Summary below
From The Untold Truth
Michael enjoys enormous popularity among the archangels even though Scripture says little about him. As commander of God’s angelic forces, he is central to Judaism, Catholicism, and Islam. Revelation places him at the head of the heavenly war that ended with Lucifer and his followers being expelled from God’s realm. Thinkers such as St. Basil and Thomas Aquinas ranked him as a prince among the angels.
Only three archangels are named in the Bible: Michael, Raphael (in Tobit), and Gabriel (in Luke). The Book of Enoch, which the Catholic canon excludes, adds four more. His leadership leads many to see him as supreme among the seven, and some hold that he alone is a true archangel, since Jude uses that title only for him. The notion of multiple archangels may trace back to Daniel, where he is described as one among several chief princes.
What we know about Michael comes entirely from four passages: two in Daniel, one in Jude, and one in Revelation. Daniel 10 introduces him as a chief prince revealed in a vision, while Daniel 12 presents him as the great prince who will defend the people at the end of time. Jude 9 describes a dispute between Michael and the devil over Moses’ body. It is the sole verse that calls him an archangel and the sole place where he speaks, rebuking Satan in the Lord’s name. Revelation 12 shows him leading heaven’s armies against the dragon, a form of Satan, and hurling the devil and his followers down to hell.
Catholic tradition holds that Michael’s influence reaches into earthly affairs as well. Early Church writers suggested he may have been the angel who barred humanity from returning to Eden, the one who delivered the Ten Commandments, the one who wiped out the Assyrian army under Sennacherib, and the one who stood in the path of the prophet Balaam. Christians in Egypt observed a feast in his honor each November 12, modeled on a Greek celebration, and looked to him to protect the Nile and its life-giving waters. In modern practice, he is called upon during exorcisms, particularly to drive evil from places, and appears in prayers like the Tridentine form of the Confiteor.
From the biblical evidence, Catholics attribute four duties to him. He guards the Church and shields believers’ souls from Satan, especially at the hour of death. He is the great opponent of Satan and the fallen angels, and will lead heaven’s forces against hell until the world ends. He also serves as the angel of death, escorting the souls of the faithful to God, and, as author Richard Webster notes, offering the dying a final chance at redemption to Satan’s frustration. Finally, he protects God’s people, meaning the Israelites of old and believers today. His conflict with Satan is what he is best known for, though the Bible gives only scant detail about it. Ezekiel 28 and Isaiah 14 are thought to describe Lucifer’s fall from a glorious position to the depths of the pit.
Though a warrior, Michael has been honored as a healer for many centuries. According to tradition, when plague struck Rome, Pope Gregory the Great led a procession of repentance, and Michael appeared above Castel Sant’Angelo to halt the disease. A statue commemorating this was set up there, later replaced by a bronze one. A sanctuary called the Michaelion, reportedly founded by Constantine after a vision, attracted the sick, who slept there hoping to see the archangel and be cured. Jewish tradition likewise turned to Michael for the ill, and a legend tells of a healing spring near Colossae where bathers who called on Michael and the Trinity found relief.
Islam knows him as Mika’il, tied to divine provision and food supply as the bringer of rain. He is also called the Angel of Mercy, pleading for humanity so Allah may grant forgiveness, and he protects holy sites and rewards good deeds. Only Mika’il and Gabriel (Jibril) are named in the Quran, and Surah 2:98 lists them as allies of Allah against unbelievers. Other prominent angels include Azrael, who takes souls, and Israfil, identified with Raphael, who will sound the trumpet at the final judgment. Muhammad reportedly met both angels, who asked him to recite the Quran, and Jibril remarked that Mika’il’s solemnity is such that he has not laughed since hellfire was made.
Veneration of Michael is the oldest of all angelic devotions, beginning in the East around the fourth century or slightly earlier. About a century afterward, the Western Church started marking a yearly feast for him and the other angels, Michaelmas, often described as the Christian answer to the autumn equinox.
Despite being a warrior, Michael has been venerated as a healer for centuries. When a plague struck Rome, Pope Gregory the Great led a penitential procession, and Michael reportedly appeared at Castel Sant’Angelo and ended it, after which a statue was erected there. The Michaelion, a sanctuary said to be built by Constantine after a vision of the archangel, drew the sick seeking healing visions. Jews also entrusted their sick to him, and a legendary medicinal spring near Colossae was said to cure those who bathed while invoking Michael and the Trinity.
