St. Michael, Defend Us in Battle

On September 29, 2008, the Feast of the Archangels, Human Life International launched its Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer Campaign for the Conversion of Abortionists. Recognizing that the fight against the culture of death is primarily a spiritual battle, the prayer campaign was designed to encourage the faithful after every Mass to seek Saint Michael’s intercession for the conversion of abortionists and all agents involved in the crime of abortion. HLI asked people to sign a pledge, to pray the Saint Michael Prayer daily and distribute as many copies of the prayer as possible.

Since 2008, HLI has, through this campaign, united hundreds of thousands of people around the world in this powerful prayer of intercession and invocation. Over 2.5 million prayer cards in 27 different languages have been distributed since then.  Because of the worldwide threat against the dignity of life, we continue to vigorously promote this devotion.

According to Saint Paul: “Our struggle is not with flesh and blood but with the principalities, with the powers, with the world rulers of this present darkness, with the evil spirits in the heavens.” (Ephesians 6:12) The widespread acceptance of abortion is perhaps the clearest proof of this reality — the legalization of a crime that destroys tens of thousands of lives every day across the world, and over two billion since this scourge began decades ago.

Pope Leo XIII composed the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer in response to the threats of evil consuming the world and required it to be recited after the celebration of every Holy Mass. Pope Pius XI asked the faithful to pray the prayer for the restoration of religious freedom in Russia, who was threatening to spread her “errors” throughout the world. As we know, the Soviet Union was the first country to legalize abortion. Blessed John Paul II in 1994 urged the faithful to devoutly recite the prayer in order to obtain heavenly assistance in the battle against the forces of darkness.

Before his conversion in 1979, Doctor Bernard Nathanson was a successful gynecologist and co-founder of NARAL. He was responsible for close to 75,000 abortions during his career as an obstetrician before undergoing his conversion. His life is but one example of many who have been transformed through the power of prayer and heavenly intervention. We need to pray more earnestly in order to lovingly pull lost souls out of the grip of darkness because we seek not the death of a sinner but their conversion.

We have also seen the effect of prayer in asking for the intercession of the Mother of Jesus during our From Ocean to Ocean Campaign in Defense of Life. Now moving through the Southeast, HLI’s Father Peter West reports another miraculous event in Tallahassee, as a surprise return to the area and a prayer at an abortion clinic was followed soon by the clinic’s sudden closure.  It’s God who wins these battles, and He wants to do so with our collaboration in prayer, through the intercession of His mother and others who are particularly close to Him in Heaven. This is how His grace works!

As we enter into the Season of Lent, we are called to do penance, acts of charity and to deepen our spiritual lives. I am humbly asking you to join HLI in praying the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer every day during Lent, especially after Mass, for the conversion of abortionists and all agents who participate in the crime of abortion. I am asking you to pray this prayer daily as a family and encourage others — friends, neighbors and fellow parishioners — to join us in this devotional prayer. Please help us spread this powerful devotion to as many as possible.

God became man to destroy the power of evil forever so that we might live and never die. Saint Michael reminds us of the infinite goodness of the Heavenly Father and the mercy He extends towards all He loves. If we can spread this devotion, we can help bring about the conversion of souls, the protection of human life and the building up of a Culture of Life.

For more information on HLI’s Saint Michael Prayer Campaign, please visit http://www.stmichaelprayercampaign.com.

This article is courtesy of Human Life International.