St. Michael the Archangel Prayer

The St. Michael prayer — full text

That is the English the Holy See Press Office printed on 29 September 2018, when Pope Francis asked the whole Church to pray it.

The older English wording you may have learned

This is the wording EWTN prints — "our defense" and "thrust into hell" instead of "our protection" and "cast into hell." It is the same prayer. Pray the one you know by heart.

The prayer in Latin

Reproduced letter for letter, accents and all, from the Holy See Press Office bulletin of 29 September 2018.

Who wrote it, and why it was once said after Mass

Pope Leo XIII wrote it. The Holy See Press Office says so without qualification — it calls the text "the prayer written by Leo XIII." St. John Paul II said the same and added how it spread: Leo XIII, at the end of the nineteenth century, introdusse in tutta la Chiesa una speciale preghiera a San Michele — "introduced into the whole Church a special prayer to St. Michael" (Regina Caeli, 24 April 1994; the address is published in Italian, and that English is ours).

It belonged to a short set of prayers said at the end of Mass, called the Leonine Prayers after Leo himself. That ended with the Instruction Inter Oecumenici of 26 September 1964, in force from 7 March 1965, which ordered for the end of Mass: "The last gospel is omitted; the Leonine Prayers are suppressed" (n. 48 j). That instruction removed those prayers from the end of Mass; it did not forbid the prayer itself, and thirty years later John Paul II asked the Church not to let it go.

The vision story is a story, not history

You will read that Leo XIII wrote the prayer after a terrifying vision of the Church's coming century. Take that as a pious account handed down about him rather than as a documented fact: the Holy See's own notice of the prayer says only that Leo XIII wrote it, and John Paul II said only that Leo introduced it into the whole Church. Neither mentions a vision. The prayer does not need the legend.

What recent popes have said about praying it

St. John Paul II, Regina Caeli, 24 April 1994. Having pointed to Michael in the Apocalypse, he turned to Leo XIII's prayer: "Anche se oggi questa preghiera non viene più recitata al termine della celebrazione eucaristica, invito tutti a non dimenticarla, ma a recitarla per ottenere di essere aiutati nella battaglia contro le forze delle tenebre e contro lo spirito di questo mondo." In our English: "Even though today this prayer is no longer recited at the end of the Eucharistic celebration, I invite everyone not to forget it, but to recite it in order to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world." We give the Italian because that is the language the Vatican publishes it in; the translation is ours, not the Holy See's.

Pope Francis, 29 September 2018. The Holy See Press Office announced that the Pope "has decided to invite all the faithful, of all the world, to pray the Holy Rosary every day, during the entire Marian month of October," asking the Mother of God and St. Michael "to protect the Church from the devil." He asked that the Rosary in that month "conclude with the prayer written by Leo XIII" — the text on this page — together with the ancient invocation Sub tuum praesidium.

St. Michael in Scripture

Four passages, in the Douay-Rheims:

• Daniel 10:13 — "But the prince of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me one and twenty days: and behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me, and I remained there by the king of the Persians."
• Daniel 12:1 — "But at that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people…"
• Jude 1:9 — "When Michael the archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses, he durst not bring against him the judgment of railing speech, but said: The Lord command thee."
• Apocalypse 12:7 (Revelation) — "And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels…"

The prayer keeps Scripture's proportions. Michael comes to help; Michael stands for the people; Michael fights the dragon. And in Jude he does not presume to sentence the devil himself — he says, The Lord command thee. That is why the prayer asks God to rebuke Satan and asks Michael to act "by the power of God."

When to pray it

Nothing binds you to a schedule. In practice men pray it:

• Daily, as a fixed habit — morning, before the day gets a vote.
• After Mass, where the parish keeps the custom.
• At the end of the Rosary — the place Pope Francis asked for in October 2018.
• Over the house at night, aloud, after the children's prayers.
• In the moment — temptation, rage, fear, the hour when the fight is real.

It is a petition, not a charm. It asks God to rebuke the devil and asks an angel's help under God's power; it promises no particular outcome, and it is no substitute for Confession, the Mass, and the ordinary work of leaving sin behind. Pray it as a man asks for reinforcements, not as a man rubs a coin.

Praying it as the man of the house

A father can hand this prayer to his children in a week. Say it out loud at the door before you leave, or at the foot of the stairs when the lights go off, until nobody has to be reminded. Short prayers said by the whole household at the same hour are the ones children still know at forty.

