or blemish: There shall not enter into it any thing
defiled. 56 All
infection of inordinate passions or vicious self-love, must be purged away. How
great a task have we upon our hands! but how noble and happy is the pursuit!
Perfectly to subdue all our passions, to counteract and reform all our vicious
inclinations, and to acquire, cherish, and constantly improve all virtues. This
is not done by broken and interrupted essays and attempts, but by a vigorous
and constant application of the means, and repeated fervent acts of all
virtues.
Note 1. See Baillet,
Thomassin, &c. [back]
Note 2. This
festival has been celebrated in the church with great solemnity ever since the
sixth century. It was enacted in the ecclesiastical laws of King Ethelred in
England, in the year 1014, “That every Christian who is of age, fast three days
on bread and water, and raw herbs, before the feast of St. Michael, and let
every man go to confession and to church barefoot.—Let every priest with his
people go in procession three days barefoot, and let every one’s commons for
three days be prepared without anything of flesh, as if they themselves were to
eat it, both in meat and drink, and let all this be distributed to the poor.
Let every servant be excused from labour these three days, that he may the
better perform his fast, or let him work what he will for himself. These are
the three days, Monday, Tuesday, and Wednesday, next before the feast of St.
Michael. If any servant break his fast, let him make satisfaction with his
hide, (bodily stripes,) let the poor freeman pay thirty pence, the king’s thane
a hundred and thirty shillings; and let the money be divided to the poor.” See
Sir Henry Spelman’s Councils, vol. i. p. 530, and Johnson’s Collection of the
Canons of the Church of England, t. 1, an. 1014. Michaelmas-day is mentioned
among the great feasts in the Saxon Chronicle on the year 1011; in the Saxon
Menology of the ninth century, published by Mr. Wanley (in Lingue. Aquilon.
Thes. l. 2, p. 107,) and in the English Calendar published by Dr. Hicks. (in
his Saxon Grammar, p. 102, &c.) [back]
Note 3. See Du
Cange, Descript. Constantinop. [back]
Note 5. S. Bern.
Serm. de Obed. [back]
Note 8. Exod. xxiii.
21. [back]
Note 11. Apoc. iv.
8. [back]
Note 12. Ibid. v.
11. [back]
Note 13. Ps. cii.
20, 21. [back]
Note 14. Job i.
6, xxxviii.
7. [back]
Note 15. Gen. xvi.
8, xxi.
17. [back]
Note 16. Gen. xxii.
19. [back]
Note 21. Act. vii.
52, and Heb. ii.
2. [back]
Note 22. Apoc. i.
1. [back]
Note 23. Dan. viii. ix. x. [back]
Note 24. Exod. xiv.
21, and Numb. xx.
16. [back]
Note 26. Apoc. xii.
7. [back]
Note 28. Matt. xxiv.
&c. [back]
Note 29. Ps. ciii.
4, cii. 20. [back]
Note 30. Ps. xxxiii.
8, cx. 11, Baruch vi. 6. [back]
Note 31. Gen. xxxii.
26. [back]
Note 32. Gen. xlviii.
26. [back]
Note 34. Luke xxii.
41. [back]
Note 39. Lucas’s
Inquiry after Happiness, t. 1, ch. 3, p. 74. [back]
Note 40. Zachar. i.
12. [back]
Note 41. Job xxxiii.
23. [back]
Note 42. Tob. xii.
12. [back]
Note 43. Apoc. viii.
3, 4. [back]
Note 47. St. Paul
condemns a superstitious worship of angels, (Coloss. ii.
18,) and the ancient council of Laodicea declares the same to be idolatry.
(Can. 35, t. 1, p. 468.) Here is meant a superstitious worship introduced by
certain heretics. St. Jerom and St. Clement of Alexandria (l. 6, Strom. p.
636,) testify, that many Jews at that time adored the angels and stars. Among
the heretics of the infant church, the Simonians, Cerinthians, and several
others, pretended that this world was framed and governed by angels, with many
ridiculous extravagancies concerning them, as we read in St. Irenæus, St.
Clement of Alexandria, St. Epiphanius, Tertullian, St. Austin, and Theodoret.
Hence these heretics worshipped the angels, some in an idolatrous manner,
others with superstitious notions and practices. This worship was evidently
superstitious, and highly criminal, and was condemned as such. But we must not
hence infer, says Balsamon, (who flourished in the twelfth century,) that the
honour which is due to the angels was ever censured. (Comm. in Can. Conc.
Laodic.) Estius thinks the superstitions of these heretics regarded the Genii
or imaginary tutelary spirits of the idolaters, who derived their notions of
them from a corrupted tradition concerning the angels, and who ascribed to them
several divine attributes. At least these superstitions belonged to the fables
of those heretics who ascribed to angels the framing of this world, and such a
government of it as cannot, without idolatry, or at least without abominable
superstition, be given to any creatures. [back]
Note 48. L. 8,
contra Cels. p. 400. [back]
Note 49. L. 5, ib.
p. 233. [back]
Note 50. Hom. i. in
Ezech. p. 391. [back]
Note 51. Inter ep.
S. Cypr. 77, p. 330. [back]
Note 52. Or. 43, p.
664. [back]
Note 53. Carm. 22,
t. 2, p. 94. [back]
Note 54. L. de.
Locis Beatis. [back]
Note 55. S. Ephr. l.
de Virginit. p. 129. [back]
Note 56. Apoc. xxi.
27. [back]
Rev. Alban Butler (1711–73). Volume
IX: September. The Lives of the Saints. 1866.
SOURCE : http://www.bartleby.com/210/9/291.html
Prayer to St. Michael
First, let us reflect on
St. Michael himself and his role in salvation history. St. Michael the
Archangel, whose name means, “one who is like God,” led the army of angels who
cast Satan and the rebellious angels into Hell; at the end of time, he will wield
the sword of justice to separate the righteous from the evil (cf. Rv 12:7ff).
The early Church Fathers recognized the importance of the angels and
archangels, particularly St. Michael. Theodoret of Cyr (393-466) in his Interpretation
of Daniel wrote,
We are taught that each
one of us is entrusted to the care of an individual angel to guard and protect
us, and to deliver us from the snares of evil demons. Archangels are entrusted
with the tasks of guarding nations, as the Blessed Moses taught, and with those
remarks the Blessed Daniel is in accord; for he himself speaks of “the chief of
the Kingdom of the Persians,” and a little later of “the chief of the Greeks,”
while he calls Michael the chief of Israel.
The Church Fathers would
also posit that St. Michael stood guard at the gate of paradise after Adam and
Eve had been banished, and he was the angel through whom God published the Ten
Commandments, who blocked the passage of Balaam (Nm 22:20ff), and who destroyed
the army of Sennacherib (2 Chr 32:21). St. Basil and other Greek Fathers ranked
St. Michael as the Prince of all the Angels. With the rise of scholasticism and
the exposition of the “nine choirs of angels,” some said St. Michael was the
prince of the Seraphim, the first of the choirs. (However, St. Thomas Aquinas
assigned St. Michael as the prince of the last choir, the angels.) St. Michael
the Archangel has been invoked for protection on various occasions. In 590, a
great plague struck Rome. Pope St. Gregory the Great led a procession through
the streets as an act of penance, seeking the forgiveness of and atoning for
sin. At the tomb of Hadrian (now Castle Sant’Angelo near St. Peter’s Basilica),
St. Michael appeared and sheathed his sword, indicating the end of the plague.
The Holy Father later built a chapel at the top of the tomb and to this day a
large statue of St. Michael rests there. Therefore, in our Catholic tradition,
St. Michael has four duties: (1) To continue to wage battle against Satan and
the other fallen angels; (2) to save the souls of the faithful from the power
of Satan especially at the hour of death; (3) to protect the People of God,
both the Jews of the Old Covenant and the Christians of the New Covenant; and
(4) finally to lead the souls of the departed from this life and present them
to our Lord for the particular judgment, and at the end of time, for the final
judgment. For these reasons, Christian iconography depicts St. Michael as a
knight-warrior, wearing battle armor, and wielding a sword or spear, while
standing triumphantly on a serpent or other representation of Satan. Sometimes
he is depicted holding the scales of justice or the Book of Life, both symbols
of the last judgment. As Catholics, we have remembered through our liturgical
rites the important role of St. Michael in defending us against Satan and the
powers of evil. An ancient offertory chant in the Mass for the Dead attested to
these duties:
Lord, Jesus Christ, King
of Glory, deliver the souls of all the faithful departed from the pains of Hell
and from the deep pit; deliver them from the mouth of the lion that Hell may
not swallow them up and that they may not fall into darkness, but may the
standard-bearer Michael conduct them into the holy light, which thou didst
promise of old to Abraham and his seed. We offer to Thee, Lord, sacrifices and
prayers; do Thou receive them in behalf of those souls whom we commemorate this
day. Grant them, Lord, to pass from death to that life which Thou didst promise
of old to Abraham and to his seed.
In the Tridentine Mass
since the 1200s, St. Michael was invoked in the Confiteor, along with the
Blessed Virgin Mary, St. John the Baptizer, and Saints Peter and Paul; the
invocation of these saints inspired the faithful to remember the call to
holiness and the sinlessness of the Church Triumphant in heaven. For the
greater part of the 20th century, the faithful recited the prayer to St.
Michael at the end of the Mass. In the late 1800s, Pope Leo XIII (d. 1903) had
a prophetic vision of the coming century of sorrow and war. After celebrating
Mass, the Holy Father was conferring with his cardinals. Suddenly, he fell to
the floor. The cardinals immediately called for a doctor. No pulse was
detected, and the Holy Father was feared dead. Just as suddenly, Pope Leo awoke
and said, “What a horrible picture I was permitted to see!” In this vision, God
gave Satan the choice of one century in which to do his worst work against the
Church. The devil chose the 20th century. So moved was the Holy Father from
this vision that he composed the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel:
St. Michael the
Archangel, defend us in battle! Be our protection against the wickedness and
snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, and do thou, O Prince
of the heavenly host, by the power of God, thrust into Hell Satan and all the
other evil spirits who roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Pope Leo ordered this
prayer said at the conclusion of Mass in 1886. (When Pope Paul VI issued
the Novus Ordo of the Mass in 1968, the prayer to St. Michael and the
reading of the “last Gospel” at the end of the Mass were suppressed.) Finally,
St. Michael figures prominently in the Rite of Exorcism, particularly in the
case of diabolical infestation of places. Here the priest prays:
Most glorious Prince of
the Heavenly Army, Holy Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle against the
princes and powers and rulers of darkness in this world, against the spiritual
iniquities of those former angels. Come to the help of man whom God made in His
own image and whom He bought from the tyranny of Satan at a great price. The
Church venerates you as her custodian and patron. The Lord confided to your
care all the souls of those redeemed, so that you would lead them to happiness in
heaven. Pray to the God of peace that He crush Satan under our feet; so that
Satan no longer be able to hold men captive and thus injure the Church. Offer
our prayers to the Most High God, so that His mercies be given us soon. Make
captive that Animal, that Ancient serpent, which is enemy and Evil Spirit, and
reduce it to everlasting nothingness, so that it no longer seduce the nations.
Looking back at the 20th
century, the work of Satan against the Church was intense. We, too, see the
tremendous evil present in our world today, manifested in such grave sins as
abortion, euthanasia, genocide, pornography and terrorism. Satan and the other
fallen angels are doing their worst to lead souls to Hell. We need the help of
St. Michael. For this reason, many parishes have erected a shrine in St.
Michael’s honor or offer the prayer at the end of Mass.
(This article courtesy of
theArlington Catholic Herald.)
image: Saint Michael
statue on the top of Castel Sant`Angelo in Rome/Shutterstock
Tagged as: Best of Week, michaelmas, St. Michael
Fr. Saunders was the
founding pastor of Our Lady of Hope Parish in Potomac Falls, VA. He now serves
as Pastor of St. Agnes in Arlington, VA and as the Episcopal Vicar of Faith
Formation for the Diocese of Arlington.
SOURCE : https://catholicexchange.com/prayer-to-st-michael/
Michael
rettet die Seele Evas, Detail aus der Illustration L’homme devant
son juge suprême, Grandes Heures de Rohan, 1430; Bibliothèque nationale de France
St. Michael the
Archangel, Defend Us in Battle
“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, neither was their place found any
more in heaven.” (Revelation 12:7-8)
Philip Kosloski BlogsSeptember 29, 2016
As we honor St. Michael
the Archangel on September 29, let us take a look at the cosmic battle between
Michael and Lucifer and explore how St. Michael was able to cast out Satan and
his cohort of Fallen angels.
Let us first look at
Sacred Scripture to get a view of the Heavenly War:
And a great sign appeared
in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on
her head a crown of twelve stars:
And being with child, she
cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered.
And there was seen
another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and
ten horns: and on his head seven diadems:
And his tail drew the
third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon
stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be
delivered, he might devour her son.
And she brought forth a
man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken
up to God, and to his throne.
And the woman fled into
the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should
feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days.
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,
neither was their place found any more in heaven.
And that great dragon was
cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the
whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down
with him. (Revelation 12:1-9 Douay-Rheims)
While this depiction of
this great battle comes in the last book of the Bible, Jesus referred to this
scene when He said to His apostles, “I saw Satan like lightning falling from
heaven” (Luke 10:18 Douay-Rheims).
The prophet Isaiah further
narrates this event:
How art thou fallen from
heaven, O Lucifer, who didst rise in the morning? How art thou fallen to the
earth, that didst wound the nations?” And thou saidst in thy heart: I will
ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of God, I will sit
in the mountain of the covenant, in the sides of the north. I will ascend above
the height of the clouds, I will be like the most High. But yet thou shalt be
brought down to hell, into the depth of the pit. (Isaiah 14:12-15
Douay-Rheims)
From these three passages
we see that Satan was once called “Lucifer” or “light-bearer” and sought to
usurp God, exalting himself above everyone else. Yet, he was cast down from
heaven by Michael the Archangel along with a “third” of the other angels who
rebelled against God.
The Catechism of the
Catholic Church (391) sums up this doctrine of the Fall of the Angels:
Behind the disobedient
choice of our first parents lurks a seductive voice, opposed to God, which
makes them fall into death out of envy. Scripture and the Church’s Tradition
see in this being a fallen angel, called ‘Satan’ or the ‘devil.’ The Church
teaches that Satan was at first a good angel, made by God: ‘The devil and the
other demons were indeed created naturally good by God, but they became evil by
their own doing.’
