XII Pray
The Holy Archangels
Michael, Gabriel and Raphael — the three angels the Church calls by name. Who they are in Scripture, what the Church teaches about the angels, and the prayers to Saint Michael, defender of the Church.
Photo: Baggio1979 · CC BY-SA 4.0
What the Church teaches
“Servants and messengers of God”
The existence of spiritual, non-bodily beings whom Scripture calls angels is a truth of faith. They are personal and immortal creatures, servants and messengers of God, who glorify him without ceasing and watch over us from infancy to death (CCC 328–336).
In her liturgy the Church celebrates certain angels in particular — Saint Michael, Saint Gabriel, Saint Raphael and the guardian angels (CCC 335). Only these three names are given to angels in the Church’s devotion, “whose names are contained in Holy Scripture”; the practice of giving other names to angels is discouraged (Directory on Popular Piety, 217). The same Directory warns against seeing life as a helpless battle between angels and demons: the victory over evil asks of us conversion, humility and prayer.
Saint
Michael
“Who is like God?”
The leader of the heavenly host, who stands guard over God’s people and casts down the dragon. The Church invokes him as protector of the Church and helper in the struggle against evil, especially at the hour of death.
Saint
Gabriel
“Strength of God”
The messenger of the Incarnation: he announces the birth of John the Baptist to Zechariah and greets Mary at Nazareth — the words we repeat in every Hail Mary.
Saint
Raphael
“God heals”
The companion of the young Tobias on his journey, who brings healing to Tobit and Sarah and reveals himself as “one of the seven angels who stand before the Lord”.
The prayer of Pope Leo XIII
Prayer to Saint Michael
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 thou, 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.
Pope Leo XIII introduced this prayer throughout the Church at the end of the nineteenth century. In 1994 Saint John Paul II asked the faithful not to forget it, though it is no longer said at the end of Mass, and to pray it for help in the battle against the forces of darkness (Regina Caeli, 24 April 1994). On 5 July 2013 Pope Francis consecrated Vatican City State to Saint Michael (address). Text: EWTN.
A traditional devotion
The Chaplet of Saint Michael
Nine salutations, one for each of the nine choirs of angels, prayed on a chaplet or on rosary beads. The devotion goes back to a Servant of God, Antonia d’Astonac, who in a vision received St Michael’s request to be honoured in this way. Promises attached to it come from private revelation, which the faithful are free to accept and which never adds to the faith itself (CCC 67).
Begin
O God, come to my assistance. O Lord, make haste to help me.
Glory be to the Father…
1st salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
2nd salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Cherubim may the Lord grant us the grace to leave the ways of sin and run in the paths of Christian perfection. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
3rd salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Thrones may the Lord infuse into our hearts a true and sincere spirit of humility. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
4th salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Dominations may the Lord give us grace to govern our senses and overcome any unruly passions. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
5th salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Virtues may the Lord preserve us from evil and falling into temptation. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
6th salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Powers may the Lord protect our souls against the snares and temptations of the devil. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
7th salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Principalities may God fill our souls with a true spirit of obedience. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
8th salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Archangels may the Lord give us perseverance in faith and in all good works in order that we may attain the glory of Heaven. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
9th salutation
By the intercession of St. Michael and the celestial Choir of Angels may the Lord grant us to be protected by them in this mortal life and conducted in the life to come to Heaven. Amen.
One Our Father and three Hail Marys.
Then
One Our Father each in honour of St Michael, St Gabriel, St Raphael and our Guardian Angel.
Concluding prayers
O glorious prince St. Michael, chief and commander of the heavenly hosts, guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits, servant in the house of the Divine King and our admirable conductor, you who shine with excellence and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil, who turn to you with confidence and enable us by your gracious protection to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
V. Pray for us, O glorious St. Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ,
R. that we may be made worthy of His promises.
Almighty and Everlasting God, Who, by a prodigy of goodness and a merciful desire for the salvation of all men, has appointed the most glorious Archangel St. Michael Prince of Your Church, make us worthy, we ask You, to be delivered from all our enemies, that none of them may harass us at the hour of death, but that we may be conducted by him into Your Presence. This we ask through the merits of Jesus Christ Our Lord. Amen.
Take it with you
The Chaplet of Saint Michael as a 13-page prayer booklet — the nine salutations, the act of consecration, the prayer of Leo XIII and the litany.
