Dear parishioners,
As was announced last week and you should notice this weekend, we have begun the recitation of the prayer to St. Michael the Archangel at the end of our weekend Masses and Masses which fall on holy days of obligation. As for our weekday Masses, this prayer was recently added as part of the ending of the Rosary which follows our daily Masses, so we won’t be duplicating the prayer by adding it at the end of the daily Masses.
All priests received this request from Archbishop Sample last month. Here’s an excerpt from that letter explaining why he has made the request:
We find ourselves in very distressing times with continued revelations about the failures of our brother priests and bishops. It seems to me that the evil one has intensified his war against the Mystical Body and its members.
There are many things we can do as a local church to play our part in the purification of the Church at this time, however prayer will also be the foremost and most appropriate response, on which all other efforts will build.
I would like to strongly encourage you therefore to pray the St. Michael Prayer after each parish Mass and in turn encourage your parishioners also to personally say this prayer daily.
I think that after the final blessing and at the foot of the altar would be the appropriate time and place, after which the recessional hymn, could begin.
The St. Michael Prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII, is a forceful weapon in our armory of devotions, and St. Michael the Archangel is an intercessor of great power.
Pope Leo XIII wrote this prayer in 1886 and it became a mainstay at the, now called, Extraordinary Mass. Later, other prayers were also added, called the “Leonine Prayers”. They were officially suppressed via Vatican II’s Instruction Inter Oecumenici, which went into effect on March 7, 1965. The faithful were never prohibited to offer this prayer on their own, but the obligatory recitation at the end of Mass ended at that time.
The prayer to St. Michael the Archangel is easily found on the back cover of our music book in the pews. As for our Spanish Mass, we will be placing the prayer in the inside cover of the Spanish music books, Flor y Canto.
In addition to this prayer of protection, I would like to also add that we all engage at home in prayers for the victims of abuse by anyone working in the name of the Church. We are a hospital of sinner in need of healing and grace, and what hurts one of our members, hurts the entire body. Let us join together in solidarity for this important healing mission of our Church.
Blessings,
Fr. William Holtzinger
Pastor