The angel Michael is named five times in the Bible. Three times he is mentioned in Daniel, where he is described as a chief prince and as the prince of the people of Israel. Jude describes Michael as an archangel, and he leads the battle against the Dragon (Satan) in the Revelation. Michael is a powerful angel.
There is a legend that tells of Michael assisting Brother Patrick in driving the Devil out of Ireland. (All believers are saints, not just Patrick. Christians are called saints sixty-one times in the New Testament.) But there is an interesting side to this legend. Gelsomino Del Guercio wrote in the Aleteia online magazine about the legend and churches named for “Saint Michael.” Aleteia is a secular magazine with a Christian perspective, based in Italy.
Mr. Del Guercio writes that there are seven churches named for Michael, or having an association with him, and they are all in a straight line! He reports that three of the churches are the same distance apart! Here is a map from http://montsaintmichel.openmondo.com.
The churches begin with Skellig Michael in Ireland. Next is St. Michael’s Mount in England, followed by Mont Saint Michel in France, Sacra Di San Michele in Italy, Santuario Di San Michele Archangelo also in Italy, Symi’s Monastery (which has a huge statue of Michael) in Greece. Finally, he lists the seventh church as Mount Carmel Monastery in Israel.
There doesn’t seem to be a direct connection between the Mount Carmel Monastery and Michael. Someone commented that if you took the curvature of the earth into account, the line ends at the “Gates of Hell” at the foot of Mount Hermon in Israel. This was the location (Caesarea Philippi) where the Lord Jesus told Peter that the Gates of Hell would not prevail against His Church. (Matthew 16:18)
Caesarea Philippi was the location of the Temple of Pan, a disgustingly evil pagan site. There is a cave at this location where it is said that evil spirits entered and left. This cave opening was called the Gates of Hell.
Here is the question; How did these seven locations come to be in a straight line? It does not seem possible that medieval man could have achieved this. There are hundreds of years between the dates of construction of the churches. If it is not natural, that leaves the source as coming from the supernatural. I have no answer for this. However, I do find it remarkable that the line of churches points to the Gates of Hell which is seemingly a supernatural confirmation of the legend of Michael and Brother Patrick. It seems unlikely that Satan would have caused this line of churches which commemorates his defeat in Ireland.
This is a mystery that will remain unsolved until we get to Glory. I look forward to the day. Praise the Lord, because He has all the answers. May He be forever praised!