Holy Archangel Michael and all the Angelic Powers
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November 8 is the “Synaxis of the Holy, Heavenly, Bodiless Powers”, or Saint Michael the Archangel, and all the choirs of Angels. This includes our own Guardian Angels. Some say that we have guardian angels assigned to us when we are conceived in our mother's wombs. Others say, as in the baptismal ritual, that they are given to us when we are baptized. Either way, we are blessed with angels who try to steer us in the right direction and watch over us.
St. Michael himself is the one who led the armies of heaven in casting rebellious Lucifer and his troops out, and he is often shown as defeating Satan, holding the scales of judgment for the dead in his hand, and always in military armor. In Russia, icons depict him riding his horse and sounding the trumpet to announce the Last Judgment. In the Book of Daniel, Michael is the protector of the Jewish People, and as a result, Christians see him as a defender of the Church. In the Byzantine Rite, Monday is always dedicated to the holy angels, and the Dismissal Prayer includes the phrase "through the intercession of the holy, bodiless, powers of heaven."
Angels abound in the Bible, serving as God's messengers and helping His people. They appear in icons, worshipping Christ, honoring Our Lady the Theotokos, praising God. In the Liturgy, we believe that angels escort the clergy through the Royal Doors at both Entrances, and come down from heaven to gather around the altar. At the Great Entrance, we say that we mystically represent the Cherubim who surround God's altar in heaven with full attention. When we sing the "Holy, Holy, Holy" we invoke that very image in our minds, of the heavenly host joyfully surrounding our altar to attend the Sacrifice of the Holy Eucharist. Isn't that a great mental picture to have in mind? Like the angels, we are to be happy to be in church, attentive to what is happening, and worshipping God with devotion.
Saint Michael is the most popular of the angels. High places in Europe are dedicated to him, from Wales to Italy. Cemetery chapels were usually dedicated to him, as it was the popular belief that he accompanies souls at the hour of their death to their personal judgment before God, and so be sent to heaven, purgatory, or hell. Island monasteries in Europe were also under his protection, such as the famous Mont-St Michel in the English Channel. He is the patron of the police, paratroopers, mariners, and the military.