The Story of Archangel Rest
Ever since I was a child, I have always been fascinated by angels. When I was required to choose a saint to study in preparation for my confirmation years ago, I wanted to study Michael the Archangel. At that time, however, I did not know that Michael was correctly referred to as a saint, but I chose the name "Michael" which means "who is as God?" to honor him anyway. It was not until later that I learned how important St. Michael has been in the history of the Christian Church, and also in other faith traditions as well. This website's name, Archangel Rest, comes from my interest in St. Michael the Archangel. Why am I interested in angels, or what in particular is interesting to me about St. Michael?

When I first developed an internet website in 1997, I decided to name it "Arkangel's Rest." "Arkangel," I knew, was a misspelling of the proper English "archangel," but I thought the misspelled form looked good and would have cool appeal, and it did. It is only in this newest version of my website, entitled "Archangel Rest," that I decided to drop the 's and use the correct spelling of the word for the title.

At that time, If one had asked me what appealed to me about St. Michael, I would have said that it was his enormous strength and righteousness. It is true that these qualities of St. Michael continue to make him appealing to me. Today, I look to St. Michael as a tremendous leader as well. St. Michael continues to serve as an example for all of us to follow after.

St. Michael the Archangel
St. Michael is generally considered to be the foremost of the seven archangels and the leader of the Host of Heaven. According to the Book of Revelation, Michael and his angels are described as fighting the dragon and his angels. Hence Michael is often shown fighting or overcoming a dragon armed with spear or sword as God's Warrior.

Christian tradition affords to Michael four principal offices:

1. to fight against the devil;
2. to rescue the souls of the faithful from the enemy, especially at the hour of death;
3. to be a champion for God's people;
4. to call away from earth and bring mens' souls to judgment.

Interestingly, The Catholic Encycopedia tells us that it was in Phrygia that St. Michael was first venerated, "where his prestige as angelic healer obscured his interposition in military affairs." Phrygia is in modern-day Turkey, where I worked in 1998 and have many friends. It appears that much of the ancient cultic activity surrounding Michael the archangel originated in present-day Turkey, and that the region was an important area for veneration of the angel in the days of the early Christian Church. The Catholic Encyclopedia continues:

"At Constantinople likewise, St. Michael was the great heavenly physician. His principal sanctuary, the Michaelion, was at Sosthenion, some fifty miles south of Constantinople; there the archangel is said to have appeared to the Emperor Constantine. The sick slept in this church at night to wait for a manifestation of St. Michael; his feast was kept there 9 June. Another famous church was within the walls of the city, at the thermal baths of the Emperor Arcadius; there the synaxis of the archangel was celebrated 8 November. This feast spread over the entire Greek Church, and the Syrian, Armenian, and Coptic Churches adopted it also; it is now the principal feast of St. Michael in the Orient. It may have originated in Phrygia, but its station at Constantinople was the Thermae of Arcadius (Martinow, "Annus Graeco-slavicus", 8 Nov.)."

For more information about St. Michael the Archangel, please see the Catholic Encyclopedia article on St. Michael the Archangel.

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