The Church affirms that
Satan was once a good angel and that he (and many other angels) freely chose to
reject God. Their choice was final and definite. Satan has no chance of
repentance. This is because angels were given an extraordinary intellect, not
clouded in any way. So Lucifer knew exactly what he was doing when he chose to
rebel against God and he knew all the implications of it.
This rebellion was
accomplished at the beginning of time, shortly after the creation of the
angels, before the creation of men. This can be deduced simply by the fact that
Satan was already present at the Garden of Eden.
What makes this battle at
the beginning of creation even more interesting is the tradition that Lucifer
was created by God as a “Seraphim,” in the highest choir of angels, and St.
Michael was an “Archangel,” one of the lowest choirs of angels.
In the “logic” of God’s
divine Providence this makes perfect sense. God continually uses the “lowest,”
“weakest,” and most “vulnerable” of this world to confound the “strongest.”
“God chose what is
foolish in the world to shame the wise, God chose what is weak in the world to
shame the strong, God chose what is low and despised in the world, even things
that are not, to bring to nothing things that are” (1 Corinthians 1:27-28 RSV).
When looking upon a
crucifix, we see this played out in full force. God did not ride on his
war-horse from Heaven to destroy death; He humiliated Himself and became a
child, who then grew-up and was killed by men.
This is a great lesson
for us all.
We must remember that we
will never be able to defeat the influence of the devil or sin by sheer force.
We cannot think that somehow “we” will defeat Satan. God alone is our strength
and it takes great humility to allow God full power over our lives. To use a phrase
of St. John the Baptist:
He must increase, but I
must decrease. (John 3:30 RSV)
Then and only then will
we be victorious over the Evil One.
Philip Kosloski Philip
Kosloski graduated from the University of Saint Thomas in Minnesota with a
Bachelor’s in Philosophy and Catholic Studies and completed his Master of Arts
degree in Theology with the Augustine Institute. He is a writer and author
of In the Footsteps of
a Saint: John Paul II's Visit to Wisconsin. He blogs at philipkosloski.com and writes to
help all Catholics master the art of prayer by conquering the practical
obstacles that prevent a fruitful relationship with Christ.
SOURCE : https://www.ncregister.com/blog/st-michael-the-archangel-defend-us-in-battle
San Michele arcangelo scaccia i pirati
saraceni dall'isola di Procida (XVII secolo), olio su
tela
San
Michele Arcangelo
el Nuovo Testamento il
termine "arcangelo" è attribuito a Michele. Solo in seguito venne
esteso a Gabriele e Raffaele, gli unici tre arcangeli riconosciuti dalla
Chiesa, il cui nome è documentato nella Bibbia. San Michele, "chi
come Dio?", è capo supremo dell'esercito celeste, degli angeli fedeli a
Dio. Antico patrono della Sinagoga oggi è patrono della Chiesa Universale, che
lo ha considerato sempre di aiuto nella lotta contro le forze del male.
Patronato: Polizia,
Radiologi, Droghieri
Etimologia: Michele = chi
come Dio?, dall'ebraico
Martirologio Romano:
Festa dei santi Michele, Gabriele e Raffaele, arcangeli. Nel giorno della
dedicazione della basilica intitolata a San Michele anticamente edificata a
Roma al sesto miglio della via Salaria, si celebrano insieme i tre arcangeli,
di cui la Sacra Scrittura rivela le particolari missioni: giorno e notte essi
servono Dio e, contemplando il suo volto, lo glorificano incessantemente.
Il 29 settembre la Liturgia della Chiesa ricorda la festività di San Michele Arcangelo. In un’epoca in cui le forze del male hanno enorme libertà di azione, fuorviando e rapendo anime, la figura di San Michele assume un valore di prim’ordine. Il suo nome deriva dall’espressione «Mi-ka-El», che significa «chi è come Dio?» e poiché nessuno è come l’Onnipotente, l’Arcangelo combatte tutti coloro che si innalzano con superbia, sfidando l’Altissimo. Nella Sacra Scrittura è citato cinque volte: nel libro di Daniele, di Giuda, nell’Apocalisse e in tutti i brani biblici è considerato «capo supremo dell’esercito celeste», ovvero degli angeli in guerra contro il male.
Nella Tradizione Michele è l’antitesi di Lucifero, capo degli angeli che decisero di fare a meno di Dio e perciò precipitarono negli Inferi. Michele, generale degli angeli, è colui che difende la Fede, la Verità e la Chiesa. Dante (1265-1321) illustra mirabilmente la bellezza e la potenza di questo Principe celeste e la sua solerzia nel proteggere il genere umano dalle insidie di Satana. Nelle litanie dei Santi pregate in Purgatorio da coloro che in terra furono invidiosi, San Michele è il secondo nominato, dopo Maria Santissima, segno del suo grande potere di intercessione (Purgatorio XIII, 51).
Maria Vergine e l’Arcangelo Michele sono associati nel loro combattimento contro il demonio ed entrambi, iconograficamente parlando, hanno sotto i loro piedi, a seconda dei casi, il serpente, il drago, il diavolo in persona, che l’Arcangelo tiene incatenato e lo minaccia, pronto a trafiggerlo, con la sua spada. Il suo culto è molto diffuso sia in Oriente che in Occidente, ne danno testimonianza le innumerevoli chiese, santuari, monasteri e anche monti a lui intitolati. In Europa, durante l’alto Medioevo, furono edificati in suo onore tre gioielli di devozione, di storia, di architettura ed arte: l’abbazia di Mont Saint-Michel in Normandia, La Sacra di San Michele sul Monte Pirchiriano, in Piemonte e il santuario del Monte Gargano in Puglia. Difensore della Chiesa, la sua statua compare sulla sommità di Castel Sant’Angelo a Roma ed egli è protettore del popolo cristiano, come un tempo lo era dei pellegrini medievali contro le insidie che incontravano lungo la via.
Leone XIII (1810-1903), il 13 ottobre 1884, dopo aver terminato di celebrare la Santa Messa nella cappella vaticana, restò immobile una decina di minuti in stato di profondo turbamento. In seguito si precipitò nel suo studio. Fu allora che il Papa compose la preghiera a San Michele Arcangelo. Successivamente racconterà il Pontefice di aver udito Gesù e Satana e di aver avuto una terrificante visione dell’Inferno: «ho visto la terra avvolta dalle tenebre e da un abisso, ho visto uscire legioni di demoni che si spargevano per il mondo per distruggere le opere della Chiesa ed attaccare la stessa Chiesa che ho visto ridotta allo stremo. Allora apparve San Michele e ricacciò gli spiriti malvagi nell’abisso. Poi ho visto San Michele Arcangelo intervenire non in quel momento, ma molto più tardi, quando le persone avessero moltiplicato le loro ferventi preghiere verso l’Arcangelo».
Dopo circa mezz’ora fece chiamare il Segretario della Sacra Congregazione dei
Riti, ordinandogli di far stampare il foglio che aveva in mano e farlo
pervenire a tutti i Vescovi della Chiesa: il manoscritto conteneva la preghiera
che il Papa dispose di far recitare al termine della Santa Messa, la supplica a
Maria Santissima e l’invocazione al Principe delle milizie celesti, per mezzo
del quale si implora Dio affinché ricacci il Principe del mondo nell’Inferno.
Tale supplica è caduta in disuso. Nessun Pontefice ha abrogato questa preghiera
dopo il Santo Sacrificio e neppure il Novus Ordo la nega, anche se dagli anni
Settanta si prese a non più recitarla, privando la Chiesa di una preziosa arma
di difesa.
Autore: Cristina Siccardi
Piero della Francesca (1415–1492), Saint Michael / archange saint Michel, Polyptyque de Saint Augustin, tempera sur panneau, 1469, 133 x 59,5, National Gallery
Il nome dell’arcangelo Michele, che significa “chi è come Dio ?”, è citato cinque volte nella Sacra Scrittura; tre volte nel libro di Daniele, una volta nel libro di Giuda e nell'Apocalisse di s. Giovanni Evangelista e in tutte le cinque volte egli è considerato “capo supremo dell’esercito celeste”, cioè degli angeli in guerra contro il male, che nell’Apocalisse è rappresentato da un dragone con i suoi angeli; esso sconfitto nella lotta, fu scacciato dai cieli e precipitato sulla terra.
In altre scritture, il dragone è un angelo che aveva voluto farsi grande quanto Dio e che Dio fece scacciare, facendolo precipitare dall’alto verso il basso, insieme ai suoi angeli che lo seguivano.
Michele è stato sempre rappresentato e venerato come l’angelo-guerriero di Dio, rivestito di armatura dorata in perenne lotta contro il Demonio, che continua nel mondo a spargere il male e la ribellione contro Dio.
Egli è considerato allo stesso modo nella Chiesa di Cristo, che gli ha sempre riservato fin dai tempi antichissimi, un culto e devozione particolare, considerandolo sempre presente nella lotta che si combatte e si combatterà fino alla fine del mondo, contro le forze del male che operano nel genere umano.
Dante nella sua ‘Divina Commedia’ pone il demonio (l’angelo Lucifero) in fondo all’inferno, conficcato a testa in giù al centro della terra, che si era ritirata al suo cadere, provocando il grande cratere dell’inferno dantesco. Dopo l’affermazione del cristianesimo, il culto per san Michele, che già nel mondo pagano equivaleva ad una divinità, ebbe in Oriente una diffusione enorme, ne sono testimonianza le innumerevoli chiese, santuari, monasteri a lui dedicati; nel secolo IX solo a Costantinopoli, capitale del mondo bizantino, si contavano ben 15 fra santuari e monasteri; più altri 15 nei sobborghi.
Tutto l’Oriente era costellato da famosi santuari, a cui si recavano migliaia di pellegrini da ogni regione del vasto impero bizantino e come vi erano tanti luoghi di culto, così anche la sua celebrazione avveniva in tanti giorni diversi del calendario.
Perfino il grande fiume Nilo fu posto sotto la sua protezione, si pensi che la chiesa funeraria del Cremlino a Mosca in Russia, è dedicata a S. Michele. Per dirla in breve non c’è Stato orientale e nord africano, che non possegga oggetti, stele, documenti, edifici sacri, che testimoniano la grande venerazione per il santo condottiero degli angeli, che specie nei primi secoli della Chiesa, gli venne tributata.
In Occidente si hanno testimonianze di un culto, con le numerosissime chiese intitolate a volte a S. Angelo, a volte a S. Michele, come pure località e monti vennero chiamati Monte Sant’Angelo o Monte San Michele, come il celebre santuario e monastero in Normandia in Francia, il cui culto fu portato forse dai Celti sulla costa della Normandia; certo è che esso si diffuse rapidamente nel mondo Longobardo, nello Stato Carolingio e nell’Impero Romano.
In Italia sano tanti i posti dove sorgevano cappelle, oratori, grotte, chiese, colline e monti tutti intitolati all’arcangelo Michele, non si può accennarli tutti, ci fermiamo solo a due: Tancia e il Gargano.
Sul Monte Tancia, nella Sabina, vi era una grotta già usata per un culto pagano, che verso il VII secolo, fu dedicata dai Longobardi a S. Michele; in breve fu costruito un santuario che raggiunse gran fama, parallela a quella del Monte Gargano, che comunque era più antico.
La celebrazione religiosa era all’8 maggio, data praticata poi nella Sabina, nel Reatino, nel Ducato Romano e ovunque fosse estesa l’influenza della badia benedettina di Farfa, a cui i Longobardi di Spoleto, avevano donato quel santuario.
Ma il più celebre santuario italiano dedicato a S. Michele, è quello in Puglia sul Monte Gargano; esso ha una storia che inizia nel 490, quando era papa Gelasio I; la leggenda racconta che casualmente un certo Elvio Emanuele, signore del Monte Gargano (Foggia) aveva smarrito il più bel toro della sua mandria, ritrovandolo dentro una caverna inaccessibile.
Visto l’impossibilità di recuperarlo, decise di ucciderlo con una freccia del suo arco; ma la freccia inspiegabilmente invece di colpire il toro, girò su sé stessa colpendo il tiratore ad un occhio. Meravigliato e ferito, il signorotto si recò dal suo vescovo s. Lorenzo Maiorano, vescovo di Siponto (odierna Manfredonia) e raccontò il fatto prodigioso.
Il presule indisse tre giorni di preghiere e di penitenza; dopodiché s. Michele apparve all’ingresso della grotta e rivelò al vescovo: “Io sono l’arcangelo Michele e sto sempre alla presenza di Dio. La caverna è a me sacra, è una mia scelta, io stesso ne sono vigile custode. Là dove si spalanca la roccia, possono essere perdonati i peccati degli uomini…Quel che sarà chiesto nella preghiera, sarà esaudito. Quindi dedica la grotta al culto cristiano”.
Ma il santo vescovo non diede seguito alla richiesta dell’arcangelo, perché sul
monte persisteva il culto pagano; due anni dopo, nel 492 Siponto era assediata
dalle orde del re barbaro Odoacre (434-493); ormai allo stremo, il vescovo e il
popolo si riunirono in preghiera, durante una tregua, e qui riapparve
l’arcangelo al vescovo s. Lorenzo, promettendo loro la vittoria, infatti
durante la battaglia si alzò una tempesta di sabbia e grandine che si rovesciò
sui barbari invasori, che spaventati fuggirono.
Tutta la città con il vescovo, salì sul monte in processione di ringraziamento;
ma ancora una volta il vescovo non volle entrare nella grotta. Per questa sua
esitazione che non si spiegava, s. Lorenzo Maiorano si recò a Roma dal papa
Gelasio I (490-496), il quale gli ordinò di entrare nella grotta insieme ai
vescovi della Puglia, dopo un digiuno di penitenza.
Recatosi i tre vescovi alla grotta per la dedicazione, riapparve loro per la terza volta l’arcangelo, annunziando che la cerimonia non era più necessaria, perché la consacrazione era già avvenuta con la sua presenza. La leggenda racconta che quando i vescovi entrarono nella grotta, trovarono un altare coperto da un panno rosso con sopra una croce di cristallo e impressa su un masso l’impronta di un piede infantile, che la tradizione popolare attribuisce a s. Michele.
Il vescovo san Lorenzo fece costruire all’ingresso della grotta, una chiesa dedicata a s. Michele e inaugurata il 29 settembre 493; la Sacra Grotta è invece rimasta sempre come un luogo di culto mai consacrato da vescovi e nei secoli divenne celebre con il titolo di “Celeste Basilica”.
