Michaelmas Recollections

And Saint Michael heard me, of course. I can only imagine how a naive child earnestly applying herself to memorizing, singing and signing a truly awful prayer looks from Heaven’s perspective, but I’m positive he heard me. He saw me trying to mind my p’s and q’s around his votive candle and trusting him to banish the demons when his holy card and Windex bottle were used, as well, and took them for the well-meant efforts at prayer which they were. He came with me when I left my parents’ house. I kept a holy card of Saint Michael next to my pillow, when I lived alone. I didn’t know how to live alone. I’d been artificially helpless for so long in that bizarre community, I didn’t know how to do a thing for myself. I had to learn to keep up an apartment, go shopping and get places on time.  I was afraid; I’d never been alone in my life. But Saint Michael stayed with me, impaling fears and obstacles on the end of his spear.

When I first got to know the man I’d eventually marry, he had a large icon of an archangel in red on the wall of his apartment. “I thought it was Saint Gabriel when I bought it,” he said, “But it’s Saint Michael.”

That was my first sign I’d met the right man.

When Michael and I met some pagan friends, the first pagans we’d ever known, and I found out for myself that pagans are not demoniacs who want to sacrifice children to Satan, our devotion to Saint Michael went along with us as a bridge to new friendships. One of my friends was suffering, and I told her I’d pray to Saint Michael for her.

“Oh!” she said. “I love Archangel Michael! I asked him to remove some negativity in my throat chakra once, and he did right away.”

I later found out that my pagan friends were devoted to several of the archangels; one said that you could banish nightmares and sleep paralysis by a combination of sage-smudging and invoking Archangel Raphael to come with his shining sword. I privately thought that, once you’d invoked Saint Raphael, the sage and the sword were unnecessary, but I couldn’t think of a polite way to say that. But I can attest that praying to Archangel Raphael for help with nightmares is a useful thing. A Windex bottle of holy water with a Saint Michael card taped to it is nice as well.

I saw so much goodness and sincerity in these people’s prayers to the archangels. Heaven sees so much more clearly, I’m sure they saw even more good than I did. And I’m sure the archangels assist them with their negativity and sleep paralysis. I trust the archangels, led by Saint Michael, to bring them home to fullness of truth at last.

I trust them to bring me home, after all.

Saint Michael and his brother archangels have always been here, and they’ve always been bringing me home.

May they bring you as well.