Michael (archangel) Facts for Kids

Quick facts for kids Michael
A 13th-century Byzantine icon from Saint Catherine's Monastery, Mount Sinai
Archangel
Venerated in	Anglicanism, Catholicism, Eastern Orthodoxy, Oriental Orthodoxy, Lutheranism, Islam, Judaism
Canonized	pre-congregation
Feast	November 8 (New Calendar Eastern Orthodox Churches) / November 21 (Old Calendar Eastern Orthodox Churches), September 29 ("Michaelmas"); May 8; many other local and historical feasts
Attributes	Archangel; Treading on a dragon; carrying a banner, scales, and sword
Patronage	Guardian of the Catholic Church; Kiev, Guardian of Vatican City; protector of the Jewish people, police officers, military, grocers, mariners, paratroopers

Michael is an archangel in Jewish, Christian, and Islamic teachings. Roman Catholics, the Eastern Orthodox, Anglicans, and Lutherans call him "Saint Michael the Archangel" or simply "Saint Michael". Orthodox Christians call him the "Taxiarch Archangel Michael" or simply "Archangel Michael".

In Hebrew, Michael means "who is like God?". The Book of Daniel speaks of Michael three times. One time, it says he is a "great prince who stands up for the children of your people". Jews saw Michael as their supporter. They are normally not allowed to appeal to angels as a link between God and his people. However, Michael became important in Jewish liturgy.

In the New Testament Michael leads God's armies against Satan's forces in the Book of Revelation. During the war in heaven he defeats (wins against) Satan. In the Epistle of Jude Michael is called "the archangel Michael". Christian sanctuaries to Michael appeared in the 4th century. He was first seen as a healing angel. Later, Christians saw him as a protector (someone who defends and helps) and the leader of the army of God against the forces of evil. By the 6th century, devotions to Archangel Michael were common both in the Eastern and Western Churches. Over time, teachings on Michael began to change among Christians.

Images for kids

Guido Reni's Michael (in Santa Maria della Concezione church, Rome, 1636) tramples Satan. A mosaic of the same painting decorates St. Michael's Altar in St. Peter's Basilica.
Saint Michael, Archangel es:Melchor Pérez de Holguín, Bolivia, (1708)
Statue of Archangel Michael at the University of Bonn, slaying Satan as a dragon; Quis ut Deus is inscribed on his shield
St. Michael weighing souls during the Last Judgement, Antiphonale Cisterciense (15th century), Abbey Bibliotheca, Rein Abbey, Austria
West window showing Michael in armour, Anglo-Catholic Church of the Good Shepherd (Rosemont, Pennsylvania) United States
Statue at St. Michaelis Church, Hamburg
Le Grand Saint Michel, 1518, by Raphael (Raffaello Sanzio), Archangel Michael defeating evil
Mīkāʾīl's name in Islamic calligraphy
Archangel Michael at a Portuguese feast in Cabeceiras de Basto
Statue of St Michael at the former seat of the Bavarian Military Order of Saint Michael in the Electoral Palace, Bonn, Germany.
10th-century gold and enamel Byzantine icon of St Michael, in the treasury of the St Mark's Basilica
The Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France
St. Michael's Jesuit church, Munich, Bavaria, Germany
Archangel Michael on a 9th-century Makurian mural
Andrei Rublev's standalone depiction c. 1408
Michael (left) with archangels Raphael and Gabriel, by Botticini, 1470
Bronze statue of Archangel Michael, standing on top of the Castel Sant'Angelo, modelled in 1753 by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt (1710–1793).
Michael's icon on the northern deacons' door on the iconostasis of Hajdúdorog. The archangel is often depicted on iconostases' doors as a defender of the sanctuary.
St. Michael the Archangel and the Dragon. Queen of Archangels Roman Catholic Parish, Clarence, PA
St Michael's Victory over the Devil, a 1958 sculpture by Jacob Epstein.

Michael (archangel) facts for kids

Images for kids

See also