APPARITION
OF ST. MICHAEL
THE ARCHANGEL
The Liturgical Year
Abbot Dom Guéranger
David foretold that the Emmanuel’s coming into this world would be
greeted by the Angels, and that they would humbly adore him on his first
appearing among us. We saw this prophecy fulfilled on the Night ever blessed,
when Mary brought forth the Fruit of her womb. The Angelic choirs sang one of
their heavenly hymns, which led the Shepherds to the Stable; we blended our
songs with theirs, in homage to our Infant-God. The Resurrection of our
Emmanuel was sure to be honored by the presence of these blessed Spirits, who
had witnessed, with amazement and trembling, the humiliations and cruelties of
his Passion. The moment he passed through the barrier that imprisoned him in
his Sepulchre, an Angel, with a face beaming as the sun, and garments white as
snow, came and rolled back the Stone and proclaimed to the holy Women, that He
whom they were seeking had risen. When they entered the cave of the Sepulchre,
two other Angels, clad in white robes, appeared to them, and repeated the
tidings of Jesus’ triumph.
Let us reverently honor these
princely heralds of our deliverance, and consider how respectfully they cluster
round Jesus their King and God, during the forty days after his Resurrection.
They adore this glorified Humanity, which they are soon to see raised up to the
highest heavens, and throned at the Father’s right hand. They rejoice with us
in the happiness brought to us by this Paschal Feast, which restores
immortality to us in the person of our Risen Savior; and thus, as St. Gregory
told us a few days back, it is the Feast of the Angels, because, by it’s
recalling us to heaven, it fills up their number. It was but right, therefore,
that Paschal Time should devote one of its days to honoring the Angelic
Spirits. Eight days previous to the Annunciation, we kept the feast of St.
Gabriel, our Lady’s honoured messenger; today, it is St. Michael, the Archangel
and Prince of the heavenly host, that is to receive our love and praise. He
himself selected this day, by appearing on it, and leaving us a pledge of his
presence and protection.
The very name of Michael
urges us to honor this glorious Spirit; it is a cry of enthusiasm and fidelity,
for it signifies: Who is like unto God? Satan trembles at hearing this name,
for it reminds him of the noble protest wherewith the bright Archangel answered
the call of the rebel angels. Michael proved his strength and prowess when he
fought the great battle in heaven. On that account, he was made the Guardian and
Protector of God’s people; of the Jews first, and afterwards, of the Christian
Church, for the Synagogue forfeited all her honors. Michael now watches over
Jesus’ Spouse, our mother; he supports her in her trials, and she wins no
triumph in which he has not had some hand.
But, we are not to suppose,
that the holy Archangel is so engaged in looking after the general interests of
Christ’s kingdom on earth, that he cannot attend to the prayers of each
individual member of the Church. God has given him a compassionate love for
men; and there is not a single soul that escapes his notice. He wields the
sword in defense of the Spouse of Christ; he wars with the dragon, who is ever
lying in wait for the Woman and her Child but, at the same time, he is
attentive to each one of us; for, after having confessed our sins to Almighty
God, and to the Blessed Mary ever a Virgin, we acknowledge them likewise to
Blessed Michael the Archangel, and beseech him to pray for us to the Lord our
God.
He assists at every
death-bed, for his special office is to receive the souls of the elect, on
their quitting the flesh. He, with loving solicitude and princely bearing,
presents them to the Light Eternal, and introduces them into the House of God’s
glory. It is holy Church herself that tells us, in the words of her Liturgy, of
these prerogatives of the great Archangel. She teaches us, that he has been set
over Paradise, and that God has given him the charge of leading to heaven the
souls of them that are to be received there. On the Last Day, when our Risen
Jesus is to appear on the clouds of heaven to judge mankind, Michael will have
to fulfill a ministry of awful import; he, with the rest of the Angels, will
have to separate the good from the bad, all of whom will then have resumed
their bodies in the general resurrection. Our Catholic Forefathers, in the
Middle Ages, were fond of representing the holy Archangel engaged in this dread
function. They put him standing at the foot of Jesus’ judgment-seat, and
holding a scale, in which he is weighing the souls of men and their works.
Devotion to St. Michael was sure to spread through the Church, especially after
the worship of idols had been banished from the various countries, and men were
no longer tempted to give divine honor to creatures. Constantine built in
honour of the great Archangel a celebrated Church called Michaelion; and at the
time of Constantinople’s falling under the power of the Turks, there were no
less than fifteen Churches that bore the name of Saint Michael, either in the
City or the suburbs. In other parts of Christendom, this devotion took root only
by degrees; and it was by the holy Archangel’s appearing to men, that the
Faithful were prompted to have recourse to him. These apparitions were local,
and for reasons which to us might seem of secondary importance: but God, who,
from little causes, produces great effects, made use of them whereby to excite
Christians to have confidence in their heavenly protector. The Greeks celebrate
the apparition that took place at Chone, the ancient Colossa, in Phrygia. There
was, in that city, a Church dedicated to St. Michael, and it was frequently
visited by a holy man, named Archippus, who was violently persecuted by the
pagans. One day, when Archippus was at his devotions in his favourite St.
Michael’s, his enemies resolved to destroy both him and the Church. Hard by,
ran a brook which flowed into the river Lycus; this they turned off, and
flooded the ground on which stood the Church. Suddenly, there appeared the
Archangel St. Michael, holding a rod in his hand: the water immediately
receded, and flowed into a deep gulf, near Colossa, where the Lycus empties
itself and disappears. The date of this apparition is not certain, beyond its
having occurred at the period when the pagans were numerous enough in Colossa
to harass the Christians.
