Angels: A Six Part Series


Part V: The Angel Michael

Gabriel is traditionally regarded as the angel of mercy, while Michael is revealed as the angel of judgment: "At that time there shall arise Michael, the great prince, guardian of your people; It shall be a time unsurpassed in distress since the nations began until that time. At that time your people shall escape, everyone who is found written in the book" (Dn 12, 1). The very name "Michael" means "Who is like unto God." The implication, of course, is that nobody is like unto God. The name points to the character of this angel, a character uninclined to any prideful soaring of the heart towards the divine heights. It is reasonable to infer that Michael will lead the angelic host involved in the work of separation at the end of time (Cf. Mt 13, 36-43). In Daniel we read:

Many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake; some shall live forever, others shall be an everlasting horror and disgrace. But the wise shall shine brightly like the splendor of the firmament, and those who lead the many to justice shall be like the stars forever. (Dn 12, 2-3)

The word "horror", used in the verses above, evokes images of disfigurement, or dismemberment. The depiction of body parts severed from the whole is a typical tool of horror movies; for disintegration is horrifying. Beauty belongs not to the part, but to the whole. What is horrifying lacks the beauty of total integration. Spiritual disfigurement is far more horrifying than any physical disfigurement, just as spiritual pain is more horrible than physical pain. Hell is horrifying, for there is no beauty in hell, because there is no charity in hell, only the spiritually disfigured, or the malicious. The angels will be the principal agents of separating the good from the evil at the end of time; for it is not always obvious to us who among us belongs to darkness.

Michael also appears in the book of Revelation:

Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. The huge dragon, the ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, who deceived the whole world, was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it. Then I heard a loud voice in heaven say: "Now have salvation and power come, and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Anointed. For the accuser of our brothers is cast out, who accuses them before our God day and night. They conquered him by the blood of the Lamb and by the word of their testimony; love for life did not deter them from death. Therefore, rejoice, you heavens, and you who dwell in them." (Rv 12, 7-12)

It is very difficult to understand what a "war in heaven" could possibly mean. The only way to come to some understanding of it is to employ analogy. In a physical battle, the objective is to wound the other, or render the other incapable of action. In a spiritual battle, the object of evil spirit is to render one incapable of effective spiritual action, such as acts of charity (love of God), or ministering effectively to others, or effective preaching, etc. To meet a cold and malicious spirit is to be affected in a number of ways. Consider a cold temperature. It prevents action, for the muscles lack flexibility. A dark spirit can instil fear and dread, or a spirit of paranoia. This can paralyse effective spiritual action. For example, sometimes priests feel a certain pressure, a fear of speaking the truth boldly. Some of them feel paralysed on the pulpit. This can -- but need not be -- an effect of the paralysing action of evil spirit.

To a good angel malice is something entirely contrary to his own will, which is in conformity with the divine will. When two things come into conflict, they stop moving, and a struggle for continued motion occurs. A strong will is one that will not be moved, and so the stronger the will in battle, the less it will be stopped or slowed by the opposing force.

So what does this battle in heaven look like? It looks like nothing; angels are immaterial. But it is dreadful. A physical beating is bad, but much worse is the malicious spirit behind it. In other words, a purely accidental injury does not affect a person as much as an intentionally inflicted wound. When malice lurks behind a wound, the event can haunt a person for the rest of his life. We feel the darkness of that personal malice, and it is dreadful, covering us like a damp cloth, giving us a taste of death. The dreadfulness of a spiritual battle with evil spirit is akin to that experience. It is full of dread.

But who wins a spiritual battle? The one whose love is stronger than death. If the love of an angel is more willing to endure the stench of death than the hatred of an angel is willing to endure the light and fragrance of charity, then the good angel will win the battle. In this case, Michael and his angels have a love for the Incarnate Word that is stronger than the spiritual death of the fallen angels. Their death is not stronger than life, any more than non-being has more power than being.

In his letter to the Ephesians, Paul indicates that our battle is not against "flesh and blood, but against principalities, against powers, against the rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens" (Eph 6, 10). But there is only one battle, not two. And so our battle is really an aspect of this praeternatural battle between Michael and the dragon, just as the liturgy of the Eucharist is not a different liturgy than the heavenly liturgy of which John had a vision (Cf. Rev 4, 1-11). We are not the major players in this battle, but we are part of it nonetheless. From the point of view of aeviternity, the victory has already been won. But from our point of view (time), it is still being fought. The choice is ours whether to be part of that victory or whether to be a member of the defeated. Christ is the victor. To abide in him is to abide in his victory over sin and death. But abiding in him involves the willingness to fall in battle against evil, as opposed to the more popular option, which is to avoid the battle altogether for the sake of one's own personal comfort level. To choose the latter is death, but to choose the former will be to share in the joy and celebration of a great and marvellous victory.

Next Page: Part VI: The Hierarchy of Angels
1, 2, 3, 4, 5, 6