Saint Michael the Archangel
The feast day of Saint Michael is 29 September, shared with the archangels Gabriel and Raphael. In England the day is still called Michaelmas.
Remembered on 29 September
29/9
Liturgical rank: Feast · Liturgical colour: white
Patron of: police officers, paratroopers and the sick
Who they were
Michael is not a saint who lived a human life: he is an archangel, a figure of the biblical texts. He appears in Daniel, in the letter of Jude and in Revelation, always as the angel who fights and protects. His name in Hebrew is a question: who is like God?
Gabriel is the angel who announces, in Daniel and in Luke. Raphael appears in the book of Tobit. They are the only angels named in Christian scripture, and since 1969 the calendar keeps all three on the same day.
Why they are remembered
The date comes from the dedication of a basilica in Michael's honour on the Via Salaria in Rome, in the fifth or sixth century. Before 1969 Gabriel and Raphael had dates of their own.
Michaelmas, 29 September, is one of the four English quarter days, when rents fell due and servants were hired: that is why it still names a university term at Oxford and Cambridge and a legal term in England.
In the liturgy
Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael, Archangels, is a feast, in white, on 29 September.
| Nature | archangel, not a saint with a historical life |
| Texts | Daniel, the letter of Jude, Revelation |
How to read the rank and colour
"Feast" and the colour white come from the General Roman Calendar: the rank decides the celebration's weight and whether it drops out in a year it falls on a Sunday or strong season; the colour sets the vestments worn at that day's Mass.
Where this page comes from
Date, rank and colour come from the LitCal API (Apache-2.0 code, a community project, not an official publication of the Holy See). The biographical facts come from Wikidata (CC0). Checked on 7 October 2026.
What this page is not
This page is not an official publication of the Holy See and does not reproduce the Roman Martyrology: every descriptive line is written by us, from open facts. For the official liturgy of the day, check your diocese or parish.
What canonization means
Canonization is the act by which the Church officially declares someone a saint who may be publicly venerated anywhere. It is the final step of a longer process, which usually passes through beatification and requires a recognised miracle.
Understanding Saint Michael the Archangel's place in the calendar
What does the rank "Feast" change in practice for Saint Michael the Archangel?
Feast is the rank given to the apostles and a few other major saints: Saint Michael the Archangel has its own liturgy, but gives way when it falls on an Ordinary Time Sunday or inside a strong season. The day's liturgical colour is white.
Is Saint Michael the Archangel in the General Roman Calendar or just tradition?
Saint Michael the Archangel has a fixed date in the General Roman Calendar, the calendar that applies to the whole Catholic Church — so the date and rank shown here do not depend on where someone lives. Local calendars (a diocese, country or religious order) can raise the rank, but the base is the same everywhere.
Where does Saint Michael the Archangel's reputation as a patron come from?
Saint Michael the Archangel is invoked as patron of police officers, paratroopers and the sick. This kind of patronage almost never comes from a single document: it is the sum of popular tradition, the saint's life story and, sometimes, a formal decree from a diocese or a trade, built up over centuries.
Words on this page
Patron saint
A saint chosen as the protector of a place, profession, cause or person, usually by popular tradition or formal church decree. The same saint can patronise several things at once, through a link to their life or to the legend that grew up around it.
Canonization
The act by which the Catholic Church officially declares that a deceased person is a saint and may be publicly venerated anywhere. It is the final step of a longer process, which usually passes through beatification and requires a recognised miracle.
Standard definition by Código de Direito Canônico, cân. 1186–1190 · Canonization
Feast
A rank below solemnity: it has its own liturgy but does not begin the evening before, and gives way when it falls on an Ordinary Time Sunday or inside a strong season (Advent, Lent). It is the rank given to the apostles and a few other major saints of the universal calendar.
Liturgical colour
The colour of the vestments worn at Mass, marking the character of the celebration: white for feasts and joy, red for martyrs and the Holy Spirit, green for Ordinary Time, purple for penance (Advent and Lent), and rose on two specific Sundays of the year.
Liturgical season
Each period of the church year (Advent, Christmastide, Lent, the Easter Triduum, Eastertide, Ordinary Time) has its own tone and colour, and that season can suppress a saint's memorial that falls within it. That is why the same civil-calendar date can, in different years, fall inside or outside a strong season.
Martyrology
The official book that lists, day by day, every saint and blessed recognised by the Catholic Church, with biographical facts and an account of their death or life. The text of the Roman Martyrology (2004 edition) belongs to the Libreria Editrice Vaticana and is not reproduced on this site; the facts used here come from open sources.
Sources
Saints with their own page
This page follows the General Roman Calendar. It is not an official publication of the Holy See. The dates, the liturgical rank and the colour come from LitCal, an open community project (Apache-2.0 licence), and the text is ours, written from open sources. For your diocese or parish calendar, ask your diocese.
- LitCal API (Liturgical Calendar API) · Apache-2.0 · v5.7 · Rev. John R. D'Orazio
- Wikidata · CC0 1.0
- Checked on 7 October 2026