Another apparition, which
encouraged devotion to St. Michael in Italy, took place on Mount Gargano, in
Apulia; it is the one honored by today’s feast. A third happened on Mount
Tomba, on the coast of Normandy; we will commemorate it on the 16th October.
The feast we are keeping today
is not so solemn as the one of September 29th; it is, however, more exclusively
in honor of St. Michael, inasmuch as the Autumn Feast includes all the choirs
of the Angelic hierarchy. The Roman Breviary gives us the following account of
the apparition on Mount Gargano.
That the
blessed Archangel Michael has often appeared to men, is attested both by the
authority of sacred Scripture, and by the ancient tradition of the Saints.
Hence, the memory of these apparitions is commemorated in divers places. As,
heretofore, Michael was honored by the Synagogue of the Jews as Guardian and
Patron, so is he now by the Church of God. A celebrated apparition of the
Archangel took place, under the pontificate of Gelasius 1st, in Apulia, on the
top of Mount Gargano, at whose foot lies the town of Siponto. A bull, belonging
to a man who lived on the mountain, having strayed from the herd, was, after
much searching, found hemmed fast in the mouth of a cave. One of its pursuers
shot an arrow, with a view to rouse the animal by a wound; but the arrow
rebounding, struck him that had sent it. This circumstance excited so much fear
in the by-standers and in them that heard of it, that no one dared to go near
the cave. The inhabitants of Siponto, therefore, consulted the Bishop; who
answered, that in order to know God’s will, they must spend three days in
fasting and prayer.
At the end of the three days, the Archangel Michael
intimated to the Bishop, that the place was under his protection, and that what
had occurred was an indication of his will that God should be worshiped there,
in honor of himself and the Angels. Whereupon, the Bishop repaired to the cave,
together with his people. They found it like a Church in shape, and began to
use it for the celebration of the divine service. Many miracles were afterwards
wrought there. Not long after, Pope Boniface dedicated a Church in honour of
St. Michael, in the great Circus of Rome, on the third of the Kalends of
October (September 29th), the day on which the Church celebrates the memory of
all the Angels. But today’s feast is kept in commemoration of the apparition of
Michael the Archangel.
St. Michael and St.
Gualbert by Andrea del Sarto
How beautiful art thou, O
Michael, in thy heaven-made armor, giving glory to the God, whose enemy thou
overcamest! Thine humble and fervent eye is fixed on the throne of the Jehovah,
whose rights thou defendest, and who gave thee the victory. Thy sublime cry:
“Who is like unto God?” roused the faithful legions, and became thy name and
thy crown. It will remind us, for all eternity, of thy fidelity to our Creator,
and thy triumph over the dragon. Meanwhile, we enjoy thy loving protection; we
are thy happy clients.
Guardian Angel of Holy Church! Now is the time for thee
to exert all the might of thine arm. Satan is furious in his efforts against
the noble Spouse of thy Master; brandish thy bright sword, and give battle to
this implacable enemy. The Kingdom of Christ is shaken to its very foundations.
Rome is in danger of seeing the Vicar of Christ dethroned with in her walls. Is
it, that the reign of the Man of Sin is about to be proclaimed on the
earth Are we near that Last Day, when,
this guilty world having been destroyed by fire, thou art to exercise, in the
name of the Sovereign Judge, the terrible office of separating the goats from
the sheep? If this earth is still to exist; if the mission of the Church is not
yet completed; is it not time for thee, O Michael! To show the Dragon of hell,
that he may not, with impunity, insult on this earth the God who created it,
who redeemed it, and whose name is King of kings, and Lord of lords? The
torrent of error and crime is unceasingly dragging the world to the brink of
the precipice; save it, O glorious Archangel, by confounding the dark plots,
which are laid for its destruction!
Thou, O Michael, art the
Protector of our souls in their passage from time to eternity. During this
present life, thine eye is upon our wants, and thine ear open to our prayers.
Though awed by the brightness of thy glory, we love thee, dear Prince of
heaven! And we live happy and contented beneath the shadow of thy wings. In a
few days, or, at most, years, our holy Mother the Church, will be performing
her last sacred rites over our lifeless remains; she will pray for us, to our
Heavenly Father, that we may be delivered from the lion’s mouth, and that the
standard-bearer, St. Michael, may bring us into the holy light. Watch over us
now, O holy Archangel, lest we should then not deserve thy protection. The
Dragon is ever threatening us; he makes no secret of his wishing to devour us.
Teach us, O Michael, to repeat thy beautiful words: “Who is like unto God?”
God’s honor, the rights he has over us, our obligation to be faithful to him,
and serve him, and confess him as our Lord in all times and places, oh, yes!
The deep-rooted sentiment of all this must be our shield in our danger, and the
armor wherewith, like thyself, we must fight and win the battle. But we want
some of thy sturdy courage, which resulted from the love thou hadst within
thee.
This God created thee, O
Michael! and thou lovedst him as thy Creator; but as to us, he not only
created, he redeemed us, yea and at the price of his own Blood! What, then,
should be the intensity of our love for him! Strengthen this love in our hearts;
and since we are fighting under thy leadership, guide us, inspirit us; let thy
look give us courage; ward off from us the blows of the enemy's sword. We
venture to hope that thou wilt be present at our last moments, O standard bearer
of our salvation! In return for our tender devotion towards thee, deign to keep
guard round our death-bed, cover it with thy shield. If the Dragon see the
flash of thy sword, he will not dare to come near us. May our soul, on leaving
the body, throw herself with affection into thine arms! Cast her not from thee,
O holy Archangel, when she seeks to cling to thee; carry her to the judgment-seat,
cover her beneath thy wings, calm her fears; and oh! may the Lord, thy Master,
bid thee bear her speedily to the kingdom of eternal bliss!
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