Tuesday, September 21, 2010

St. Michael the Archangel

Michaelmas is not until Sept 29, but I'm highlighting St. Michael the Archangel today. He's the one who commands the angelic army and casts Satan out of the heavens in Revelation 12: "And war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels fought against the dragon. The dragon and his angels fought back, but they were defeated, and there was no longer a place for them in heaven. The great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world - he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him" (verses 7-10).

I'm not sure how I feel about an angel being venerated as a saint. I guess I think it's kind of weird since I think part of the logic behind the veneration of saints is that they were humans who experienced human lives. The power of their intercession on our behalf, then, comes from both their immense piety and their undeniably human understanding and experience. St. Michael, as an angel, cannot really relate in the same way. So, I guess I find it confusing that he's a member of that particular club.

In any case, one of my favorite places in the world is named after him: Mont St. Michel.

If you are ever in the Bretagne region of France, it's worth a visit!

When I think of angels, I think of white and flowy clothes even though in most depictions of St. Michael he is wearing armor. He is the commander of the Lord's army after all. But, I went with my instinct and wore my whitest and flowiest top:

I actually wore this outfit last semester, so it's a repeat (gasp!). But I like it, and it's REALLY comfortable which is great because Tuesday is a very long day for me. My first day of boots! It was really too hot for them, but I got a lot of compliments, so it was totally worth it.

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