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Saint Michael and the Eucharistic Eschatological Battle

The great dragon, the primeval serpent, known as the devil or Satan, who had deceived all the world, was hurled down to the earth and his angels were hurled down with him (Rev. 12:9).

Today in the Archdiocese of Toronto we celebrate the Feast of St. Michael, the Archangel and observe it as a Solemnity. There are nine choirs of angels: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Archangels, Principalities and Angels. Archangels are generally taken to mean “chief or leading angel” (Jude 9; 1 Thes. 4:16) and are the most frequently mentioned throughout the Bible. The Archangels have a unique role as God’s messenger to the people at critical times in history and in the history of salvation. St. Michael is a princely Seraph who has been invoked as patron and protector of the Church from the time of the Apostles.

In the year 490 A.D. there was an apparition of St. Michael in Italy on Mount Gargano, not far from the place where St. Pius of Pietrelcina or Padre Pio spent most of his priestly life. This shrine is part of what is known as the Sword of St. Michael, seven shrines dedicated to the Prince of the Heavenly Hosts. These seven sanctuaries are mysteriously linked by a straight line from Ireland to Israel. According to legend, the line represents the blow with which St. Michael sent the devil to hell. The seven shrines are: Skellig Michael or Michael’s Rock in Ireland, St. Michael’s Mount in England, and Mont St. Michel in France where St. Michael also appeared. The line continues to Italy and the shrines in Val de Susa and Gargano. From Italy, the next shrine is on the Greek island of Symi, and the seventh is at the Mount Carmel Monastery in Haifa, Israel. The details of such alignment are also astonishing: the three most important sites in France and Italy are all the same distance from one another. Some have observed that this is a reminder from St. Michael: we are expected to be righteous, walking the straight path.

Praise the Lord

Read the Whole Article at https://catholicinsight.com/