Who is Saint Michael the Archangel?
Michael is one of the few angels the Bible calls by name. His name is a question in Hebrew: Who is like God? Christians have long heard it as a challenge, and as the whole of his character: an angel who points away from himself and toward God.
He appears first in the Book of Daniel, where he is called "one of the chief princes" (Daniel 10:13) and the great prince who stands guard over God's people (Daniel 12:1). The Letter of Jude names him "the archangel" (Jude 1:9). In the Book of Revelation, Michael and his angels fight against the dragon and cast him down (Revelation 12:7–9).
That is why Michael is remembered as a protector and a defender in spiritual battle. Soldiers, police officers and anyone who stands between danger and the people they love have taken him as a patron.
Both the Orthodox and Catholic churches keep his memory. The Orthodox Church celebrates the Synaxis of the Archangel Michael and the Other Bodiless Powers on November 8. The Catholic Church keeps the feast of the archangels Michael, Gabriel and Raphael on September 29.
Michael is not prayed to as if he were God; Christians ask his help the way you would ask a strong friend to stand beside you. Many Catholics know the short prayer to Saint Michael asking him to defend us in battle, and Orthodox Christians sing hymns calling the archangels the commanders of the heavenly hosts. The point of every one of them is the same as his name. No one is like God, and no power, however frightening, stands against him for long. Wearing his icon is a quiet way of saying whose side you are on.
About the icon
In the icon tradition Michael is painted standing, winged, often in a red cloak or soldier's armour, holding a staff or spear and sometimes a sphere marked with Christ's monogram. The face is calm, not fierce: the strength is God's, not his own.
