Saint Michael the Archangel is one of the seven archangels who stand before the throne of God. His name in Hebrew, Mikha'el, means “Who is like God?”—a rhetorical question that became his battle cry. He is the leader of the heavenly army, the prince of the angelic host, and the protector of the Church Militant on earth.
In Sacred Scripture, St Michael appears by name in the Book of Daniel, the Epistle of Jude, and the Book of Revelation. In Revelation 12:7-9, we read: “Then war broke out in heaven; Michael and his angels battled against the dragon.” This cosmic battle established Michael as the great defender of God’s people.
The most famous prayer to St Michael was composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1886 after he experienced a terrifying vision of the future persecution of the Church. He ordered it recited after every Low Mass throughout the world. Though this practice declined after Vatican II, Pope John Paul II urged the faithful to return to this prayer in 1994.
St Michael the 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 divine power of God, cast into hell Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
This prayer is a powerful spiritual weapon. It acknowledges that we are in a spiritual battle—contra spiritualia nequitiae in caelestibus—against the powers of darkness, as St Paul writes in Ephesians 6:12.
The Church has always venerated St Michael as her special protector. He is invoked in the Confiteor at Mass. Devotion to St Michael is especially important in times of crisis—when the Church faces persecution from without or confusion from within.
St Michael fulfills three distinct roles: leader of the heavenly army against evil, guardian of souls at the moment of death, and patron of the Church on earth. The Church celebrates the Feast of St Michael and All Angels (Michaelmas) on September 29.
Pray the St Michael prayer each morning as an act of consecration. Many Catholics pray it after Mass, before bedtime, or when spiritually attacked. As St John Henry Newman wrote, the angels are our guardians and guides.
The St Michael Chaplet—approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851—consists of nine salutations in honor of the nine choirs of angels, each followed by an Our Father and three Hail Marys.
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