If there is one Catholic prayer that has crossed every continent, every language, and every century since the late 1800s, it is the Prayer to Saint Michael the Archangel composed by Pope Leo XIII. Catholics in police stations, hospitals, war zones, recovery rooms, and bedrooms at 3 a.m. say it. Many parishes still pray it after every Mass. The text is short enough to memorize in five minutes.
This is who Saint Michael is, where the famous prayer came from, and how Catholics across the world mark his feast on 29 September.
Who Saint Michael Is
Saint Michael (Hebrew Mi-ka-el, "Who is like God?") is the archangel named four times in Scripture:
- Daniel 10:13, 21 — Michael as "one of the chief princes" who defends Israel
- Daniel 12:1 — Michael will arise to protect God's people in the time of distress
- Jude 9 — Michael disputes with the devil over the body of Moses
- Revelation 12:7–9 — Michael and his angels war against the dragon, and the dragon is cast down
The name itself is a question — "Who is like God?" — and that question is the answer to the pride of Lucifer, who tried to make himself like God. Michael's name is the rebuke of every prideful claim.
In Catholic tradition, Michael is one of the three archangels named in Scripture (with Gabriel and Raphael), the prince of the heavenly host, and the protector of the Church. His feast on September 29 is the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael — one feast for all three.
What He Is Patron Of
Saint Michael is patron of:
- Police officers (the badge of many police forces around the world carries his image)
- Soldiers, paratroopers, and the military
- Paramedics, EMTs, and emergency responders
- The sick and the dying — in the Catholic prayer for the dying, Michael is invoked to lead the soul to God
- Grocers (a medieval guild patronage)
- Mariners — many port cities have a Saint Michael chapel on the harbor
- The Church as a whole — Michael is its angelic protector
The Famous Prayer (Leo XIII, 1886)
In 1886, Pope Leo XIII reportedly had a vision of demonic spirits descending on Rome and the Church. He composed this prayer immediately afterward and ordered it to be prayed after every Low Mass throughout the Latin Church. The custom continued from 1886 until the liturgical reforms of 1965, when it became optional. In the past two decades, many parishes have restored it.
The prayer:
Saint 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 host, by the power of God, thrust into hell Satan and all evil spirits who prowl through the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
That is the entire prayer. Forty-five seconds to say. Worth memorizing.
A longer version, written by Leo XIII at the same time (rarely prayed publicly but available in many devotional books), expands it considerably with theological and historical references to the Church's struggles with evil.
The Chaplet of Saint Michael
Less well known than the prayer, but a powerful devotion in its own right, the Chaplet of Saint Michael was revealed to a Portuguese Carmelite nun, Antonia of Astonac, in the early 1700s. She was told that the chaplet would obtain for those who prayed it the assistance of nine choirs of angels in life, and at the hour of death, escort to heaven.
The chaplet is prayed on a special chaplet with nine sections of three beads each, plus four concluding beads. It has nine salutations — one for each angelic choir — followed by an Our Father, three Hail Marys, and the standard concluding prayers.
A condensed version many Catholics simply pray on regular rosary beads:
By the intercession of Saint Michael and the celestial Choir of Seraphim, may the Lord make us worthy to burn with the fire of perfect charity. Our Father, three Hail Marys.
(Repeat the pattern for each angelic choir: Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, Dominions, Virtues, Powers, Principalities, Archangels, Angels.)
Concluding prayers:
Saint Michael the Archangel, glorious prince, chief and champion of the heavenly host... obtain for me from the Lord the grace I now ask of you (intention).
Many editions of the Catholic prayer book Saint Andrew Daily Missal and Pieta Prayer Book carry the full text.
The Great Shrines
Three ancient shrines on the European pilgrimage map — set on a famous "sword line" running roughly from Ireland to the Holy Land — anchor the worldwide cult of Saint Michael:
Monte Sant'Angelo in Apulia, southern Italy. Apparition of Saint Michael to the bishop of Siponto in AD 490. The cave-sanctuary on Monte Gargano is the oldest western Christian shrine to Saint Michael — visited continuously since the fifth century. UNESCO World Heritage site.
