Saint Michael the Archangel is often depicted wielding a sword and a set
of scales to vanquish Satan. His scales have an ancient and surprising
meaning.
I worked for days on a post about Saint Michael the Archangel. I finally finished it this morning, exactly one week before the Feast of the Archangels, then rushed off to work in the prison library. When I returned four hours later to print the post and get it into the mail to Charlene, my friend Joseph stopped by. You might remember Joseph from a few of my posts, notably “Disperse the Gloomy Clouds of Night” in Advent and “Forty Days and Forty Nights” in Lent.
Well, you can predict where this is going. As soon as I returned to my cell, Joseph came in to talk with me. Just as I turned on my typewriter, Joseph reached over and touched it. He wasn’t aware of the problem with static charges from walking across these concrete floors. Joseph’s unintentional spark wiped out four days of work and eight pages of text.
It’s not the first time this has happened. I wrote about it in “Descent into Lent” last year, only then I responded with an explosion of expletives. Not so this time. As much as I wanted to swear, thump my chest, and make Joseph feel just awful, I couldn’t. Not after all my research on the meaning of the scales of Saint Michael the Archangel. They very much impact the way I look at Joseph in this moment. Of course, for the 30 seconds or so after it happened, it’s just as well that he wasn’t standing within reach!
This world of concrete and steel in which we prisoners live is very plain, but far from simple. It’s a world almost entirely devoid of what Saint Michael the Archangel brings to the equation between God and us. It’s also a world devoid of evidence of self-expression. Prisoners eat the same food, wear the same uniforms, and live in cells that all look alike.
OFF THE WALL, AND ON
In these cells, the concrete walls and ceilings are white – or were at one time – the concrete floors are gray, and the concrete counter running halfway along one wall is dark green. On a section of wall for each prisoner is a two-by-four foot green rectangle for posting family photos, a calendar and religious items. The wall contains the sole evidence of self-expression in prison, and you can learn a lot about a person from what’s posted there.
My friend, Pornchai, whose section of wall is next to mine, had just a blank wall two years ago. Today, not a square inch of green shows through his artifacts of hope. There are photos of Joe and Karen Corvino, the foster parents whose patience impacted his life, and Charlene Duline and Pierre Matthews, his new Godparents. There’s also an old photo of the home in Thailand from which he was taken at age 11, photos of some of the ships described in “Come, Sail Away!” now at anchor in new homes. There’s also a rhinoceros – no clue why – and Garfield the Cat. In between are beautiful icons of the Blessed Mother, Saint Maximilian Kolbe, Saint Pio, and one of Saint Michael the Archangel that somehow migrated from my wall over to Pornchai’s.
My own wall evolved over time. The only family photos I had are long lost, and I haven’t seen my family in many years. It happens to just about every prisoner after ten years or so. In my first twelve years in prison I was moved sixteen times, and each time I had to quickly take my family photos off the wall. Like many prisoners here for a long, long time, there came a day when I took my memories down to move, then just didn’t put them back up again. A year ago, I had nothing on the wall, then a strange transformation of that small space began to take shape.
When These Stone Walls – the blog, not the concrete ones – began last year, some readers started sending me beautiful icons and holy cards. The prison allows them in mail as long as they’re not laminated in plastic. Some made their way onto my wall, and slowly over the last year it filled with color and meaning again.
It’s a mystery why, but the most frequent image sent to me by TSW readers is that of Saint Michael the Archangel. There are five distinct icons of him on the wall, plus the one that seems to prefer Pornchai’s side. These stone walls – the concrete ones, not the blog – are filled with companions now.
There’s another icon of Saint Michael on my coffee cup – the
only other place prisoners always leave their mark – and yet
another inside and above the cell door. That one was placed
there by my friend, Alberto Ramos, who went to prison at age
14 and turned 30 last week. It appeared a few months ago.