Attorno alla chiesa e alla grotta è cresciuta nel tempo la cittadina di Monte Sant’Angelo nel Gargano. I Longobardi che avevano fondato nel secolo VI il Ducato di Benevento, vinsero i feroci nemici delle coste italiane, i saraceni, proprio nei pressi di Siponto, l’8 maggio 663, avendo attribuito la vittoria alla protezione celeste di s. Michele, essi presero a diffondere come prima accennato, il culto per l’arcangelo in tutta Italia, erigendogli chiese, effigiandolo su stendardi e monete e instaurando la festa dell’8 maggio dappertutto.
Intanto la Sacra Grotta diventò per tutti i secoli successivi, una delle mete più frequentate dai pellegrini cristiani, diventando insieme a Gerusalemme, Roma, Loreto e S. Giacomo di Compostella, i poli sacri dall’Alto Medioevo in poi.
Sul Gargano giunsero in pellegrinaggio papi, sovrani, futuri santi. Sul portale dell’atrio superiore della basilica, che non è possibile descrivere qui, vi è un’iscrizione latina che ammonisce: “che questo è un luogo impressionante. Qui è la casa di Dio e la porta del Cielo”.
Il santuario e la Sacra Grotta sono pieni di opere d’arte, di devozione e di voto, che testimoniano lo scorrere millenario dei pellegrini e su tutto campeggia nell’oscurità la statua in marmo bianco di S. Michele, opera del Sansovino, datata 1507.
L’arcangelo è comparso lungo i secoli altre volte, sia pure non come sul Gargano, che rimane il centro del suo culto, ed il popolo cristiano lo celebra ovunque con sagre, fiere, processioni, pellegrinaggi e non c’è Paese europeo che non abbia un’abbazia, chiesa, cattedrale, ecc. che lo ricordi alla venerazione dei fedeli.
Apparendo ad una devota portoghese Antonia de Astonac, l’arcangelo promise la sua continua assistenza, sia in vita che in purgatorio e inoltre l’accompagnamento alla S. Comunione da parte di un angelo di ciascuno dei nove cori celesti, se avessero recitato prima della Messa la corona angelica che gli rivelò.
I cori sono: Serafini, Cherubini, Troni, Dominazioni, Potestà, Virtù, Principati, Arcangeli ed Angeli. La sua festa liturgica principale in Occidente è iscritta nel Martirologio Romano al 29 settembre e nella riforma del calendario liturgico del 1970, è accomunato agli altri due arcangeli più conosciuti, Gabriele e Raffaele nello stesso giorno, mentre l’altro arcangelo a volte nominato nei testi apocrifi, Uriele, non gode di un culto proprio.
Per la sua caratteristica di “guerriero celeste” s. Michele è patrono degli spadaccini, dei maestri d’armi; poi dei doratori, dei commercianti, di tutti i mestieri che usano la bilancia, i farmacisti, pasticcieri, droghieri, merciai; fabbricanti di tinozze, inoltre è patrono dei radiologi e della Polizia.
È patrono principale delle città italiane di Cuneo, Caltanissetta, Monte Sant’Angelo, Sant’Angelo dei Lombardi, compatrono di Caserta.
Difensore della Chiesa, la sua statua compare sulla sommità di Castel S. Angelo a Roma, che come è noto era diventata una fortezza in difesa del Pontefice; protettore del popolo cristiano, così come un tempo lo era dei pellegrini medievali, che lo invocavano nei santuari ed oratori a lui dedicati, disseminati lungo le strade che conducevano alle mete dei pellegrinaggi, per avere protezione contro le malattie, lo scoraggiamento e le imboscate dei banditi.
Per quanto riguarda la sua raffigurazione nell’arte in generale, è delle più vaste; ogni scuola pittorica in Oriente e in Occidente, lo ha quasi sempre raffigurato armato in atto di combattere il demonio.
Sul Monte Athos nel convento di Dionisio del 1547, i tre principale arcangeli sono così raffigurati, Raffaele in abito ecclesiastico, Michele da guerriero e Gabriele in pacifica posa e rappresentano i poteri religioso, militare e civile.
Autore: Antonio Borrelli
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/21600
Francesco Botticini (1446–), Michael, Raphael, Tobias, Gabriel, tempera on panel, 1470, 135
x 154, Uffizi
Gallery
Santi Michele, Gabriele e
Raffaele Arcangeli
Il Martirologio commemora insieme i santi arcangeli Michele, Gabriele e Raffaele. La Bibbia li ricorda con specifiche missioni: Michele avversario di Satana, Gabriele annunciatore e Raffaele soccorritore.
Prima della riforma del 1969 si ricordava in questo giorno solamente san Michele arcangelo in memoria della consacrazione del celebre santuario sul monte Gargano a lui dedicato.
Il titolo di arcangelo deriva dall’idea di una corte celeste in cui gli angeli sono presenti secondo gradi e dignità differenti.
Gli arcangeli Michele, Gabriele e Raffaele occupano le sfere più elevate delle gerarchie angeliche.
Queste hanno il compito di preservare la trascendenza e il mistero di Dio.
Nello stesso tempo, rendono presente e percepibile la sua vicinanza salvifica.
Martirologio
Romano: Festa dei santi Michele, Gabriele e Raffaele, arcangeli. Nel
giorno della dedicazione della basilica intitolata a San Michele anticamente
edificata a Roma al sesto miglio della via Salaria, si celebrano insieme i tre
arcangeli, di cui la Sacra Scrittura rivela le particolari missioni: giorno e
notte essi servono Dio e, contemplando il suo volto, lo glorificano incessantemente.
Il 29 di settembre la Chiesa commemora la festa liturgica dei santi Arcangeli:
Michele (Chi è come Dio?) è l’arcangelo che insorge contro Satana e i suoi satelliti (Gd 9; Ap 12, 7; cfr Zc 13, 1-2), difensore degli amici di Dio (Dn 10, 13.21), pretettore del suo popolo (Dn 12, 1).
Gabriele (Forza di Dio) è uno degli spiriti che stanno davanti a Dio (Lc 1, 19), rivela a Daniele i segreti del piano di Dio (Dn 8, 16; 9, 21-22), annunzia a Zaccaria la nascita di Giovanni Battista (Lc 1, 11-20) e a Maria quella di Gesù (Lc 1, 26-38).
Raffaele (Dio ha guarito), anch’egli fra i sette angeli che stanno davanti al
trono di Dio (Tb 12, 15; cfr Ap 8, 2), accompagna e custodisce Tobia nelle
peripezie del suo viaggio e gli guarisce il padre cieco.
La Chiesa pellegrina sulla terra, specialmente nella liturgia eucaristica, è
associata alle schiere degli angeli che nella Gerusalemme celeste cantano la
gloria di Dio (cfr Ap 5, 11-14; Conc. Vat. II, Costituzione sulla sacra
liturgia, «Sacrosanctum Concilium», 8).
Il 29 settembre il martirologio geronimiano (sec. VI) ricorda la dedicazione
della basilica di san Michele (sec. V) sulla via Salaria a Roma.
SOURCE : http://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/21625
_-_Center_of_the_transept_-_Archangel_Michael.jpg){kind=spacer}
Giuseppe Torretto (1664–1743), Église Santa Maria Assunta
(Venise - L'arcangelo Michele ("Giustizia di Dio") è
collocato sul pilastro a sinistra, mentre ricaccia Lucifero nell'abisso.
I Gesuiti, Venice left nave - The
Archangel Michael ("Justice of God") is placed on the left pillar
while reciting Lucifer into the abyss.
Église Santa Maria Assunta
(Venise) - L'archange saint Michel («Justice de Dieu») est placé sur
le pilier de gauche, il maintient Lucifer dans l'abîme.
CAPPELLA PAPALE PER
L’ORDINAZIONE EPISCOPALE DI SEI ECC.MI PRESULI
OMELIA DI SUA SANTITÀ
BENEDETTO XVI
Cari fratelli e sorelle,
siamo raccolti intorno
all’altare del Signore per una circostanza solenne e lieta ad un tempo:
l’Ordinazione episcopale di sei nuovi Vescovi, chiamati a svolgere mansioni
diverse a servizio dell’unica Chiesa di Cristo. Essi sono Mons. Mieczysław
Mokrzycki, Mons. Francesco Brugnaro, Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, Mons. Tommaso
Caputo, Mons. Sergio Pagano, Mons. Vincenzo Di Mauro. A tutti rivolgo il mio
saluto cordiale con un fraterno abbraccio. Un saluto particolare va a Mons.
Mokrzycki che, insieme a all’attuale Cardinale Stanisław Dziwisz, per molti
anni ha servito come segretario il Santo Padre Giovanni Paolo II e poi, dopo la
mia elezione a Successore di Pietro, ha fatto anche a me da segretario con
grande umiltà, competenza e dedizione. Con lui saluto l’amico di Papa Giovanni
Paolo II, il Cardinale Marian Jaworski, a cui Mons. Mokrzycki recherà il
proprio aiuto come Coadiutore. Saluto inoltre i Vescovi latini dell’Ucraina,
che sono qui a Roma per la loro visita "ad limina Apostolorum". Il
mio pensiero va anche ai Vescovi greco-cattolici, alcuni dei quali ho
incontrato lunedì scorso, e la Chiesa ortodossa dell’Ucraina. A tutti auguro le
benedizioni del Cielo per le loro fatiche miranti a mantenere operante nella
loro Terra e a trasmettere alle future generazioni la forza risanatrice e
corroborante del Vangelo di Cristo.
Celebriamo questa Ordinazione
episcopale nella festa dei tre Arcangeli che nella Scrittura sono menzionati
per nome: Michele, Gabriele e Raffaele. Questo ci richiama alla mente che
nell’antica Chiesa – già nell’Apocalisse – i Vescovi venivano qualificati
"angeli" della loro Chiesa, esprimendo in questo modo un’intima
corrispondenza tra il ministero del Vescovo e la missione dell’Angelo. A
partire dal compito dell’Angelo si può comprendere il servizio del Vescovo. Ma
che cosa è un Angelo? La Sacra Scrittura e la tradizione della Chiesa ci
lasciano scorgere due aspetti. Da una parte, l’Angelo è una creatura che sta
davanti a Dio, orientata con l’intero suo essere verso Dio. Tutti e tre i nomi
degli Arcangeli finiscono con la parola "El", che significa
"Dio". Dio è iscritto nei loro nomi, nella loro natura. La loro vera
natura è l’esistenza in vista di Lui e per Lui. Proprio così si spiega anche il
secondo aspetto che caratterizza gli Angeli: essi sono messaggeri di Dio.
Portano Dio agli uomini, aprono il cielo e così aprono la terra. Proprio perché
sono presso Dio, possono essere anche molto vicini all’uomo. Dio, infatti, è
più intimo a ciascuno di noi di quanto non lo siamo noi stessi. Gli Angeli
parlano all’uomo di ciò che costituisce il suo vero essere, di ciò che nella
sua vita tanto spesso è coperto e sepolto. Essi lo chiamano a rientrare in se
stesso, toccandolo da parte di Dio. In questo senso anche noi esseri umani
dovremmo sempre di nuovo diventare angeli gli uni per gli altri – angeli che ci
distolgono da vie sbagliate e ci orientano sempre di nuovo verso Dio. Se la
Chiesa antica chiama i Vescovi "angeli" della loro Chiesa, intende
dire proprio questo: i Vescovi stessi devono essere uomini di Dio, devono
vivere orientati verso Dio. "Multum orat pro populo" – "Prega
molto per il popolo", dice il Breviario della Chiesa a proposito dei santi
Vescovi. Il Vescovo deve essere un orante, uno che intercede per gli uomini
presso Dio. Più lo fa, più comprende anche le persone che gli sono affidate e
può diventare per loro un angelo – un messaggero di Dio, che le aiuta a trovare
la loro vera natura, se stesse, e a vivere l’idea che Dio ha di loro.
Tutto ciò diventa ancora
più chiaro se ora guardiamo le figure dei tre Arcangeli la cui festa la Chiesa
celebra oggi. C’è innanzitutto Michele. Lo incontriamo nella Sacra
Scrittura soprattutto nel Libro di Daniele, nella Lettera dell’Apostolo san
Giuda Taddeo e nell’Apocalisse. Di questo Arcangelo si rendono evidenti in
questi testi due funzioni. Egli difende la causa dell’unicità di Dio contro la
presunzione del drago, del "serpente antico", come dice Giovanni. È
il continuo tentativo del serpente di far credere agli uomini che Dio deve
scomparire, affinché essi possano diventare grandi; che Dio ci ostacola nella
nostra libertà e che perciò noi dobbiamo sbarazzarci di Lui. Ma il drago non
accusa solo Dio. L’Apocalisse lo chiama anche "l’accusatore dei nostri
fratelli, colui che li accusa davanti a Dio giorno e notte" (12, 10). Chi
accantona Dio, non rende grande l’uomo, ma gli toglie la sua dignità. Allora
l’uomo diventa un prodotto mal riuscito dell’evoluzione. Chi accusa Dio, accusa
anche l’uomo. La fede in Dio difende l’uomo in tutte le sue debolezze ed
insufficienze: il fulgore di Dio risplende su ogni singolo. È compito del
Vescovo, in quanto uomo di Dio, di far spazio a Dio nel mondo contro le
negazioni e di difendere così la grandezza dell’uomo. E che cosa si potrebbe
dire e pensare di più grande sull’uomo del fatto che Dio stesso si è fatto
uomo? L’altra funzione di Michele, secondo la Scrittura, è quella di protettore
del Popolo di Dio (cfr Dn 10, 21; 12, 1). Cari amici, siate veramente
"angeli custodi" delle Chiese che vi saranno affidate! Aiutate il
Popolo di Dio, che dovete precedere nel suo pellegrinaggio, a trovare la gioia
nella fede e ad imparare il discernimento degli spiriti: ad accogliere il bene
e rifiutare il male, a rimanere e diventare sempre di più, in virtù della
speranza della fede, persone che amano in comunione col Dio-Amore.
Incontriamo l’Arcangelo Gabriele soprattutto
nel prezioso racconto dell’annuncio a Maria dell’incarnazione di Dio, come ce
lo riferisce san Luca (1, 26 – 38). Gabriele è il messaggero dell’incarnazione
di Dio. Egli bussa alla porta di Maria e, per suo tramite, Dio stesso chiede a
Maria il suo "sì" alla proposta di diventare la Madre del Redentore:
di dare la sua carne umana al Verbo eterno di Dio, al Figlio di Dio.
