Michael

Michael (Hebr., “who is like God?”), called St Michael in the Christian Churches, one of the seven archangels in Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, presumed to be leader of the angels (see Daniel 10:13, 21; 12:1) and guardian angel of Israel. According to the pseudepigraphic Book of Enoch, Michael and his command of faithful troops defeated the rebellious archangel Lucifer and his followers, casting them into Hell. In the Talmud, his relationship to the other angels is compared with that on Earth of the high priest to Israel; thus, he is considered the immediate lawgiver to the prophet Moses on Sinai (see Acts 7:38).

Michael has been known as the patron of the sick and of grocers, sailors, and soldiers; he is also the patron saint of Germany. In art he appears holding scales or a banner and flourishing a sword against a dragon. Beginning in 1970 Michael's feast day, Michaelmas, was combined with that of the archangels Gabriel and Raphael on September 29.