29 September commemorates the Holy Archangels Michael, Raphael and Gabriel, who appear in the Holy Scriptures as angels entrusted with very important missions by God. "Michael" in Hebrew means "Who is like God?" St Michael is one of the chief angels because he is in command of the heavenly armies. His name is the battle cry in the battle waged in heaven against the Enemy, the Devil and his followers. "Raphael" means "Medicine of God" or "God has brought health". St Raphael is the archangel friend of the wayfarer and physician to the sick, and lastly, "Gabriel" means "Strength of God". St Gabriel was entrusted with the mission of announcing to the Virgin Mary that she would be the Mother of the Saviour.

To celebrate this feast, we have chosen the Offertory chant. The text is taken from the book of Revelation and applies these two verses to the prince of the heavenly militia, St Michael. This angel is shown performing a kind of liturgical act, and this invites us to reflect on the relationship between the heavenly liturgy and our earthly liturgy. The angel of God, in fact, carries a golden censer, which raises the prayers of the saints to the Lord in scrolls of incense, like a precious and pleasing perfume. This chant therefore clearly establishes an intimate connection between the heavenly and the earthly liturgy. The book of Revelation deals extensively with the former. Heaven is the privileged place of praise, worship and thanksgiving. Saints and angels join their voices to glorify the thrice-holy God and the Lamb slain, conqueror of death. This is an open-faced liturgy, so to speak: the Lord is contemplated without intermediary by the heavenly assembly.

As for the melody, this Offertory is a sumptuous mode I which has served as a model for the offertory of All Saints, Justorum animae. It is composed of five melodic phrases, the last one being only the final alleluia. The initial intonation is light, almost lively, reminiscent of the typical intonations of a mode VI, for example those of the introit Omnes gentes of the 13th Sunday in Ordinary Time. In any case, it is advisable to start the stetit accent well, right from the beginning. From the word angelus onwards, the melodic movement immediately becomes quieter. The melodic treatment of juxta aram templi is noteworthy, full of legato, moving in the fifth D-A, with beautiful support in the low C, without haste but with great flexibility. This whole first phrase, after the intonation, ornate and rich in expression: one could say, it is the composition of the place and the person: an angel is standing near the altar.

The second phrase clarifies: this angel is holding a golden censer in his hand. The melodic elevation of habens, the first word of this phrase, produces a new, somewhat solemn effect. We sense that the decisive action sung by this Offertory is imminent. C is reached for the first time in this piece. This whole melodic phrase is wrapped in the particular legato of the 1st mode, a legato that leaves a kind of mystery hovering over this angelic figure and its material attribute. After a descent into the habens cadence, the melody settles into the F, then rises to the A in the first syllables of thuribulum, but soon descends again and then settles firmly into the bass. This passage to the grave, which especially affects the words aureum in manu sua, is absolutely magnificent. The legato of aureum leads to the remarkable widening of manu sua, while the melodic range is reduced.

And this impression of great mystery continues in the third phrase, very short, very low, very wide, which does not exceed the F, and which takes up the melodic themes of the end of the second phrase, in particular the ending which is repeated purely and simply, but which is even wider, even more expressive (incensa multa). And it is then, from the depths of this great mystery so skilfully maintained, that the admirable last phrase emerges. This resurgence best expresses the meaning of the text: when the incense is placed on the embers contained in the censer, a column of smoke and perfume is indeed produced (ascendit fumus aromatum). This is a passage of total vocal delight. After the limited scope of the melodic curves of the beginning, continually evolving around the tonic, the melody abandons itself to its own inspiration, to such an extent that it is almost impossible to specify which mode we are in: it widens the intervals, unfolds over the whole scale, without settling anywhere. 

The melodic development of ascendit, already prefigured in habens, where the high C is already reached, must therefore be light, it must express the movement of the incense that symbolises the prayers of the faithful. It is difficult to locate the melodic summit of this melodic phrase. Rather, this whole passage is the summit of the piece. We ascend in spirit with the prayer and the smoke of the censer, throughout this passage. It ends surprisingly, returning to the bass with the words fumus aromatum in conspectu Dei. The melodic theme of this final phrase is a repetition of that of the third phrase: aureum in manu sua. It is magnificent: the incense that has reached the throne of God is no longer elevated, but is as it were totally prostrate, humbly stretched out at the feet of the Lord. Everything is grave again, but also peaceful and full of confidence. Moreover, this is the meaning of the final alleluia. It is the signature of this piece, it ends in praise.