Sunday, September 6

Apostolic

Archangel Michael and the Bodiless Powers

Chief commander of the heavenly hosts

Michael — the name is a battle cry, 'Who is like God?' — is named in Scripture as 'one of the chief princes' and 'the great prince who stands guard over the sons of your people' in Daniel, as the archangel who disputed with the devil over the body of Moses in Jude, and as leader of the angelic hosts who cast the dragon from heaven in Revelation. The Church has therefore honored him from earliest times as Archistrategos, supreme commander of the bodiless powers, defender of God's people and adversary of Satan. The November 8 synaxis gathers with him Gabriel, Raphael, and all the angelic ranks — tradition, following Dionysius, counts nine orders, and the old explanation places the feast in the ninth month (from March) for the nine ranks. Shrines to Michael, like Chonae with its famous miracle, spread across the East from the fourth century.

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