Question: Why is the archangel Michael called a saint? I thought only people were saints.
Reply: Good question. The word saint simply means holy one. The English word “saint” comes from the Latin word sanctus, which means “holy” or “set apart.” Many of us refer to the hymn, “Holy, holy, holy” as the Santus because santus is the hymn’s first word in Latin.
In Scripture, holy ones can refer both to God’s holy people and to the holy angels. Therefore, when we call someone a saint, we are simply using the Latin-based word for what Scripture calls holy ones—those who belong to God, whether angels or believers in Christ.
The Roman church practices the canonization of particular persons who lived a life of heroic virtue. Scripture teaches that all Christians are called to holiness and may be called “saints.” The Church often speaks of “the communion of saints,” meaning all who belong to Christ—both the living and the dead. The Augsburg Confession (AC XXI) says the memory of saints may be set before us so that we may thank God for showing mercy to them, strengthen our faith by seeing how God upheld them, and follow their faith and good works in our own callings.*
In the Old Testament, the Hebrew word qedoshim (holy ones) sometimes describes angels (see Deuteronomy 33:2; Job 5:1; Psalm 89:5–7). In the New Testament, the Greek word hagios is used in the same way. Most often it refers to believers made holy by Christ, but in passages like Matthew 25:31 (“all the holy angels with him”) or Revelation 14:10, angels are also called holy ones.
So when the church calls Michael Saint Michael the Archangel, it is not putting him in the same category as redeemed human beings who died in the faith, but acknowledging that he is one of God’s holy ones—a faithful servant of God who belongs entirely to Him.
Human saints are not a special class of Christian who achieved holiness, but every sinner whom God has made holy through the blood of Christ. We are saints and sinners at the same time—simul iustus et peccator. Our holiness is not earned but given. Angelic saints, like Michael, were created holy and remained faithful to God when others fell. Both, however, share in the holiness that comes from God alone. Angels are holy by creation; believers are holy by redemption.
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