All Day
September 29, 2024
The feast day honors the three archangels, St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael, who are the only three angels named in the Bible. The feast day also recognizes the role of angels in people's lives and encourages people to invoke them.
St. Michael is considered the greatest of the angels and the leader of the heavenly armies. His name means "Who is like God?" in Hebrew. He is revered as the protector of the Church and is the patron saint of sick people, mariners, and grocers.
There are many shrines to Saint Michael around the world, the oldest being the famous Sanctuary of Saint Michael (known as Saint Michael's Cave) on Monte Gargano in southern Italy on the coast of the Adriatic. Saint Francis of Assisi would not even enter it because he considered himself unworthy.
And, of course, Mont Saint Michel in France with its famous tide that cuts it off from the mainland.
For an interesting bit of history of Michaelmass check out this story.