The Discernment of Spirits

The Angel God Promises

St Michael Prayer In Latin  

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, princeps militiae caelestis, in virtute Dei, in infernum detrude satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo. Amen.

Saint Michael Prayer in English 

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle, be our protection 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, cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. 

Learning Latin Prayers

For me, it's much easier to learn a prayer in Latin when I can match up the Latin word or phrase with the English. This is why I always work on learning a new prayer using a side by side or line by line translation like the one below. 

While it's possible to guess the English meaning of some of the Latin when reading the prayers side by side, other lines and phrases can be confusing. If you use Chrome, you can translate the Latin by highlighting a given word or phrase with the Google Translate add-on (here). If you don't use Chrome just google Google Translate and copy and paste.

Side By Side / Line By Line Version (Latin and English)

Why Pray in Latin?

And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. - John 19:19,20 (Douay Rheims Bible)

It commonly said that the devil hates Latin and, in my own experience with prayer, this is absolutely true. Latin (along with Greek and Hebrew) is a sacred language by virtue of its use upon the cross. It is also the language of the Mass.

The angels love the Mass. For me, attending the traditional Latin Mass with an awareness of the presence of the angels is beyond beautiful. When I drop to my knees for the Sanctus, I can almost feel them hovering, gentle and pure, all around us.

At every Holy Mass, heaven is opened for us and we join in the praise and adoration of the Angels who stand night and day before the Throne of God singing unceasingly, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty..." Through the perfection of their praise, the Holy Angels can lead us more deeply into this praise of God and loving communion with Him and His divine Son in the Sacred Liturgy. - The Holy Mass as Communio (Opus Angelorum Circular: Advent 2021)

Holy Communion by Angelo Graf von Courten, 1848-1925.

Printable St. Michael Prayer Card

If you'd like a printable St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card (as pictured below), please check out the new listing in my Etsy shop here. This is folding prayer card to allow for the English and Latin versions of the prayer (85¢).

Front of the St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card

Inside of St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card

Print in my room.

“Each one of us, even the poorest of the poor, has angels watching over him. The angels are glorious, pure and splendid, but they have been given to us as companions along the way of life. They have the task of watching over you all, so that you do not stray away from Christ, your Lord.” - Pope Pius XII, October 3, 1958 

Praying Alone 

I have a print of Jesus in the Garden of Gethsemane hanging in my bedroom. And even though the trials I face are nothing compared to His, on a level, I can identify.

While Jesus prayed, on the eve of His crucifixion, his disciples slept. He knew what it was like to pray without human company. And, so do I.

I do understand, of course, that God is always listening. Just like I know He is always there when we pray. Sometimes I feel His presence and sometimes I don't. And when I don't, I can't help wishing that there were other people there to pray with me. 

Unfortunately, there are no family prayers in our house and no immediate possibility of them either. Or so I thought.

Because now, thanks to the Opus Sanctorum Angelorum (Work of the Holy Angels), I'm starting to see prayer in a different way. 

My New Course of Study

The Opus Angelorum (or OA) promotes devotion to the holy angels through Church approved spiritual formation. The Order offers a 12 month home study course with access to priests and religious if needed, various retreat locations, a nice selection of books and media, and a path to consecration at a nearby OA event.

Everything I've received from the OA so far is wonderful. This includes monthly Formation Letters, prayer cards and related books and booklet. Some of which are pictured below.

I'll be sharing more on what I'm learning in future posts. But in this one I want to talk about something I heard in a video by OA associated Fr. Matthew Hincks. 

The video explains the 12 ways you can grow with the angels. While all 12 suggestions were excellent, there was one that really stuck with me.

A New Way to Pray

I'll write out the 12 suggestions in my next blog post because it is my intent incorporate all of them into my life. But this morning I'm focusing on number eight, which I have already tried.

Pray with your Holy Guardian Angel.

Note the wording here. Fr. Hinck does not say that we should pray to our guardian angel (though we certainly can pray to him - provided we understand the difference between angels and God). Instead, Father is telling us to pray with our guardian angel. 