Alberto’s religious roots are in Caribbean Santeria. He said
Saint Michael above the door protects this cell from evil. He
said this world and this prison greatly need Saint Michael.
WHO IS LIKE GOD?
The references to the Archangel Michael are few and cryptic in the canon of Hebrew and Christian Scripture. In the apocalyptic visions of the Book of Daniel, he is Michael, your Prince, ”who stands beside the sons of your people.” In Daniel 12:1 he is the guardian and protector angel of Israel and its people, and the “Great Prince” in Heaven who came to the aid of the Archangel Gabriel in his contest with the Angel of Persia (Daniel 10:13, 21).
His name in Hebrew – Mikha’el – means “Who is like God?” It’s posed as a question that answers itself. No one, of course, is like God. A subsidiary meaning is, “Who bears the image of God,” and in this Michael is the archetype in Heaven of what man himself was created to be: the image and likeness of God. Some other depictions of the Archangel Michael show him with a shield bearing the image of Christ. In this sense, Michael is a personification, as we’ll see below, of the principle attribute of God throughout Scripture.
Outside of Daniel’s apocalyptic vision, the Archangel Michael appears only two more times in the canon of Sacred Scripture. In Revelation 12:7-9 he leads the army of God in a great and final battle against the army of Satan. A very curious mention in the Epistle of Saint Jude (Jude 1:9) describes Saint Michael’s dispute with Satan over the body of Moses.
This is a direct reference to an account in the Apocrypha, and demonstrates the importance and familiarity of some of the apocryphal writings in the Israelite and early Christian communities. Saint Jude writes of the account as though it is quite familiar to his readers. In the Assumption of Moses in the apocryphal Book of Enoch, Michael prevails over Satan, wins the body of Moses, and accompanies him into Heaven.
It is because of this account that Moses and Elijah appear with Jesus in the account of the Transfiguration in Matthew 11. Moses and Elijah are the two figures in the Hebrew Scriptures to hear the voice of God on Mount Sinai, and to be assumed bodily into Heaven – escorted by Saint Michael the Archangel according to the Aggadah, the collection of milennia of rabbinic lore and custom.
SAINT MICHAEL AS THE DIVINE MEASURE OF SOULS
In each of the seven images of Saint Michael the Archangel sent to me by TSW readers, he is depicted brandishing a sword in triumph over Satan subdued at his feet. In five of the icons, he also holds a set of scales above the head of Satan. A lot of people confuse the scales with those of “Lady Justice” the famous American icon. Those scales symbolize the equal application of law and justice in America. It’s a high ideal, but one that too often isn’t met in the American justice system. I cited some examples in “The Eighth Commandment.”
The scales of Saint Michael also depict justice, but of another sort. Presumably that’s why so many readers sent me his image, and I much appreciate it. However, some research uncovered a far deeper symbolic meaning for the Archangel’s scales. The primary purpose of the scales is not to measure justice, but to weigh souls. And there’s a specific factor that registers on Saint Michael’s scales. They depict his role as the measure of mercy, the highest attribute of God for which Saint Michael is the personification. The capacity for mercy is what it most means to be in the image and likeness of God. The primary role of Saint Michael the Archangel is to be the advocate of justice and mercy in perfect balance – for justice without mercy is little more than vengeance.
That’s why God limits vengeance as summary justice. In Genesis chapter 4, Lamech, a descendant of Cain, vows that “if Cain is avenged seven-fold then Lamech is avenged seventy-seven fold.” Jesus later corrects this misconception of justice by instructing Peter to forgive “seventy times seven times.”
Our English word, “Mercy” doesn’t actually capture the full meaning of what is intended in the Hebrew Scriptures as the other side of the justice equation. The word in Hebrew is ”hesed,” and it has multiple tiers of meaning. It was translated into New Testament Greek as “eleos,” and then translated into Latin as “misericordia” from which we derive the English word, “mercy.” Saint Michael’s scales measure ”hesed,” which in its most basic sense means to act with altruism for the good of another without anything of obvious value in return. It’s the exercise of mercy for its own sake, a mercy that is the highest value of Judeo-Christian faith.