Ripetutamente il Signore bussa alle porte del cuore umano. Nell’Apocalisse dice
all’"angelo" della Chiesa di Laodicea e, attraverso di lui, agli
uomini di tutti i tempi: "Ecco, sto alla porta e busso. Se qualcuno
ascolta la mia voce e mi apre la porta, io verrò da lui, cenerò con lui ed egli
con me" (3, 20). Il Signore sta alla porta – alla porta del mondo e alla
porta di ogni singolo cuore. Egli bussa per essere fatto entrare:
l’incarnazione di Dio, il suo farsi carne deve continuare sino alla fine dei
tempi. Tutti devono essere riuniti in Cristo in un solo corpo: questo ci dicono
i grandi inni su Cristo nella Lettera agli Efesini e in quella ai Colossesi.
Cristo bussa. Anche oggi Egli ha bisogno di persone che, per così dire, gli
mettono a disposizione la propria carne, che gli donano la materia del mondo e
della loro vita, servendo così all’unificazione tra Dio e il mondo, alla
riconciliazione dell’universo. Cari amici, è vostro compito bussare in nome di
Cristo ai cuori degli uomini. Entrando voi stessi in unione con Cristo, potrete
anche assumere la funzione di Gabriele: portare la chiamata di Cristo agli
uomini.
San Raffaele ci viene
presentato soprattutto nel Libro di Tobia come l’Angelo a cui è affidata la
mansione di guarire. Quando Gesù invia i suoi discepoli in missione, al compito
dell’annuncio del Vangelo vien sempre collegato anche quello di guarire. Il
buon Samaritano, accogliendo e guarendo la persona ferita giacente al margine
della strada, diventa senza parole un testimone dell’amore di Dio. Quest’uomo
ferito, bisognoso di essere guarito, siamo tutti noi. Annunciare il Vangelo,
significa già di per sé guarire, perché l’uomo necessita soprattutto della
verità e dell’amore. Dell’Arcangelo Raffaele si riferiscono nel Libro di Tobia
due compiti emblematici di guarigione. Egli guarisce la comunione disturbata
tra uomo e donna. Guarisce il loro amore. Scaccia i demoni che, sempre di nuovo,
stracciano e distruggono il loro amore. Purifica l’atmosfera tra i due e dona
loro la capacità di accogliersi a vicenda per sempre. Nel racconto di Tobia
questa guarigione viene riferita con immagini leggendarie. Nel Nuovo
Testamento, l’ordine del matrimonio, stabilito nella creazione e minacciato in
modo molteplice dal peccato, viene guarito dal fatto che Cristo lo accoglie nel
suo amore redentore. Egli fa del matrimonio un sacramento: il suo amore, salito
per noi sulla croce, è la forza risanatrice che, in tutte le confusioni, dona
la capacità della riconciliazione, purifica l’atmosfera e guarisce le ferite.
Al sacerdote è affidato il compito di condurre gli uomini sempre di nuovo
incontro alla forza riconciliatrice dell’amore di Cristo. Deve essere "l’angelo"
risanatore che li aiuta ad ancorare il loro amore al sacramento e a viverlo con
impegno sempre rinnovato a partire da esso. In secondo luogo, il Libro di Tobia
parla della guarigione degli occhi ciechi. Sappiamo tutti quanto oggi siamo
minacciati dalla cecità per Dio. Quanto grande è il pericolo che, di fronte a
tutto ciò che sulle cose materiali sappiamo e con esse siamo in grado di fare,
diventiamo ciechi per la luce di Dio. Guarire questa cecità mediante il
messaggio della fede e la testimonianza dell’amore, è il servizio di Raffaele
affidato giorno per giorno al sacerdote e in modo speciale al Vescovo. Così,
spontaneamente siamo portati a pensare anche al sacramento della
Riconciliazione, al sacramento della Penitenza che, nel senso più profondo della
parola, è un sacramento di guarigione. La vera ferita dell’anima, infatti, il
motivo di tutte le altre nostre ferite, è il peccato. E solo se esiste un
perdono in virtù della potenza di Dio, in virtù della potenza dell’amore di
Cristo, possiamo essere guariti, possiamo essere redenti.
"Rimanete nel mio
amore", ci dice oggi il Signore nel Vangelo (Gv 15, 9). Nell’ora
dell’Ordinazione episcopale lo dice in modo particolare a voi, cari amici.
Rimanete nel suo amore! Rimanete in quell’amicizia con Lui piena di amore che
Egli in quest’ora vi dona di nuovo! Allora la vostra vita porterà frutto – un
frutto che rimane (Gv 15, 16). Affinché questo vi sia donato, preghiamo
tutti in quest’ora per voi, cari fratelli. Amen.
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
The
bronze statue of Archangel Michael, standing on top of the castel Sant'Angelo, Rome, modelled in 1753
by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (1710–1793).
Ange
de Pietro Van Verschaffelt (1753), au sommet du château Saint-Ange (Rome).
Roma, Castel sant'Angelo: l'arcangelo Michele (detto l'Angelo di Castello), opera (1753) di Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (1710–1793)
Corona angelica di San
Michele arcangelo
>>> Visualizza la
Scheda del Gruppo cui appartiene
Chi alza lo sguardo su Castel Sant’Angelo a Roma vede la maestosa figura di san Michele. La statua fu innalzata per ringraziarlo di aver fatto cessare la peste che aveva colpito la città sul finire del VI secolo. È soltanto una delle centinaia di testimonianze della poderosa assistenza concessa agli uomini dall’arcangelo, da sempre considerato l’antagonista di Satana. La Chiesa cattolica lo celebra il 29 settembre e in questi i giorni i suoi devoti recitano la «Novena delle Grazie».
Un’altra devozione popolare è quella della «Corona angelica». Trae origine dall’apparizione dell’arcangelo, nel 1751, alla suora portoghese Antonia de Astonac. San Michele promise continua assistenza – sia in vita, sia in purgatorio dopo la morte – a chi lo avesse onorato recitando quotidianamente la sequenza che egli stesso rivelò. Papa Pio IX dotò questa devozione di un’indulgenza che può essere applicata anche alle anime del purgatorio. La «Corona angelica» è composta da nove strofe. Al termine di ciascuna di esse si pronunciano un Padre nostro e tre Ave Maria.
A pochi giorni di distanza, il 2 ottobre, la liturgia ricorda poi gli Angeli custodi, il cui compito fu spiegato da Dio stesso, nel libro biblico dell’Esodo, a Mosè: «Io mando un angelo davanti a te per custodirti sul cammino». La devozione “ufficiale” si può far risalire al 1523, quando il vescovo francese François d’Estaing ottenne da Papa Adriano VI l’istituzione di una festa dedicata a loro. Intorno al 1600 venne definitivamente precisata la formulazione della preghiera dell’Angelo di Dio. Si tratta di una quartina con la quale iniziava il lungo poema di un monaco inglese della fine dell’XI secolo: «Angelo di Dio, che sei il mio custode, illumina, custodisci, reggi e governa me, che ti fui affidato dalla pietà celeste».
Dal 29 settembre al 1° ottobre i devoti recitano il Triduo dell’Angelo custode, composto da tre invocazioni. Anche Giovanni Paolo II intervenne più volte per ricordare l’autentico magistero ecclesiale a riguardo degli angeli, in relazione soprattutto agli errori dottrinali della cosiddetta New Age.
Autore: Saverio Gaeta
SOURCE ` https://www.santiebeati.it/dettaglio/96382
_WLM23_001.jpg)
Santissima Maria Assunta e San Catello (Castellammare di Stabia) - Cappella di San Michele
_WLM23_003.jpg)
Santissima Maria Assunta e San Catello (Castellammare di Stabia) - Cappella di San Michele
_WLM23_012.jpg)
Santissima
Maria Assunta e San Catello (Castellammare di Stabia) - Cappella di San Michele
GIUSEPPE CENTONZE
I pellegrinaggi al Faito e il miracolo di San Michele* (2007)
Anche Castellammare,
spesso descritta come una piccola Napoli, con i pregi e i difetti del
capoluogo, ha visto nella sua storia religiosa un miracolo paragonabile a
quello di S. Gennaro, ossia la sudorazione dell’antichissima statua marmorea di
S. Michele, situata nella chiesetta sul Faito edificata da S. Catello e
dedicata all’Arcangelo.
Il prodigio si ripeteva
soprattutto in occasione degli annuali pellegrinaggi che vi si facevano per la
ricorrenza della dedicazione della chiesa (1° agosto) e per la festa del Santo
(29 settembre) e che cominciavano già prima delle due date. La tradizione del
miracolo sembra molto antica, anche se il primo caso conosciuto è quello
verificatosi il 13 giugno 1558, quando erano accorsi sul monte alcuni
Sorrentini invocando e ottenendo l’aiuto dell’Arcangelo perché i Turchi avevano
saccheggiato e volevano distruggere completamente la loro città.
Sullo straordinario
fenomeno, la cui memoria appare oggi affievolita, e sui pellegrinaggi
proponiamo alcune significative testimonianze.
Cominciamo dall’Anonimo
Sorrentino (la fonte medioevale che parla di S. Antonino e S. Catello), secondo
il quale già nella prima provvisoria costruzione lignea, fatta sul Faito in
onore di S. Michele Arcangelo dai due santi prima che S. Catello venisse accusato
e imprigionato, si recavano moltissimi fedeli e ne ricevevano “benefici
straordinari”:
Accorrono da parti vicine
e lontane e sciogliendo i voti promessi in cambio delle tribolazioni, ricevuta
la consolazione, gioiosi ritornano alle proprie case.
Il tempio fu poi
costruito in pietra dagli stessi Catello e Antonino, come si sa, e
l’antichissima usanza dei pellegrinaggi dovette continuare nel tempo per
intensificarsi probabilmente nei secoli XVI e XVII, con la riscoperta delle
figure dei due santi, forse soprattutto in seguito alla pubblicazione di alcune
vite di Sant’Antonino, tra cui quella del citato Anonimo Sorrentino (1626).
Nella Vita del
glorioso confessor di Cristo S. Catello... del P. Giuseppe Alvino (1623)
si legge:
il Tempio [...] col tempo,
d’ogni gran macchina consumatore, rovinato [...] fù di nuovo da convicini
fedeli edificato ad honore del medesimo Arcangelo, e per memoria de Santi
compagni Catello vescovo, et Antonino, chiamandosi dal luogo pieno di faghi S.
Angelo di Faghito, ove piú volte frà l’anno, mà in particolare il primo del
mese d’Agosto migliaia di persone concorrono dalle Terre, e Città convicine, e
molto piú dalla Città di Castellamare, sotto la giurisditione del cui prelato,
è posto. 1
E che l’usanza fosse
radicata e nota anche fuori Castellammare e dintorni possiamo ricavarlo dalla
descrizione che tra il 1695 e il 1700 fece il cartografo Francesco Cassiano de
Silva nel Regno Napolitano Anatomizzato dalla penna di ... (atlante
manoscritto conservato presso la Österreichische Nationalbibliothek di Vienna),
il quale accennava chiaramente, pur non precisandone la natura, ai miracoli di
San Michele che si verificavano ogni anno il primo di Agosto:
[Castel'a Mare di Stabia] in un picciolo ma
vago seno marino appoggiato al celebre Monte Gauro mostra la sua stanza sopra
la cima del quale al Principe degli Angeli dedicata in una sua Chiesa vi si
dispensano prodigij annuali e perpetui nel primo di Agosto.
Riportiamo poi quanto
autorevolmente e con grande precisione affermava sul miracolo il vescovo mons.
Milante, nella sua fondamentale opera De Stabiis, Stabiana Ecclesia, et
Episcopis ejus (Napoli 1750):
Mentre dai Canonici ed
Ebdomadari della Cattedrale della Chiesa stabiana il 31 luglio sono cantati i
primi Vespri della dedicazione della nominata chiesetta in onore del santo
Arcangelo, all’intonazione del cantico Magnificat la statua marmorea
di S. Michele diventa pallida, poi terrea e la si vede col volto variato, poi
comincia a grondare un sudore come manna o meglio acqua limpidissima, che
scorre in gocce ed è deterso da un sacerdote vicino con ovatta, e subito dopo
ritorna al proprio colore.
Il Milante richiamava i
molti casi citati nelle fonti d’archivio e, anche per fugare ogni dubbio che
potesse essere il caldo dell’estate e la molta folla a causare il prodigio, ne
elencava tre –nel 1690, nel 1734 e nel 1748– in cui esso non si era verificato,
pur essendo accorsa moltissima gente e facendo molto caldo, mentre invece la
statua aveva sudato il 29 settembre dello stesso 1748, quando erano pochi i
presenti, e alla metà di giugno del 1558, quando erano accorsi i Sorrentini. Continuava
poi coi pellegrinaggi che si facevano il 1° agosto e il 29 settembre:
Spinti dunque da questi
prodigi, non solo gli Stabiesi, ma anche i Sorrentini, gli Agerolesi, i
Nocerini e tutte le popolazioni vicine e altre molto distanti ogni anno in massa
sono soliti confluire al detto monte e, in numero di giorno in giorno
accresciuto, per devozione salgono là, offrono i voti, portano le offerte e
bagnati di lacrime, rinfrancati dai Sacramenti, lodano Dio.
Alcuni in verità non
nascosero i loro dubbi sulla natura miracolosa del fenomeno, soprattutto gli
stranieri. Ad esempio André Vieusseux, che visitò Castellammare e la cappella
di San Michele nel 1818, ne parlò in Italy and the Italians in the
nineteenth century (1821), non senza riserve per la ‘puerile’ credulità
popolare, ma non senza rispetto per la religione:
Siamo entrati nella
cappella per ripararci dal calore del sole; il buon frate che ci ha consentito
di entrare ci ha deliziato con un sorso d’acqua della fonte, fredda come il
ghiaccio. La cappella è minuscola; v’è una piccola casa per abitazione annessa
ad essa per l’uso del frate, che viene qui ogni domenica per dire la messa.