Fr. Hinck goes on to remind us that when two or three are gathered together in His name, Our Lord is present. For me, the idea that my guardian angel can serve as a companion in prayer was a revelation. So this morning, when I prayed the Rosary, I asked my guardian angel to pray along with me and then I asked the angels of various family members to join in. 

By the time we got to the Salve Regina, there was an entire company of us, there in my room praying. And I felt myself to be in wonderful company.

You can get Fr. Hinck's full teaching on this topic (Twelve Steps to a Living Friendship with the Guardian Angel) on the Opus Angelorum website for $4. I just picked it up and have already listened to it twice!

Material from the OA.

My Experience with Light and Dark   

I've toggled between light and dark enough, over the course of my life, for it to become a theme for me.  And angels and demons are part of that theme.  

Largely because I believe that I've had experience with both.   

I believe that I've felt the influence of my guardian angel on a few occasions.  And I'm quite sure that I dealt with the demonic, directly and repeatedly, during my time in the occult.

I have tried to write a full account of those experiences.  But I've failed to finish that book.

So, I decided to put a condensed version up here on the blog.  That may well be the end of that particular story.  But my interest in light and dark persists.  

Learning About Angels and Demons

I've been reading about angels and demons ever since I came back to the faith.  My reference, right now, is Catholic exorcist, Fr. Chad Ripperger's excellent book Dominion (affiliate link).

In Dominion, Fr. Ripperger breaks down the teachings of renowned "angel saint" (and flat-out genius) Thomas Aquinas on the topic of angels and demons.  And Ripperger does so in a way that sacrifices nothing.

Or that's my sense of it anyway.  I can't really know for sure because I find the writings of St. Thomas difficult.  Dominion on the other hand is perfectly readable.  (Which is not the same thing as saying the book is a breeze).

For me, reading Dominion is a little like reading a textbook and, as with many textbooks, the only way I can really be sure I'm not missing anything is by taking notes as I go.  This way of working through a book is slow going, however, and my wrist has been hurting lately - so I had set Dominion aside.

Then an interesting thing happened.  

Talking About Angels

This week, I received a Facebook message from someone I had done a bit of Internet radio with when I was still in the New Age and occult.   In the message I found a series of questions about my current beliefs. One in particular stood out.

"Do you still work with the angels?"  

I responded as best I could - basing much of what I said on what I'd learned from Fr. Ripperger's book.

I should get back to that book, I thought, and maybe I would have.  Or maybe not.

Then, as luck or providence would have it, I finished writing out my response and went for a walk.  I was only a few blocks from the house when I noticed a book lying on the pavement in front of me.  It was a Chicken Soup for the Soul book.  

I'm not really a huge a fan of the series but the title did catch my attention.  

"Believe in Angels."

I already do, I thought, though probably not in the way this particular book suggests.  

Later that day I shared a picture of the Chicken Soup angel book with the woman who'd sent the questions.  She felt certain I was meant to read it.  But it's my practice at this point in my life to stick with books that are true to the faith.

So I went back to Dominion, sore wrist and all, and began to take notes.

To purchase Fr. Ripperger's book on Amazon, please click here: Dominion (affiliate link)

If you want to know more about my time in the New Age and occult, please visit check out my abridged online Testimony right here on the blog (no email required). 

UPDATE: I went back to the testimony, and it is almost finished. Sign up for my elist to be updated on release (and get my blog posts and podcasts via two emails a month).

Please note, this post contains Amazon affiliate links.  If you buy a book through one of these links, I may earn a small commission at no cost to you.

About This Image 

The image above is a colorized version of "Saint Michael" by Italian master Guido Reni (1575–1642).  This image is featured on the St. Michael printable prayer card available in my Etsy shop, Catholic Book And Card.  For the card, I tinted the original paint to the vivid blue associated with Saint Michael (as shown above).

Saint Michael in the Bible

Saint Michael, is one of three archangels the Bible mentions by name (the others being Saints Raphael and  Gabriel). Saint Michael is mentioned four times - twice in the Old Testament, and two more times in the new.  

The first reference is in the Book of Daniel. In Chapter 10 St. Michael comes to comfort Daniel after he has had a vision, and promises to be his helper in all things. In Daniel 12, St. Michael is called "the great prince who standeth for the children of Thy people."

