mThis feast commemorates the dedication of the ancient and venerable sanctuary under his patronage on the outskirts of Rome, seven miles from the city on the Salarian way. The Mass now appointed for the eighteenth Sunday after Pentecost was composed for the occasion; today’s has much in common with that of the Guardian Angels, the two feasts having long been celebrated together. The name Michael means, in Hebrew, “who is like to God?” and recalls the battle in heaven between “the prince of the heavenly host” and the devil, a battle which began with Lucifer’s rebellion and continues down the ages. In this tremendous struggle Michael and his angels together with the Church and her saints are Christ’s allies against Satan and his devils with all their henchmen. We are all involved in this fight, and St. Michael and the angels help us so that we may not perish in the day of God’s judgment. When a Christian dies, the Church prays that God’s standard-bearer Michael may lead him into heaven, and so he is often represented bearing the scales of divine justice in which souls are weighed. St. Michael also presides over our worship of God, for he is the angel whom St. John saw in heaven near God’s altar, a golden censer in his hand, offering the fragrant incense of the prayers of the saints.