Happy St. Michael's Day,
or in England - Michaelmas!
(Stained-glass window in St. Thomas Beckett Church in Veneta, Oregon)
We read in the Apocalypse chapter 12, verses 7-10:
"And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels: And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth..."A wonderful Irishwoman named Katherine Tynan (later Katherine Tynan Hickson after marriage) was born in Clondalkin, County Dublin, in 1859. They say that William Butler Yeats proposed to her and was rejected! :) She was also friendly with Father Gerard Manley Hopkins, another great literary man. This Katherine Tynan, mother of three, was the author of my favorite work on today's saint... a short poem entitled simply "Michael the Archangel". I've reproduced it here....
Not woman-faced and sweet, as look <---- definitely not!
The angels in the picture-book;
But terrible in majesty,
More than an army passing by.
His hair floats not upon the wind
Like theirs, but curled and closely twined;
Wrought with his aureole, so that none
Shall know the gold curls from the crown.
His wings he hath put away in steel, <---- ooh, I love that part!
He goes mail-clad from head to heel;
Never moon-silver hath outshone
His breastplate and his morion.
His brows are like a battlement, <----- isn't this verse great?
Beautiful, brave and innocent;
His eyes with fires of battle burn --
On his strong mouth the smile is stern.
His horse, the horse of Heaven, goes forth,
Bearing him off to South and North,
Neighing far off, as one that sees
The battle over distances.
His fiery sword is never at rest,
His foot is in the stirrup prest;
Through all the world where wrong is done
Michael the Soldier rideth on. <---- oh, yes!
Michael, Commander! Angels are
That sound the trumpet and that bear
The banners by the Throne, where is
The King one nameth on his knees.
Angels there are of peace and prayers,
And they that go with wayfarers,
And they that watch the house of birth,
And they that bring the dead from earth.
And mine own Angel. Yet I see,
Heading God's army gloriously,
Michael Archangel, like a sun,
Splendid beyond comparison!
St. Michael, come to our assistance!
Here's the rest of that window...showing the dragon! Happy Michaelmas, everyone!
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