SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL, PRAYER

Saint 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.

This prayer was composed in the late 1880’s by Pope Leo XIII, who convened the First Vatican Council, after a vision of the spiritual evil Satan would visit on the world in the 20th century. Pope St. John Paul II recommended its use in April of 1994 at one of his Regina Caeli (Queen of Heaven) addresses.

St. Michael appears in both the Old Testament and the New Testament. He is the patron saint of police officers, the military, grocers, mariners, paratroopers, firefighters, paramedics, and is also called upon in sickness.

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Art for this post on the prayer to St Michael the Archangel: San Miguel Arcangel venciendo al demonio (Saint Michael the Archangel defeating the devil), Höllensturz, Altarbild von Johann Michael Rottmayr, 1697, Schlosskapelle St. Michael (Tittmoning), PD-US author’s life plus 100 years or less, Wikimedia Commons.

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Liz Estler

Liz holds a Master of Arts in Ministry Degree (St. John's Seminary, Brighton, Massachusetts), Graduate Certificate in Spiritual Theology (Avila Institute for Spiritual Formation), Liturgy Certificate (Boston Archdiocese), and a BS degree in Biology and Spanish (Nebraska Wesleyan University - Lincoln). She has served as hospital chaplain associate, sacristan, translator and in other parish ministries. She was a regular columnist for a military newspaper in Europe, has been published in a professional journal, and was Editor, SpiritualDirection.com from 2013 to 2018. She once waded in the Trevi Fountain!