History Of St. Michael The Archangel Prayer.

 

On Oct 1, 1884, Pope Leo XIII had a deeply disturbing mystical experience at Mass. He had just finished celebrating in his private chapel when he suddenly stood transfixed in front of the altar. For perhaps 10 minutes he stood there as if in a trance, his face drained of color. He explained that he heard two voices in the vicinity of the Tabernacle. He believed they were the voices of Satan. Pope Leo heard Satan boast that he could destroy the Church in 75 or 100 years, if given the opportunity. Then he heard Our Lord give Satan permission to try. (This sounds somewhat similar to what we read in Job 1.)

The Pope explained that he had heard two voices in the vicinity of the tabernacle: the arrogant voice of Satan, and the kind, gentle voice of Our Lord Jesus. The conversion was as follows: 

Satan says to Jesus: "I can destroy your Church."

Jesus replies: "You can? Then go ahead and do so."

Satan: "To do so, I need more time and more power.!" 

Jesus: "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." 

Jesus: "You have the time, you will have the power. Do with them what you will." 

Then he went to his office and composed a prayer to St. Michael. He told his staff the prayer should be offered throughout the Church. 

Some may ask: Why would God would allow the devil to tempt and attack His people and His Church? If we look at Bible history, we will note that there were many instances wherein God allowed Satan to tempt and attack His holy ones. God allowed the devil to tempt Job and subject him to the harshest of trials. In the end, job proved loyal to God, and humiliated the devil with his Faith. God the Father even allowed His Only Begotten Son to be tempted by the devil in the desert. In the end, the Son of God banished and defeated Satan.

God allows trails and suffering in our life - including occasional direct encounters with the evil one - in order to strengthen our Faith, earn merit, and defeat the devil. Faith in God is like a muscle - it needs to b exercised for it to grow and develop. In the same way that world - class athletes subject their bodies to the most severe tests and trails during training, God allows many of us to be subjected to trails in life, including occasional direct encounter with the devil, so that we will have opportunities to grow in our Faith.

We also need to remember that God will never abandon us in our daily battle against the evil one. All we need to do is to call on the help of the Holy Trinity, the Blessed Mother, and the Heavenly Hierarchy, including St. Michael The Archangel.

The prayer which Pope Leo XIII composed was 10 times the length of the version we use today. Use of the prayer was discontinued in 1964. Thirty years later, In his Regina Coeli address, Pope John Paul II revived use of the prayer. He said, "Although the prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask every one not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of the world." The Pope clearly intended that we should offer this prayer in our homes as well. The prayer, by the way, is as follows:

St. 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 though, 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 powerful prayer is highly - recommended by exorcists. There is actually a longer form of the prayer, in fact, that is used during exorcism sessions.

The prayer of St. Michael was originally composed by the Holy pontiff to wedge the battle against the very root of the Church, her teaching and faith. St. Michael being the Guardian Angel of the Holy Catholic Church was meant to safeguard it from the snares of the devil. No wander the prayer was composed seeking the help of the Prince of Heaven and at no best time but immediately after the Holy Mass and lead by the priest.

The prayer to St. Michael is also a prayer that calls down the powerful aid of  St. Michael The Archangel, so that he can defend us and our families against the devil. By reciting this prayer daily, we are asking the Chief of all the Angels to defeat and vanquish the devil from our daily lives - just as he defeated Lucifer during their battle in Heaven.

We can say that the 75 to 100 years from the time of the vision has passed. Was the devil able to accomplish the mission of destruction of the faith? 

POPE ST. LEO XIII.