Saint Michael is one of the seven archangels and one of the three named in the bible. The archangels are the highest of the nine orders of angels. Angels are messengers from God. And, the archangels are given the most significant missions. Michael is described by the early Church Fathers as the prince over the other angels.

The name Michael means “who is like God?” It is not to be interpreted as an arrogant belief that he, Michael is like God. Quite the contrary. It implies that indeed no one is like God. Michael is the great symbol of humility before God unlike Satan who refused to bow down to God in his great arrogance. This was, after all, the great dispute among the angels in heaven between the humble and faithful servants lead by Michael and the rebellious and arrogant angels lead by Satan.

Michael is named 4 places in the bible. Daniel 10:13, Daniel 12:1, Jude 9, and Rev 12:7. In Daniel 10, the prophet has a vision of an angel and told that the angel Michael will be the protector of Israel and its people. In Daniel, chapter 12, Michael is called the “great prince” and again is portrayed as the protector of God’s chosen people through their time of exile and the he will be the protector of the faithful ones during the time of the end of the world. In Jude, chapter 9, we see Michael guard and protect the body of Moses.

The most significant of Michael’s appearances is in the book of Revelation, chapter 12, where Michael leads the battle of the faithful angels against Satan and his evil army. St. Michael fights the final battle against Satan, drives Satan and his evil army out of heaven, and wins the final victory.

From the interpretation of the scripture passages citing the intercession of Saint Michael we attribute these 4 roles to Michael for the salvation of mankind:

1. He fights against Satan, the Devil
2. He battles to save holy souls from the power of Satan, especially at the hour of death.
3. He is the patron of the Church.
4. He takes the souls of men from earth to their final judgment.

Saint Michael is the patron saint of soldiers, police officers, and paratroopers. We should invoke the intercession of Saint Michael often in prayer and display our faith in his role as our protector as we wear a beautiful Saint Michael patron saint medal.