hemet high school
St. Michael's Triumph
A Prequel to Paradise Lost by John Milton
Kris Bjornn
I saw Him in all His greatness and glory and asked Him the favor that has been clawing at me for quite some time, "Lord, may I speak to him now?"
His reply was thunderous and roared down the halls, "You may, but only for a short time. His punishment must not be any less severe."
I walked down the dark corridor to the small cell in which my brother, Lucifer was being held.
His crime to us was not so easily able to be overlooked. Preluding his imprisonment, Lucifer was thinking, thinking about God's glory, questioning God's glory. For some strange reason he needed to know why God is all powerful, why his presence surpasses all others. His meetings with fellow angels were not hidden from God's sight. These meetings were absolutely disobedient to God's laws, set here to ensure a peaceful and everlasting kingdom. Lucifer's teachings exposed his wanting of rebellion and his desire to leave this Heaven. God punished Lucifer by imprisoning him in a cell deep within God's castle. His sentence is soon to be expired.
"Brother," I started, "why must you be so inquisitive to all of what God is?"
He looked at me with a look as if I were ignorant, "You actually think that you understand why God does what He does. God is a tyrant that has imprisoned all of your minds with a sense of security, but you do not know that through this sense of security, He forces you to cling upon Him, but in factuality, He is the true threat that I must secure you from."
I pondered thoroughly on what he said and tried to decide on whether what he said was valid or not, "Brother, you do not understand that God doesn't want us to want Him in fear of something else but instead just wants our love and appreciation and praise."
"If God is all powerful, why would he need your love and praise?" he asked sarcastically. "His demeanor is enough to make anyone of you do with whatever he wishes. Your insignificance is what he is after. To obtain all of the insignificance from each angel is to control all. You are his slaves."
"And you are not?" I asked.
He paused, "I will not be fooled. I am wiser than He who is Highest. I will aspire to the top and become 'he who is wisest'!"
"You are the fool," I said, "You don't understand what the Lord is capable of. Throughout time, God has persisted. He has always been. No 'insignificant' angel can harm thy Lord for He will always be."
His final words were simply petty talk therefore I do not wish to take heed to them.
As I left, I felt a sense that indicated war was near. I also could feel that God knew as well but it was all part of some Great Plan. I pondered at the thought of a war in Heaven which didn't seem possible.
The next day I had known that Lucifer had been released, though I knew this release was only temporary for the perseverance in an entity like that of him cannot be demolished. I went to the High Chamber where I knew God would be. As I entered the tall building I could, only till now, see the immensity of it. It was a grand palace constructed of the only the finest and most beautiful minerals created by God's hand. As I took in this breath taking sight I wondered how, even after millennia, Lucifer would ever be able to defeat God.
I walked to Him. Before I even had the chance to think about what I was going to say, he said, "Michael, soon there will come a time in your existence when you must strike down Lucifer. He will rise and bring up an army the will try to destroy us but you must be brave and attack with an impenetrable force for you are the only one who is matched in strength with him."
I replied in disbelief, "But Lord, when will this day be, how will I know what to do?"
"You will know," He said," you must know, and everything will come together and all will be at peace again."
"Thy will be done," I declared.
John Milton's Paradise Lost was an epic poem in which God sends Lucifer to Hell. In this prequel, St. Michael's Triumph, the relationship between St. Michael and Lucifer is revealed and God's plan for St. Michael is set in motion.