Prayer of St. Michael After Mass making a comeback

[Tis_Bearself]

I am pleased that my google searches for a similar announcement by Archbishop Chaput have been unsuccessful.

I don’t know what you’re trying to say here, but Chaput called for the prayer to be said after every Mass. I know this first hand because I was at Mass celebrated by Archbishop Chaput last Sunday and he announced it and led us in prayer.

 

[Norseman82]

My parish started saying it on a regular basis about a month and a half ago.

 

[PeterT]

Lay people can respectfully request it be said. In my parish a family with many children says it quietly after Mass on their own, not in any way distracting to those who linger to pray.

The problem is most Catholics don’t know this prayer exists. Many no longer realize that angels or devils exist in any real way; they likely were taught they are strictly symbolic. It would be appropriate for a parish (and Catholic school) to at least teach people this prayer, and offer it as a congregation a few times a year.

That’s probably true but it’s not like that prayer isn’t readily available for those who seek it. It’s often a prayer that’s included in the missalette that Catholic churches use, like the Today’s Missal published by OCP.

 

[Limoncello4021]

I love that it is coming back. We need it! My diocese hasn’t caught on, but I have started to say it privately every day and after every Mass. It is a powerful prayer.

 

[PeterT]

I am uncomfortable with Bishop Caggiano’s direction that the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel be recited at the end of each and every Mass in his diocese. I am pleased that my google searches for a similar announcement by Archbishop Chaput have been unsuccessful.

From

https://twitter.com/x/status/1032984939564855296

“I would also like to announce that the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel will be recited at the end of each and every Mass celebrated in the Diocese, beginning on the Memorial of Our Lady of Sorrows. I ask that you begin to pray it personally as well.”

My problems are that it is not a prayer in the Roman Missal. Ending Mass with it is not in the Roman Missal. Bishop Caggiano seems to be reversing a decision made by Pope Paul VI and promulgated in the 1964 Instruction Inter Oecumenici, 48 (at http://www.ewtn.com/library/curia/cdwinoec.htm ):

It’s pretty presumptuous to question the directive of a bishop in regards to this. I’m sure he is far more well verse about the requirements of the Roman Missal than either you or me. That said, I think the directive is to say the prayer AFTER the Mass has ended, not during the Mass itself (though his tweet wasn’t clear in regards to this). This is how it has been traditionally done at all the Masses I’ve been to where it has been recited: said always AFTER the Mass has officially ended (per the Roman Missal).

 

[Tis_Bearself]

Yeah, it’s on the back cover of many of the missalettes I see in church, along with other common prayers.

St. Michael is also a pretty well-known saint among anyone who is in the military, law enforcement, or first responders and most of those folks have at least heard the prayer in their life or know it exists even if they don’t pray it regularly. I realize not everyone is in the military or law enforcement, but there are huge groups of Catholics who are involved or have a close family member involved.

 

[Tis_Bearself]

I further note that it is now in print as of Oct 3 that Archbishop Chaput called for this prayer. The NC Register article that someone already posted above was just amended to add Philadelphia.

• Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, where Archbishop Charles Chaput has asked all pastors to consider taking up the practice in their parishes.

This story was updated Oct. 3 to include Philadelphia.

 

[poche]

I remember when I was 3 and my mother brought me to mass. Everything was in Latin and although I tried to follow along it was difficult. When the priest knelt down at the end of mass to say those prayer I remember thinking, “At last! he is finally saying some prayers that I know.”

 

[JohnLilburne]

Thank you for finding the article at http://www.ncregister.com/daily-news/us-bishops-seek-intercession-of-st.-michael

According to it:

“In a letter to priests of the Toledo Diocese, Bishop Thomas said he sees the addition of the prayer, which is to be recited after the dismissal of Mass and before the closing hymn …”

In the description of the Chrism Mass in the Ceremonial of Bishops we have:

“292 …. After the deacon has said, The Mass in ended, go in peace (or one of the other formulas), the procession to the vesting room (sacristy) is formed.

293 Then the ceserbearer carrying a censer with burning incense leads the procession, and the blessed oils are carried, each by its own minister, immediately after the cross; the choir and the people sing some verses of the hymn O Redemptor or some other suitable song.

294 In the vesting room (sacristy) the bishop may instruct the presbyters about the reverent use and safe custody of the holy oils.39.”

So in the Mass they make a Renewal of Priestly Promises, including
“Are you resolved to be faithful stewards of the mysteries of God
in the Holy Eucharist and other liturgical rites …”

Then they will fail to follow Canon 846 §1:

“The liturgical books, approved by the competent authority, are to be faithfully followed in the celebration of the sacraments. Accordingly, no one may on a personal initiative add to or omit or alter anything in those books.”

[From The Code of Canon Law: New Revised English Translation (c) 1997 The Canon Law Society Trust, HarperCollins Liturgical, isbn 000599375X. Excerpts from the English translation of Ceremonial of Bishops © 1989, International Commission on English in the Liturgy Corporation and The Roman Missal © 2010 ICEL. All rights reserved.]

 

[janeway529]

It never really left. It was just made optional. One of the parishes I attended as a child in the 1990s in Los Angeles, and to this day, still pray it after the 5:30pm daily Mass, after the Angelus.

 

[TexasLoneStar]

My church in the Diocese of Dallas has been doing this for quite a while after every daily Mass.

I really like it. It bridges the gap between the “low” Mass of the Novus Ordo and the Traditional Latin Low Mass.

I went to a Extraordinary Low Mass before and found it cool how they did the complete Leonine Prayers. I don’t think the mainstream diocesan churches will be bringing back all the Leonine Prayers any time soon… but at least the Saint Michael Prayer is a nice start!