Sacred Scripture is filled with examples of hesed as the chief attribute of God and what it means to be in His image. That ”the mercy of God endures forever” is the central and repeated message of the Judeo-Christian Scriptures. The references are too many to name, but as I was writing this post, I spontaneously thought of a few lines from Psalm 85:
“Mercy and faithfulness shall meet. Justice and peace shall kiss. Truth shall spring up from the Earth, and justice shall look down from Heaven.” (Psalm 85:10-11).
The domino effect of hesed-mercy is demonstrated in Psalm 85. Faithfulness and truth will arise out of it, and together all three will comprise justice. In researching this, I found a single, ancient rabbinic reference attributing authorship of Psalm 85 to the only non-human instrument of any Psalm or verse of Scripture: Saint Michael the Archangel, himself. According to that legend, Psalm 85 was given by the Archangel along with the Torah to Moses on Mount Sinai.
Saint Thomas Aquinas described Saint Michael as “the breath of the Redeemer’s spirit who will, at the end of the world, combat and destroy the Anti-Christ as he did Lucifer in the beginning.” This is why St. Michael is sometimes depicted bearing a shield with the image of Christ. It is the image of Christ in His passion, imprinted upon the veil of St. Veronica. Veronica is a name that appears no where in Scripture, but is simply a name assigned by tradition to the unnamed woman with the veil. The name Veronica comes from the Latin “vera icon” meaning “true image.”
Saint Thomas Aquinas and many Doctors of the Church regarded Saint Michael as the angel of Exodus who, as a pillar of cloud and fire, led Israel out of slavery. Christian tradition gives to Saint Michael four offices: To fight against Satan, to measure and rescue the souls of the just at the hour of death, to attend the dying and accompany the just to judgment, and to be the Champion and Protector of the Church.
His feast day, assigned since 1970 to the three Archangels of Scripture, was originally assigned to Saint Michael alone since the sixth century dedication of a church in Rome in his honor. The feast was originally called Michaelmas meaning, “The Mass of St. Michael.” The great prayer to Saint Michael, however, is relatively new. It was penned on October 13, 1884, by Pope Leo XIII after a terrifying vision of Saint Michael’s battle with Satan:
“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, 0 Prince of the heavenly Host, by the power of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”
It’s an important prayer for the Church, especially now. I asked Suzanne to place a permanent image of Saint Michael on These Stone Walls as well. I know the enemies of the Church lurk here, too. There are some who come here not for understanding, or the truth, but for ammunition. For them the very concept of mercy, forgiveness, and inner healing is anathema to their true cause. I once scoffed at the notion that evil surrounds us, but I have seen it. I think every person falsely accused has seen it.
Donald Spinner, mentioned in “Loose Ends and Dangling Participles,” gave Pornchai a prayer that was published by the prison ministry of the Paulist Catholic Evangelization Association (www.pncea.org). Pornchai asked me to mention it in this post. It’s a prayer that perfectly captures the meaning of Saint Michael the Archangel’s Scales of Hesed:
Prayer for Justice and Mercy
“Jesus, united with the Father and the Holy Spirit, give us your compassion for those in prison. Mend in mercy the broken in mind and memory. Soften the hard of heart, the captives of anger. Free the innocent; parole the trustworthy. Awaken the repentance that restores hope. May prisoners’ families persevere in their love. Jesus, heal the victims of crime; they live with the scars. Lift to eternal peace those who die. Grant victims and their families the forgiveness that heals. Give wisdom to lawmakers and those who judge. Instill prudence and patience in those who guard. Make those in prison ministry bearers of your light, for ALL of us are in need of your mercy! Amen.”
