September 29: Saint Michael and All Angels

The Collect of the Day

Everlasting God, who has ordained and constituted ina wonderful order the ministries of angels and mortals: Mercifully grant that, as your holy angels always serve and worship you in heaven, so by your appointment they may help and defend us here on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

O Everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thy appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Ghost, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Genesis 28:10-17 or Genesis 28:10–17
Psalm 103 or Psalm 103:19-22
Revelation 12:7-12 or Revelation 12:7–12
John 1:47-51 or John 1:47–51

The biblical word “angel” (Greek: angelos) means, literally, a messenger. Messengers from God can be visible or invisible, andmay assume human or non-human forms. Christians have always felt themselves to be attended by helpful spirits—swift, powerful, and enlightening. Those beneficent spirits are often depicted in Christian art in human form, with wings to signify their swiftness and spacelessness, with swords to signify their power, and with dazzling raiment to signify their ability to enlighten. Unfortunately, this type of pictorial representation has led many to dismiss the angels as “just another mythical beast, like the unicorn, the griffin, or the sphinx.”

Of the many angels spoken of in the Bible, only four are called by name: Michael, Gabriel, Uriel, and Raphael. The Archangel Michael is the powerful agent of God who wards off evil from God’s people, and delivers peace to them at the end of this life’s mortal struggle. “Michaelmas,” as his feast is called in England, has long been one of the popular celebrations of the Christian Year in many parts of the world.

Michael is the patron saint of countless churches, including Mont Saint-Michel, the monastery fortress off the coast of Normandy that figured so prominently in medieval English history, and Coventry Cathedral, England’s most famous modern church building, rising from the ashes of the Second World War.

Lessons and Psalm

First Lesson

Psalm

¹Bless the Lord, O my soul, *and all that is within me, bless his holy Name.

²Bless the Lord, O my soul, *and forget not all his benefits.

³He forgives all your sins *and heals all your infirmities;

⁴He redeems your life from the grave *and crowns you with mercy and loving-kindness;

⁵He satisfies you with good things, *and your youth is renewed like an eagle’s.

⁶The Lord executes righteousness *and judgment for all who are oppressed.

⁷He made his ways known to Moses *and his works to the children of Israel.

⁸The Lord is full of compassion and mercy, *slow to anger and of great kindness.

⁹He will not always accuse us, *nor will he keep his anger for ever.

¹⁰He has not dealt with us according to our sins, *nor rewarded us according to our wickedness.

¹¹For as the heavens are high above the earth, *so is his mercy great upon those who fear him.

¹²As far as the east is from the west, *so far has he removed our sins from us.

¹³As a father cares for his children, *so does the Lord care for those who fear him.

¹⁴For he himself knows whereof we are made; *he remembers that we are but dust.

¹⁵Our days are like the grass; *we flourish like a flower of the field;

¹⁶When the wind goes over it, it is gone, *and its place shall know it no more.

¹⁷But the merciful goodness of the Lord endures for ever on those who fear him, *and his righteousness on children’s children;

¹⁸On those who keep his covenant *and remember his commandments and do them.

¹⁹The Lord has set his throne in heaven, *and his kingship has dominion over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty ones who do his bidding, *and hearken to the voice of his word.

²¹Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, *you ministers of his who do his will.

²²Bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion; *bless the Lord, O my soul.

Psalm

¹⁹The Lord has set his throne in heaven, *and his kingship has dominion over all.

²⁰Bless the Lord, you angels of his, you mighty ones who do his bidding, *and hearken to the voice of his word.

²¹Bless the Lord, all you his hosts, *you ministers of his who do his will.

²²Bless the Lord, all you works of his, in all places of his dominion; *bless the Lord, O my soul.

Epistle

Gospel

¹⁰Jacob left Beer-sheba and went toward Haran. ¹¹He came to a certain place and stayed there for the night, because the sun had set. Taking one of the stones of the place, he put it under his head and lay down in that place. ¹²And he dreamed that there was a ladder set up on the earth, the top of it reaching to heaven; and the angels of God were ascending and descending on it. ¹³And the Lord stood beside him and said, “I am the Lord, the God of Abraham your father and the God of Isaac; the land on which you lie I will give to you and to your offspring; ¹⁴and your offspring shall be like the dust of the earth, and you shall spread abroad to the west and to the east and to the north and to the south; and all the families of the earth shall be blessed in you and in your offspring. ¹⁵Know that I am with you and will keep you wherever you go, and will bring you back to this land; for I will not leave you until I have done what I have promised you.” ¹⁶Then Jacob woke from his sleep and said, “Surely the Lord is in this place—and I did not know it!” ¹⁷And he was afraid, and said, “How awesome is this place! This is none other than the house of God, and this is the gate of heaven.”