Rest Day Read: May 13, 2010

Rest Day Read (SR-25)

Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel

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

When you are a stocky, quiet, lineman type of kid in a fairly large Catholic family with wonderful parents who have picture plaques on the wall for each of the namesake saints of their children, and your name-sake saint is St. Michael and you read this prayer as a youngster and see the picture of St. Michael spearing the serpent into hell, it does truly have a profound effect on one's approach and outlook on life. Life is a battle, a constant struggle to do the right thing in God's eyes. There is always good and there is always evil. Each of us must fight the battles with the shining spiritual example of St. Michael to lead us.

Pope Leo XIII wrote the prayer in 1884, after seeing a vision of Satan choosing the 20th century as his century to attempt a corruption of the church. There are influence of St. Michael in many heroic figures of modern film, literature and comic books. Good vs. evil. One chooses to fight or one chooses to give in. Think about it.