Devotion
Devotion to Saint Michael the Archangel
Devotion to the angels · 2 min
The Church invokes St Michael as the prince of the heavenly host and defender of the People of God, above all in the prayer of Leo XIII asking his protection in the daily battle against evil.
Background
A private devotion resting on Scripture — Michael appears in Daniel, in the Letter of Jude and in the Book of Revelation — and honoured in the liturgy at the feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael on 29 September. Leo XIII composed the familiar prayer and prescribed it in 1886 among the Leonine prayers said after Low Mass; those prayers were abolished in 1964, and the prayer to St Michael is now said by custom after Mass in many parishes, or privately, at the invitation of pastors rather than by law.
How to practice
Pray the prayer to St Michael daily — after Mass where the parish keeps that custom, or at the end of your own morning or night prayers. Say it deliberately: it asks God to rebuke the evil one, and it is God, not the archangel, who does the rebuking. Keep the feast of the Archangels on 29 September, and turn to St Michael particularly in temptation, in danger, and at the hour of death, for which the Church has long invoked him.
Duration
About 2 minutes
Content subtype
angelic