Calendar

At Saint Thomas, we celebrate the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels twice: on its assigned date on the liturgical calendar (September 29) and on the Sunday prior, which in 2011 is September 25.

Over the years, there have been many sermons which can help you to understand the significance of this feast day, and the nature of the heavenly, angelic host. Among them are these:

Lift Up Your Hearts (2010)
The Ministry of the Angels (2010)
There are Angels (2009)
How Do the Angels Matter? (2008)
Entertaining Angels (2007)
The Choice of the Angels (2003)
Michael, Gabriel, Raphael (2002)

Collect:

O everlasting God, who hast ordained and constituted the ministries of angels and men in a wonderful order: Mercifully grant that, as thy holy angels always serve and worship thee in heaven, so by thy appointment they may help and defend us on earth; through Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the Holy Spirit, one God, for ever and ever. Amen.

Priest, Monk of Bethlehem
b. 347
d. September 30, 420

Roman Catholics recognize Jerome as the patron saint of translators, librarians and encyclopedists, and for good reason. Jerome translated the Bible from the original Hebrew and Greek into Latin, a translation that became known as the Vulgate—and a translation which occasionally shows up in the footnotes of the Rector's sermons (see this one for an example).

But Jerome didn't stop there. For nearly two decades he then wrote commentaries on scripture, making him, like Augustine, highly quotable. (See Jerome's thoughts about Christian leadership and the 153 fish in John 21 in two of the Rector's sermons).

Collect:

O Lord, thou God of truth, thy Word is a lantern to our feet and a light upon our path: We give thee thanks for thy servant Jerome, and those who, following in his steps, have labored to render the Holy Scriptures in the language of the people; and we beseech thee that thy Holy Spirit may overshadow us as we read the written Word, and that Christ, the living Word, may transform us according to thy righteous will; through the same Jesus Christ our Lord, who liveth and reigneth with thee and the same Spirit, one God, now and for ever. Amen.