I found this interesting when I read this in Kevin Symonds’ book “Pope Leo XIII and the Prayer to St. Michael: An Historical and Theological Examination.” I found it timely as the Cardinals gather for the coming Conclave.
Our contemporary period is marked by continued governmental assaults on the liberty of the Church, inter-ecclesial disunity and scandal. If demons were involved with such activities in Leo’s day, it is even more imperative to implore the Archangel’s intercession. Perhaps it was more significant than first realized for Pope Francis to have consecrated the Vatican City State to Sts. Michael and Joseph on July 5, 2013 in these words:
O glorious Archangel St. Michael … watch over this City and over the Apostolic See, the heart and center of Catholicism, so that it may faithfully live according to the Gospel and in the exercise of heroic charity…. May you be a bulwark against every act which threatens the serenity of the Church; may you be the sentinel of our thoughts, which frees us from the siege of a worldly mentality; may you be the spiritual leader, who sustains us in the good fight of faith.[1]
Following the lead of the Pastors of the Church, let us pray God through the intercession of St. Michael the Archangel “for the liberty and exaltation” of the Church over her enemies.
This occurred when the Pope was blessing a new new statue of St. Michael the Archangel in the Vatican Gardens. In attendance was also Pope Benedict XVI.
There will be a lot of attention poured on the Vatican now and in the coming weeks, so it is very appropriate to pray for intercession from St. Michael the Archangel and St. Joseph (who has the title “Terror of Demons”).
As for Kevin Symonds’ book:
“We set out to examine the claim that Leo received a vision that was behind the composing of the Prayer to St. Michael the Archangel.”
This is a carefully researched book exploring the development of this prayer and the varied accounts that have surrounded around it. Most of these popular accounts are either false, developed much later, or have no evidential sustenance to them. What can be determined is a fascinating story in and of itself. At least half of this book is footnotes, sources, translations, etc.
- Kevin’s translation from a radio vaticana article. ↩