Quello che spinge questo santuario alla devozione popolare è l’altare di San
Michele, sul quale v’è una statua dell’Arcangelo, che si dice trasudi
regolarmente ogni anno il primo di agosto; il frate raccoglie le gocce di
questa rugiada santa passando del cotone sul marmo, ne riempie una fiala e
parsimoniosamente distribuisce il liquido ai devoti. Una grande folla di gente
si raccoglie quel giorno nella cappella ed i naturalisti hanno da questa
circostanza spiegato il fenomeno. Un’iscrizione attesta il miracolo; ma
nonostante questa puerilità, la semplicità della povera cappella di San Michele
e la solitudine della zona elevata in cui è edificata mi hanno colpito con un
certo timore reverenziale e sono entrato in quell’area limitata con maggiore
riverenza rispetto a quella sentita sotto i tetti dorati e nelle navate di
marmo delle fastose chiese di Napoli. Un posto come questo pone in mente
quell’altezza da cui Satana mostrò la pompa del mondo al nostro Salvatore.
Nessun dubbio invece
avevano i devoti, che manifestavano la loro incrollabile fede, continuando a
recarsi in gran numero annualmente sul monte.
Ma non sempre i
pellegrinaggi si poterono fare, perché in vari e a volte lunghi periodi
l’edificio fu reso impraticabile per il clima sfavorevole, che lo danneggiava
gravemente, o per altre circostanze. Catello Parisi, ad esempio, nel Cenno
storico-descrittivo della città di Castellammare di Stabia (1842), nel
descrivere la spianata del Faito dove per lo piú si raccoglievano i pellegrini,
lamentava l’interruzione della festa dopo il 1820 (ma pare che la chiesa fosse
stata distrutta da un incendio nel 1818):
Da remotissima epoca sino
al 1820 sparsa vedeasi in ogni anno nel luogo la Conocchia nominato
d’innumeri tende e capanne che la idea davano di una colonia errante o di una
città silvestre durante i giorni della festività di S. Michele sul monte Aureo,
e tutto v’inspirava la gioja ed il diletto. Una popolazione a gara vi accorreva
di oltre a sei mila persone di ogni età, di ogni sesso, di ogni condizione, di
ogni paese. I festivi fuochi i musicali concerti e gli amichevoli inviti ne
rallegravano quell’aria dolcissima. Quanto desiderati or sono quei tempi
dilettosi!
Nell’Appendice dello
stesso Cenno, rievocando il miracolo ed auspicando il recupero della festa
nella chiesa da poco ricostruita, egli aggiungeva:
Nella festa di S. Michele
tutti ne sospiravano il miracolo ché mentre dai canonici ed eddomadarî della
cattedrale s’inalzava nel Vespro il canto della Magnificat vedevasi
la statua cambiare in pallido colore ed abbondante sudore versare che in
fervoroso zelo veniva dai fedeli religiosamente col cottone raccolto. Siffatto
miracolo era la gioja di tutti e la speme dei loro voti [...].
Di presente la cappella
del monte Aureo ristaurata non à guari tempo dopo il danno recatole da un
fulmine o da altra imprevveduta cagione è con ispeciale permesso della nostra
curia vescovile aperta soltanto al religioso zelo del fedele che chiede visitarla.
E però il pio desiderio della festa di S. Michele sul monte Aureo è nel cuore
di tutti.
La chiesa ricostruita fu
consacrata il 29 luglio 1843 dal vescovo mons. Scanzano e già il 31 luglio,
dopo la messa e le preghiere, si verificò la sudorazione. Qualche giorno dopo,
lo stesso vescovo presentò al re che soggiornava a Quisisana parte della
bambagia che era servita per asciugare il sudore.
Furono cosí ripresi i
pellegrinaggi, anche se con minore partecipazione di popolo. Cosí l’Alvino nel Viaggio
da Napoli a Castellammare del 1845:
Solevasi una volta
accorrere in gran folla su questo monte da’ fedeli, ed era una gran festa il 29
luglio e 1 agosto. Oggi vi si va, ma non è piú quella gran gente ch’era una
volta. Pure se i miei viaggiatori son padroni del loro tempo scelgano quella
notte per una tal peregrinazione. Farà loro un bell’effetto il monte illuminato
da mille fiaccole e falò.
Col tempo si tornò a
partecipare in massa come prima e il rinnovato fenomeno della folla di
pellegrini e del prodigio di S. Michele suscitò curiosità o attenzione tra i
viaggiatori e villeggianti stranieri. La marchesa Elisabetta Rosalia di
Sassenay, che visse quindici anni a Napoli a partire dal 1855, soggiornando per
lungo tempo anche a Castellammare, ci ha lasciato la sua interessante
testimonianza sul pellegrinaggio fatto un 29 settembre (da porre
presumibilmente tra il 1856 e il 1857) e sulla sudorazione della statua, da lei
considerata un tipico segno della superficiale religiosità del popolo napoletano,
il quale mai avrebbe tollerato dubbi o obiezioni in proposito:
Sulla cima di una
montagna di Napoli (il monte Sant’Angelo) c’è una cappella dedicata a San
Michele che si apre solo il 29 settembre, giorno della festa del santo. In
questo anniversario memorabile migliaia di pellegrini si arrampicano durante la
notte sulla montagna per assistere all’apertura della cappella, dove si dice la
messa solamente quel giorno.
Con un gruppo di amici
facemmo un anno, di giorno, quest’ascensione. Le funicolari non esistevano
ancora, montammo prosaicamente su degli asini, con le provviste. Raccomandati
al canonico titolare della cappella, il quale anche lui non veniva che per questa
festa, fummo accolti molto gentilmente. Egli ci offrí ospitalità nella sua
piccola sacrestia e cenò con noi. Venuta la notte, si divise la stanza in due:
lato degli uomini, lato delle donne. Inutile dire che nessuno dormí, ma le ore
passarono rapidamente. Si rideva, si chiacchierava fino al momento in cui fummo
in piedi per assistere al levar del sole. A questo punto un meraviglioso
spettacolo si offrí al nostro sguardo: il cielo limpido e tutto tinto di rosso
illuminava l’atmosfera; sembrava che le nuvole stessero per prenderci per
trasportarci nel cielo d’oro e, nostro malgrado, noi cadevamo in ginocchio,
quando il sole essendo spuntato, apparve ai nostri occhi abbagliati.
Ma intanto le ore
scorrevano e dovemmo raggiungere la chiesa in fretta. Per nostra fortuna,
il nostro nuovo amico canonico ci aveva riservato dei posti nella piccolissima
cappella, riempita oltre il possibile, e quelli che non avevano potuto entrare
nella parte inferiore gridavano e spingevano. Una grande statua in marmo di San
Michele si ergeva nel fondo della navata. La messa incominciò e man mano che i
minuti passavano si vedevano grosse gocce apparire lungo il corpo del santo.
Tutti i pellegrini si prosternavano e s’inginocchiavano emettendo grida di
gioia : “Hosanna, ecco il miracolo!”. Mi sembrava che fossimo in una
gabbia di matti. Il caldo era estremo e noi fummo molto felici, finita la
messa, di lasciare la chiesa. Il canonico divise il nostro pranzo. Io gli
chiesi la spiegazione di questo miracolo: “Non lo è affatto, egli mi rispose;
poiché la cappella resta sempre chiusa e in ragione dell’altezza la volta
interna è molto fredda, il giorno dell’apertura si produce un forte vapore
dovuto alla presenza dei devoti che invadono la chiesa e ne riscaldano l’aria;
questo vapore, condensandosi sulla statua, fa credere che San Michele traspiri”. “Come
voi potete assecondare un simile errore?”, gli dissi. “Noi non abbiamo
scelta, questo preteso miracolo non fa male a nessuno e noi avremmo una
sommossa se volessimo disingannare la folla”.
Dunque, se si dà credito
al racconto della marchesa di Sassenay, il clero stabiese o, se si vuole, parte
di esso (compreso il canonico titolare della chiesetta) aveva fondati dubbi
sulla autenticità del miracolo e tuttavia lo tollerava per non deludere o turbare
la ferma devozione dei numerosi fedeli.
Il canonico Matteo Maria
Rispoli, nel suo godibilissimo anche se datato romanzo o «racconto» del
1859, Generosa ossia Stabia al secolo IX (opera scritta «per lo bene
delle anime» e tuttavia ricca di riferimenti alla storia, ai luoghi, alla
realtà di Castellammare), ci offre una bella e particolareggiata descrizione
della folla dei pellegrini che di nuovo si raccoglievano numerosissimi alla
Conocchia e delle cerimonie religiose in onore di S. Michele:
Tra l’enorme macigno del
Gauro alla cui sommità è situato il piccol tempio, e la bassa collinetta della
Conocchia, vi è praticato un passaggio che dalla forma d’una porta e dalla sua
altezza in cui è collocato, fu sin dagli antichi tempi chiamato Portacèli
[...].
Alla destra di chi entra
v’è, come diceva, la collina della Conocchia, la quale si distende da levante
a ponente, e domina tutte le altre circonvicine, menoché la rupe di S.
Michele.
Nel giorno 30 luglio in
ogni anno essa è coperta da una immensità di capanne formata da rami e foglie
di alberi, da tende di bastimenti ivi portate, da coverte e finanche da lenzuoli.
Tutta la collina brulica di piú migliaia di persone.
Dopo l’ora di Vespero, i
Canonici ed il Clero seguito da immenso popolo, discendono processionalmente
portando le statue di S. Catello e S. Antonino, dall’alto del monte,
e si fermano in mezzo di queste capanne, ove uno dei canonici fa il discorso di
apparecchio alla festa del giorno 31 in onore di S. Michele. Allora sbucano da
tutte le capanne, e si concentrano d’intorno all’oratore tutti quei divoti, ed
ascoltano le sue parole con sommo raccoglimento, commozione e profitto. Dipoi
tutti accompagnano le statue dei santi sul monte, e ricevuta la Benedizione col
SS. i preti si ritirano in un tetto coverto di legno dalla parte meridionale
della chiesa; le donne in una grande barracca dalla parte settentrionale
chiudendone l’ingresso a chiave, la quale è ritenuta da una di loro piú proba
ed anziana. Gli uomini ritornano sulla conocchia nelle loro boscherecce
abitazioni.
Sul far della sera si
mirano sulla collina fuochi in tutti i punti per riscaldarsi e difendersi dal
forte freddo, che quantunque nel tempo canicolare pure là si soffre a cagione
dell’elevatezza del clima. Ogni capanna è ornata con lanternini anche al di
fuori, in mezzo dei quali sventolano delle bandiere. Fuochi di
artifizio di bengala, granate e razzi serpeggiano per l’aria, e mille
voci di allegrezza ne accompagnano gli scoppi. Poscia siegue un
silenzio, e le diverse piccole compagnie recitano le loro preghiere, chi a voce
piú alta e chi piú sommessa.
Nel giorno 31 di buon ora
tutti ascendono al sacro tempio con altri sopraggiunti nella stessa notte. Ivi
assistono alla Messa a’ divini uffici, alle preci, a’ diversi discorsi e
sentimenti che si danno dai sacerdoti dal sacro pergamo, per implorare
sulle famiglie la protezione dell’Arcangelo, ed alla fine della funzione a
tutti si dispensa un poco di bambagia che si fa toccare la statua di S.
Michele. Molta fede e divozione si ha per quella bambagia benedetta dal
contatto dalla statua, per la quale si ha gran fede.
Nel giorno primo agosto
si canta la Messa solenne della Dedicazione della chiesa, e poi si porta il SS.
precessionalmente fuori per il piccolo atrio, dal quale alle undici
del mattino si fa benedizione da tre lati della chiesa cioè da settentrione da
mezzodí e da occidente. Si canta l’inno Ambrosiano e si compie la sacra liturgia.
Questa santa pratica e
questo divoto pellegrinaggio che si fa in ogni anno, quantunque in
qualche tempo interrotto, dura da piú di dieci secoli, continuazione di ciò che
ivi praticava, quantunque in altre forme il vescovo stabiano Catello. Se
mancassero altri titoli e monumenti per comprovare la santità del suo operare
sul monte Gauro, basterebbe solo questo argomento parlante da mille anni!
Si ha quasi l’impressione
che il Rispoli, che pur si è soffermato dettagliatamente sul pellegrinaggio,
sul rito e sulla distribuzione dell’ovatta passata sulla statua del Santo, ma
non altrettanto sulla sudorazione, ci abbia testimoniato in qualche misura il
momento del passaggio verso la definitiva fine di un prodigio accettato senza
riserve dai fedeli ma forse messo in discussione da parte dello stesso clero,
momento in cui probabilmente non avveniva piú la sudorazione o non le si dava
importanza (in quanto ritenuta un fenomeno naturalmente spiegabile) e tuttavia
si continuava a passare la bambagia sulla statua e a distribuirla come
reliquia.
È vero che lo stesso
Rispoli aveva parlato in un precedente capitolo della sudorazione, ma la
descrizione non si discostava da quella del Milante ed era riferita come un
evento passato (lo lascia pensare l’uso dell’imperfetto «si vedeva») e, per di
piú, oggetto di «disputa» fra opinioni opposte:
Sul maggiore altare avvi
una nicchia, ove mirasi una statua del S. Arcangelo in marmo. La vecchia
tradizione e costante ne assicura che questa statua nella vigilia della
festività del detto Arcangelo nell’ufficiare i Canonici e propriamente
all’intuonarsi del magnificat, d’un tratto si vedeva il volto del
Santo cambiar colore, e tutta la statua trasudare da capo a piedi. Di questo
portentoso avvenimento oltre alla tradizione, vi ha ancora qualche
documento autentico che lo compruova; come allorquando nel 14 giugno
1558, un’orda numerosa di turchi saccheggiavano Sorrento; pochi abitanti della
desolata città si rifuggiarono nella cappella del Gauro, ed ivi pregando
S. Michele furono racconsolati colla vista di quel segno di protezione, ed il
di vegnente Sorrento fu miracolosamente salvata da’ turchi e restituiti gli
schiavi.
Di tuttociò io lascio il
mio lettore a consultare chi ne scrisse di proposito, mentre la mia
meta è di raggiungere i fatti di Generosa senza entrare in disputa alcuna.
Oltre di che a me non va a genio quella parte della letteratura, nella quale,
dopo lungo competere fra due opinioni, ciascuno resta sempre piú confermato
nella sua, ed hanno amendue torto, e ragione.
Ad ogni modo, se pure la
nostra impressione non fosse giusta, dopo due o tre anni avvenne realmente
qualcosa che segnò la sorte del prodigio e dei pellegrinaggi insieme.
