The Lord is King
All nations, clap your hands; cry out to God in exultation,
for the Lord, the Most High, is greatly to be feared, and King over all
the
earth.
He has made whole peoples our subjects, put nations beneath our feet.
He has chosen our inheritance for us, the pride of Jacob, whom he loved.
God ascends amid rejoicing, the Lord goes up with trumpet blast.
Sing to God, sing praise. Sing to our king, sing praise.
God is king over the whole earth: sing to him with all your skill.
God reigns over the nations; God sits on his holy throne.
The nobles of the peoples join together with the people of the God of
Abraham,
for to God belong the armies of the earth; he is high above all things.
Psalm (47)
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September 29th - St. Michael the Archangel
The Church considers St. Michael, who stands between mankind and the
Divinity, as the mediator of her liturgical prayer. God, who made the
visible and invisible hierarchies with an admirable order, makes use of
the
ministry of the celestial spirits for his glory. The angelical choirs, who
contemplate ceaselessly the face of the Father, know, better than men, how
to adore and contemplate the beauty of His infinite perfections.
The Church on earth also invites the celestial spirits to praise and
glorify the Lord, to wor****p and ceaselessly adore Him. This contemplative
mission of the Angels is a model for us, as St. Leo reminds us in the
beautiful preface of his Sacramental:
"It behooves us to render graces to Thee, who teaches us through Thy
Apostle
that our life is directed toward Heaven; that Thou dost benevolently
desire
that our spirits are trans****ted to the heavenly region, the home of those
whom we venerate, and that especially on this day, the feast day of St.
Michael the Archangel, we ascend to these heights."
Comments of the late Prof. Plinio Corrêa de Oliveira: (died 1995)
St. Michael is the chief of the Angels who fought against the Devil and
the
bad Angels and threw them into Hell. He is the chief of the Guardian
Angels
of individuals, and also of institutions. He himself is the Guardian Angel
of the institution of all institutions, which is the Holy Roman Catholic
and
Apostolic Church. He has, therefore, a mission of tutelage. Regarding such
mission, we can ask what relation exists between St. Michael's first
mission
of defeating the revolted Angels and the protection he gives men in this
valley of tears.
The two missions are linked. God wanted St. Michael to be His ****eld
against
the Devil in the first celestial fight. He also wants St. Michael to be
the
****eld of men against the Devil, and the ****eld of the Holy Catholic
Church
as well. But St. Michael does not limit himself to be a ****eld of
protection. He is also a sword to defeat and hurl the enemy into Hell. It
is
a double mission that is correlated.
For this reason, in the Middle Ages St. Michael was considered the first
knight, the celestial knight: faithful, strong, and pure as a knight
should
be. He was also victorious, because he put all his trust in God, and after
the birth of Our Lady, all his confidence in her.
A company of knights defend Our Lady and the Church in this painting on a
side altar of the Duomo, Italy
It is this admirable figure of St. Michael whom we should consider our
natural ally in the fights in which we are called to engage in defense of
the honor of God, Our Lady, the Holy Church and Christian Civilization.
With
St. Michael as our model, we should defend them as a ****eld, and attack
their enemies as a sword in order to destroy the Devil's empire and
establish the Reign of Mary on this earth. St. Michael should be our
special
patron.
The selection points to a particular aspect of devotion to the Angels that
should be stressed. The Angels are inhabitants of the celestial court who
continuously see God face-to-face. The apex of angelic and human happiness
is to contemplate God, and this is the essence of life in Heaven; it is
what
makes Heaven the motherland of our souls. God continuously manifests new
aspects of Himself that suffuse the Angels with happiness.
In epochs of true faith, something of this heavenly happiness filtrates to
earth and is communicated to some pious souls, who, in their turn, express
it to the entire Church and incor****ate it into her spiritual treasure for
us to share. Today we sorely lack this sense of heavenly happiness and,
therefore, we have less appetite for Heaven. Many persons only have an
appetite for earthly things. If they could understand for only one moment
the consolation that comes from the consideration of heavenly things, they
would understand how provisory earthly goods are, how worthless they are,
how other values far transcend them. If they understood these things, they
would be able to remove themselves from their attachment to earthly goods.
But, in our days, people are enthusiastic about money, petty politics,
worldly things, the trivial life and its little news. They are no longer
elevated souls who are enthused by great doctrinal problems and celestial
things.
What we are so greatly lacking today is precisely what the holy Angels can
obtain for us. They are inundated with a heavenly happiness, which they
can
communicate to us. So, let us ask them to give us the desire for celestial
things. This is an excellent thing to ask on St. Michael the Archangel's
feast day, that we might model ourselves after him and become the perfect
knights of Our Lady on this earth.
Quote:
Be very mild and very gracious in the midst of your exterior occupations,
for everyone expects this good example from you.
-St. Francis de Sales
Bible Quote
21 And you shall call this day most solemn, and most holy. You shall do no
servile work therein. It shall be an everlasting ordinance in all your
dwellings and generations. (Leviticus 23:21)
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The Traditional prayer to Saint Michael, the Archangel:
O Glorious Archangel St. Michael, Prince of the heavenly host, be our
defense in the terrible warfare which we carry on against principalities
and
powers, against the rulers of this world of darkness, spirits of evil.
Come
to the aid of man, whom God created immortal, made in His own image and
likeness, and redeemed at a great price from the tyranny of the devil.
Fight this day the battle of the Lord, together with the holy angels, as
already thou hast fought the leader of the proud angels, Lucifer, and his
apostate host, who were powerless to resist thee, nor was there place for
them any longer in Heaven. That cruel, that ancient serpent, who is
called
the devil or satan, who seduces the whole world, was cast into the abyss
with his angels.
Behold, this primeval enemy and slayer of men has taken courage.
Transformed
into an angel of light, he wanders about with all the multitude of wicked
spirits, invading the earth in order to blot out the name of God and of
His
Christ, to seize upon, slay and cast into eternal perdition souls destined
for the crown of eternal glory. This wicked dragon pours out, as a most
impure flood, the venom of his malice on men of depraved mind and corrupt
heart, the spirit of lying, of impiety, of blasphemy, and the pestilent
breath of impurity, and of every vice and iniquity.
These most crafty enemies have filled and inebriated with gall and
bitterness the Church, the spouse of the Immaculate Lamb, and have laid
impious hands on her most sacred possessions. In the Holy Place itself,
where has been set up the See of the most holy Peter and the Chair of
Truth
for the light of the world, they have raised the throne of their
abominable
impiety, with the iniquitous design that when the Pastor has been struck,
the sheep may be scattered.
Arise then, O invincible Prince, bring help against the attacks of the
lost
spirits to the people of God, and give them the victory. They venerate
thee
as their protector and patron; in thee Holy Church glories as her defense
against the malicious power of hell; to thee has God entrusted the souls
of
men to be established in heavenly beatitude. Oh, pray to the God of peace
that He may put satan under our feet, so far conquered that he may no
longer
be able to hold men in captivity and harm the Church. Offer our prayers
in
the sight of the Most High, so that they may quickly conciliate the
mercies
of the Lord; and beating down the dragon, the ancient serpent, who is the
devil and satan, do thou again make him captive in the abyss, that he may
no
longer seduce the nations. Amen.
From Pope Leo XIII Moto Proprio of September 25, 1888.
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