If you want a father's rhythm built around prayers like this one, our free thirty-day program The Priest of Your Home gives one three-minute letter each morning, one order for that night, and one prayer.

Leo XIII's longer exorcism — and why laymen do not use it

There is a second, much longer text behind this short prayer. The Acta Sanctae Sedis for 1890–91 prints it under the heading "Exorcismus in satanam et angelos apostaticos iussu Leonis XIII P. M. editus" — an exorcism against Satan and the apostate angels, published by order of Leo XIII (ASS vol. 23, pp. 743ff.). It is not the prayer above, and we do not print it here, because it is not for lay use.

The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith settled that in a letter to bishops dated 29 September 1985, signed by Cardinal Joseph Ratzinger. It first recalls the law: "Canon 1172 of the Code of Canon Law states that no one can legitimately perform exorcisms over the possessed unless he has obtained special and express permission from the local Ordinary… and states that this permission should be granted by the local Ordinary only to priests who are endowed with piety, knowledge, prudence and integrity of life." Then it draws the conclusion: "From these prescriptions it follows that it is not even licit that the faithful use the formula of exorcism against Satan and the fallen angels, extracted from the one published by order of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII, and even less that they use the integral text of this exorcism."

The same letter is careful that this must not scare anyone off praying. It says the norms "should in no way distance the faithful from praying that, as Jesus taught us, they may be delivered from evil," and it points pastors to "the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Angels and Saints in the Christian's spiritual battle against evil spirits." The short prayer on this page is exactly that: an ordinary Catholic asking an angel's help. Pray it freely. Leave the exorcisms to the priest the bishop has appointed.

What St. Michael is patron of

The 1913 Catholic Encyclopedia lists among his offices that he is the champion of God's people, "therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages." Italy's National Association of State Police claims him too: speaking to it on 29 September 2018, Pope Francis referred to "your Patron Saint Michael the Archangel."

One honest caution, from that same 1913 article: the devotion it describes was not primarily martial. Where he was first venerated, in Phrygia, "his prestige as angelic healer obscured his interposition in military affairs," and the early Christians gave their military patronage to soldier-martyrs such as St. George and St. Theodore. Michael is the commander of the heavenly host; the fighting men of the Church have long looked to him for that reason, and to the martyred soldiers for a human example.

Questions men ask

What is the St. Michael prayer?

A short Catholic prayer asking St. Michael the Archangel to defend us in battle against the devil. The Holy See prints it: “Saint Michael Archangel, defend us in battle, 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 power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.”

Who wrote the St. Michael prayer?

Pope Leo XIII. The Holy See Press Office calls it “the prayer written by Leo XIII.” St. John Paul II said that Leo XIII “introduced into the whole Church a special prayer to St. Michael” (Regina Caeli, 24 April 1994; our translation of the Italian text on vatican.va).

Is the St. Michael prayer still said after Mass?

It is not prescribed after Mass. The 1964 Instruction Inter Oecumenici directed that “the Leonine Prayers are suppressed” (n. 48 j). Nothing forbids the prayer itself. In 2018 Pope Francis asked the faithful to close the October Rosary with it.

What is the St. Michael prayer in Latin?

As the Holy See prints it: “Sancte Míchael Archángele, defénde nos in próelio; contra nequítiam et insídias diáboli esto praesídium. Imperet illi Deus, súpplices deprecámur, tuque, Prínceps milítiae caeléstis, Sátanam aliósque spíritus malígnos, qui ad perditiónem animárum pervagántur in mundo, divína virtúte, in inférnum detrúde. Amen.”

Can a layman pray Leo XIII’s longer exorcism against Satan?

No. The Congregation for the Doctrine of the Faith wrote to bishops on 29 September 1985 that “it is not even licit that the faithful use the formula of exorcism against Satan and the fallen angels, extracted from the one published by order of the Supreme Pontiff Leo XIII, and even less that they use the integral text of this exorcism.” The short prayer on this page is not that formula, and any Catholic may pray it.

Does praying to St. Michael take anything away from God?

No. The prayer asks God to rebuke the devil and asks Michael to act “by the power of God” — the power invoked is God’s. The same 1985 letter points the faithful to “the intercession of the Blessed Virgin Mary, of the Angels and Saints in the Christian’s spiritual battle against evil spirits.”