In these references St. Michael is shown to support Israel during the seventy years of the Babylonian captivity. In writing about St. Michael Daniel, strove to show his people that God had not forgotten them, and remind them that even in bondage they had a royal champion. In St. Jude 9, we are told that Michael disputed with the devil over the body of Moses - an episode not mentioned elsewhere in the Bible.

In the Revelation (Chapter 12) we find the most dramatic reference to St. Michael. Here St. John recounts the great battle in Heaven, when the wicked angels under Lucifer revolt against God. In this passage, Michael, leading the faithful angels, defeats the hosts of evil and drives them out. 

Because of this victory, St. Michael is revered in Catholic tradition and liturgy as the protector of the Church. 

Michael's battle against the rebel angels has been painted by many artists (one such painting serves as the main banner of this blog). It has been written about various writers, as well, including the poet Milton in book 6 of Paradise.  

In the Eastern Church, St. Michael is placed over all the angels, as prince of the Seraphim. And, in Asia Minor, many curative springs were dedicated to him.

St. Michael is a powerful figure in spiritual warfare. He is considered to be the special patron of the sick, police officers, the military, the state of Israel and the Catholic Church.  St. Michael's emblems are a banner, a sword, a dragon, and scales. 

St. Michael's name is a variation of Micah, which asks (in Hebrew), "Who is like God?"  It is the same question posed by Moses in Exodus 15:1-11. The passage, also called the Song of the Sea, is thought to be a very old section of Scripture that can still be heard today in the Mi Kamocha of Jewish worship:

Who is like You among the gods, Adonai? Who is like you? Glorious in holiness, awesome in praises...

About Michaelmas

Today September 29th is St. Michael’s feast day. During the middle ages this day - known as Michaelmas - was a holy day of obligation.  

In 1969, the Novus Ordo Calendar added combined the feasts of St. Gabriel and St. Raphael with St. Michael's and discontinued the individual feasts of the archangels. Traditional Latin Mass congregations using the pre 1962 liturgical calendar keep the original dates for all three feasts.  So, for me, this is St. Michael's day alone.

The SSPX (Society of St. Pius the X) devotional newsletter suggests that today is a good day to read the proper of the Mass of St. Michael, as found in the traditional missal.  The newsletter also encourages us to "pray to St. Michael when temptations arise, especially those related to abuses of the internet, radio, and telephone." 

The St. Michael Prayer

The Saint Michael Prayer is an amazing prayer for spiritual warfare.  The abridged version (below) is short and easy to memorize and it can be said anytime you are feeling in need of spiritual protection.  The prayer was written in Oct. 1, 1884 by Pope Leo XIII following a disturbing mystical experience at Mass.

The Pope had just finished celebrating Mass when he suddenly stood transfixed in front of the altar as if in a trance, his face drained of color. Once recovered, he went to his office and composed a prayer to St. Michael. He told his staff the prayer should be offered throughout the Church.

Pope Leo told others that he had heard two voices which he believed to voices of Our Lord and of Satan. The Pope heard Satan boast that he could destroy the Church in 75 or 100 years, if given the opportunity. Then he heard Our Lord give Satan permission to make the attempt.

The prayer was recited after Low Mass in the Catholic Church from 1886 until it was discontinued in 1964. Thirty years later, in his Regina Coeli address, Pope John Paul II said, “Although the prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask every one not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of the world.”

I'm happy to say that, at the SSPX Chapel I attend, the priest leads the faithful in the prayer to St. Michael after each and every Mass!

Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle. Be our protection 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 - cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits, who roam about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. 

To purchase the St. Michael printable prayer card (75¢ US) please check out my Etsy listing here.

This month's Opus Angelorum (OA) formation letter explains how our guardian angel can influence and enlighten our imagination, memory, intellect and will. 

This is something that the OA, St. Thomas Aquinas, St. John of the Cross and St. Ignatius of Loyola all agree upon. And they also agree that fallen angels can influence us, as well.

In this post we'll talk about the ways that our guardian angel and the enemy can affect our imagination and memory. We'll also touch on how we can be more open to the influence of the good angel and steer clear of the bad.