Pastor Leslie Barnett says
January 31, 2019 at 12:41 AMIn Christendom Michael’s call to prominence begins with the Battle of the Milvian Bridge which took place between the Roman Emperors Constantine 1st and Maxentius on 28 October 312. Constantine won the battle and started on the path that led him to end the Tetrarchy and become the sole ruler of the Roman Empire. According to chroniclers such as Eusebius of Caesarea and Lactantius, the battle marked the beginning of Constantine’s conversion to Christianity. Eusebius of Caesarea recounts that Constantine had a message from God saying in effect that if he placed on his soldiers shields the sign “Chi-Rho”— first two letters of Christ’s name in Greek, he would win the battle. It has been suggested by some apologist that Constantine was aware of the sign of Christ due to makings on the catacomb walls. This sign was likened to a Latin cross (staurogram) with its upper end rounded in a P-like fashion. It is believed that Constantine in his dream was told “Through this sign [you shall] conquer”
Dear students we can be thankful that Constantine’s victorious battle resulted in rebuilding of God’s temple over all of the Western Roman Empire. But that doesn’t mean that Constantine was a saint. On the contrary, he was a sun god worshiper, a companion of a solar deity as evident on his coins minted in 313, the year following the battle. Even the Arch of Constantine, a monument to celebrate his victory, was carefully positioned to align with the colossal statue of Sol by the Colosseum, so that Sol formed the dominant backdrop when seen from the direction of the main approach towards the arch. This begs the question: what was it that Constantine saw?
Some say the God tuned into Constantine’s religious superstition by allowing a sun dog to appear in conjunction with his dream. Regardless, as I see it, when Satan was not able to kill off Christianity he snuck very sheepishly undercover —as to that old idiom: “if you can’t beat them, join them”!
Not all dreams are from GOD.
Constantine was known for his many dreams which were often premonitions from pagan gods as was the case in a temple at Chalcedon named Sosthenion —meaning a place of shelter. This heathen temple built in 500 BC depicts the journey of the Argonauts in the region of the Bosphorus in regards to their clash with rival local leader Amykos.
The Argonauts were a band of heroes in Greek mythology, who in the years before the Trojan War, around 1300 BC, accompanied Jason to Colchis in his quest to find the Golden Fleece.
Legend has it that the Argonauts were in Sosthenion when there appeared to them a ghost a massive man with wings on his arms like an eagle foretelling their victory in battle; a description that depicts the Golden Fleece who was a woolled winged ram, and is a symbol of authority and kingship.
Eusebius of Caesarea says that Constantine while sleeping in the temple heard a voice telling him that this winged ram was Michael the arch-angel who was God’s warrior angel. And so it was from Constantine’s premonition that the temple was renamed “Michaelion Sozomeno” —meaning “Michael’s place of shelter”
Michaelion was God’s dragon slayer that would win all his battles including the one with Licinius in 324AD. Following this battle the city of Constantinople and its first Christian church was founded. Ironically, it was less than a year after the first council of Nicea that a commemorative coin was minted depicting on the reverse a snake/dragon pierced with a lance with the symbol of the Chi-Rho at the top.
Dear student, there is no doubt in my mind that symbolisms such as the dragon, snake and sun-god have Satan’s hand of deception written all over them.
However when recalling historical events by early Nicaean Fathers it’s made apparent that Satan’s bid to masquerade Christ identity to that of Michael was not made easy due to the Arian and Nestorius controversies. Historians note that during the fourth and fifth centuries as it is today, the central issue among trinitarian and non trinitarians alike is whether Christ is part God, all God or both? Nonetheless Satan has managed to convince Catholics and Anglicans alike that Michael who is (like) God is to be prayed too. Furthermore tradition dictates that Michael has the power of judgment when depicted by the weighing up the scale of justice. But in the USA “Lady Justice” is attributed to that. But the primary objective is not to measure justice but to weigh up a soul thus, giving Saint Michael the power of redeeming souls from purgatory to heaven. Saint Thomas Aquinas described Saint Michael as “the breath of the Redeemer’s spirit who will, at the end of the world, combat and destroy the Anti-Christ as he did Lucifer in the beginning.” Hear we see a description of Christ as Michael at Armageddon having a voice of an arch angel.
