Once completed, the sanctuary was finally dedicated to Saint Michael on 16 October 709.

Aubert sent messengers to the Monte Gargano in Italy, to bring back the relics of the archangel to the Mont-Tombe. According to the legend, the archangel appeared to Aubert three times in a dream, asking him to establish a sanctuary in his name.Īs tradition has it, on the third attempt, the archangel went as far as poking his finger into Aubert's skull to get him to perform his wishes. 4:16, For the Lord Himself will descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God and the dead in Christ shall rise first. The word archangel is found in only the New Testament in two places: 1 Thess. Apparently, there are three archangels: Michael, Gabriel, and Lucifer. This date was chosen as that when Aubert, Bishop of Avranches, built the first sanctuary dedicated to the Archangel Michael on Mont-Tombe, now Mont-Saint-Michel. The Prophet Joseph Smith clearly identifies both Adam and Michael as one and the same person, an angel, the chief angel, or archangel, of heaven, the special. Archangel is a classification of angels who have great rank and power. Michael is also a psychostasis and psychopomp angel, meaning he weighs the souls at the Last Judgment and takes them to Paradise.Īccording to the Revelatio ecclesiae sancti michaelis, the oldest text recording the origins of Mont-Saint-Michel, the first foundations of the Abbey were laid in the year 708. The medieval iconography represents him brandishing a sword or spear, the defeated dragon at his feet.

The archangel therefore symbolises the power of the forces of good against evil. Photo: © Colombe Clier / Centre des monuments nationaux Saint Michael the dragon slayer - Panel B7 of the Western rose window of Sainte-Chapelle in Paris.

Arch angel