A Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated at the St. Michael Altar of St. Peter’s Basilica today
Posted on 09/29/2026 4:02:02 PM PDT by ebb tide
A Traditional Latin Mass was celebrated at the St. Michael Altar of St. Peter’s Basilica today
Sermon for the Feast
From the book of Revelation:
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon; and the dragon and his angels fought,butthey weredefeated and there was no longer any place for them in heaven. And the great dragon was thrown down, that ancient serpent, who is called the Devil and Satan, the deceiver of the whole world—he was thrown down to the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying, “Now the salvation and the power and the kingdom of our God and the authority of his Christ have come, for the accuser of our brethren has been thrown down, who accuses them day and night before our God.
It is always an occasion of joy for me to celebrate this Mass of St. Michael the Archangel.
For some, this feast is at best quaint, looking back to another time, but with little relevance to today. But in fact, this feast has a strong scriptural basis, both in the Old and New Testaments, and this basis has a climax in the book of Revelation where it is St Michael who leads the army of heaven against the army of the fallen angels, this battle that is cosmic in extent and involves at its deepest level the battle between those who are faithful to God and those who have rebelled and continue to rebel against God. But remember that this rebellion is not like a worldly rebellion whether against the forces of injustice or a rebellion whose roots lie in popular sentiment. This is the primordial rebellion of creation against God by those whom God created as pure intellect as his messengers and who, led by Lucifer, threw down the terrible and deadly gauntlet in the words: Non serviam. I will not serve.
Those words area very dramatic, but they are the same words spoken by the world that has deliberately turned its back on God’s promise of salvation in the person of Jesus Christ. The world constantly speaks of personal freedom, defining that freedom in terms of the freedom for each individual to define what is good, that is, good for him or her, and then live one’s life accordingly. Remember how St Paul defines freedom: “whose service is perfect freedom.” Freedom for the Christian is not primarily a political term or a philosophical term. The only freedom for the Christian is that freedom bought on the Cross of Jesus Christ, the freedom from sin and death. And it is within that freedom that I accept my obligation to serve God, and it is precisely in that act of service that I find that freedom that no one can take away, for it is the freedom from the slavery of sin, the freedom that opens up to heaven itself.
Our culture defines freedom in terms of the individual. Catholics define freedom in terms of the decision to love, and not love in general, but the love of God for us in the person of Jesus Christ. This is sacrificial love, the love that is celebrated here in the Mass. And yet, how many Catholics understand that today in our increasingly militant secular culture that defines truth itself in terms of what the individual happens to believe? How many times have people said to me: “Well, that is your truth, but my truth if very different.”? How many Catholics today understand what Jesus meant when he said: “I am the way, the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me?” Very often the statistic is thrown out that as many as 70% of Catholics do not believe in the Real Presence of Christ in the Eucharist. But we rarely hear that the reason why this disbelief is so common is that Catholics have been dumbed down for so many years about the very basis of our faith, The basis of our faith is Jesus Christ, true God and true man. When the Mass is celebrated in a way that denies that this act is a meeting of heaven and earth that demands awe and reverence, then Catholicism becomes mere religion and if this is true then why bother, and many Catholics no longer bother.
We celebrate today the great feast of St. Michael the Archangel. But in the culture in which we live, angels like St. Michael are not popular, because they are too masculine, they are too strong, they evoke the reality of spiritual warfare, they remind us too much of those strong Gospel passages where Jesus uses strong words in speaking about sin and death, light and darkness, about the eternal consequences of choices made in this life.
Towards the end of the nineteenth century, Pope Leo XIII was granted a special vision of the state of the world at that time, and what he saw in that vision moved him so deeply, for he saw in that vision the battle that is constantly being waged by Satan, the fallen angel, and his minions, against the Church and against every human being. Because Satan was thrown down from heaven along with his fallen angels, does not mean that he is not at work among us in this world. And because of that vision Leo XIII asked that in every Catholic parish that a prayer to St Michael be said after every Mass: that St Michael may defend us in battle and protect us from the power of Satan. That prayer was suppressed in the liturgical reforms after the Second Vatican Council. But piety that relates to the reality of the situation cannot be suppressed, and in the past ten or fifteen years, we have seen the spontaneous return of this prayer on the lips of our people. Because of the situation of the world today, because of what our people see in our society, which society includes our own country\ our own families, and this includes those who are called to serve the Church: more and more parishes, are praying this great prayer, for the dangers of this present age are great, and prayer to the great champion of God, whose name means: who is like God? is salutary and necessary in today’s world, a world that has in so many ways forgotten God, as if He no longer exists. So on this feast of St Michael, let us remember to pray this prayer every day, and that includes today, when we will offer this prayer as always directly after Mass.
• 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"
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Ping
This Basilica was consecrated to St. Michael by Boniface II on the site of the Roman Circus.
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“MI-CA-EL,” or “Who is like to God?” Such was the cry of the great Archangel when he smote the rebel Lucifer in the conflict of the heavenly hosts, and from that hour he has been known as “Michael,” the captain of the armies of God, the type of divine fortitude, the champion of every faithful soul in strife with the powers of evil. Thus he appears in Holy Scripture as the guardian of the children of Israel, their comfort and protector in times of sorrow or conflict. He it is who prepares for their return from the Persian captivity, who leads the valiant Maccabees to victory, and who rescues the body of Moses from the envious grasp of the Evil One. And since Christ’s coming the Church has ever venerated St. Michael as her special patron and protector. The Church invokes him by name in her confession of sin, summons him to the side of her children in the agony of death, and chooses him as their escort from the chastening flames of purgatory to the realms of holy light. Lastly, when Antichrist shall have set up his kingdom on earth, it is Michael who will unfurl once more the standard of the Cross, sound the last trumpet, and binding together the false prophet and the beast, hurl them for all eternity into the burning pool.
Reflection—“Whenever,” says St. Bernard, “any grievous temptation or vehement sorrow oppresses thee, invoke thy guardian, thy leader; cry out to him, and say, ‘Lord, save us, lest we perish!’”
God be favorable to me, a sinner,
and be my guard all the days of my life.
God of Abraham, God of Isaac, God of Jacob,
have mercy on me, and send to my aid Michael your Archangel,
that he may keep, protect and defend me
from all my enemies, visible and invisible.
Holy Michael, the Archangel of God, defend me in battle,
that I may not perish in the dreadful judgment.
Archangel of Christ, by the grace which you have merited
I beseech you, through Our Only-Begotten Lord Jesus Christ,
draw me today and always from deadly peril.
Holy Michael, Holy Gabriel, Holy Raphael,
all holy angels and archangels of God, hasten to help me.
I beseech you all, you heavenly Virtues,
that by the power of the most high God you give me your aid,
so that no enemy may be able to condemn or oppress me,
neither in my house, nor out of it,
neither sleeping nor walking.
Behold + the cross of the Lord, begone your enemies.
The lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered;
Root of David, stem of Jesse, savior of the world,
who have redeemed me through your cross and blood,
save me, help me, my God.
Agios, Agios, Agios.
Cross of Christ, protect me.
Cross of Christ, save me.
Cross of Christ, defend me from every evil.
Thank you for the prayer. I have a devotion to St. Michael. I went to Mas this morning, and we said the short version of the Pope Leo XIII prayer after Mass. I will say this one tonight.
In my parish, we say the St Michael prayer after every Mass.
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