Prayer to Saint Michael

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Michael the archangel by Guido Reni
Michael the archangel by Guido Reni

The Prayer to Saint Michael is a Christian prayer addressed to Michael the archangel. It is used most prevalently among Catholics.

The prayer was composed by Pope Leo XIII at the end of the 19th century; he made it part of a set of prayers to be recited on behalf of the Church at the end of Low Mass. In 1960, Pope John XXIII made reciting these prayers optional, and following the changes brought about by the Second Vatican Council of 1963-1965, it was no longer typically recited in this manner. However, the late Pope John Paul II urged Christians to renew their devotion to saying the prayer.

Contents

[edit] The Prayer

Sancte Michael Archangele,
defende nos in proelio.
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:
tuque, Princeps militiae coelestis,
Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos,
qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo,
divina virtute, in infernum detrude.
Amen.
Saint 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 Host —
by the Divine Power of God —
cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits
who roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls.
Amen.

[edit] History

There is a lot of ambiguity to the prayer's history, but this prayer was written and promulgated by Pope Leo XIII. The recorded facts are below.

In 1955, the Roman journal Ephemerides Liturgicae (V.LXIX, pages 54-60) published an account in Latin and Italian of how the St. Michael prayer developed. Footnote nine of said account quotes a 1947 article from Fr. Domenico Pechenino who worked at the Vatican during the time of Leo XIII. Writing in 1947 for another Italian journal named La Settimana del Clero, Fr. Pechenino stated the following in Italian:

"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 color 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."
Pope Leo XIII
Pope Leo XIII

Though the resources are scarce, the above information is reliable and comes from an eye-witness to the day when the prayer was composed. The key thing to notice, however, is that Fr. Pechenino does not describe what Pope Leo saw. It is usually and reasonably presumed that the Pope never told him but is this the case? The available resources are silent. Despite this, enough evidence exists to affirm and reject some things as well as question others.

An oral tradition about Leo's vision became quite popular among Catholics and despite how it may explain some of the terrible events of the 20th century, there is no corroborating evidence for it. Enough questions arise, however, where the story can not be definitively debunked but is highly suspect. The claim goes that Satan approached Jesus and asked for the 20th century in which to make an attempt to destroy the Catholic Church, to which Jesus responded in the affirmative.

Though it varies from web site to web site and person to person, the accounts essentially agree with each other and usually go as follows. Pope Leo XIII was celebrating Holy Mass one day. As he was walking up the steps to the altar (some other accounts say he was actually at the altar), the Pope suddenly stopped, stared fixedly at something in the air and with a terrible look on his face, collapsed to the floor (some accounts say he fell shrieking). The Pope was carried off by those around him to another room where he came around. As one rendition of the story tells it:

"When asked what had happened, he explained that, as he was about to leave the foot of the altar, he suddenly heard voices - two voices, one kind and gentle, the other guttural and harsh. They seemed to come from near the tabernacle. As he listened, he heard the following conversation:
The guttural voice, the voice of Satan in his pride, boasted to Our Lord:
"I can destroy your Church."
The gentle voice of Our Lord:
'You can? Then go ahead and do so.'
Satan:
'To do so, I need more time and more power.'
Our Lord:
'How much time? How much power?'
Satan:
'75 to 100 years, and a greater power over those
who will give themselves over to my service.'
Our Lord:
'You have the time, you will have the power.
Do with them what you will.'"


Just how did this conversation become known when the resources are silent? Though there is no historical documentation that describes Pope Leo's vision as it is given above (and elsewhere), it is possible that the alleged conversation arose from a statement given by a Cardinal in 1946.

Cardinal I.B. Nasalli Rocca (of Bologna?) wrote in his Litteris Pastoralibus pro Quadragesima (Pastoral Letters for Lent) that Leo XIII's private secretary, Msgr. Rinaldo Angeli, many times told people that the line in the St. Michael prayer, "...the evil spirits who wander through the world for the ruin of souls" has a historical explanation in Leo's vision. Nasalli writes the story as follows in Italian and quoted in Ephemerides Liturgicae (p.58-9, footnote nine):

"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 (1954 edition, XII, C. Ill, p. 863 and following). He recommended that bishops and priests read these exorcisms often in their dioceses and parishes. He himself would recite them often throughout the day."

In the original Italian provided above as well as the shortened English translation, we see in Cardinal Nasalli's statement nothing of a conversation between Jesus and Satan. Instead, we find almost an entirely different story--demons congregating upon the Eternal City as if to attack it somehow and at some time. The question remains, then, how did the vision of Pope Leo come to include a conversation between Jesus and Satan? In short, no one knows but the most likely explanation is that it was a spin-off of Cardinal Nasalli's statement.

If we take Cardinal Nasalli at face value, then of Pope Leo's vision, it can only be said that is that not enough evidence exists to definitively debunk the account(s) of a conversation between Jesus and Satan. It could be oral lore that somehow can be traced back to an eyewitness or it could be completely fabricated. If the little evidence is legitimate, what can be concluded is the following:

  1. Pope Leo did have a vision at Mass in the mid 1880's.
  2. The vision had something to do with demons congregating upon the Eternal City (presumably Rome).
  3. If demons are congregating upon Rome, it is reasonably presumed that they are ill-intentioned, hence Leo's desire to do something about it.
  4. There is no documentation whatsoever of the account of the conversation between Jesus and Satan, much less a century to be given to the devil to try Christ's Church. Such accounts should then be suspect until further information is uncovered.

[edit] Further Historical Developments

In 1930, Pope Pius XI linked this prayer with his intention to pray for Russia, then the Soviet Union, and the masses who were experiencing religious persecution there, under the Christian belief that the forces of dictatorship and cruelty were linked to demonic activity.

In 1994, Pope John Paul II referred to the St. Michael prayer in his Angelus/Regina Coeli address of April 24. In paragraph four, he says in Italian:

"The prayer can fortify us for that spiritual battle about which the Letter to the Ephesians speaks [of]: "Finally, draw your strength from the Lord and from his mighty power."(Ephesians 6:10). And to this same battle that the Book of the Apocalypse refers [to], recalling in front of our eyes the image of St. Michael the Archangel (cf. Revelations 12:7). Surely, [this] scene [was] very present [to]Pope Leone XIII, when, at the end of the previous century, He introduced to the entire Church a special prayer to St. Michael: "St. Michael the Archangel you defend in the battle against the evils and the insidousness of the malignant one; be our shelter...
Even if today this prayer [is not (literally 'does not come')] more recited at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, I invite all to not forget it, but to recite it in order to obtain [helpful grace?] in the battle against the forces of darkness and the spirit of this world."

To date, John Paul's above statement is the last recorded statement of a Pope on the prayer of Pope Leo XIII to St. Michael the Archangel.

[edit] Prayer used in popular culture

  • A similar fragmented prayer is used on the 2005 movie The Exorcism of Emily Rose when Father Richard Moore says it when seeing a shadow near his jail cell.
  • Priest Vallon and his son Amsterdam recite part of this prayer in the movie Gangs of New York.
  • The prayer is recited at the end of the song "Save Me" by PIG on their album Wrecked.

[edit] References

Retrieved from "http://en.wikipedia.org../../../p/r/a/Prayer_to_Saint_Michael_aa2a.html"
In other languages