Photograph by Loci B. Lenar
News Story by Loci B. Lenar
Saint Michael the Archangel is recognized for being the guardian and protector of God's church and people. While traveling through the town of Netcong on September 14, 2009, I stopped into The Church of St. Michael to say a prayer and took some photographs of the beautiful display of stained glass windows. The Catholic church is located in Morris County, New Jersey.
Perhaps the most remarkable photograph is of Saint Michael with stained glass behind the statue which gives the appearance of being a window. In order to capture the rainbow colors seen on the stained glass behind the statue, I photographed the image without using a flash even though indoor lighting was dim. The only inflowing light was from some church windows nearby - best described as faint. Perhaps inflowing light from Our Lord caused the rainbow effect. Whatever the case, it is an interesting phenomena.
If you examine the photograph closely, it appears as if Saint Michael is creating a trail of rainbow colors as he lands on top and crushes the head of the serpent. Furthermore, I did not observe any indoor lighting that might create such an effect, since church lights were turned off.
The Lord indeed works in mysterious ways.
In Revelation 12:7 and 8 the following is stated: Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon. The dragon and its angels fought back, but they did not prevail and there was no longer any place for them in heaven.
To view a miraculous photo of the Shield of Archangel Michael which I photographed in 2005, please visit Christian-Miracles.com.
The following excerpt regarding prayers to Saint Michael is found in the Wikipedia Encyclopedia:
The Prayer to Saint Michael is a prayer, used mainly by Catholics, which is addressed to Michael the Archangel.
Pope Leo XIII added it in 1886 to the Leonine Prayers, which he had directed to be said after Low Mass two years earlier. The practice of reciting these prayers after Mass was suppressed in 1964. However, Pope John Paul II referred to the St. Michael prayer in his Regina Coeli address of 24 April 1994 as follows:
"May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle that the Letter to the Ephesians speaks of: 'Be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might' (Ephesians 6:10). The Book of Revelation refers to this same battle, recalling before our eyes the image of St Michael the Archangel (cf. Revelation 12:7). Pope Leo XIII certainly had this picture in mind when, at the end of the last century, he brought in, throughout the Church, a special prayer to St Michael: 'Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil...' Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world."
Regarding prayers to angels, Revelation 8:3-4 says, Another angel came and stood at the altar, holding a gold censer. He was given a great quantity of incense to offer, along with the prayers of all the holy ones, on the gold altar that was before the throne. The smoke of the incense along with the prayers of the holy ones went up before God from the hand of the angel.
Angels do indeed intercede before the throne of God on behalf of all who pray for God's assistance.
The Church of Saint Michael, Netcong, NJ, USA
Photo by Loci B. Lenar
Photo by Loci B. Lenar
Prayer to Saint Michael
Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle,
be our protection against the malice and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him we humbly pray; and do thou,
O Prince of the Heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits
who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
***
Please Note - The following addendum is added to my original testimony:
After the photograph was taken, I shared the image directly as captured on the camera's digital memory card with my spiritual advisor, Father Richard Tartaglia of Saint Mary's Church, Denville, NJ. The original digital image was transferred onto a CD for church archives. About a week after photographing the statue, I handed a copy of the CD to the youth minister at The Church of Saint Michael for parish records.
Photographs Copyright 2009 Loci B. Lenar
Lovely and inspiring. Thanks.
ReplyDeleteTeresa Gee from Houston
Oh Jesus is calling us all right now to be under St.Michael's umbrella of Peace.Mary Ann C Golden FFG,TN
ReplyDeleteThis is so beautiful! I really needed to see this!
ReplyDeleteThank you very much for visiting the Angels, Wonders, and Miracles of Faith blog and for posting comments about the photograph and story.
ReplyDeleteI love St. Michael the Archangel, he really helped me during a difficult time in my life.
ReplyDeleteThank you for sharing this beautiful picture
ReplyDeleteI love saint michael....if there was ever an angel that God himself would send to my corner I would want it to be him :)
ReplyDeleteThank you for this picture. I adored GOD and HIS archangels especially St. Michael the archangel. It gives me hope and the courage to fight and resist this evil deeds surrounding us everyday. I even have St. Michael tattooed on my left arm as my daily reminder to follow God's way every hour of my breath. Peace and brotherhood to everyone...
ReplyDeleteThank you for this beautiful picture. A few years ago, I had an unexpected visitation from St. Michael which led to my eventual conversion, that is, after a battle with my self-will among other things. During that visit, he said to me, "Behold, I saw a great dragon thrown down to earth, and he began to gather souls unto himself because he knew he had but a little time." At the time, I was greatly concerned about the soul of a friend of mine, but ironically, could not see that the evil one was luring me down the wrong path. During the visitation, I asked of him what I was to do, thinking he might tell me what I should do about my friend, but he only replied, "Witness me." I've often wondered since then who exactly to whom I'm supposed to witness him, so perhaps even here, anonymously, I am doing as he commanded. Since then, I am very much drawn to him and all the other angels, feeling they deserve to be honored. We all need to pray for the conversion of sinners every.
ReplyDeleteThat is amazing the way the beautiful colors as you described as a rainbow appear in what is obviously a sort of low light time. I grew up across the street from St. Michael's Church in Netcong and my family lived there for three generations on Church Street across from the Rectory and Convent since 1929 until 2012. My family are all graduates of the St. Michael's School. I have never seen light like that in the Church before. I, and we, were in that church all the time for many things, day and night, not just Mass but at many other times doing volunteer stuff, helping out, the list goes on and on. For us it was part of our neighborhood. Never have I seen any light like that, which is beautiful and fluid, almost moving. Perhaps the phenomenon is related to something in your Spirit, perhaps you are favored by the Almighty in some way. Your photos are very professional. One never knows when the Lord will show up so to speak. That really is an amazing photograph. Thanks for posting it I was very interested to see it as I have been gone from there for a number of years now.
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