Prayer of Protection
Prayer against evil
An older generation of Catholics may remember a prayer that used to be
said after every Mass -this is an era when the priest faced the altar and the
Mass was said in Latin. But few even of them, perhaps know what inspired
that prayer, composed by Leo XIII who died in l903.
The pope, meeting with several cardinals, sank to the floor as if in a faint.
Some of the cardinals thought he was dead. After some time, he “came to,”
as it were, and told those around him of a terrible ‘vision’ he had been
shown: “what the coming times would bring, misleading powers and raving
devils in all countries fighting against the Church.” As the Most Rev.
William L. Adrian, Bishop of Nashville, narrated the scene to an audience
on Sept. 22, l966, the pope then saw St. Michael appear - “in the nick of
time” - to cast Satan and his legions back into hell.
Following that frightening vision, Pope Leo composed the prayer that for
decades was recited in every Catholic Church in the world. A reader
suggested we would do well to publish it anew:
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle. Be our safeguard
against the wickedness and snares of the devil, may God rebuke him, we
most humbly pray. And do thou, O prince of heavenly host, by the power of
God, thrust into hell Satan and all other evil spirits that prowl through the
world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
In his l966 address, Bishop Adrian told his audience he hoped Catholics
were still saying the prayer privately. “Some recent popes and saints have
warned us,” he added, “that the anti-Christ will appear around the year
2,000 he is already born. Watch!”
Prayer Against Satan & The Rebellious Angels
Published by order of H.H. Pope Leo XIII
The Holy Father exhorts priests to say this prayer as often as possible, as a
simple exorcism to curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing
harm. The faithful also may say it in their own name, for the same purpose,
as any approved prayer. Its use is recommended whenever action of the
devil is suspected, causing malice in men, violent temptations and even
storms and various calamities. It could be used as a solemn exorcism (an
official and public ceremony, in Latin), to expel the devil. It would then be
said by a priest, in the name of the Church and only with the Bishop’s
permission.
In the Name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost. Amen
Most glorious Prince of the Heavenly Armies, Saint Michael the Archangel,
defend us in “our battle against principalities and powers, against the rulers
of this world of darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in the high
places” (Ephes., VI, l2). Come to the assistance of men who God has
created to His likeness and whom He has redeemed at a great price from the
tyranny of the devil. Holy Church venerates thee as her guardian and
protector; to thee, the Lord has entrusted the souls of the redeemed to be led
into heaven. Pray therefore the God of Peace to crush Satan beneath our
feet, that he may no longer retain men captive and do injury to the Church.
Offer our prayers to the Most High, that without delay they may draw His
mercy down upon us; take hold of “the dragon, the old serpent, which is the
devil and Satan”, bind him and cast him into the bottomless pit “so that he
may no longer seduce the nations” (Apoc. XX, 2).
Exorcism
In the Name of Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, strengthened by the
intercession of the Immaculate Virgin Mary, Mother of God, of Blessed
Michael the Archangel, of the Blessed Apostles Peter and Paul and all the
Saints. (and powerful in the holy authority of our ministry)(Lay people omit
this parenthesis), we confidently undertake to repulse the attacks and
deceits of the devil.
PSALM 68God arises; His enemies are scattered and those who hate Him
flee before Him. As smoke is driven away, so are they driven; as wax melts
before the fire, so the wicked perish at the presence of God.
V. Behold the Cross of the Lord, flee bands of enemies.
R. He has conquered, the Lion of the tribe of Juda, the offspring of David.
V. May thy mercy, Lord, descend upon us.
R. As great as our hope in Thee.
(The crosses indicate a blessing to be given if a priest recites the Exorcism;
if a lay person recites it, they indicate the Sign of the Cross to be made
silently by that person.)
