Chapel statue of St Michael the Archangel. He is honored as the supreme guardian spirit of the universal Church. When it is financially possible, keep a statue of Our Lady and Saint Michael in your chapel or residence, before which a votive candle is to be burned, and consecrate your place to St. Michael the Archangel.
This sculptural detail from one of Paris’s most beloved landmarks, the Fontaine Saint-Michel (1860). With sword held high in the final moment of Satan’s defeat, this museum-quality work of art is a testament to St. Michael’s strength and to the exquisite sculpture of Frenchman Duret. The Fontaine Saint-Michel was the centerpiece of Baron Haussmann’s Paris Reconstruction during the Second Empire.
Michael — which means: “Who is like God?” — is the champion of the primacy of God, of his transcendence and power. Michael fights to reestablish divine justice; he defends the People of God from their enemies and above all from the arch-enemy par excellence, the devil. And St Michael triumphs because in him it is God who acts. This sculpture reminds us therefore that evil is vanquished, the accuser is unmasked, his head is crushed, because salvation was fulfilled once and for all by the blood of Christ. Even if the devil is always trying to scratch the face of the Archangel and the face of man, God is stronger; his is the victory and his salvation is offered to every human being. On the journey and in the trials of life we are not alone, we are accompanied and sustained by the Angels of God, who offer, so to speak, their wings to help us overcome the many dangers, to be able to fly above those realities that can make our lives difficult or drag us down.