A proof scripture used by the Mormons, JW’s and the SDA to say the Michael and Christ are the same person. My point! I think its important to know who it is that you give your prayers too. An icon that is used for war to me does not depict mercy. Only Christ has the power of mercy and redemption because He is a DIVINE personification of the eternal Father. Michael is not divine but a created angel. Praying is a form of worship. John was told not to bow down to an angel but to GOD. PS. I do like your posts and can sense a depth of spirituality, so keep on searching for truths and don’t get bound up by tradition. Blessings to you.
CLIFFORD WELDEN says
May 6, 2016 at 4:06 PMFr. G
I first stood in front of the statue of St. Michael that you have attached to this post in the late summer of 2009. My son was visiting the last of the many schools that he wanted to look at before he began applying to college. I was brought up by a cop, attended Catholic schools and was given the middle name Michael by my father. His father abandoned his family during the early days of the depression and he didn’t want me to have the same middle name as his because he was also named after his father. Michael, I was told, was the patron saint of policemen and this angel comforted me many times as a young man. As i stood in that rotunda, wondering to myself just who this saint was that I was looking at (I had just entered the room at the end of the tour) my son came up to me and I asked him what he thought of the place. He responded that he wanted to go here and that he felt like he was at home. Ok, I said, “you better start working on your essay”. As we left the rotunda I walked up to the statue and realized that I was looking at the Saint that my father introduced me to. At that moment I got a feeling within that moved me like no other. I felt the spirit of my deceased father telling me “yes it’s me, things are going to be alright with jr. It will work you did a good job.” I also got a feeling that St. Michael was near me physically. Protecting – watching over me. I don’t think I was ever a lapsed Catholic. I went to Mass often enough. But that safe feeling hit me hard.
My son got admitted, my wife and I figured out how to take a loan to pay for the school and we visited him often. When I drove him back to Boston at the start of the semesters I would often stop by that rotunda to stand and view the saints.
About two years in to school my nephew got mixed up with this oxycodone and started breaking into houses in my town and ended up facing 15 years but the plea allowed for him to be out in 3 1/2 . I learned of the loneliness that prisoners have and how little things are looked forward to. St. Michael gave support to us all.
This afternoon I am home waiting for a roofer to fix a leak and am going through email received for the past three or four years. I am weeding out things no longer needed and saving others to folders and unsubscribing from mail sites i have no interest in. I opened up this note on angelic justice and got that feeling again.
Father, continue your faith in this Saint and continue to share your faith with the men around you. As a lawyer I often heard the phrase that everyone gets faith in prison but through my nephew I saw that it was the faith that got him though that first Christmas that came two days after he was arrested and throughout his time moving around through the system.
Good luck
CW
Father Gordon J. MacRae says
May 7, 2016 at 1:49 PMThank you Clifford for this wonderful comment which makes for a great story all its own! I wrote this post almost six years ago and I am surprised that it is still read quite often. Your comment is also being printed and sent to me and I may take the liberty of retelling the story it conveys in another post. I will attribute it to you.
My blessings on you and your family.
Father Gordon MacRae
Nancy Mc Gill says
January 30, 2016 at 6:54 PMDear Father Gordon,Just to let you know that I am praying for you, and also to ask you if I could use your photo/painting of St.Michael- the one where Pope Francis Consecrates Vatican City to St.Michael the Archangel.I would love to use it for my book. Of course you will get the credits.”Is this the full figure of St. Michael. I just love this painting. Thank you, Father, and God Bless you. Keep your spirits up. Nancy Mc Gill.
