29 September, Dedication
of St. Michael the Archangel
From The Liturgical Year, Dom Gueranger
THE glorious Archangel appears to-day at the head of
the heavenly army: There was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels
fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. Who, then, are
these heavenly Powers, whose mysterious combat heads the first page of history?
Their existence is attested by the traditions of all nations as well as by the
authority of Holy Scripture. If we
consult the Church, she teaches us that in the beginning God created
simultaneously two natures, the spiritual and the corporal, and afterwards man
who is composed of both. The scale of nature descends by gradation from beings
made to the likeness of God, to the very confines of nothingness; and by the
same degrees the creature mounts upwards to his Creator. God is infinite being,
infinite intelligence, and infinite love. The creature is forever finite: but man,
endowed with a reasoning intellect, and the angel, with an intuitive grasp of
truth, are ever, by a continual process of purification, widening the bounds of
their imperfect nature, in order to reach, by increase of light, the perfection
of greater love. God alone is simple with that unchangeable productive
simplicity, which is absolute perfection excluding the possibility of progress;
He is pure Act, in whom substance, power, and operation are one thing. The
angel, though entirely independent of matter, is yet subject to the natural
weakness necessary to a created being; he is not absolutely simple, for in him
action is distinct from power, and power from essence. How much greater is the
weakness of man’s composite nature, unable to carry on the operations of the
intellect without the aid of the senses!
‘Compared with ours,’ says one of the most enlightened
brethren of the angelic doctor, ‘How calm and how luminous is the knowledge of
pure spirits! They are not doomed to the intricate discussions of our reason,
which runs after the truth, composes and analyzes, and laboriously draws
conclusions from propositions. They instantaneously apprehend the whole compass
of primary truths. Their intuition is so prompt, so lively, so penetrating,
that it is impossible for them to be surprised, as we are, into error. If they
deceive themselves, it must be of their own will. The perfection of their will
is equal to the perfection of their intellect. They know not what it is to be
disturbed by the violence of appetites. Their love is without emotion; and
their hatred of evil is as calm and as wisely tempered as their love. A will so
free can know no perplexity as to its aims, no inconstancy in its resolutions.
Whereas with us long and anxious meditation is necessary before we make a
decision, it is the property of the angels to determine by a single act the
object of their choice. God proposed to them, as He does to us, infinite
beatitude in the vision of His own Essence; and to fit them for so great an end,
He endowed them with grace at the same time as He gave them being. In one
instant they said Yes or No; in one instant they freely and deliberately
decided their own fate."
Let us not be envious. By nature the angel is superior
to us; but, to which of the angels hath He said at any time, ‘Thou art My Son?”
The only begotten Son of God did not take to Himself the angelic nature. When
on earth, He acknowledged the temporary subordination of humanity to those pure
spirits, and deigned to receive from them, even as do His brethren in the flesh,
the announcements of the divine will, and help and strength. But ‘God hath not
subjected unto angels the world to come,’ says the apostle.5 How can we
understand this attraction of God towards what is feeblest? We can only worship
it in humble, loving faith. It was Lucifer’s stumbling-block on the day of the
great battle in heaven. But the faithful angels prostrated themselves in joyous
adoration at the feet of the Infant-God foreshown to them enthroned on Mary’s
knee, and then rose up to sing: ‘Glory to God in the highest, and on earth
peace to men of good will.’ O Christ, my Christ as St. Denis calls Thee, the
Church today delightedly proclaims Thee the beauty of the holy angels. Thou,
the God-Man, art the lofty height whence purity, light, and love flow down upon
the triple hierarchy of the nine choirs. Thou art the supreme Hierarch, the
centre of worlds, controller of the deifying mysteries at the eternal feast.
Flaming Seraphim, glittering Cherubim, steadfast Thrones, court of honour to
the Most High, and possessed of the noblest inheritance: according to the
Areopagite, ye receive your justice, your splendour, and your burning love by
direct communication from our Lord: and through you, all grace overflows from
Him upon the holy city. Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; sovereign disposers,
prime movers, and rulers of the universe: in whose name do ye govern the world?
Doubtless in His whose inheritance it is; in the name of the King of glory, the
Man-God, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord of hosts.
Angels, Archangels, and Principalities; heaven’s
messengers, ambassadors, and overseers here below: are ye not also, as the
apostle says, ministers of the salvation wrought on earth by Jesus, the
heavenly High-Priest? We also, through this same Jesus, O most holy Trinity,
glorify Thee, together with the three princely hierarchies, which surround Thy
Majesty with their nine immaterial rings as with a many-circled rampart. To tend to Thee, and to draw all things to
Thee, is their common law. Purification, illumination, union: by these three
ways in succession, or simultaneously, are these noble beings attracted to God,
and by the same they attract those who strive to emulate them. Sublime spirits,
it is with your gaze ever fixed on high that ye influence those below and around
you. Draw plentifully, both for yourselves and for us, from the central fires of
the Divinity; purify us from more than the involuntary infirmities of nature;
enlighten us; kindle us with your heavenly flames. For the same reason that Satan
hates us, ye love us: protect the race of the Word made Flesh against the
common enemy. So guard us, that we may hereafter be worthy to occupy among you
the places left meant by the victims of pride.
St.
Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the
wickedness and snares of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray; and do
thou – O Prince of the Heavenly Hosts – thrust into hell, Satan, and all the
evil spirits who prowl throughout the world, seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
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