LENT OF ST. MICHAEL
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August 15, 2021St. Michael’s Lent is a period of 40 days, honoring Mary and St. Michael the Archangel.
It begins on the Feast of the Assumption and ends on The Feast of the Archangels.
“[St. Francis of Assisi] wished along with the most faithful Brothers . . . to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (August 15)
and then prepare himself by a forty days’ fast for the Feast of St. Michael (September 29).
In common with the rest of the people of the Middle Ages, Francis nourished a special devotion to this Archangel, signifer santus Michaelis, the standard-bearer of the Heavenly Host,
and the one who with his trumpet was to wake the dead in their graves on the last day . . . .”(from St. Francis of Assisi by Jorgensen)
SAINT MICHAEL
the Archangel
St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in battle.
Be our defense against
The wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him,
we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts,
by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen
ABOUT THE PRAYER:
In 1886 Pope Leo XIII instituted what would later be known as the “Leonine Prayers” after Mass (something familiar to those who have attended a Low Mass in the Extraordinary Form). These prayers include the well-known Prayer to St. Michael.
Several different reports relate that Pope Leo had a profound vision that sparked the creation of the Prayer to St. Michael and a visible change come over his face during the vision. One claims that his face was “pale and fearful.”
A cardinal at the time who knew the pope’s private secretary explains that “Pope Leo XIII truly had a vision of demonic spirits, who were gathering on the Eternal City (Rome). From that experience … comes the prayer which he wanted the whole Church to recite.”
For more: https://aleteia.org/2017/09/25/the-demonic-vision-that-inspired-the-st-michael-prayer/
