The Saint Michael Prayer

Well this is a good idea:

A Connecticut bishop has directed all his priests to recite the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel after every Mass in response to the sex abuse crisis now roiling the Catholic Church.

Bishop Frank Caggiano of Bridgeport made the request effective September 15, the feast of Our Lady of Sorrows, on which day he will lead a holy hour and Mass of Reparation along with all the priests in the diocese.​

He asked that the St. Michael prayer be recited after every Mass beginning that day, and exhorted Catholics to “pray it personally as well.”​​

Go here to read the rest.  At my parish we say the Saint Michael Prayer right after the homily and no prayer is said with more fervor.  Here is the history behind the prayer:

In 1947 Father Domenico Pechenino related what he had witnessed over six decades before.

“I do not remember the exact year. One morning the great Pope Leo XIII had celebrated a Mass and, as usual, was attending a Mass of thanksgiving. Suddenly, we saw him raise his head and stare at something above the celebrant’s head. He was staring motionlessly, without batting an eye. His expression was one of horror and awe; the colour and look on his face changing rapidly. Something unusual and grave was happening in him.

“Finally, as though coming to his senses, he lightly but firmly tapped his hand and rose to his feet. He headed for his private office. His retinue followed anxiously and solicitously, whispering: ‘Holy Father, are you not feeling well? Do you need anything?’ He answered: ‘Nothing, nothing.’ About half an hour later, he called for the Secretary of the Congregation of Rites and, handing him a sheet of paper, requested that it be printed and sent to all the ordinaries around the world. What was that paper? It was the prayer that we recite with the people at the end of every Mass. It is the plea to Mary and the passionate request to the Prince of the heavenly host, (St. Michael: Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle) beseeching God to send Satan back to hell.”

Cardinal Giovanni Batista Nassalli Rocca di Corneiliano wrote in his Pastoral Letters on Lent:  “the sentence ‘The evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls’ has a historical explanation that was many times repeated by his private secretary, Monsignor Rinaldo Angeli. Leo XIII truly saw, in a vision, demonic spirits who were congregating on the Eternal City (Rome). The prayer that he asked all the Church to recite was the fruit of that experience. He would recite that prayer with strong, powerful voice: we heard it many a time in the Vatican Basilica. Leo XIII also personally wrote an exorcism that is included in the Roman Ritual. He recommended that bishops and priests read these exorcisms often in their dioceses and parishes. He himself would recite them often throughout the day.”

The Prayer written by the Pope is of course the famous prayer to Saint Michael:

Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio;
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:
tuque, Princeps militiae Caelestis,
satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute in infernum detrude.
Amen.

This is the version I learned as a boy:

Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in the battle.  Be our protection against the malice and snares of the Devil.  We humbly beseech God to command him.  And do thou, O Prince of the Heavenly Host, by the powers of God, cast into Hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls.

In 1886 this prayer was added to the prayers that in 1884 Pope Leo had ordered to be said after every low Mass.  In 1964, by Inter oecumenici, the Payer to Saint Michael, along with the other Leonine Prayers after low Masses, were suppressed.  I have always thought that a great pity.  Rest assured that Satan did not cease his activity in 1964, and Pope Leo sought to remind us of that activity and through the prayer to Saint Michael to help guard us against it.   It is still a common prayer in my house.

Catholicism works every time it is tried.  The current evils that beset the Church are caused by a straying from the True Faith by too many men who mislead the Church, rather than acting as true shepherds.  The current crisis is a time to return to the Faith.

Half an hour later, he called the secretary of the congregation in charge of rites, handed him the prayer to St. Michael, which he had just written, and instructed him to distribute it to all the bishops. The prayer was officially initiated and recited at the end of each service by the celebrant and the entire congregation.

The sentence that the Pope uttered: “(demons) that wander around the world at the expense of souls”, has an explanation, told several times by his special secretary, Monsignor Rinaldo Angeli. Leo XIII actually really had a vision of the infernal spirits that were growing on the eternal city (Rome) and from that experience came the prayer that he wanted to have the whole Church recite.

Here is the text to this short but very important prayer… : “

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in the battle against the evil and the snares of the devil, be our help. Please plead: Lord have it in control! And you, Prince of the heavenly militias, with the power that comes from God, cast into hell Satan and the other evil spirits who prowl about the world for the loss of souls. Amen. ”

Pope Leo XIII wrote with his own hand a special exorcism contained in the Roman Ritual. (edition 1954) and recommended bishops and priests to recite these prayers often in their dioceseses and parishes.

Pope Leo XIII described his vision.

Initially as an exchange of two voices, that of God and that of Satan.

He then had a “terrible vision of hell” and, right at the end, Saint Michael the Archangel intervened after the increase of prayers aimed at him.

With the wide spread of his prayer to St. Michael and his institution at the end of each Mass, Pope Leo XIII wanted to communicate to all believers the urgency of praying fervently for the conversion of souls and for the victory of the army of the Lord against Satan, so active in the mondo.