Father Gordon J MacRae says
January 31, 2016 at 1:54 PMThank you, Nancy, for this comment.
You may of course use any image on These Stone Walls for your book. There are paintings and icons of Saint Michael, but the one you refer to is one of the most beautiful. Please, let me know your book title when you are ready to publish.
With blessings for the Year of Mercy, Father Gordon
Maria Stella says
January 31, 2016 at 6:25 PMSo glad you are back to commenting, and that your operation was a success, Fr. G! May you have a full recovery !
God bless and continued prayers for your health and freedom from prison.
Victoria McLeod says
February 1, 2016 at 9:38 PMFr.G thank you for sharing this great story, I have been longing to get answers on the meaning of the scales and St.Michael
HELEN says
September 29, 2014 at 1:01 PMFr. Gordon… You knock my socks off. This whole article was too short….I didn’t want it to stop. Could it be that sin abounds outside of Your walls, now, at a breath-taking rate? I NEEDED to absorb every word You are saying here. St. Michael seems to be increasingly busy, these days.
By God’s grace, I pray to St. Michael every morning. But Your wonderful writing has boosted my faith.
How very much I enjoy Your posts, Fr. Gordon.. BUT, I still look forward to reading them…when the title will be:
‘THOSE STONE WALLS’.
God bless You… and make Your ‘hopefully shortened’ stay there brought swiftly to an end.
May His grace abound upon You… and once again, thank You so very much for Your Christ-like love.
Helen
Mary Fran says
April 26, 2014 at 8:00 PMAnother great post, Fr. Gordon. So many things to ponder. And what a coincidence (?) that I’m reading this on the eve of Divine Mercy Sunday. I’d read before that mercy is God’s greatest attribute, but I’d never considered that we are most like him when we are merciful.
And all the new (to me) information about St. Michael. I never even knew what Michaelmas was all about even though I’ve run across it in many novels of the middle ages.
We have a large wall in our living room dedicated to pictures of family, the ever expanding family wall. High above it (we have a cathedral ceiling there), is hanging a large painting of St. Michael the Archangel by Guido Reni that our son gave me for Christmas a few years ago. I look at it often and think about how he is protecting our family.
I’m copying the prayer for justice and mercy. Thanks for posting it. Thanks to Pornchai for suggesting it. God’s best to both of you. Even when it doesn’t look like the best.
Sylvia says
March 23, 2013 at 10:59 AMThanks for another wonderful post. Where else may anyone get that
type of information in such an ideal manner of writing?
I have a presentation subsequent week, and I am on the look
for such information.
Chris Peralta says
March 21, 2013 at 12:16 PMDearest Father,
I have stumbled across your blog by accident but cannot express the encouragement it has given me since I have recently suffered injustice in my professional life. I know that St. Michael has guided me here to gain a more full understanding of what it is to stand in the light in the face of adversity. You are an example of strength. I will pray for truth and justice to prevail as a final.outcome. Please understand that you are God’s Instrument in providing strength to others who have been placed in prison unjustly.
Fr. Gordon says
March 22, 2013 at 9:20 PMThank you very much for this comment, Chris. As a prisoner I have no online access at all, but your comment was read to me. St. Michael has become a great symbol of justice for me as well as an advocate in Heaven. I appreciate your words and I hope you will continue to read These Stone Walls and recommend it to others.
With blessings,
Fr. Gordon
Terry Hahn says
December 3, 2010 at 1:34 PMFr. MacRae:
I just read your information from ICatholic and on your website, etc. I am speechless! Innocents are always caught up in every type of war–and that is what you are in. My prayers are with you. St. Michael the Archangel Defend us Battle..Be our Protection Against the Snares of the Devil……
As difficult as it is, you are the Light of Christ shining in the darkness. The matches I give to you to keep the light shining are my prayers and sacrifices to help you along the way.