We drive you from us, whoever you may be, unclean spirits, all satanic
powers, all infernal invaders, all wicked legions, assemblies and sects; in
the Name and by the power of Our Lord Jesus Christ, + may you be
snatched away and driven from the Church of God and from the souls made
to the image and likeness of God and redeemed by the Precious Blood of
the Divine Lamb. + Most cunning serpent, you shall no more dare to
deceive the human race, persecute the Church, torment God’s elect and sift
them as wheat. + The Most High God commands you. + He with whom in
great insolence, you still claim to be equal; “He who wants all men to be
saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth” (1 Tim., 11, 4). God the
Father commands you. +God the Son commands you. +God the Holy Ghost
commands you. +Christ, God’s Word made flesh, commands you; + He
who to save our race outdone through you envy, “humbled Himself,
becoming obedient even unto death” (Phil., 11,8); He who had built His
Church on the firm rock and declared that the gates of hell shall not prevail
against Her, because He will dwell with Her “all days even to the end of the
world” (St. Mat., XXVIII, 20). The sacred Sign of the Cross commands
you, + as does the power of the mysteries of the Christian Faith. + The
glorious Mother of God; the Virgin Mary, commands you; + She who by
her humility and from the first moment of her Immaculate Conception,
crushed your proud head. The faith of the Holy Apostles Peter and Paul and
of the other Apostles commands you. + The blood of the Martyrs and the
pious intercession of all the Saints commands you. + Thus, cursed dragon,
and you, diabolical legions, we adjure you by the living God, + by the true
God, + by the holy God, + by the God “who so loved the world that He
gave His only Son, that every soul believing in Him might not perish but
have life everlasting” (St. John, III); stop deceiving human creatures and
pouring out to them the poison of eternal damnation; stop harming the
Church and hindering her liberty. Be gone, Satan, inventor and master of all
deceit, enemy of man’s salvation. Give place to Christ in whom you have
found none of your works; give place to the One, Holy, Catholic and
Apostolic Church acquired by Christ at the price of His Blood. Stoop
beneath the all-powerful Hand of God; tremble and flee when we invoke
the Holy and terrible Name of Jesus, this Name which causes hell to
tremble, this Name to which the Virtues, Powers and Dominations of
heaven are humbly submissive, this Name which the Cherubim and
Seraphim praise unceasingly repeating: Holy, Holy, Holy is the Lord, the
God of Armies. V. O Lord, hear my prayer. R. And let my cry come unto
Thee. V. May the Lord be with thee. R. And with thy spirit.
Let us pray. God of heaven God of earth, God of Angels, God of
Archangels, God of Patriarchs, God of Prophets, God of Apostles, God of
Martyrs, God of Confessors, God of Virgins, God who has power to give
life after death and rest after work, because there is no other God than Thee
and there can be no other, for Thou art the Creator of all things, visible and
invisible, of whose reign there shall be no end, we humbly prostrate
ourselves before Thy glorious Majesty and we beseech Thee to deliver us
by Thy power from all the tyranny of the infernal spirits, from their snares,
their lies and their furious wickedness; deign, O Lord, to grant us Thy
powerful protection and to keep us safe and sound. We beseech Thee
through Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
From the snares of the devil, deliver us, O Lord. That Thy Church may
serve Thee in peace and liberty, we beseech Thee to hear us. That Thou
may crush down all enemies of Thy Church, we beseech Thee to hear us.
(Holy water is sprinkled in the place where we may be.)
Imprimatur: +Henri, O.M.I. Vicar Apostolic of James Bay - Aug. 15, l967
SAINT 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 thou, O prince of the heavenly host, by the power of
God thrust into Hell Satan and the other evil spirits who prowl about the
world for the ruin of souls. Amen.
Imprimatur: Francis Cardinal Spellman Archbishop of New York,
February 24,1961
I know of no other prayer like this one that puts the authority over evil back
into Christian hands. It is a profession of faith and should be said daily
aloud in your homes and at the office.
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Wednesday of the Sixth Week in Ordinary Time Reading 1
Responsorial Psalm
Gospel
Reading 1
Gn 8:6-13, 20-22
At the end of forty days Noah opened the hatch he had made in the ark,
and he sent out a raven,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
It flew back and forth until the waters dried off from the earth.
Then he sent out a dove,
to see if the waters had lessened on the earth.
But the dove could find no place to alight and perch,
and it returned to him in the ark,
for there was water all over the earth.
Putting out his hand, he caught the dove
and drew it back to him inside the ark.
He waited seven days more and again sent the dove out from the ark.
In the evening the dove came back to him,
and there in its bill was a plucked-off olive leaf!
So Noah knew that the waters had lessened on the earth.
He waited still another seven days
and then released the dove once more;
and this time it did not come back.
In the six hundred and first year of Noah's life,
in the first month, on the first day of the month,
the water began to dry up on the earth.
