The feast of the angels
The Synaxis of the Archangels
The Church keeps the feast of all the angels, the bodiless powers, led by the Archangels Michael and Gabriel. Michael, whose name means “Who is like God?”, is the chief commander of the heavenly hosts, who cast down the proud Lucifer and fights still against all the enemies of God and man. The Church has kept this feast since the Council of Laodicea in the fourth century.
The dates
- Kept on
- 8 November (21 November on the Old Calendar)
- Next, New Calendar
- Next, Old Calendar
The New Calendar (the Greek, Antiochian, Romanian and Bulgarian churches, the OCA and most converts) keeps fixed feasts on the church date; the Old Calendar (the Russian, Serbian and Georgian churches, Jerusalem and Mount Athos) keeps them 13 days later. Pascha and the feasts that follow it are kept on the same day by both.
How the day is kept
The Orthodox Church has no separate feast of the Guardian Angels: every Guardian Angel is honored at this feast, and the faithful give thanks for the angel given at baptism.
Orthodox Christians pray to St Michael for protection from enemies visible and invisible, for courage and for a peaceful death, and many read the Akathist to the Archangel Michael.
The Orthodox keep this Synaxis and the Miracle of the Archangel at Colossae; Michaelmas belongs to the Western churches.
In Greek custom every Angelos, Angeliki and Taxiarchis keeps the name day on this feast.
Name days
These names keep their name day on this feast:
- Michael
- Mikhail
- Michail
- Michalis
- Angelos (Greek custom)
- Angeliki (Greek custom)
- Taxiarchis (Greek custom)
- Gavriil (Greek custom)
- Serafim (Greek custom)
- Efstratia (Greek custom)
- Metaxia (Greek custom)
- Rafaela (Greek custom)
- Stamatis (Greek custom)
- Stratigos (Greek custom)
- Gabriel (Greek custom)
- Gabriella (Greek custom)
- Angela
- Angel
The saint
Icons for the feast
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