Text: EWTN.
For private devotion
Litany of Saint Michael
The litanies approved for public prayer are those of the Holy Name, the Sacred Heart, the Precious Blood, Loreto, Saint Joseph and the Saints. This litany is a traditional prayer for personal and family devotion.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, have mercy on us.
Lord, have mercy on us. Christ, hear us. Christ, graciously hear us.
- God, the Father of heaven, have mercy on us.
- God the Son, Redeemer of the world, have mercy on us.
- God the Holy Spirit, have mercy on us.
- Holy Trinity, one God, have mercy on us.
- Holy Mary, Queen of Angels, pray for us.
- St Michael, pray for us.
- St Michael, filled with the wisdom of God, pray for us.
- St Michael, perfect adorer of the Incarnate Word, pray for us.
- St Michael, crowned with honor and glory, pray for us.
- St Michael, most powerful Prince of the armies of the Lord, pray for us.
- St Michael, standard-bearer of the Most Holy Trinity, pray for us.
- St Michael, victor over Satan, pray for us.
- St Michael, guardian of Paradise, pray for us.
- St Michael, guide and comforter of the people of Israel, pray for us.
- St Michael, splendor and fortress of the Church Militant, pray for us.
- St Michael, honor and joy of the Church Triumphant, pray for us.
- St Michael, light of angels, pray for us.
- St Michael, bulwark of orthodox believers, pray for us.
- St Michael, strength of those who fight under the standard of the Cross, pray for us.
- St Michael, light and confidence of souls at the hour of death, pray for us.
- St Michael, our most sure aid, pray for us.
- St Michael, our help in all adversities, pray for us.
- St Michael, Herald of the Everlasting Sentence, pray for us.
- St Michael, Consoler of souls detained in the flames of Purgatory, pray for us.
- Thou whom the Lord has charged to receive souls after death, pray for us.
- St Michael, our Prince, pray for us.
- St Michael, our Advocate, pray for us.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, spare us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, graciously hear us, O Lord.
Lamb of God, who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us.
V. Pray for us, O glorious St Michael, Prince of the Church of Jesus Christ.
R. That we may be made worthy of His promises.
Let us pray
Sanctify us, we beseech Thee, O Lord, with Thy holy blessing, and grant us, by the intercession of St. Michael, that wisdom which teaches us to lay up treasures in Heaven by exchanging the goods of this world for those of eternity, Thou Who livest and reignest, world without end. Amen.
Text: Catholic Culture.
For private devotion
Act of consecration to Saint Michael
Oh most Noble Prince of the Angelic Hierarchies, valorous warrior of Almighty God, and zealous lover of His glory, terror of the rebellious angels, and love and delight of all the just ones, my beloved Archangel Saint Michael, desiring to be numbered among thy devoted servants, I, today offer and consecrate myself to thee, and place myself, my family, and all I possess under thy most powerful protection.
I entreat thee not to look at how little, I, as thy servant have to offer, being only a wretched sinner, but to gaze, rather, with favorable eye at the heartfelt affection with which this offering is made, and remember that if from this day onward I am under thy patronage, thou must during all my life assist me, and procure for me the pardon of my many grievous offenses, and sins, the grace to love with all my heart my God, my dear Savior Jesus and my Sweet Mother Mary, and obtain for me all the help necessary to arrive to my crown of glory.
Defend me always from my spiritual enemies, particularly in the last moments of my life. Come then oh Glorious Prince and succor me in my last struggle, and with thy powerful weapon cast far from me into the infernal abysses that prevaricator and proud angel that one day thou prostrated in the celestial battle.
Saint Michael, defend us in our daily battle so that we may not perish in the last Judgment.
Text: Catholic Culture.
Pilgrimage
Shrines of Saint Michael
Monte Sant’Angelo, Gargano, Italy
Sanctuary of St Michael the Archangel
A grotto on the Gargano where, according to tradition, St Michael appeared to the bishop St Lawrence Maiorano.
Normandy, France
Mont-Saint-Michel Abbey
According to the legend the abbey itself tells, St Michael appeared three times to Bishop Aubert in 708 and asked for a sanctuary on the island then called Mont-Tombe.
Monte Pirchiriano, Piedmont, Italy
Sacra di San Michele
An abbey dedicated to the Archangel, built between 983 and 987 on the summit of Monte Pirchiriano above the Susa valley.