Angelic Protection 

Because of my past history in the New Age and occult, I believe I'm a little more vulnerable to preternatural manipulation than the next person. This is one of the reasons why I've made my relationship with my guardian angel a priority and chose to participate in spiritual formation with the OA.

I need all the help I can get!

And our guardian angel can help. He can help protect our interior faculties of imagination and memory which are a primary target for the demonic. For somebody like me, this is enormously helpful. But the truth is that in our society we are ALL subject to the enemy's influence.

Spiritual influence (whether preternatural or supernatural) doesn't happen in a vacuum, of course, which is why the Opus Angelorum assumes that a candidate will fulfill some minimal requirements. These include attending Mass weekly (at minimum) and engaging in some form of morning and evening prayer. 

I think this is good advice for anyone but lately I've struggled with the prayer part, and this has had a very real effect on my guardian angel's ability to provide the protection I have come to rely on.

Angels and the Imagination

Angels and Memory

I love the idea of that!

In My Next Post

I decided to invite my guardian angel to pray with me after watching a video by Fr. Matthew Hincks of the Opus Angelorum. In the video, Father shares 12 ways that we can deepen our friendship with the angels. 

The first suggestion is especially important so I'll have more to say about that below! 

The 12 Ways We Can Deepen Our Friendship with the Angels (per Fr. Hincks' video)

Why Suggestion #1 is Critical

Being in a state of grace when attempting to deepen our friendship with our guardian angel is the first suggestion given for a reason. It is very important!

When we are in a state of sin we are especially vulnerable to evil spirits and their deceptions. During my time in the New Age and occult, I practiced divination (a first commandment sin). This opened a door to the demonic. As a result, I believed I was connecting with God's angels when I was not.

But divination is not the only sin that can affect us. All sin muddies the water of our intellect (as stated by Fr. Chad Ripperger and others) and makes spiritual discernment difficult if not impossible. 

Fortunately, there is a solution.

The sacraments of the Catholic church can return us to a state of grace. 

The sacraments are baptism, confirmation, the Eucharist, penance and reconciliation, the annointing of the sick, matrimony and holy orders. For me, confession and receiving the Eucharist are particularly powerful!

______________

• To get Fr. Hincks' two part conference "The Guardian Angel and Our Spiritual Life" (which includes the full teaching on 12 ways to deepen our friendship with the Angels), please click here.
• To read about my experience praying with the angels, please see Praying with the Angels!
• For more on the Opus Angelorum, please see their website here.

In this post we'll be talking about two Bible passages that warn us about the mysterious beings called the "glorious ones." We'll try to figure out who the ancient writers (Saints Peter and Jude) are talking about and what they were actually saying about.  

Here are the passages:

But false prophets also arose among the people, just as there will be false teachers among you, who will secretly bring in destructive opinions, even denying the Master who bought them, bringing upon themselves swift destruction.... Bold and willful, they are not afraid to slander the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring against them a slanderous judgment from the Lord. - 2 Peter 2:1,9,10, New Revised Standard Version Catholic Edition (NRSV-CE)

Yet in like manner, these men [false teachers] in their dreamings defile the flesh, reject authority, and revile the glorious ones. But when the archangel Michael, contending with the devil, disputed about the body of Moses, he did not presume to pronounce a reviling judgment upon him, but said, “The Lord rebuke you.” But these men revile whatever they do not understand, and by those things that they know by instinct as irrational animals do, they are destroyed. - Jude 8-10 (NRSV-CE)

What Are These Passages Saying?

The passages above are very similar. Each is about untrustworthy teachers who are making false statements about the "glorious ones." Both saints are clear in saying that these teachers will be destroyed.

Both authors go on to remind us of other sinners punished by God. Fallen angels are mentioned in each account.

