Why Was The Prayer Of Saint Micheal Abandoned At The Conclusion Of Every Novus Ordo Mass

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ProVobis said:
You’re right. It must be my local group which adds the prayer to the Angelus.
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I’ve never heard the angelus without this prayer! (And I’m old!)

The prayer to St. Michael Archangel was never discontinued at one of my local churches, but the church is named after the angels. One of the people start the prayer as the priest begins to leave the altar. 🙂
 
pollycarp said:
I’ve never heard the angelus without this prayer! (And I’m old!)

The prayer to St. Michael Archangel was never discontinued at one of my local churches, but the church is named after the angels. One of the people start the prayer as the priest begins to leave the altar. 🙂
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I think it’s a great idea. I feel this prayer should be said several times during the day. I have a very great devotion to Michael and the angels, because I need all the help I can get!
 
Wardog said:
At our parish, after the exit hymn, the priest stays at the altar and leads the people in the Hail Mary, Hail Holy Queen and the St Michael prayer. Our priest started this after 9/11 and it has become a strong tradition. Very few people leave with the exit hymn; most stay thru these extra prayers. Everyone seems to value these a lot.
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What an awesome idea. This prayer is one of my most comforting. We say it often as a family.
 
centurionguard said:
My apologies if I’m placing this thread in the wrong Forum. I’m curious as to why the Saint Micheal Prayer was abandoned out of lack of importance, traditionally seen in the Latin Mass for over half a century, before the OF Mass came into effect?

The Prayer to the Archangel Michael. It’s a prayer that was devised by Pope Leo XIII after some sort of mystical experience in which the pontiff was given to understand that Satan was in a special period of aggression. It was then that the prayer was devised, and in 1886 Leo XIII ordered it said at the conclusion of Mass, which was done until the end of the Latin Mass whence in the start-up of the Novus Ordo Mass the Prayer was abandoned at the end of Mass.

I understand the Saint Micheal Prayer is a form of exorcism seen at the beginning of most Catholic Bibles as recommended reading.
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I have never seen the extended prayer. Thanks for posting it. St Michael is my Patron saint.
 
TrueLight said:
I have never seen the extended prayer. Thanks for posting it. St Michael is my Patron saint.
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I loved reading it, too.
Considering the battle the Holy See was in over the Papal States and the temporal rule of the time, it certainly puts the prayer in it’s full context.

When I studied that period of time of the Papacy and what it was dealing with, both in the local and international context, it makes perfect sense.
 
We say it at the end of the weekday mass that I attend, although that might be because it’s at the Pentagon and St. Micheal is the patron of the military.
 
Old_Medic said:
I went to Mass in 11different States, and in 5 foreign countries prior to 1964, and I have never once heard that prayer at the end of a Mass.
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It is still said after OF masses in many churches in the diocese of Arlington, Virginia.

So I think you’re correct, the prayer was a subject to local custom.
 
We say it in our parish after each and every Mass.

After the priest gives the final Blessing ( which is the end of Mass), we recite the St. Michael prayer while the altar boys are forming up.

We then sing the recessional hymn as they altar boys and the priest recess out.
 
A_Catholic said:
No one here has given the traditional story of why St. Leo wrote the prayer. Here it is:

On September 25, 1888, following his morning Mass, Pope Leo XIII became traumatized to the point that he collapsed. Those in attendance thought that he was dead. After coming to consciousness, the pope described a frightful conversation that he had heard coming from near the tabernacle. The conversation consisted of two voices – voices which Pope Leo XIII clearly understood to be the voices of Jesus Christ and the Devil. The Devil boasted that he could destroy the Church, if he were granted 75 years to carry out his -plan (or 100 years, according to some accounts). The Devil also asked permission for “a greater influence over those who will give themselves to my service.” To the Devil’s requests, Our Lord reportedly replied: “you will be given the time and the power.”

Shaken deeply by what he had heard, Pope Leo XIII composed the Prayer to St. Michael and ordered it to be recited after all Low Masses as a protection for the Church against the attacks from Hell.

ccel.org/node/4502

Seems to me we need this prayer more than ever
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The problem is that this story is a legend that was devised in the 1930s. The St. Michael prayer was prescribed for recitation in January 1886, more than two and a half years before the date you propose for its composition. Furthermore, the story of Leo’s vision has no basis in any statement or writing attributed to Leo himself, or to any of his contemporaries. It started to appear 40 or 50 years later, in the classic urban-legend form “The story goes that . . .” or “It is said that . . . .” And with the internet, of course, the tale is now enshrined forever!
 
