THE GREATNESSES OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL 40 Days Devotion in Honor of the Heavenly Prince of Angels by Fr. Nicola Ricci, 1869 MONTH OF SAINT MICHAEL: MEDITATIONS DAY TWENTY-THREE

23rd Meditation Greatness Of Saint Michael Defender Of The Catholic Church.

THE GREATNESSES OF SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL 40 Days Devotion in Honor of the Heavenly Prince of Angels by Fr. Nicola Ricci, 1869 MONTH OF SAINT MICHAEL: MEDITATIONS DAY TWENTY-THREE 23rd Meditation Greatness Of Saint Michael Defender Of The Catholic Church.
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I. When Jesus died on the cross, Saint Michael received the government of the Catholic Church. God has vested him with His authority to direct, protect and defend her with his power. The Catholic Church glorifies herself to have him as her protector; this is what she sings in the liturgy of the feast of the Archangel’s apparition. The Fathers and Doctors of the Church themselves have celebrated his title of Patron of the Holy Church; only a non-Catholic person can deny him this title. Many countries have chosen such or such saint as their protector, but the Catholic Church, through the will of God, has chosen him. Therefore, after the Blessed Virgin, he is the one who rules, governs and sustains her.
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II. Saint Michael has always shown that he is the first and great defender of the Catholic Church. The devil, the enemy of God, is also an enemy of the Church, against which he has been fighting ever since her founding on Calvary and on the day of the Pentecost. Saint John in his Apocalypse, speaks about this enemy of the Church, the infernal dragon, which has the power to wage a war against the saints, remove the cult of God from the earth, and turn men away from their salvation. Saint Michael, according to the predictions of Daniel the Prophet, defends the Church. Since the beginning, Satan has fought against the Church in several ways. First of all, he raised up tyrants to persecute her, as soon as she was born. Saint Michael has sustained the faithful in their faith by making them overcome all torments, and by multiplying their energy when their faith was flickering. The blood of martyrs, says Tertullian, is a sowing that fecundates the Church. The second battle was the one with hereticals. Now, Saint Michael, by enlightening doctors and assisting the Church in her councils, made the truth of the Catholic Faith shine forth. And the third battle, he wages it through bad Christians, who, by the immorality of their customs, sully the immaculate garment of the Spouse of Christ. Now, Saint Michael, by reviving glory and joy to the Church. The last battle will be the one against the antichrist, and Saint Michael will defend the Church again, and succeed in killing the beast which is the antichrist.
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III. Let us consider how Saint Michael is the watchful guardian of the whole Church and of every one of her children until the end of the world. He governs her constantly and is the channel that guides torrents of graces of the whole mystical body. Today again, the Church of Christ experiences all these fights which we have described. That is why every Christian must call upon the invincible arm of the archangel, the defender of the Church. In these sad days, heresy, impiety and iniquity, boasting with the name of justice, give to the Church a terrible persecution, so much more cruel because it puts on the mask of hypocrisy. Every snare is set for the faithful to lose faith in their mind and turn away from the See of Saint Peter the Apostle, center of Catholicism. Satan creates confusion and stirs up passions and the clash of false ideas. Thus, every Christian must pray, with a humble confidence, to file Prince of Angels, so that he may send the heavenly hosts to guard the Church and make her gain the victory.
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PRAYER
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Saint Michael, prince of the heavenly hosts, victor of wicked spirits and protector of the Church, free those who have recourse to thee in adversity. Through thy ministry and intercession, grant that we may ever make progress in the service of God.
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SALUTATION
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Hail, Saint Michael, pillar of the Holy Church.
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SPIRITUAL BOUQUET
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You will do 15 minutes of adoration before the Blessed Sacrament, for the exaltation and defense of the Catholic Church.

HYMN IN HONOR OF ST MICHAEL.
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O Jesus! splendour of the Father
life and virtue of the heart.
The Father’s Power and Glory bright!
Thee with Angels we extol;
from Thee they draw their life and light.
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Thy thousand, thousand hosts are spread,
embattled o’er the azure sky;
but Michael bears Thy standard dread,
and lifts the mighty Cross on high.
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He in that sign the rebel powers
did with their dragon prince expel:
and hurled them from heaven’s high towers.
down like a thunderbolt to hell.
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Grant us with Michael still, O Lord,
against the Prince of Pride to fight;
so may a crown be our reward,
before the Lamb’s pure throne of light.
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To God the Father and the Son
and Holy Paraclete to Thee,
as evermore hath been before,
be glory through eternity. Amen.