Noah then removed the covering of the ark
and saw that the surface of the ground was drying up.
Noah built an altar to the LORD,
and choosing from every clean animal and every clean bird,
he offered burnt offerings on the altar.
When the LORD smelled the sweet odor, he said to himself:
"Never again will I doom the earth because of man
since the desires of man's heart are evil from the start;
nor will I ever again strike down all living beings, as I have done.
As long as the earth lasts,
seedtime and harvest,
cold and heat,
Summer and winter,
and day and night
shall not cease."
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Father,
you have appointed your Son Jesus Christ eternal High Priest.
Guide those he has chosen to be ministers of word and sacrament
to help them to be faithful
in fulfilling the ministry they have received.
Grant this through our Lord Jesus Christ, your Son,
who lives and reigns with you and the Holy Spirit,
one God, for ever and ever
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Daily Reading & Meditation
Wednesday (3/18): "Whoever relaxes one of the commandments "
Gospel Reading: Matthew 5:17-19
17 "Think not that I have come to abolish the law and the prophets; I have come not to abolish them but to fulfil them. 18 For truly, I say to you, till heaven and earth pass away, not an iota, not a dot, will pass from the law until all is accomplished. 19 Whoever then relaxes one of the least of these commandments and teaches men so, shall be called least in the kingdom of heaven; but he who does them and teaches them shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven.
Old Testament Reading: Deuteronomy 4:1,5-9
1 "And now, O Israel, give heed to the statutes and the ordinances which I teach you, and do them; that you may live, and go in and take possession of the land which the LORD, the God of your fathers, gives you. (Deuteronomy 4:1)
Meditation: Do you view God's law negatively or positively? Jesus' attitude towards the law of God can be summed up in the great prayer of Psalm 119: "Oh, how I love your law! It is my meditation all the day." For the people of Israel the "law" could refer to the ten commandments or to the five Books of Moses, called the Pentateuch, which explain the commandments and ordinances of God for his people. The "law" also referred to the whole teaching or way of life which God gave to his people. The Jews in Jesus' time also used it as a description of the oral or scribal law. Needless to say, the scribes added many more things to the law than God intended. That is why Jesus often condemned the scribal law. It placed burdens on people which God had not intended. Jesus, however, made it very clear that the essence of God's law – his commandments and way of life, must be fulfilled.
Jesus taught reverence for God's law – reverence for God himself, for the Lord's Day, reverence or respect for parents, respect for life, for property, for another person's good name, respect for oneself and for one's neighbor lest wrong or hurtful desires master us. Reverence and respect for God's commandments teach us the way of love – love of God and love of neighbor. What is impossible to men and women is possible to God and those who put their faith and trust in God. Through the gift of the Holy Spirit the Lord transforms us and makes us like himself. We are a new creation in Christ (2 Corinthians 5:17) because "God's love has been poured into our hearts through the Holy Spirit which has been given to us" (Romans 5:5). God gives us the grace to love as he loves, to forgive as he forgives, to think as he thinks, and to act as he acts. The Lord loves justice and goodness and he hates every form of wickedness and sin. He wants to set us free from our unruly desires and sinful habits, so that we can choose to live each day in the peace, joy, and righteousness of his Holy Spirit (Romans 14: 17). To renounce sin is to turn away from what is harmful and destructive for our minds and hearts, and our very lives. As his followers we must love and respect his commandments and hate every form of sin. Do you love and revere the commands of the Lord?
"Lord Jesus, grant this day, to direct and sanctify, to rule and govern our hearts and bodies, so that all our thoughts, words and deeds may be according to your Father's law and thus may we be saved and protected through your mighty help."
Psalm 147:12-20
12 Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem! Praise your God, O Zion!
13 For he strengthens the bars of your gates; he blesses your sons within you.
14 He makes peace in your borders; he fills you with the finest of the wheat.
15 He sends forth his command to the earth; his word runs swiftly.
16 He gives snow like wool; he scatters hoarfrost like ashes.
17 He casts forth his ice like morsels; who can stand before his cold?
18 He sends forth his word, and melts them; he makes his wind blow, and the waters flow.
19 He declares his word to Jacob, his statutes and ordinances to Israel.
20 He has not dealt thus with any other nation; they do not know his ordinances. Praise the LORD!
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