The Significance of the Prayer to St. Michael in the Modern Society

Saint Michael the Archangel is the head of all the angels of God. He leads God’s celestial army, helps individuals at the hour of their death, and most especially, protects God’s people against the evil forces and acts of Satan. With these, alongside other significant reasons, the Catholic church created and dedicated a special prayer to honor him, “The Prayer to Saint Michael”. But why did the Catholic church make this prayer and what is its message? How is this relevant to what is happening in our world at present?

On the 1st of October 1884, Pope Leo XIII experienced an extremely frightening and mysterious encounter as he stood facing the altar after presiding a mass in his private chapel. Pope Leo XIII claimed that he heard voices, and those were not just ordinary voices. He believed he heard the voices of the Lord and Satan having a conversation on Satan’s capability of destroying the church within 75 to 100 years, if given the chance by Jesus. Our good Lord permitted Satan to try such act. After hearing these, he immediately went to his office and wrote a special prayer dedicated to Saint Michael. As he completed his composition, he told his staff to make this prayer known by all the people in the Catholic church. As this prayer spread throughout the world and was passed from generation to generation, many households and individuals recited this prayer to Saint Michael. Despite having gone through numerous challenges and changes in the church, such as its discontinuation in 1964, this prayer remained an important prayer from the time Pope Leo XIII wrote it to its revival 30 years after it ceased to be recited. Unfortunately, with the passing of time, this powerful prayer is slowly becoming unfamiliar to many people. 

“The Prayer to Saint Michael” has a lot of significance. It is used to rebuke and defeat the plans of the devil, protects us from harm, and most especially, will defend us in the day of battle or the final judgement through the powerful intercession of Saint Michael. It conveys a message of faith and hope, and gives us the strength to overcome distress, hardships, and challenges that we experience like natural disasters and the dreaded Corona Virus pandemic. All these and more are the reasons why our church would like all Catholics to recite this prayer. Though only some people remain faithful to God and the company of his holy people, the Church Triumphant, let us all humble ourselves and return to Him in prayer especially now that we are experiencing quagmires. Now is the perfect time to light a candle, to kneel and pray the Holy Rosary, and to ask the protection and guidance of Saint Michael the Archangel by praying the powerful “‘Prayer to Saint Michael”. If we will all just follow and obey, all evils will be defeated and we will see the triumph of holiness in our life and in the whole world.