"St. Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil." Pope Leo XIII
When our first child was born, Rafael and I decided to name him Rafael after his dad. We chose the name Gabriel for his middle name because we liked it. When we took him to the Church to be baptized, Father Jose Luis Menendez decided to add the third archangel to his name. He told us that we couldn't leave out Miguel because he was the warrior angel and he would protect our son wherever he went. How right he was. Our son has needed the protection of the three archangels for whom he is named more times than I can remember. The most recent one happened a couple of months ago in Germany when by mistake him and his girlfriend got off on the wrong train station. They found themselves at midnight in the middle of nowhere. He called me from Germany to see if I knew anyone who spoke German that could call the hotel for him to see if they could send a taxi to the train station, which was on a town about an hour from the hotel. My first prayer was to St. Michael the Archangel to protect them. And he did. The hotel sent a taxi and a couple hours later they arrived safely.
St. Michael, the Archangel, has been invoked as patron and protector by the Church from the time of the Apostles. The Eastern Rite and many others place him over all the angels, as Prince of the Seraphim. He is described as the "chief of princes" and as the leader of the forces of heaven in their triumph over Satan and his followers.
The name Michael means "like God," and stands as a kind of rhetorical question intended to remind us who we are and what we believe. "Who is like the Lord, our God?" (Ps 113:5). Only by receiving the authority of this God can we be truly free to live in the blessings of love. There is no safety anywhere else, for anywhere else is alienation and exile.
Pope Leo XIII had a horrible vision of the world in the twentieth century. It was from this vision that he came up with the prayer to St. Michael. He died before World War I so he did not witness the Nazi takeover and the slaughter of Jews. But he had seen in his vision that the twentieth century would be a very wicked century and he was right. Three hundred million people were killed in the twentieth century between wars, communism and genocide.
Many of these powers that ruled in the twentieth century have been defeated, but the fight continues as new evil powers emerge, so we must continually ask St. Michael to "defend us in battle and to 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 prowl throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls."
Sources:
1-The Catholic Edition of the Revised Standard Version of the Bible
2-Catechism of the Catholic Church (CCC)
3-"Entertaining Angels" by Mike Aquilina (Catholic Scripture Study International 2013)
4-"Angels and Saints" by Scott Hahn 2014
5-"Angels Throughout the Ages" by Dr. Richard Bulzacchelli (Catholic Scripture Study International 2013)
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