Terry
Paramedicgirl says
October 5, 2010 at 3:03 AMFather, Saint Michael is the patron of paramedics, and as such, holds a special place in my prayer intentions. I pray to him daily, in fact, several times each day. Your post gave me some new information about this great saint. I thank you for that.
Father, I want you to know that I am having a Mass said for you at my FSSP parish in Vancouver. It generally takes about four months to be said, and I will try to let you know when it happens, so that you can unite yourself in prayer to this Mass.
Kim says
September 30, 2010 at 8:00 AMIn order to fight, and win against evil, one must call on Michael! If you have This warrior you can not fail!!! Our Blessed Mother never leaves Heaven without him what does that tell ya???
Mary says
September 30, 2010 at 2:59 AMI don’t think it strange that so much of Saint Michael is reaching you-to me the Holy Spirit is reminding you that like Michael you are involved in a struggle of heroic proportions against the forces of evil and you are achieving great things even though at times you must feel disheartened and down.
Like Michael you have taken up arms to fight for Truth and Justice and with the grace of God you shall conquer the darkness
God Bless Father G
Faith says
September 29, 2010 at 9:58 PMRelating to prisoners personalizing their belongings. I belong to a Lay Dominican Chapter in a prison (http://sites.google.com/site/ourladyofmercychapter/) and I love to look at my brothers’ prayer books. One of my cloistered brothers used an old tee shirt as a book cover. The book cover was tee shirt material. On the cover and the back, he had drawn with a pen, a Dominican Cross. It was eye catching.
I also know well the prayer the Prayer for Justice and Mercy. I know it as a Prayer for those in Prison Ministry and it was used in an ecumenical prayer service for us in prison ministry. I actually pasted on the inside cover of my prayer book–to personalize it.
Prayers will go up for you, tonight. God bless you.
Sharon says
September 29, 2010 at 5:12 PMI copied and pasted the prayer and will be passing it onto some friends and saving it for use personally. Thank you for the article today, FAther Gordon, as well as the personal notes about pictures in prison and blocks. They remind me to not forget.
Sharon
Kelly says
September 29, 2010 at 11:37 AMAs always, thank you for this informative and inspiring post. Thanks you for re-doing it! It was worth it.
What a comfort it is to have Saint Michael watching over the world. Especially in the midst of our present time, in which the term “truth” is being trampled upon, and “religious” Christians openly mocked. We need the help of the angels in our daily struggles. Saint Michael, having been present throughout history, and being present now, affords us with the hope and strength we need to live faithfully in our time. We feel the continuity with the people of times past, and the assurance that there is “nothing new under the sun”–there is a kinship and comfort in that.
When I go to pray outside abortion facilities I often picture a band of angels among us and over us, and ask for an impartation of courage for the women going inside, to confront the evil that is so prevalent and has darkened their minds and deceived them. The angels are beauty and strength–we so often forget about them.
Thank you for this wonderful post and the images.
Peace,
Kelly
Karin says
September 29, 2010 at 8:38 AMDear Father,
Your post has given so much more depth and meaning to this feast day of St Michael and the Archangels. Evil is all around us and so I thank God for His angels~my Guardian angel and St Michael and his protection.
I did not know about the meaning of the scales he held. What a wonderful reminder that we are to be merciful as God is merciful with us.
I always look forward to your Wednesday posts. My faith and knowledge are always increased by them.
Continued prayers for you and all the men there.
Dympna Kearns says
September 29, 2010 at 5:23 AMDear Father Gordon,
Your articles – and courage- are so uplifting! We have some priests here in Ireland who also have been falsely accused and imprisoned.What a martyrdom! You are in our prayers. We pray that justice will be done. May God continue to bless and strengthen you.Thank you for your witness to the Truth.
God Bless you.
justice says
October 1, 2012 at 4:03 PMI can only hope many will mend their ways soon enough, i understand your troubled thoughts of this world and i will always be here to listen. Fear not Justice will continue with her vengeance, harmony, and truth unto all.