Once upon a time, right
at the Very Beginning of Things, there was a Battle in Heaven,
and this is what happened:
God
had made Heaven and the Earth
and all the Angels and all the extra important Angels, called
Archangels. (Like an extra important Bishop is called an
Archbishop.) The Archangels were God's very special friends and were
Shining and Strong and Powerful. One Archangel was called Gabriel.
He was the one that God sent to tell Our Blessed Lady that She was
to become the Mother of God, the Mother of Jesus Christ, our Lord
and Savior. Another Angel was called Raphael; he was the one who
helped Tobias in the Bible. Another Archangel was called Michael.
Michael was "the Angel of the Lord", who was sent to Moses and Jacob
and Abraham and to other people throughout the history of the world.
Another Archangel was Lucifer, who was so beautiful that the other
Angels called him the Son of the Morning.
Well, everybody was
very happy because they were with God, and they all loved him,
because he had made them so Strong and Shining and Lovely. Then one
day Lucifer, Son of the Morning, said to himself: "Why should God be
the most important person in Heaven? Why, shouldn't I be? I can fly
and I can change into other things, and I am beautiful and I am
powerful. In fact, I am just as Important as God, and I shan't do
what He tells me ever again. I shall fight Him and have Heaven for
mine!"
So, Lucifer went
around Heaven, and he collected a lot of other Angels who also
didn't want to be less Important than God, until he had a Great
Army. Then they marched up to the Throne of God and said Proudly:
"We are just as Important as You. Why should You be the King of
Heaven any more than one of us? We are Strong and Proud and
Beautiful, and we will fight You for the Kingdom of Heaven." God
looked at them; then He said: "Lucifer, I thought that you were My
friend, and I trusted you. Be sensible now, and think about what you
are doing." "I have thought," said Lucifer, "and, I'd rather not be
in Heaven at all than have You for my King, and so would all of us!"
And behind him all the Rebel Angels shouted with a great shout: "We
will follow Lucifer! Long live Lucifer! Let him reign over us in
Heaven! WE DO NOT WANT GOD!" "Very well," said God, "if you don't
want Me, you needn't have Me. But, if you want to fight for Heaven,
you can if you think it will be any good." Then, God called Michael
the Archangel, and made him gather together a Mighty Army of Angels
who were on God's side.
Then there was a
Great Battle in Heaven--Michael and his Angels fighting with
Lucifer; and, Lucifer fought, and his Angels fought; but, they did
NOT win. And Michael drove Lucifer right out of Heaven, and he fell
down, and down, and down to hell; and, all his bad angels were
driven down after him, and as the last one disappeared from sight
forever and the Gate of Heaven clanged shut, a great Shout went up
from Michael's Army: "Heaven has Won! Rejoice and be glad all you
Angels! The Good God Always Wins!"
So, now you know
why we sometimes say in our prayers, "Holy St. Michael the
Archangel, defend us in the Day of Battle," because he is so good at
battles.
But, what happened
to Lucifer and his Rebel Angels? Well, he was so furious and enraged
at having lost his Battle with God that he has never gotten over it.
You see, he is never allowed inside Heaven anymore forever and ever
and ever; and, now that he can't go into Heaven anymore, he is angry
about it. So, in Revenge, he does everything horrible to God that he
can. His worst feeling is Jealousy; whom do you suppose he is
jealous of? Us! Why? Because when Our Lord Jesus was Crucified, He
opened the Kingdom of Heaven for us to go in! So Lucifer, whose
other name is Satan, or the Devil, is furious because we Ordinary
People are allowed into Heaven, and he, an Archangel, is not. So, he
and his angels (or demons) try always and always to stop us going
into Heaven by giving us bad Ideas, and making us do things that we
know are wrong, so as to hurt God. So, whenever you want to do or
say something horrid, think of the Great Battle in Heaven and
remember that it is Lucifer trying to keep you on his side. If you
don't do or say it, you have won and have stayed on God's side.
St. Michael's
Special Day is September 29th; it is the Feast of St.
Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael, and of All Angels, because of
all the Angels who helped him win the Battle with Lucifer.