MarkThompson said:
The problem is that this story is a legend that was devised in the 1930s. The St. Michael prayer was prescribed for recitation in January 1886, more than two and a half years before the date you propose for its composition. Furthermore, the story of Leo’s vision has no basis in any statement or writing attributed to Leo himself, or to any of his contemporaries. It started to appear 40 or 50 years later, in the classic urban-legend form “The story goes that . . .” or “It is said that . . . .” And with the internet, of course, the tale is now enshrined forever!
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Is that so? :eek:
 
At my home parish it is recited after every daily mass - lead by the priest. When a new priest comes to our church he quickly learns that the faithful will pray it outloud with or without him after the daily mass.
 
Timothysis said:
Most certainly. It is a Catholic urban legend.
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Over the past few years, I have found that the 2000 years of Catholic history certainly has it’s fair share (meaning a ton) of them.

And like you said, with the internet, has just spread the seeds of legend all over.

Take some time to wade thru many legends to find out if there is any credible foundation or not.

I always come away with the reminder that the Church is about the Lord, and not the legends of faith and piety that most certainly fill the landscape.
 
Timothysis said:
Most certainly. It is a Catholic urban legend.
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I am actually quite amazed because I have had more than one person repeat it to me solemnly. 😦

I feel like I just found out that Santa Clause isn’t real.
 
TrueLight said:
I am actually quite amazed because I have had more than one person repeat it to me solemnly. 😦

I feel like I just found out that Santa Clause isn’t real.
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You shouldn’t feel that way. It doesn’t add or distract from the Church. In the end, it doesn’t even really have anything to do with the life of the Church. Mark pointed out the inconsistencies in the story and I always thought that if it was “true” and believed, then why did the pope, after the Lateran treaty was signed, apply the intentions for the Church in Russia? Surely he would have continued the prayer for the sake of the Church in Rome, wouldn’t he?

In the end, it is a nice story though, isn’t it? 🙂
 
Timothysis said:
Most certainly. It is a Catholic urban legend.
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I haven’t seen anyone yet come up with documentation revealing beyond unequivocal proof that Pope Leo’s XIII vision was fake. One thing that is known about many Catholics is that they (“can be great pessimist.”)

A WORD ABOUT VISIONS AND PRIVATE PROPHECIES

The general rule of the Catholic Church is to flee from unapproved private visions and private prophecies as if from temptation, to paraphrase St. John of the Cross.

**However, certain private prophecies or visions from recognized (“holy persons or saints”) have been recognized by the Church in one way or another as (“worthy of belief.") This does not mean that these private prophecies are binding on anyone’s faith, as are the public revelations which come from the Old Testament and the New Testament up until the death of the Last Apostle, St. John, in 91 A.D.

When approved prophecies (worthy of belief, that is, having nothing in them against Faith or morals), which give the same message, come from many different saints or holy persons in many different countries, and from many different centuries, then we might be wise to take at least a passing notice. St. Paul tells us to “Despise not prophecy,” (I Thess. 5:20, 21), that is, despise not Scriptural prophecy, or prophecy declared by the Church as worthy of belief, or which is allowed to be published as “credible” when such prophecies emanate from saints, holy persons, or learned and recognized Catholic scholars.

The same goes for a vision of a Holy Pope, such as the 1884 vision of Pope Leo XIII.**
 
Marie5890 said:
Over the past few years, I have found that the 2000 years of Catholic history certainly has it’s fair share (meaning a ton) of them.
.
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Very true. Even certain saints were dropped from the calender because of questions about their validity.
 
Timothysis said:
Very true. Even certain saints were dropped from the calender because of questions about their validity.
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The ones I tend to doubt most are the stories of Saints levitating.

I tend to be skeptical anyway, so I did think maybe the Pope was having a stroke or something and that is why he imagined his talk with Satan. 😛

But nevertheless, I chose to believe that something real happened. It didn’t matter if it was real or not, because we do need to pray for St Michael’s intercession.

But to think something like this, that I have heard repeated over and over is an urban legend, is disturbing.
 
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