Vediamo come monsignor
Francesco Di Capua, in S. Catello e i suoi tempi (conferenza del 1928
pubblicata con varie appendici storiche nel 1932), registrava nostalgicamente
una successiva ancor piú lunga interruzione, nel rievocare indirettamente,
attraverso il ricordo paterno trasmessogli da piccolo, gli ultimi pellegrinaggi
a Faito, terminati a partire dal 1863, da quando la chiesa, a causa del
brigantaggio che infestava la montagna, era stata abbandonata e lasciata rovinare
e dopo che la statua di S. Michele, colpita da un fulmine e poi restaurata era
stata traslata il 20 dicembre 1862 nella Cattedrale:
Nei bei pomeriggi estivi
mio padre mi soleva condurre a passeggio lungo il lido del mare che,
leggermente incurvandosi, va dalla nostra città alla foce del Sarno. Di qui
egli mi additava l’ermo tricuspide cocuzzulo del Monte Aureo, dove sorgeva il
tempietto dedicato a S. Michele, e mi descriveva le feste, che ivi si
celebravano specialmente negli ultimi giorni di luglio e nei primi di agosto.
Fino al 1863, quando la statua dell’Arcangelo fu rimossa dal luogo dove l’aveva
collocata S. Catello e fu portata nella Cattedrale, decine e decine di migliaia
di pellegrini accorrevano da Stabia e da tutti i paesi della Campania, e si
accampavano sui due versanti del monte, sul pianoro di Faito e sulla spianata
della Conocchia. Costruite delle capanne di frasche, vi rimanevano chi cinque,
chi dieci, chi quindici e piú giorni. Nella voce commossa di mio padre, quando
ricordava quei pellegrinaggi, si sentiva l’eco nostalgica di quei bei giorni
passati sulla sacra montagna in comunione con Dio e con la natura, in un pieno,
misterioso benessere fisico e morale. Di giorno il sole dardeggiava alto, di
notte il monte brillava per migliaia e migliaia di fuochi accesi dai sacri
pellegrini per allontanare il freddo notturno.
Nell’Appendice Il
culto di S. Michele nel territorio di Stabia durante il Medioevo egli
specificò le motivazioni per cui i pellegrinaggi cessarono e precisò le date:
I pellegrinaggi cessarono
nel 1863, quando, per l’infierire del brigantaggio, quei monti divennero poco
sicuri [in nota: «In una conclusione capitolare del tempo si legge che ora i
briganti ora i carabinieri s’installavano nella cappella sul monte»]. Si aggiunse
che un fulmine colpì la vetusta statua di S. Michele, frantumandola. Ricomposta
alla meglio, il 20 dicembre 1862 venne trasportata nella Cattedrale di
Castellammare, dove oggi si trova.
A questo punto inserí la
nota:
Il tempietto sul M.
Aureo, rimasto abbandonato, presto ruinò per l’azione del gelo e del disgelo;
ed oggi non si scorgono che pochi ruderi.
Nel 1950 la chiesa è
stata ancora ricostruita, anche se non nello stesso posto della precedente, ma
dal dicembre 1862 la statua di S. Michele è rimasta nella Cattedrale. Da
allora, sembra che il miracolo non si sia piú verificato, cosí come non si son
fatti piú i pellegrinaggi di migliaia di persone, e il tutto è stato quasi
completamente dimenticato dagli Stabiesi.
È vero che nel tempo
molti miracoli simili sono svaniti (lasciando tuttavia spazio a quello di S.
Gennaro), forse perché crediamo in miracoli diversi. È anche
vero che gli odierni veloci e comodi mezzi di trasporto, che ci avvicinano a
luoghi remoti e prima irraggiungibili, forse ci allontanano da noi stessi.
Un tempo, l’accorrere in
massa, a piedi o a cavallo o sull’asino, il pernottare sul monte, sotto tende o
all’aperto, tra fuochi notturni, attendendo l’alba, tra disagi e difficoltà, il
partecipare accorati alla cerimonia e al miracolo erano di per sé testimonianze
di una semplice, corale, umana religiosità popolare. Oggi abbiamo l’auto e la
funivia e non sappiamo guadagnare le altezze.
NOTE
* Relazione tenuta al
Rotary Club di Castellammare di Stabia (presso l’Hotel Stabia) venerdí 9 marzo
2007. In essa si riprende, con l'aggiunta di altre testimonianze, l'omonimo
articolo apparso tra le Spigolature Stabiane su «L'Opinione di
Stabia» (X 110 – Luglio 2006, pp. 16-17; X 111 – Agosto-Settembre 2006, pp.
16-17) e riportato tra le Spigolature Stabiane di Stabiana.it alla
pagina spigol05-06sanmichele.htm.
1 è interessante
ciò che scrive l’Alvino anche a proposito della miracolosa fonte dell’acqua
Santa prossima alla chiesetta: «Conciosiache affaticandosi con le proprie
mani in fabricar il Tempio, venendoli meno l’acqua, non sí
tosto si posero in oratione, che essaudí il Signore la loro dimanda, sorgendo
nel medesimo luogo uno ampio fonte, con la cui acqua poterono con facilità
mandar inanti l’incominciata impresa, e perché fusse magior il
favore, seguitò il Signore à far per mezzo dell’istessa acqua ad honore de
suoi servi molti miracoli, guarendo varie sorti d’infermi. Frà quali
un huomo morsicato da velenosa vipera restò sano. Un altro dal male del canchero libero
affatto. Altri dal male della quartana intutto guariti, e questa è quell’acqua,
la qual hoggidí con meraviglia si conserva, sorgendo, se bene non con
tanta abondanza, dalla parte di dietro al medesimo Tempio, e tolta ne vasi per
qualche anno senza corrompersi, si mantiene, si come ne fanno testimonianza
persone degne di fede, e dicesi comunemente l’acqua Santa».
(Dal Bollettino del Rotary Club di
Castellammare di Stabia, Anno 2006-07, n. 3: marzo-giugno 2007, pp. 4-6)
(Fine)
Questo studio ora appare
—riveduto, aggiornato, ampliato— nel volume edito nel 2008 a Castellammare di Stabia
da Nicola Longobardi Editore per il Santuario di San Michele Arcangelo sul
Faito
G. Centonze, I
pellegrinaggi sul monte Faito e il miracolo di San Michele
© Copyright 1998-2008
Giuseppe Centonze — Castellammare di Stabia. Ultimo aggiornamento: 03
agosto 2008
SOURCE : http://www.stabiana.it/studi13sanmichele.htm
La
escultura del Arcángel San Miguel, localizado en la Basílica de Nuestra Señora
de los Remedios (Naucalpan de Juárez, México). De varios metros de alto,
refleja la idea de protección a la Iglesia.
The
sculpture of Archangel Michael, located at the Basilica of Our Lady of Remedies
( Naucalpan , Mexico ). From various meters high, reflects the idea of
protection to the Church.
Sábado 29 de septiembre de 2007
Queridos hermanos y
hermanas:
Nos encontramos reunidos
en torno al altar del Señor para una circunstancia solemne y alegre al mismo
tiempo: la ordenación episcopal de seis nuevos obispos, llamados a desempeñar
diversas misiones al servicio de la única Iglesia de Cristo. Son mons.
Mieczyslaw Mokrzycki, mons. Francesco Brugnaro, mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, mons.
Tommaso Caputo, mons. Sergio Pagano y mons. Vincenzo Di Mauro. A todos dirijo
mi cordial saludo, con un abrazo fraterno.
Saludo en particular a
mons. Mokrzycki, que, juntamente con el actual cardenal Stanislaw Dziwisz,
durante muchos años estuvo al servicio del Santo Padre Juan Pablo II como
secretario y luego, después de mi elección como Sucesor de Pedro, también me ha
ayudado a mí como secretario con gran humildad, competencia y dedicación.
Saludo, asimismo, al
amigo del Papa Juan Pablo II, cardenal Marian Jaworski, con quien mons.
Mokrzycki colaborará como coadjutor. Saludo también a los obispos latinos de
Ucrania, que están aquí en Roma para su visita "ad limina
Apostolorum". Mi pensamiento se dirige, además, a los obispos
grecocatólicos, con algunos de los cuales me encontré el lunes pasado, y a la
Iglesia ortodoxa de Ucrania. A todos les deseo las bendiciones del cielo para
sus esfuerzos encaminados a mantener operante en su tierra y a transmitir a las
futuras generaciones la fuerza sanadora y fortalecedora del Evangelio de
Cristo.
Celebramos esta
ordenación episcopal en la fiesta de los tres Arcángeles que la sagrada Escritura
menciona por su propio nombre: Miguel, Gabriel y Rafael. Esto nos trae a la
mente que en la Iglesia antigua, ya en el Apocalipsis, a los obispos se les
llamaba "ángeles" de su Iglesia, expresando así una íntima
correspondencia entre el ministerio del obispo y la misión del ángel.
A partir de la tarea del
ángel se puede comprender el servicio del obispo. Pero, ¿qué es un ángel? La
sagrada Escritura y la tradición de la Iglesia nos hacen descubrir dos
aspectos. Por una parte, el ángel es una criatura que está en la presencia de
Dios, orientada con todo su ser hacia Dios. Los tres nombres de los Arcángeles
acaban con la palabra "El", que significa "Dios". Dios está
inscrito en sus nombres, en su naturaleza.
Su verdadera naturaleza
es estar en él y para él.
Precisamente así se
explica también el segundo aspecto que caracteriza a los ángeles: son
mensajeros de Dios. Llevan a Dios a los hombres, abren el cielo y así abren la
tierra. Precisamente porque están en la presencia de Dios, pueden estar también
muy cerca del hombre. En efecto, Dios es más íntimo a cada uno de nosotros de
lo que somos nosotros mismos.
Los ángeles hablan al
hombre de lo que constituye su verdadero ser, de lo que en su vida con mucha
frecuencia está encubierto y sepultado. Lo invitan a volver a entrar en sí
mismo, tocándolo de parte de Dios. En este sentido, también nosotros, los seres
humanos, deberíamos convertirnos continuamente en ángeles los unos para los
otros, ángeles que nos apartan de los caminos equivocados y nos orientan siempre
de nuevo hacia Dios.
Cuando la Iglesia antigua
llama a los obispos "ángeles" de su Iglesia, quiere decir
precisamente que los obispos mismos deben ser hombres de Dios, deben vivir
orientados hacia Dios. "Multum orat pro populo", "Ora mucho por
el pueblo", dice el Breviario de la Iglesia a propósito de los obispos
santos. El obispo debe ser un orante, uno que intercede por los hombres ante
Dios. Cuanto más lo hace, tanto más comprende también a las personas que le han
sido encomendadas y puede convertirse para ellas en un ángel, un mensajero de
Dios, que les ayuda a encontrar su verdadera naturaleza, a encontrarse a sí
mismas, y a vivir la idea que Dios tiene de ellas.
Todo esto resulta aún más
claro si contemplamos las figuras de los tres Arcángeles cuya fiesta celebra
hoy la Iglesia. Ante todo, san Miguel. En la sagrada Escritura lo
encontramos sobre todo en el libro de Daniel, en la carta del apóstol san Judas
Tadeo y en el Apocalipsis. En esos textos se ponen de manifiesto dos funciones
de este Arcángel. Defiende la causa de la unicidad de Dios contra la presunción
del dragón, de la "serpiente antigua", como dice san Juan. La
serpiente intenta continuamente hacer creer a los hombres que Dios debe
desaparecer, para que ellos puedan llegar a ser grandes; que Dios obstaculiza
nuestra libertad y que por eso debemos desembarazarnos de él.
Pero el dragón no sólo
acusa a Dios. El Apocalipsis lo llama también "el acusador de nuestros
hermanos, el que los acusa día y noche delante de nuestro Dios" (Ap 12,
10). Quien aparta a Dios, no hace grande al hombre, sino que le quita su
dignidad. Entonces el hombre se transforma en un producto defectuoso de la
evolución. Quien acusa a Dios, acusa también al hombre. La fe en Dios defiende
al hombre en todas sus debilidades e insuficiencias: el esplendor de Dios
brilla en cada persona.
El obispo, en cuanto
hombre de Dios, tiene por misión hacer espacio a Dios en el mundo contra las
negaciones y defender así la grandeza del hombre. Y ¿qué cosa más grande se
podría decir y pensar sobre el hombre que el hecho de que Dios mismo se ha
hecho hombre?
La otra función del
arcángel Miguel, según la Escritura, es la de protector del pueblo de Dios
(cf. Dn 10, 21; 12, 1). Queridos amigos, sed de verdad "ángeles
custodios" de las Iglesias que se os encomendarán. Ayudad al pueblo de
Dios, al que debéis preceder en su peregrinación, a encontrar la alegría en la
fe y a aprender el discernimiento de espíritus: a acoger el bien y rechazar el
mal, a seguir siendo y a ser cada vez más, en virtud de la esperanza de la fe,
personas que aman en comunión con el Dios-Amor.
Al Arcángel Gabriel lo
encontramos sobre todo en el magnífico relato del anuncio de la encarnación de
Dios a María, como nos lo refiere san Lucas (cf. Lc 1, 26-38).
Gabriel es el mensajero de la encarnación de Dios. Llama a la puerta de María
y, a través de él, Dios mismo pide a María su "sí" a la propuesta de
convertirse en la Madre del Redentor: de dar su carne humana al Verbo eterno de
Dios, al Hijo de Dios.
En repetidas ocasiones el
Señor llama a las puertas del corazón humano. En el Apocalipsis dice al
"ángel" de la Iglesia de Laodicea y, a través de él, a los hombres de
todos los tiempos: "Mira que estoy a la puerta y llamo; si alguno oye mi
voz y me abre la puerta, entraré en su casa y cenaré con él y él conmigo"
(Ap 3, 20). El Señor está a la puerta, a la puerta del mundo y a la puerta
de cada corazón. Llama para que le permitamos entrar: la encarnación de Dios,
su hacerse carne, debe continuar hasta el final de los tiempos.
Todos deben estar
reunidos en Cristo en un solo cuerpo: esto nos lo dicen los grandes himnos
sobre Cristo en la carta a los Efesios y en la carta a los Colosenses. Cristo
llama. También hoy necesita personas que, por decirlo así, le ponen a
disposición su carne, le proporcionan la materia del mundo y de su vida,
contribuyendo así a la unificación entre Dios y el mundo, a la reconciliación
del universo.
Queridos amigos, vosotros
tenéis la misión de llamar en nombre de Cristo a los corazones de los hombres.
Entrando vosotros mismos en unión con Cristo, podréis también asumir la función
de Gabriel: llevar la llamada de Cristo a los hombres.
