St. Michael, Defend Us in Battle

Do you remember the prayer to St. Michael? If you're my age, or even a few years younger, you should. The prayer goes back to 1886 when Pope Leo XIII composed it and asked the faithful of the universal Church to pray it at the end of every low Mass. And because we prayed it so often, I'm sure some of you still remember the words.

St. Michael the Archangel, 

defend us in battle. 

Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 

May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 

and do thou, 

O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 

by the power of God, 

thrust into hell Satan, 

and all the evil spirits, 

who prowl about the world 

seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

The prayer seemingly fell out of favor in the late sixties, shortly after the Second Vatican Council. I recall asking our priest, at the time a Navy chaplain, why he had suddenly stopped the tradition of this prayer after Mass, and he replied: "Everything is wonderful in the Church now. We really don't need St. Michael's help." It was only later, much later, that I realized how foolish those words were. As it turned out, during the past half-century we've needed the great Archangel's intercession more than ever. 

Given all that's been happening in the Church, I've thought a lot about St. Michael these days; and have included him in my prayers, asking for his intercession. And it's only right that we should do so, for St. Michael is the great cleanser. Just as he cleansed the heavenly precincts of Satan and his ilk, so too can he cleanse the Church. And, oh, does it need cleansing.

Anyway, this got me thinking that perhaps, during this difficult time, we should restore the tradition of communal prayer to St. Michael. So I looked into it and, to my surprise, discovered that a number of dioceses have done just that. I don't know the exact number, but at least a half-dozen bishops in the U.S. have asked the priests of their dioceses to reinstate the Prayer to St. Michael after Mass. What a wonderful thing! The bishops who have done so include:

Archbishop Alexander Sample (Portland)

Archbishop Joseph Naumann (Kansas City)

Bishop David Zubik (Pittsburgh)

Bishop Robert Morlino (Madison, WI)

Bishop Frank Caggiano (Bridgeport, CT)

Bishop Rick Sitka (Knoxville, TN)

Bishop Thomas Paprocki (Springfield, IL)

There may well be more. I hope so. And last month, other bishops -- Cardinal Timothy Dolan (New York) and Bishop Robert Baker (Birmingham) -- asked the faithful to pray a novena to St. Michael in preparation for his feast day. 

As he called for the novena, Cardinal Dolan stated: "I hear from so many of you, God’s People, that we need again the weapons of prayer, reparation, and penance, ammunition the Devil dreads...Enough of you have suggested this to me that I’ve concluded it’s from the Lord: that we seek the help of St. Michael the Archangel in fighting Lucifer’s invasion of the Church."

Note that Cardinal Dolan credits the pleas of God's People for leading him to this decision. Brothers and sisters, never forget that the Church is far more than pope, bishops, priests and deacons. We are all members of Christ's Body, laity and clergy, and most of the good done by the Church is done by God's People, the holy ones who pray and serve.

It seems the Church is beginning once again to recognize the power of St. Michael. Praise God! And take a moment today to let your bishop know that you support the return of the Prayer to St. Michael in our churches.

St. Michael, defend us in battle...