St. Michael the Archangel

Defender against evil

Pray the novena →

St. Michael

St. Michael the Archangel

Michael is not a human saint. He is an archangel, and Scripture shows him as the one who stands up when evil shows up. His name is a question: 'Who is like God?' People pray to him when they need courage, protection, or strength for a battle nobody else can see.

Feast day

September 29
with Sts. Gabriel and Raphael

Patron of

Police officers
Soldiers
The sick
Protection against evil

Their story

Michael is not a human saint but an archangel, a created spirit. His Hebrew name is a question: Mi-ka-El, “Who is like God?” Scripture names him four times. In Daniel he is “the great prince” who stands guard over God's people (Daniel 10:13, 12:1). In the Letter of Jude he disputes with the devil over the body of Moses but will not insult him, saying only, “The Lord rebuke you” (Jude 9). In Revelation he and his angels throw the dragon out of heaven (Revelation 12:7–9).

Christians honored him from early times. A famous shrine grew up on Monte Gargano in southern Italy after reported apparitions in the late 5th century. Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy was founded in the 8th century after a bishop's vision. Rome's Castel Sant'Angelo is named for a vision of Michael sheathing his sword over the city to signal the end of a plague in 590, which is a medieval legend.

Since 1969 the Church keeps September 29 as the feast of Michael, Gabriel and Raphael together. People turn to Michael when they feel outmatched by evil. His whole identity is a reminder that no power is like God's, and that the fight is the Lord's, not ours alone.

Why they’re the patron of…

  • Soldiers and police · Tradition
    Revelation shows him leading a heavenly army against the dragon, so those who guard others by force took him as protector.
  • The sick · Tradition
    Early shrines to him, such as Chonae in Phrygia, were known as healing places, and Michael was invoked against illness. This is ancient tradition.
  • Protection against evil ·
    Based directly on Revelation 12 and Jude 9. Leo XIII composed a prayer to him in 1886 for recitation after Low Mass.

Devotions & practices

  • Prayer to St. Michael (Leo XIII, 1886)
    “St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil…” Recited after Low Mass until 1964; John Paul II in 1994 encouraged people to pray it again.
  • Chaplet of St. Michael
    A devotion of nine salutations to the nine choirs of angels, granted indulgences by Pius IX in 1851. The promises attached to it come from a private revelation (Antonia d'Astonaco) and are not Church teaching.

The short version

Michael is one of three archangels named in Scripture. He appears in the Book of Daniel (10:13; 12:1) as protector of God's people, in the Letter of Jude (v. 9), and in Revelation 12:7–9 leading the angels against the dragon. The Roman Calendar honors him with Gabriel and Raphael on September 29.

Three things you might not know

His name means 'Who is like God?'

Pope Leo XIII composed the Prayer to St. Michael in Latin and added it to the prayers after Low Mass in 1886.

Mont-Saint-Michel, the island abbey off France's coast, is named after him.

The novena

Nine days · one intention

A novena is nine days of prayer for one intention, modeled on the nine days the apostles and Mary prayed between the Ascension and Pentecost (Acts 1–2). Pray this each day:

St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle; be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil. We humbly beseech God to command him; and do thou, O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the divine power thrust into hell Satan and the other evil spirits who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
Nine days · Free

Pray the novena
with us.

One short email a day for nine days. The day's prayer, a line from St. Michael's story, and a nudge to keep going.

Your Confirmation saint?

Choose St. Michael if…

  • you want courage to stand up for what is right
  • you are drawn to protecting people, like first responders or the military
  • you are fighting a battle (temptation, fear, anxiety) and want backup

Take the saint finder →  Need a sponsor?

Wear their medal

[Affiliate placeholder: Catholic Company St. Michael the Archangel medal]

“Who is like God?”

the meaning of the name Michael
Also walking with you
St. Joan of Arc

St. Joan

Feast · May 30 — The teenager who led an army
St. Sebastian

St. Sebastian

Feast · January 20 — The soldier who would not quit
St. Jude Thaddeus

St. Jude

Feast · October 28 — Patron of hopeless causes
Sources & notes

Story sources

Sources

Credits

Image: Guido Reni, Wikimedia Commons (Public domain)

Prayer to St. Michael, Pope Leo XIII (1886), English text as printed in The Little Month of November (Boston, 1912), public domain. Pray daily for nine days.

Notes

Story retold in our own words from the cited sources.