San Rafael se nos
presenta, sobre todo en el libro de Tobías, como el ángel a quien está
encomendada la misión de curar. Cuando Jesús envía a sus discípulos en misión,
además de la tarea de anunciar el Evangelio, les encomienda siempre también la
de curar. El buen samaritano, al recoger y curar a la persona herida que yacía
a la vera del camino, se convierte sin palabras en un testigo del amor de Dios.
Este hombre herido, necesitado de curación, somos todos nosotros. Anunciar el
Evangelio significa ya de por sí curar, porque el hombre necesita sobre todo la
verdad y el amor.
El libro de Tobías
refiere dos tareas emblemáticas de curación que realiza el Arcángel Rafael.
Cura la comunión perturbada entre el hombre y la mujer. Cura su amor. Expulsa
los demonios que, siempre de nuevo, desgarran y destruyen su amor. Purifica el
clima entre los dos y les da la capacidad de acogerse mutuamente para siempre.
El relato de Tobías presenta esta curación con imágenes legendarias.
En el Nuevo Testamento,
el orden del matrimonio, establecido en la creación y amenazado de muchas
maneras por el pecado, es curado por el hecho de que Cristo lo acoge en su amor
redentor. Cristo hace del matrimonio un sacramento: su amor, al subir por
nosotros a la cruz, es la fuerza sanadora que, en todas las confusiones,
capacita para la reconciliación, purifica el clima y cura las heridas.
Al sacerdote está
confiada la misión de llevar a los hombres continuamente al encuentro de la
fuerza reconciliadora del amor de Cristo. Debe ser el "ángel" sanador
que les ayude a fundamentar su amor en el sacramento y a vivirlo con empeño
siempre renovado a partir de él.
En segundo lugar, el
libro de Tobías habla de la curación de la ceguera. Todos sabemos que hoy nos
amenaza seriamente la ceguera con respecto a Dios. Hoy es muy grande el peligro
de que, ante todo lo que sabemos sobre las cosas materiales y lo que con ellas
podemos hacer, nos hagamos ciegos con respecto a la luz de Dios.
Curar esta ceguera
mediante el mensaje de la fe y el testimonio del amor es el servicio de Rafael,
encomendado cada día al sacerdote y de modo especial al obispo. Así, nos viene
espontáneamente también el pensamiento del sacramento de la Reconciliación, del
sacramento de la Penitencia, que, en el sentido más profundo de la palabra, es
un sacramento de curación. En efecto, la verdadera herida del alma, el motivo
de todas nuestras demás heridas, es el pecado. Y sólo podemos ser curados, sólo
podemos ser redimidos, si existe un perdón en virtud del poder de Dios, en
virtud del poder del amor de Cristo.
"Permaneced en mi
amor", nos dice hoy el Señor en el evangelio (Jn 15, 9). En el
momento de la ordenación episcopal lo dice de modo particular a vosotros,
queridos amigos. Permaneced en su amor. Permaneced en la amistad con él, llena
del amor que él os regala de nuevo en este momento. Entonces vuestra vida dará
fruto, un fruto que permanece (cf. Jn 15, 16). Todos oramos en este
momento por vosotros, queridos hermanos, para que Dios os conceda este regalo.
Amén
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Antonio Pollaiuolo (–1498), San Michele arcangelo e il drago, circa 1460,
tempera sur toile, 175 x 116, musée Bardini, Via de 'Renai, Piazza de' Mozzi,Oltrarno à Florence,
Mikaels åpenbaring
Minnedag: 8.
mai
Det er klart fra Bibelen
at Gud hyppig gjør bruk av engler for å gjøre sin vilje kjent i verden. Englene
er ikke materielle, men ren ånd, og blant erkeenglene har Mikael, Gabriel og
Rafael en spesiell plass i Bibelen. Mikael er fyrsten for de trofaste
englene som sto mot Lucifer og hans tilhengere i deres opprør mot Gud. Siden
djevelen er en svoren fiende av Guds hellige Kirke, har Gutt gitt henne Mikael
som sin spesielle beskytter mot djevelens angrep. I Antikrists siste
forfølgelse skal Mikael forsvare Kirken med stor kraft: «På den tid skal
Mikael, den store fyrsten, stå frem, han som verner dine landsmenn. Det skal
komme en trengselstid som det ikke har vært maken til helt siden folkeslag
oppstod. Men på den tid skal ditt folk bli frelst, alle som er skrevet opp i
boken» (Dan 12,1).
Kirken har siden
1000-tallet den 8. mai feiret festen for erkeengelen Mikaels åpenbaring (Apparitio
S. Michaelis), som utviklet seg fra en lokalfest for den hellige Mikael på
Monte Gargano (Garganus Mons) ved Golfo di Manfredonia i provinsen
Foggia i den nordlige delen av regionen Puglia (Apulia) i Sør-Italia. Byen
Manfredonia ble bygd av kong Manfred i 1256 ikke langt fra ruinene av det gamle
Siponto (Sipontum), som var ødelagt av et jordskjelv i 1233.
Noen gamle dokumenter
beviser at helligdommens opprinnelse går tilbake til slutten av 400- og
begynnelsen av 500-tallet: et brev sent av den hellige pave Gelasius I (492-96)
i 493/94 til biskop Giusto av Larino, et annet brev fra samme pave til biskop
Herculentius av Potenza og et notat datert 29. september av den hellige
martyrologen Hieronymus.
Men det er Liber de
apparitione sancti Michaelis in Monte Gargano, som det første utkastet til ble
skrevet på 700-tallet, som presist og livaktig rekonstruerer de mirakuløse
hendelsene som var opprinnelsen til kulten for erkeengelen Mikael på Gargano.
På 1300-tallet gjenfortalte den salige Jakob av Voragine historien
i en mer komprimert form i sin «Gylne legende» (Legenda Aurea). Festen for
Mikaels åpenbaring går tilbake til tre åpenbaringer, som tradisjonelt dateres
til 490, 492 og 493. Den første kalles «episoden med oksen».
En rik adelsmann i
Siponto (som noen har identifisert som Elvio Emanuele, den 33. kommandøren for
hærene i Siponto) pleide å la sin store buskap beite i fjellsidene på Monte
Gargano. Men en dag forsvant plutselig en av hans mest praktfulle okser. Eieren
lette bekymret etter den på de mest bortgjemte steder. Til slutt fant han dyret
på toppen av fjellet, knelende ved åpningen til en hule. Han ble sint for dette
og skjøt en pil mot det opprørske dyret, men i stedet for å treffe oksen,
snudde pilen uforklarlig og traff den rike mannen i foten og såret ham.
Mannen ble urolig over
denne hendelsen og dro for å treffe biskopen av Siponto, Laurentius Maiorano.
Etter å ha hørt beretningen om den ekstraordinære episoden ga biskopen ordre om
tre dager med bønn og bot. Ved slutten av den tredje dagen viste erkeengelen
Mikael seg for biskopen om natten og sa til ham: «Jeg er erkeengelen Mikael, og
jeg er alltid i Guds nærvær. Hilen er hellig for meg, jeg har valgt den, og jeg
er selv dens årvåkne vokter. Der hvor klippen åpner seg, kan menneskenes synder
bli tilgitt. Det som det bes om der i bønn, vil bli innvilget. Derfor, gå til
grotten og vigsle den til den kristne religion». Men fordi dette mystiske
fjellet var nesten umulig å komme til, og det hadde også vært stedet for en
hedensk kult, nølte biskopen lenge før han bestemte seg for å adlyde
erkeengelens ord.
Erkeengelen Mikaels andre
åpenbaring er kjent som «episoden med seieren». Den dateres tradisjonelt til
492, selv om forskerne i dag sier at episoden skjedde i langobardhertugen
Grimoalds krig med grekerne ledet av keiser Konstans II (641-68) i 662/63. Den
8. mai 663 vant langobardene en stor seier over grekerne, og Grimoald tilskrev
erkeengelen Mikaels forbønn og hjelp. Helligdommen på Monte Gargano lå i
hertugdømmet Benevento, og Grimoald gjorde Mikael til skytshelgen for sitt
kongerike og sin nasjon.
Ifølge tradisjonen ble
byen Siponto beleiret av fiendtlige tropper og var på nippet til å overgi seg.
Den hellige biskop Laurentius klarte å oppnå en tre dager lang våpenhvile fra
fienden, og han vendte seg til den himmelske leder med tro, bønn og bot. På
slutten av den tredje dagen viste erkeengelen Mikael seg for biskopen om natten
og forutsa en fullstendig seier. Dette budskapet fylte hjertene til de
beleirete med håp. Forsvarerne forlot byen og kjempet et rasende slag
akkompagnert av torden og lyn av ekstraordinær intensitet. Folket i Sipontos
seier var fullstendig med utryddelsen av fienden.
Den tredje åpenbaringen
kalles «episoden med dedikasjonen». Ifølge tradisjonen skjedde den i 493, etter
seieren. Biskopen ønsket nå å adlyde den himmelske vokteren og konsekrere
grotten til Mikael som et tegn på takknemlighet. Biskopen var også oppmuntret
av den positive holdningen som ble uttrykt av pave Gelasius I (492-96). Men da
åpenbarte erkeengelen seg for ham på nytt og annonserte at han selv allerede
hadde konsekrert grotten. Deretter gikk biskopen av Siponto sammen med syv
andre biskoper fra Apulia i prosesjon sammen med folket og presteskapet i Siponto
til det hellige stedet.
Under prosesjonen
beskyttet noen ørner biskopene fra den stekende solen med sine utspilte vinger.
Da de kom til grotten, fant de at et primitivt alter allerede var reist, dekket
av en sinoberrød alterduk og med et kors satt på. Ifølge legenden fant de også
Mikaels fotavtrykk i klippen. Med en intens glede ofret biskopene det første
hellige messeoffer. Det var den 29. september. Grotten er det eneste stedet for
tilbedelse som ikke er konsekrert av menneskehender, og i århundrenes løp har
den fått tittelen av en «himmelsk basilika».
Det har også vært en
fjerde åpenbaring. I 1656 herjet en fryktelig pest i hele Sør-Italia. Da
erkebiskop Giovanni Alfonso Puccinelli av Manfredonia (1652-58), hvor
erkebispesetet var blitt overført etter byggingen av denne byen, ikke var i
stand til å finne menneskelige metoder for å stanse epidemien, tydde han til
erkeengelen Mikael med bønn og faste. Erkebiskopen tenkte til og med å tvinge
den guddommelige vilje ved å plassere en bønnfallelse skrevet i navnet til alle
innbyggerne i byen i hånden på statuen av erkeengelen Mikael.
Ved daggry den 22.
september, mens han ba i et rom i bispepalasset i Monte Sant'Angelo, var det et
slags jordskjelv og Mikael åpenbarte seg for ham i blendende prakt og ga ham ordre
om å velsigne steinene i grotten ved å gravere inn korsets tegn og bokstavene
MA (Mikael Erkeengel). Alle de som fromt oppbevarte disse steinene, ville være
immune mot pesten. Biskopen gjorde som han ble fortalt, og snart var ikke bare
byen befridd fra pesten, men også de som hadde bedt om disse steinene uansett
hvor de bodde.
Som et evig minne om
miraklet og av evig takknemlighet reiste biskopen et monument for St. Mikael på
torget i byen, og der står det ennå, foran balkongen i det rommet hvor åpenbaringen
skal ha funnet sted, med disse ordene innskrevet på latin:
Til englenes fyrste /
pestens beseirer / verge og vokter / vi reiser dette monumentet / i evig
takknemlighet / Alfonso Puccinelli / 1656
Til minne om seieren over
grekerne innførte Kirken i Sipontum en spesiell fest til ære for erkeengelen
Mikael den 8. mai. Den spredte seg over hele den latinske Kirken, og den har
siden den hellige pave Pius Vs tid
(1566-72) vært kalt «Apparitio S. Michaelis», selv om den opprinnelig ikke
mintes åpenbaringen, men seieren. Fra Monte Gargano går alle
Mikael-helligdommer i Europa tilbake. Denne festen sto i den romerske
kalenderen til den ble fjernet ved kalenderrevisjonen i 1969 og henvist til
lokale og spesielle kalendere.
På Monte Gargano i Apulia
inneholder byen Monte Sant'Angelo den eldste og mest berømte helligdommen viet
til den hellige erkeengelen Mikael i den latinske vesten, Santuario Monte
Sant'Angelo sul Gargano. Pave Gelasius I (492-96) bestemte at det skulle bygges
en basilika som skulle omslutte den hellige grotten. På toppen av fjellet
utgjør denne basilikaen et kompleks av konstruksjoner rundt grotten fra ulike
epoker og vitner om over 1500 års historie.
Monte Sant' Angelo
tiltrakk seg pilegrimer fra fjern og nær. Gjennom århundrene har stedet hatt
besøk av paver, keisere og helgener som Bernard av Clairvaux, Thomas Aquinas og Birgitta av Sverige,
men da Frans av
Assisi dro dit, nektet han å gå inn i selve grotten.
Bak en forgård har
helligdommen en søylegang av to gotiske buer (den venstre en kopi fra
1800-tallet), og derfra leder trapper ned til det lave hvelvete skipet. Grotten
kan nås via en romansk portal fra 600-tallet som kalles «Okseporten» (Portale
del Toro). Bronsedørene ble laget i Konstantinopel i 1076 og ble donert av en
adelsmann fra Amalfi. Dørene er inndelt i 24 paneler som viser scener med
engler fra Det gamle og Det nye testamentet. Den massive, oktogonale kampanilen
ble bygd på 1200-tallet som et vakttårn av keiser Fredrik II av Sicilia (f.
1194; keiser 1220-50). Det ble omgjort til et klokketårn av Karl I av Anjou,
konge av Sicilia (1266-85).
Erkeengelen Mikael har
også vist seg ved andre anledninger og på andre steder. Mot slutten av 589 gikk
Tiberen over sine bredder og ødela kornlagrene, og som et direkte resultat av
dette ble Roma herjet av en fryktelig pest. Den 7. februar 590 døde pave
Pelagius II av pesten, og kardinalene valgte med en sjelden enstemmighet den
hellige Gregor
I den Store til ny pave (590-604). Han var oppriktig forferdet og
gjorde alt han kunne for å unngå denne forfremmelsen. Han skrev sågar til
keiser Maurikios (582-602) og ba ham om ikke å gi sitt samtykke. Men i
mellomtiden viet pave-elekten seg til å hjelpe den hjemsøkte byen.
Pesten herjet og dødsfallene ville ingen ende ta. Da prekte Gregor anger og
omvendelse, og han ledet folket i botsprosesjoner under bønn og sang.
