ST MICHAEL AND THE ROMAN PLAGUE OF 590

Who is St Michael?  Revelation 12:7-9 shows us Michael as the champion and leader of the faithful angels in their struggle against the rebel angels who were led by Lucifer.  St Michael, whose name translates as "Who is like God", is the Guardian Angel of the Church.  He has long figured prominently in Christian tradition and is patron of policemen, sailors, soldiers, radiologists and the sick. 

St Michael, Belmont Abbey (Photo J D Smith)

Abergavenny, birthplace of our own St David Lewis, has an ancient connection to St Michael.  Legend has it that a nobleman, praying atop Skirrid Fawr, had a vision of St Michael.  The nobleman erected a chapel there and dedicated it to Michael. (Skirrid Fawr is also known as St Michael's Mount or the Holy Mountain.)  For centuries this Chapel was a centre of pilgrimage and generations of Catholics wended their way to the top of the mountain.  On Good Friday and on 29th September, Michael's feast, priests celebrated Holy Mass and led the faithful in prayer.  Even during the persecutions of the 16th and 17th centuries the pilgrimages continued and St David Lewis was among the priests who conducted services atop the Holy Mountain.

Early in the year 590, a severe plague broke out in Rome.  (According to Wikipedia, it was probably Bubonic Plague.)  As we can well imagine, it was a difficult time for the people!  This plague ravaged the city and many died, including the Pope, Pelagius II.  His successor was Pope Gregory I (St Gregory the Great).  

Pope St Gregory the Great (Photo J D Smith)

Gregory organised a massive procession around the city, asking the people to pray to God for an end to the plague.  The procession took place on 25th April 590.  The people carried an ancient image of the Virgin Mary as they chanted litanies and prayers.  When the procession reached the Mausoleum of Emperor Hadrian, the Pope saw an Angel of the Lord standing at the top of the Castle of Crescentius, wiping a bloody sword then sheathing it.  Gregory took this as a sign that the plague was ended, as indeed it was.  Thereafter, the castle was called the Castle of the Holy Angel.  

In 1753 a bronze statue of St Michael the Archangel, in Roman armor, and sheathing his sword, was placed on the top of Castel Sant' Angelo.  It was executed by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt, a Flemish sculptor and architect.

Now, in our own Covid 19 ravaged world, I definitely would NOT advocate any processions!  Even during Pope Gregory's procession, eighty people collapsed as a result of being infected by the Rome Plague!  However, I would heartily recommend putting in some extra prayers.  Today, his special feast day, might be a very good time to turn to St Michael the Archangel and ask his help in cleansing the world of our present pandemic.