I just purchased a devotional book to St. Michael yesterday. I would like to share a few things I read in it.
The Church honors St. Michael as one of the most important angels in heaven. Angels are purely spiritual beings, and as such they do not have bodies. These spiritual creatures have intelligence and free will; they are personal and immortal, and surpass in perfection all visible creatures.
[i:3jfebzzg][color=olive:3jfebzzg](cf. nn. 328, 330. Catechism of the Catholic Church)[/color:3jfebzzg]
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History tells of various saints who have had a great devotion to St. Michael. For example, St. Lawrence Justinian wrote: “Let all acknowledge St. Michael as their protector, and be devoted to him;.. He guards us through life, directs us on our way, and conducts us to our eternal home.” St. Joan of Arc, who had a vision of the archangel, ascribed her vocation and her victories to St. Michael, the patron of France. In the 1880’s, during a difficult period in the Church, Pope Leo XIII decreed that the prayer to St. Michael be recited by all the faithful at the end of the Mass. Although with the renewal of the liturgy this practice has been discontinued, we can still pray privately for St. Michael’s help in overcoming the forces of evil in our world.
[color=olive:3jfebzzg][i:3jfebzzg](Marianne Lorraine Trouve, FSP)[/i:3jfebzzg][/color:3jfebzzg]
“Pope Leo XIII introduced a special prayer to St. Michael throughout the Church. Although the prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help on the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world.”
[color=olive:3jfebzzg][i:3jfebzzg](Pope John Paul II, Sunday, April 24, 1994)[/i:3jfebzzg][/color:3jfebzzg]
[b:3jfebzzg]To Saint Michael, Protector of God’s People[/b:3jfebzzg]
St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our defense against the wickedness and deceit of the devil. May God rebuke him, we humbly pray. And you, O Prince of the heavenly host, by the power of God banish into hell Satan and the other evil spirits who roam through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.