Commentary from
THE ANNOTATED
BOOK OF COMMON
PRAYER
Edited by JOHN HENRY BLUNT
Rivingtons, London, 1884
SAINT MICHAEL AND ALL
ANGELS
[September
29.]
There were anciently two days
dedicated to St. Michael, May 8th and September 29th; and in medieval times
a third, to St. Michael in monte tumba [Note: Churches
dedicated to St. Michael are often on elevated spots, as at St. Michael's
Mounts in Normandy and Cornwall] on October 16th. But the day
most generally observed was that which we now keep, and which appears both
in the Lectionary of St. Jerome and in the Sacramentary of St. Gregory, as
the Dedication of the Church of St. Michael. This basilica may have
been that of Constantine near Constantinople, or that of Boniface at Rome,
the latter being dedicated AD 606. In the Eastern Church St. Michael's
Day is November 8th, July 13th and March 26th being also observed in honour
of the Archangel Gabriel. These two are the only angels or archangels
who are made known to us by name in the Canonical Scriptures, though Raphael
and Uriel are named in the Book of Tobit and in Esdras.
The holy angels in general are
commemorated by the Church from a deeply-rooted feeling of their communion
with the saints, and of their ministrations among mankind on earth.
Such a feeling is warranted by the words, "Ye are come unto Mount Sion, and
unto the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to an
innumerable company of angels; to the general assembly and Church of the
Firstborn..." [Heb. xii. 22]: and, "Are they not all ministering spirits,
sent forth to minister for them who shall be heirs of salvation?" [Heb. i.
14.] The holy Son of God condescended to be ministered to by angels in
His Temptation and Agony; they waited upon Him at His Birth and
Resurrection; and at His Second Advent He will come with "all the holy
angels." St. Peter was set free from prison by an angel. and one stood
by St. Paul in the ship, thus illustrating their ministration to Christ's
servants. Our Lord Himself spoke of their rejoicing over penitent
sinners; and said of the little ones who had passed under His hand and
benediction, that "their angels do always behold the face of My Father Which
is in heaven," as if indicating many ministrations to those who are
His,--some known, and some that are not made evident to sight or other
sense. It has been a constant tradition of Christianity that angels
attend at the ministration of Holy Baptism, and at the celebration of the
Holy Communion; and that as Lazarus was the object of their tender care, so
in sickness and death they are about the bed of the faithful, and carry
their souls to the presence of Christ in Paradise.
Without taking into account,
therefore, and of the many unveilings to our sight of holy angels and their
ministrations recorded in the Old Testament, we have ample ground for
believing that they are joined in a very close communion with those who have
been redeemed by the blood of Christ. But whereas the saints were once
sinners, and yet God is pleased that we should honour Him by venerating
these pure and spotless servants of His who do His pleasure. And as
our Father on earth as it is done in heaven, so may we take their example as
the highest, next to His of perfect submission to the will of God.
While in respect to our worship on earth we may reckon it as exalted
privilege to have such communion with them as to be able to say, "Therefore
with angels and archangels, and all the company of heaven, we laud and
magnify Thy glorious Name, evermore praising Thee, and saying, Holy, Holy,
Holy, Lord God of Hosts, heaven and earth are full of Thy glory: Glory be to
Thee, O Lord most High."
