Were there other contentions between the archangel Michael, and the devil and his kingdom?

It was Michael who supported the archangel Gabriel and aided him against the devil — ruler of the kingdom of Persia — when the latter stood against Gabriel and resisted him for twenty-one days to keep him from reaching Daniel the prophet. At the conclusion of his long fast and prayers over twenty-one days, Gabriel had come from heaven to give Daniel the good news that God would save his people. Having finally reached Daniel after his three full weeks of fasting and prayer, he said to him, “Do not fear, Daniel, for from the first day that you set your heart to understand, and to humble yourself before your God, your words were heard, and I have come because of your words. But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me twenty-one days; and behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, for I had been left alone there with the kings of Persia. Now I have come to make you understand what will happen to your people in the latter days, for the vision refers to many days yet to come.” (Dan. 10:12–14).

And at the end of his message to Daniel, the archangel Gabriel said, “O man greatly beloved, fear not! Peace be to you; be strong, yes, be strong! … Do you know why I have

come to you? And now I must return to fight with the prince of Persia … But I will tell you what is noted in the Scripture of Truth. No one upholds me against these, except Michael your prince” (Dan. 10:19–21). In these divine words the power and authority of the archangel Michael is revealed.

St. Basil the Great calls us to fight and rejoice alongside the angels, saying, “Examine the actions of each day, compare them with those of the previous day and press on toward improvement. Advance in virtue, that you may become a companion of the angels. Spend your time in retirement, not for days nor months, but throughout many years, praising your Lord in song, night and day, in imitation of the Cherubim. If thus you begin and thus make an end, traveling the straight road for the short time of your probation, you will, by the grace of God, enter into paradise with the lamp of your soul brilliantly alight, to rejoice with Christ for ever and ever. Amen.”⁶⁹⁴

He also says, “What, then, is more blessed than to imitate on earth the choirs of angels; hastening at break of day to pray, to glorify the Creator with hymns and songs, and, when the sun is brightly shining and we turn to our tasks, to accompany them everywhere with prayer, seasoning the daily work with hymns, as food with salt? For, the inspirations of the sacred songs give rise to a joyousness that is without grief. Silence, then, is the beginning of purification in the soul … When the mind is not engaged by external affairs, nor diffused through the senses over the whole world, it retires within itself. Then, it ascends spontaneously to the consideration of God … Meditation on the divinely inspired Scriptures is also a most important means for the discovery of duty … Accordingly, by a continual practice of that virtue in which he perceives himself deficient, each one finds, just as he would in some public apothecary shop, a suitable remedy for his infirmity.”⁶⁹⁵

“Now, being enslaved not to men, but to sin, you are called to liberty that He may free you from your captivity and make your rights equal to those of the angels. He shall raise you to be a child of God by adoption through grace; an heir to the treasures of Christ, so much so that you will say that time does not suffice for you to partake of all these gifts.”