Mont-Saint-Michel in Normandy, France. Apparition to Bishop Aubert of Avranches in AD 708. The abbey rising from a tidal island remains one of France's most visited pilgrimage sites.
Skellig Michael off the southwest coast of Ireland. Monastic settlement from the sixth or seventh century, dedicated to the archangel. UNESCO heritage site. (Also famous to film audiences from the Star Wars sequel trilogy.)
There are dozens more — in Spain, in Germany, in Poland, in Greece — but those three together form the spine of the medieval Saint Michael pilgrimage.
Feast Day
Tuesday, 29 September 2026 is the Feast of the Holy Archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael. In English tradition this day is also called Michaelmas — once one of the four "quarter days" of the English calendar when rents were paid and accounts settled.
In the Catholic liturgical year, the day is a feast (one rank below a solemnity). The readings include Daniel 7 (the Son of Man and the angels) and Revelation 12 (Michael fighting the dragon).
How the Feast Is Marked
In Italy, Monte Sant'Angelo holds pilgrimages and processions through the cave-sanctuary. Many parishes pray the Chaplet of Saint Michael in addition to the Leo XIII prayer that day.
In Poland, św. Michał Archanioł is widely venerated; many parishes and chapels are dedicated to him, and the Sanktuarium św. Michała Archanioła in Krzemna near Kraków is the largest Polish shrine to him. The Leo XIII prayer is prayed after every Mass in many parishes throughout the year, particularly in the diocese of Kraków following the lead of John Paul II.
In France, Mont-Saint-Michel celebrates with Mass at the abbey and pilgrimages along the medieval routes leading to it. In Normandy and Brittany, parishes hold foire de Saint-Michel (Saint Michael fairs) — once important agricultural markets, now folk festivals.
In Spain, San Miguel Arcángel is celebrated widely; in many regions September 29 is a regional or municipal patronal feast.
In Brazil, São Miguel Arcanjo has parishes named for him in every state; many police chaplaincies hold special votive Mass on the feast.
In Germany and Austria, Michaeli (Michaelmas) traditions remain in agricultural and folk life: Michaelimarkt (Michaelmas markets), Michaelisbraten (goose), and special Mass with the choir of angels in the Eucharistic Prayer.
How to Mark the Feast
A simple shape for Tuesday, 29 September 2026:
Morning. Pray the Leo XIII Prayer to Saint Michael, slowly, out loud. Memorize it that day if you don't already know it.
Sometime in the day. Pray the (condensed) Chaplet of Saint Michael, or just one decade of it. Read Revelation 12:7–12 — Michael and the dragon.
At Mass. Many parishes celebrate the feast as scheduled in their daily Mass; some add an evening solemn Mass. The day's readings include Daniel 7 and Revelation 12 — listen for them.
For police, paramedics, soldiers, ER nurses, firefighters in your life: pray the Leo XIII prayer for them by name. Saint Michael is their patron.
Before bed. Pray it once more, this time for protection over the night ahead.
Where This Fits at Haven
The Leo XIII prayer is short enough to add to any daily prayer rhythm. If your current rhythm is just Haven's daily verse in the morning, the Saint Michael prayer pairs naturally with it as a closing protective petition.
For days when the weather is darker than the weather of ordinary anxiety, the bible verses for anxiety and bible verses for hope collections remain to hand. The Chaplet of Divine Mercy guide is another short repeating prayer for protection — Faustina, like Leo XIII, was given hers in response to spiritual battle.
A Final Word
The Catholic Church has never been shy about the reality of evil and the reality of protection. Saint Michael the Archangel stands as the personal name for that protection — given to the Church through Scripture, deepened by centuries of pilgrimage and prayer, formalized by Leo XIII into the simplest of all Catholic intercessions.
Forty-five seconds. Once a day. Or after each Mass. Or the night someone you love is at risk.
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Holy archangels Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, pray for us.