The church celebrates the feast of the honoured Archangel, Michael, the head of the hosts of heaven,
who stands at all times before the great throne of God, interceding on behalf of the human race.
Joshua, the son of Nun, saw him in great glory and was frightened by him and fell on his face to the earth and said to him, “Are you for us, or for our adversaries?” So he said, “No; but as Commander of the army of the Lord… I have given Jericho into your hand, … and its king.” (Joshua 5:13-15, 6:2)
The Archangel Michael was with all the saints and martyrs. He strengthened them and enabled them to endure patiently until they finished their strife. Festivals of commemoration are held and alms offered in his name on the twelfth day of each Coptic month.
An example of one of his wonders: A God-fearing man whose name was Dorotheus and his wife Theopista, held a festival of commemoration for the honored angel Michael on the twelfth day of each month. It happened that this righteous family fell on hard times and had nothing to celebrate with for the commemoration of the honored Michael. They took their clothes to sell so that they might have a feast. Michael the Archangel appeared to Dorotheus and commanded him not to sell his clothes, but to go to a sheep-master and to take from him a sheep worth one-third of a dinar. He was also to go to a fisherman and to take from him a fish worth one-third of a dinar but Dorotheus was not to slit open the fish until he came back to him. Finally, he was to go to a flour merchant and to take from him as much flour as he needed.
Dorotheus did as the Angel commanded him. He invited the people, as was his custom, to the feast honoring the Archangel Michael. When he went into his storeroom looking for wine for the offering, he found that all the containers had been filled with wine and many other good things. He marvelled and was astonished.
After they had finished the celebration and all the people had departed, the Archangel appeared to Dorotheus as before and commanded him to cut open the belly of the fish. He found 300 dinars of gold and three coins each is a third of a dinar. He told him these three coins were for the sheep, the fish and the flour, and the 300 dinars were for him and his children. God had remembered them and their oblations and had rewarded them here, in this world and in the kingdom of heaven on the last day. As Dorotheus and his wife were astonished at this matter, the Archangel Michael said to them, “I am Michael the Archangel who delivered you from all your tribulations and I have taken your oblations and alms up to God, you shall lack no good thing whatsoever in this world.” They prostrated themselves before him and he disappeared and went up into heaven. This was one of the innumerable miracles of this honored Angel.
His intercession be for us and Glory be to our God, forever. Amen.
This name of his is a Hebrew name meaning “who is like God”. He is in a general manner, the commander of the angels. The Holy Church asks for his intercession in every mass, in the hymns, prayers, and songs. His feast is monthly celebrated on the twelfth of every Coptic month, and the miracles which he has operated are mentionned. There are some books which were written about these miracles. Some families have the habit of making “the cakes of the angel” (feteer el malak) and they distribute them to their friends and loved ones, and they remember that a miracle (relatively to these cakes) happened to a certain family by means of the archange Mikhail. The icon of the archangel Mikhail is set up in every church, where he is dressed in a soldier’s dress as “commander of the army of the Lord”.
He has a spear in his hand by which he pierces Satan who appears as a dragon, as it is written in the book of Revelation: “And war broke out in heaven: Michael and his angels fought with the dragon”. Michael triumphed in that war, and he cast the devil out of heaven (Apoc. 12: 7-9). We have chosen this icon of the archangel Michael to be the image which is printed in this pamphlet of “the Angels”….. Thus a church is built up in every monastery on the topmost of the tour, as the archangel Mikhail is considered the guardian of the monastery.
How many are the churches which are built in the name of the archangel Mikhail in cities in all the continents, as a sign of his love and intercession. In view of the greatness of the archangel Mikhail, the proselites of the doctrinal deviation of “the witnesses of Yehovah”, believe that the Lord Christ is the archangel Mikhail!! and so also believe the doctrinally deviated Adventists. Because of the love of people for the archangel Michael, many people are called by his name, whether in the Hebrew or in the Coptic language (Mikhail), or by his name in English (Michael), or in French (Michel). They are also called by the name of “Malak” (meaning angel), or “Abdel Malak” (meaning the servant of the angel). Many jews in the Old Testament were called by his name (look in the dictionary of the Holy Bible).
Our Church believes that the archange Mikhail is the angel of the Resurrection, as it came in (Matt. 28). Therefore we say in the “prayer of the breaking” at Easter: [Mikhail, the commander of the angels, came down from heaven, and rolled back the stone from the mouth of the tomb, and announced the women who carried the spices and fragrant oils saying: Christ is risen from the dead”].
It is said of him in the book of the prophet Daniel: “Michael …… the great prince who stands watch over the sons of your people” (Dan. 12:1). In spite of the greatness of the archangel Michael, we see his humility, as it was mentionned in the epistle of Jude: [Yet Michael the archangel, in contending with the devil when he disputed about the body of Moses, dared not bring against him a reviling accusation, but said: “The Lord re buke you!”] (Jude 9).
And we note that the archangel Michael is the one who came to help the archangel Gabriel, when the devil, “the prince of the kingdom of Persia”, stood before him to oppose him. (Dan. 10: 11-13). His name is mentionned in (Dan. 10:12), and in (Jude 9), and (Apocalypse 12:7).