In these days of The Present Crisis a few bishops took a step towards sanity and asked their people once again to pray the St. Michael Prayer after Mass.
I think we should bring the Leonine Prayers back… all of them. St. Michael was one of the prayers of the Leonine Prayers.
C’mon, guys! DO IT!
Like few periods in the history of the Church do we need to be on our knees asking for the help of the Mother of God, invoking the Sacred Heart, and asking for angels to help us in this horrible battle against the forces of Hell.
In the older Roman calendar today is the Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel, which refers to a basilica dedicated in his honor.
This has been the time of year to honor angels for a long time in the Roman Church. The ancient Veronese Sacramentary has an entry for “Natale Basilicae Angeli via Salaria” for 30 September. The Gelasian Sacramentary has a feast for “S. Michaelis Archangeli”. The Gregorian Sacramentary has “Dedicatio Basilionis S. Angeli Michaelis” for 29 September. It is possible that the basilica they were talking about was a long-gone church out the Via Salaria north of Rome. However, there is the monumental statue of St. Michael that looms over the City at the top of Hadrian’s mausoleum, known as Castel Sant’Angelo, placed there after the archangel signaled the end of a plague that had ravaged Rome.
Today at Matins in our Breviarium Romanum, in the 9th reading in the 3rd Nocturn, St. Jerome instructs us:
Oh, how great is the dignity of souls, whereof every one hath from its birth an Angel appointed to guard it! Hence, we read in the Revelation of John unto the Angel of the Church of Ephesus, (and so of the others,) write, ii. I And the Apostle (Paul) also saith: The woman (that is, in the Church) ought to have a covering on her head, because of the Angels. i Cor. xi. 10.
Hence… chapel veils!
The theology of chapel veils is a little complicated. Perhaps in another post… In any event, it is a good custom, though not obligatory.
From Scripture we know the names of three Archangels: Michael, Gabriel and Raphael.
There are other, apocryphal names of angels, but we are not to use them or invoke them.
Here is a nice depiction of all three angels easin’ elegantly on down the road with Tobias, Fido and the Fish. Note their courtly bearing!
Our perennial Catholic thought is that the angels are in a hierarchy of nine “choirs”. This goes back to the writings of St. Dionysius and of Gregory the Great. St. Thomas Aquinas developed their foundational teachings. According to the Angelic Doctor the choirs, which designate offices and roles, are
- Seraphim
- Cherubim
- Thrones
- Dominions
- Virtues
- Powers
- Principalities
- Archangels
- Angels
Note that Archangels are second from the last. That St. Michael seems to be the commander of the heavenly host shows that even among angels (who are created persons, but without bodies), so vastly above us in the order of creation, God chose the lowly for His own plans.
In a few days we will have the Feast of the Guardian Angels.
Guardian Angel is a role assigned by God. Your angel or angels could be from the ranks of any of the choirs.
Do you think about angels?
Do you consider your Guardian Angel or ask for help?
Do you remember that there are also fallen angels?
In our day, I believe we are witnessing in our cities – and veins – the sharp rise of the demonic. All around us a spiritual war is being waged.
Finally, one of my favorite depictions of St. Michael as a samurai warrior by Daniel Mitsui.
From a reader…
In these days of The Present Crisis a few bishops took a step towards sanity and asked their people once again to pray the St. Michael Prayer after Mass.
Benedict Joseph on Are things as bad as the seem? Auctores scinduntur.: “When will we banish from the Catholic lexicon “reform” and “renewal”? They serve only the cause of mendacity. Let’s call…”