Ifølge den apokryfe
legenden fra 900-tallet viste erkeengelen Mikael seg over Moles Hadriani,
keiser Hadrians mausoleum, da Gregor ledet folket i prosesjon over Tiberbroen.
De fikk se erkeengelen Mikael stå og stikke sitt flammesverd i skjeden som et
tegn på at pesten var over. Etter dette ble Hadrians mausoleum blitt kalt Castel
Sant'Angelo eller Engelsborg. Pave Bonifatius IV (608-15) bygde en kirke
til ære for erkeengelen Mikael på Moles Hadrianii, og den ble kalt St.
Michaelis inter nubes (in summitate circi).
En annen berømt
åpenbaring er da erkeengelen Mikael viste seg i 708 i det nåværende
Mont-Saint-Michel i bispedømmet Coutances i Normandie for den hellige
biskop Autbert
av Avranches.
Legenden forteller at
Autbert i år 706 falt i søvn på klippen Rocher de la Tombe og drømte at
erkeengelen Mikael ba ham om å bygge en kirke nær dette stedet. Autbert prøvde
å gjøre det han var bedt om, men han møtte alle slags uventede hindringer. Det
var ikke før han hadde mottatt enda to åpenbaringer av Mikael i 707 og 708 samt
en guddommelig refs for sin mangel på besluttsomhet, at prosjektet ble
fullført. Kirken ble bygd og ble vigslet den 16. oktober 709 til erkeengelen
Mikael, og dermed oppsto det berømte valfartsstedet Mont-Saint-Michel in
periculo maris. Denne begivenheten ble feiret som en egen lokal fest den 16.
oktober, «S. Michaelis in periculo maris» eller «in Monte Tumba», nå er festen
begrenset til bispedømmet Coutances og til St. Michael's Abbey i Farnborough i
Sør-England. I Saint-Michel er Mikael skytshelgen for sjøfolk.
Rett over Den engelske
kanal ligger valfartsmålet St. Michael's Mount i Cornwall i Sør-England. Der
viste erkeengelen Mikael seg for en fisker i 495. Fjellet ble raskt et
pilegrimsmål, og i de senere århundrene har St. Michael's Mount vært en kirke,
et priorat, en militær festning og et privat slott for familien St. Aubyn.
Erkeengelen Mikael skal
også ha vist seg for keiser Konstantin den Store (d. 337) i Konstantinopel, og
han har grepet inn i mange ulike slag. Han minnes spesielt i Frankrike som den
ånden som ga den hellige Jeanne d'Arc mot
til å redde sitt land fra engelskmennene under Hundreårskrigen (1337-1455).
Etter evangeliseringen av Tyskland erstattet erkeengelen Mikael for de kristne
den hedenske guden Wotan, som mange fjell var hellige for, og derfor har man
fortsatt en rekke fjellkapeller viet til St. Mikael over hele Tyskland.
Kilder: Kaas,
Schnitzler, Melchers, CE, en.wikipedia.org, magnificat.ca, sacredsites.com,
gargano.it, edizionipadrepio.it - Kompilasjon og oversettelse: p. Per Einar Odden -
Opprettet: 1999-08-27 23:20 - Sist oppdatert: 2007-02-19 20:02
SOURCE : http://www.katolsk.no/biografier/historisk/mai08
.jpg)
Sculptures of Saint
Michael in Portugal, Viana do Castelo
Sábado, 29 de Setembro de
2007
Queridos irmãos e irmãs!
Estamos reunidos em volta
do altar do Senhor para uma circunstância ao mesmo tempo solene e feliz: a
Ordenação episcopal de seis novos Bispos, chamados a desempenhar funções
diversas ao serviço da única Igreja de Cristo. Eles são Mons. Mieczyslaw
Mokrzycki, Mons. Francesco Brugnaro, Mons. Gianfranco Ravasi, Mons. Tommaso
Caputo, Mons. Sergio Pagano, e Mons. Vincenzo Di Mauro. Dirijo a todos a minha
cordial saudação com um abraço fraterno. Dirijo uma saudação particular a Mons.
Mokrzycki que, juntamente com o actual Cardeal Stanislaw Dziwisz, serviu
durante muitos anos como secretário o Santo Padre João Paulo II e depois da
minha eleição para Sucessor de Pedro, também foi meu secretário com grande
humildade, competência e dedicação. Com ele saúdo o amigo do Papa João Paulo
II, o Cardeal Marian Jaworski, ao qual Mons. Mokrzycki dará a sua ajuda como
Coadjutor. Saúdo também os Bispos latinos da Ucrânia, que estão aqui em Roma
para a sua visita "ad limina Apostolorum". O meu pensamento
dirige-se também aos Bispos greco-católicos, alguns dos quais encontrei na
passada segunda-feira, e à Igreja ortodoxa da Ucrânia. Desejo a todos as
bênçãos do Céu pelas suas fadigas que visam manter activa na sua Terra e
transmitir às futuras gerações a força restabelecedora do Evangelho de Cristo.
Celebramos esta Ordenação
episcopal na festa dos três Arcanjos que na Escritura são mencionados pelo
nome: Miguel, Gabriel e Rafael. Isto faz-nos recordar que na antiga Igreja já
no Apocalipse os Bispos eram classificados como "anjos" da sua
Igreja, expressando deste modo uma correspondência íntima entre o ministério do
Bispo e a missão do Anjo. A partir da tarefa do Anjo pode-se compreender o
serviço do Bispo. Mas o que é um Anjo? A Sagrada Escritura e a tradição da
Igreja deixam-nos entrever dois aspectos. Por um lado, o Anjo é uma criatura
que está diante de Deus, orientada, com todo o seu ser para Deus. Os três nomes
dos Arcanjos terminam com a palavra "El", que significa
"Deus". Deus está inscrito nos seus nomes, na sua natureza. A sua
verdadeira natureza é a existência em vista d'Ele e para Ele. Explica-se
precisamente assim também o segundo aspecto que caracteriza os Anjos: eles são
mensageiros de Deus. Trazem Deus aos homens, abrem o céu e assim abrem a terra.
Exactamente porque estão junto de Deus, podem estar também muito próximos do
homem. De facto, Deus é mais íntimo a cada um de nós de quanto o somos nós
próprios. Os Anjos falam ao homem do que constitui o seu verdadeiro ser, do que
na sua vida com muita frequência está velado e sepultado. Eles chamam-no a
reentrar em si mesmo, tocando-o da parte de Deus. Neste sentido também nós,
seres humanos, deveríamos tornar-nos sempre de novo anjos uns para os outros
anjos que nos afastam dos caminhos errados e nos orientam sempre de novo para
Deus. Se a Igreja antiga chama os Bispos "anjos" da sua Igreja,
pretende dizer precisamente o seguinte: "os próprios Bispos devem ser
homens de Deus, devem viver orientados para Deus. "Multum orat pro
populo" "Reza muito pelo povo", diz o Breviário da Igreja a
propósito dos santos Bispos. O Bispo deve ser um orante, alguém que intercede
pelos homens junto de Deus. Quanto mais o fizer, tanto mais compreende também
as pessoas que lhe estão confiadas e pode tornar-se para elas um anjo um
mensageiro de Deus, que as ajuda a encontrar a sua verdadeira natureza, a si
mesmas, e a viver a ideia que Deus tem delas.
Tudo isto se torna ainda
mais claro se olharmos agora para as figuras dos três Arcanjos cuja festa a
Igreja celebra hoje. Antes de tudo está Miguel. Encontramo-lo na Sagrada
Escritura sobretudo no Livro de Daniel, na Carta do Apóstolo São Judas Tadeu e
no Apocalipse. Deste Arcanjo tornam-se evidentes nestes textos duas funções.
Ele defende a causa da unicidade de Deus contra a soberba do dragão, da
"serpente antiga", como diz João. É a perene tentativa da serpente de
fazer crer aos homens que Deus deve desaparecer, para que eles se possam tornar
grandes; que Deus é um obstáculo para a nossa liberdade e que por isso devemos
desfazer-nos dele. Mas o dragão não acusa só Deus. O Apocalipse chama-o também
"o acusador dos nossos irmãos, que os acusava de dia e de noite diante de
Deus" (12, 10). Quem põe Deus de lado, não enobrece o homem, mas priva-o da
sua dignidade. Então o homem torna-se um produto defeituoso da evolução. Quem
acusa Deus, acusa também o homem. A fé em Deus defende o homem em todas as suas
debilidades e insuficiências: o esplendor de Deus resplandece sobre cada
indivíduo. É tarefa do Bispo, como homem de Deus, fazer espaço para Deus no
mundo contra as negações e defender assim a grandeza do homem. E o que se
poderia dizer e pensar de maior sobre o homem a não ser que o próprio Deus se
fez homem? A outra função de Miguel, segundo a Escritura, é a de protector do
Povo de Deus (cf. Dn 10, 21; 12, 1). Queridos amigos, sede
verdadeiramente "anjos da guarda" das Igrejas que vos serão
confiadas! Ajudai o povo de Deus, que deveis preceder na sua peregrinação, a
encontrar a alegria na fé e a aprender o discernimento dos espíritos: a acolher
o bem e a recusar o mal, a permanecer e tornar-se sempre mais, em virtude da
esperança da fé, pessoas que amam em comunhão com Deus-Amor.
Encontramos o Arcanjo Gabriel sobretudo
na preciosa narração do anúncio a Maria da encarnação de Deus, como nos refere
São Lucas (1, 26-38). Gabriel é o mensageiro da encarnação de Deus. Ele bate à
porta de Maria e, através dela, o próprio Deus pede a Maria o seu
"sim" para a proposta de se tornar a Mãe do Redentor: dar a sua carne
humana ao Verbo eterno de Deus, ao Filho de Deus. Repetidas vezes o Senhor bate
às portas do coração humano. No Apocalipse diz ao "anjo" da Igreja de
Laodiceia e, através dele, aos homens de todos os tempos: "Eis que estou à
porta e bato: se alguém ouvir a Minha voz e abrir a porta, entrarei em sua casa
e cearei com ele" (3, 20). O Senhor está à porta à porta do mundo e à
porta de cada um dos corações. Ele bate para que o deixemos entrar: a
encarnação de Deus, o seu fazer-se carne deve continuar até ao fim dos tempos.
Todos devem estar reunidos em Cristo num só corpo: dizem-nos isto os grandes
hinos sobre Cristo na Carta aos Efésios e na Carta aos Colossenses. Cristo
bate.
Também hoje Ele tem
necessidade de pessoas que, por assim dizer, lhe põem à disposição a própria
carne, que lhe doam a matéria do mundo e da sua vida, servindo assim para a
unificação entre Deus e o mundo, para a reconciliação do universo. Queridos
amigos, compete-vos bater à porta dos corações dos homens, em nome de Cristo.
Entrando vós mesmos em união com Cristo, podereis também assumir a função de
Gabriel: levar a chamada de Cristo aos homens.
São Rafael é-nos
apresentado sobretudo no Livro de Tobias como o Anjo ao qual é confiada a
tarefa de curar. Quando Jesus envia os seus discípulos em missão, com a tarefa
do anúncio do Evangelho está sempre ligada a de curar. O bom Samaritano,
acolhendo e curando a pessoa ferida que jaz à beira da estrada, torna-se
silenciosamente uma testemunha do amor de Deus. Este homem ferido, com necessidade
de curas, somos todos nós. Anunciar o Evangelho, já em si é curar, porque o
homem precisa sobretudo da verdade e do amor. Do Arcanjo Rafael são referidas
no Livro de Tobias duas tarefas emblemáticas de cura. Ele cura a comunhão
importunada entre homem e mulher. Cura o seu amor. Afasta os demónios que,
sempre de novo, rasgam e destroem o seu amor. Purifica a atmosfera entre os
dois e confere-lhes a capacidade de se receberem reciprocamente para sempre. Na
narração de Tobias esta cura é referida com imagens legendárias.
No Novo Testamento, a
ordem do matrimónio, estabelecido na criação e ameaçado de muitas formas pelo
pecado, é curado pelo facto de que Cristo o acolhe no seu amor redentor. Ele
faz do matrimónio um sacramento: o seu amor, que por nós subiu à cruz, é a
força restauradora que, em todas as confusões, dá a capacidade da
reconciliação, purifica a atmosfera e cura as feridas. Ao sacerdote é confiada
a tarefa de guiar os homens sempre de novo ao encontro da força reconciliadora
do amor de Cristo. Deve ser o "anjo" curador que os ajuda a ancorar o
seu amor no sacramento e a vivê-lo com empenho sempre renovado a partir dele.
Em segundo lugar, o Livro de Tobias fala da cura dos olhos cegos. Todos sabemos
quanto estamos hoje ameaçados pela cegueira para Deus. Como é grande o perigo
de que, perante tudo o que sabemos sobre as coisas materiais e que somos
capazes de fazer com elas, nos tornamos cegos para a luz de Deus. Curar esta
cegueira mediante a mensagem da fé e o testemunho do amor, é o serviço de Rafael
confiado dia após dia ao sacerdote e de modo especial ao Bispo. Assim, somos
espontaneamente levados a pensar também no sacramento da Reconciliação, no
sacramento da Penitência que, no sentido mais profundo da palavra, é um
sacramento de cura. A verdadeira ferida da alma, de facto, o motivo de todas as
outras nossas feridas, é o pecado. E só se existe um perdão em virtude do poder
de Deus, em virtude do poder do amor de Cristo, podemos ser curados, podemos
ser remidos.
"Permanecei no meu
amor", diz-nos hoje o Senhor no Evangelho (Jo 15, 9). No momento
da Ordenação episcopal Ele di-lo de modo particular a vós, queridos amigos.
Permanecei no seu amor! Permanecei naquela amizade com Ele cheia de amor que
Ele neste momento vos doa de novo! Então a vossa vida dará fruto um fruto que
permanece (Jo 15, 16). Para que isto vos seja concedido, todos
rezamos por vós neste momento, queridos irmãos. Amém.
© Copyright 2007 -
Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Copyright © Dicastero per
la Comunicazione - Libreria Editrice Vaticana
Voir aussi : http://rouen.catholique.fr/spip.php?article1966
http://www.spiritualite-chretienne.com/anges/ange-gardien/hierar04.html
https://www.catholicculture.org/culture/liturgicalyear/calendar/day.cfm?date=2020-09-29
https://www.franciscanmedia.org/saints-michael-gabriel-and-raphael/
