Pastor’s Letter: January 19, 2020

Pastor’s Letter: January 19, 2020

17 Jan 2020 | Posted by: chadmin

Dear friend,

Between 1884 and 1886, Pope Leo XIII had a vision after praying the Mass at the Vatican. Those present said the pope had a pale and fearful look on his face as the event took place. The pope had some sort of vision about demonic spirits attacking the Church and the world, that lasted about 10 minutes. After the vision, the pope went to his office and penned the St. Michael the Archangel prayer. The pope requested that the prayer be prayed by the faithful throughout the world after every daily Mass. The prayer is an assent to the reality that the Church and all people of faith are constantly under attack by evil to deny faith in God and not to live the commandments of God. In 1964, the Vatican removed the requirement that every Mass include the St. Michael Prayer at its conclusion. During his pontificate, Pope John Paul II, in talking about the St. Michael Prayer, asked that everyone “not forget it and recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of the world.” In response to the first and second World Wars, the Pope John Paul II saw the need to encourage the faithful to pray the St. Michael prayer at church and at home.

A few years ago, Bishop Daniel Jenky of Peoria invited the faithful of our Diocese to pray the St. Michael prayer in response to perceived threats against the mission of our Church in modern society. Last year, Bishop Jenky invited the priests and faithful to consider ways of expanding the intention of offering the prayer at Mass. Aware of the challenges in our modern world and Church, Bishop Jenky invited the faithful to continue praying the St. Michael prayer for the purification of the Church, the clergy and all faithful as we seek to live our faith in freedom. When the Bishop first asked the St. Michael prayer be recited, it seemed easiest to us the version of the prayer written on the back of our missalettes in the pews. This version is a bit different from the translation for the original Latin St. Michael prayer that the Diocese originally issued. While the prayer is essentially the same, a few varying words can cause confusion in our communal recitation of the prayer during Mass.  For this reason, I’d like to join us together and pray the version released by Bishop Jenky in his press release. Below is the text of the prayer. We have also included the text of the prayer inside the cover of the green Journey Songs hymnal, for your convenience. Thank you for your understanding. In every day and age, we see the importance to pray to God for spiritual protection. Have a great week.

Saint 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 roam throughout the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

God bless,

Father David