Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our protection 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,
cast into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.
Composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 and once prayed after every Low Mass.
Pray it along with us, with every prayer on screen:
Where Does This Prayer Come From?
Pope Leo XIII.
1886.
But the story starts two years earlier.
In 1884, Leo ordered special prayers to be said after every Low Mass, all over the world.
Why?
The Pope had lost Rome.
Italian troops took the city in 1870.
The papal palace became the king's home.
Leo asked the whole Church to pray for the Holy See.
Then, in 1886, he added one more prayer to the list.
This one.
For almost eighty years, Catholics knelt after Low Mass and said it together.
Parish after parish.
Country after country.
In 1964, the Church dropped the requirement to say these prayers after Mass.
Dropped the requirement.
Not the prayer.
In 1994, Pope St. John Paul II asked Catholics not to forget it, and to pray it for help in the spiritual battle.
You may have heard a more dramatic story.
Leo freezes after Mass.
He sees demons gathering over Rome.
He goes straight to his desk and writes this prayer.
That story first shows up in print about thirty years after Leo died, and the records from 1886 say nothing about a vision.
You don't need it.
The prayer stands on Scripture, not on a vision.
Michael shows up as the great prince who stands for God's people.
— Daniel 12:1
He refuses to rebuke the devil himself.
He says, "The Lord command thee."
— Jude 1:9
That's where "May God rebuke him" comes from.
And then this:
And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon.
— Revelation 12:7
Wait.
A battle?
Yes.
And the end of the prayer echoes St. Peter, who warns that the devil "goeth about seeking whom he may devour."
— 1 Peter 5:8
So when you pray "defend us in battle,"
you are not being dramatic.
You are being biblical.
The Church celebrates St. Michael with Sts. Gabriel and Raphael on September 29.
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