For if God did not spare the angels when they sinned, but cast them into hell and committed them to pits of nether gloom to be kept until the judgment; if he did not spare the ancient world, but preserved Noah, a herald of righteousness, with seven other persons, when he brought a flood upon the world of the ungodly; if by turning the cities of Sodom and Gomor′rah to ashes he condemned them to extinction and made them an example to those who were to be ungodly... then the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment... - 2 Peter 4-6,10 (NRSV-CE)

Now I desire to remind you, though you were once for all fully informed, that he who saved a people out of the land of Egypt, afterward destroyed those who did not believe. And the angels that did not keep their own position but left their proper dwelling have been kept by him in eternal chains in the nether gloom until the judgment of the great day; just as Sodom and Gomor′rah and the surrounding cities, which likewise acted immorally and indulged in unnatural lust, serve as an example by undergoing a punishment of eternal fire. - Jude 5-7 (NRSV-CE)

These passages suggest that God will punish the false teachers for "denying the master" who is Christ. But both authors also obviously believe that slandering the glorious ones is a dangerous game. 

According to St. Peter the false teachers "are not afraid to slander the glorious ones, whereas angels, though greater in might and power, do not bring against them a slanderous judgment from the Lord." St. Jude points out that not even St. Michael dared to slander the devil, during their dispute over the body of Moses.

Who are the Glorious Ones?

The ancient (intended) audience of these epistles would have probably known exactly who the glorious ones were, but we do not and the passages are fascinating for that reason alone. There is a mystery here that hints at things lost, or at least partially lost, in the mists of time.

This post, however, focuses on how these passages are relevant in the present day. 

This is what I have come up with:

1. The glorious ones are angels. If they were not, the analogy about St. Michael refusing to slander the devil (a fallen angel) wouldn't make sense. 
2. The glorious ones seem to be associated with fallen angels (who are mentioned often in the texts) or angels of a particular rank or both. The rank in question could be the rank of Lucifer (before the fall) - a higher rank than that of St. Michael. I think the glorious ones are very likely fallen and probably high ranking.
3. Both saints agree that teaching a false doctrine about angels is unwise and that offending the angels, or these particular angels anyway, is a very bad idea. While the punishment of God is mentioned it seems that the authors are also talking about demonic retaliation.

These passages support some things we already know about demons and self-styled exorcisms and lay people trying to command demons. But they also have a very specific message for anyone who teaches (or writes or talks) about angels.

Be wary.

But are we?

A search of the keyword "angel cards" yields over 6000 results on Amazon. A search for "angel guides" yields over 10,000. Paranormal romance categories on Amazon include both "angel" and "demon." And more content like this is being produced every day.

Are angels and demons accurately represented in any of this material? 

Does it matter?

According to Scripture, it does. 

The Bible on Demons

How you are fallen from heaven, O Day Star, son of Dawn! How you are cut down to the ground, you who laid the nations low! You said in your heart, “I will ascend to heaven; I will raise my throne above the stars of God; I will sit on the mount of assembly on the heights of Zaphon; I will ascend to the tops of the clouds, I will make myself like the Most High.” - Isaiah 14:12-14 (NRSV-CE)

Satan fell because of pride. That pride is clearly described in Isaiah (above). It is apparent that Lucifer wanted to be like God. Because of this envy, Lucifer becomes Satan (in Hebrew Ha-Satan, the adversary) and rebels against heaven taking a third of the angels with him (Rev 12:4).

St. Michael and the good angels, however, took as their war cry "Who is like God?" And St. Michael's name (מיכאל‎ / Mikha'el) asks the very same question-in direct opposition, in my opinion, to the angels who fell.

The good angels weren't. and aren’t, proud. They don't want to take the place of God or disobey him or (in case you were wondering) be involved in divination which He has expressly forbidden in Scripture.

And I'm pretty sure that they don't want to be glamorized in popular books or media either. Demons, however, are another story entirely.

Are demons offended by the fact that most popular material about angels gets just about everything wrong? I'm not sure, but I do think it gets their attention. And (as I have learned firsthand) that attention has a serious backlash. Always.

But there is a more important consideration. Directing our spiritual practices or our creative work toward demons is a form of sacrifice. And this profoundly offends God. 

They sacrificed to demons, not God, to deities they had never known... You were unmindful of the Rock that bore you; you forgot the God who gave you birth. The Lord saw it, and... spurned his sons and daughters. He said: I will hide my face from them, I will see what their end will be; for they are a perverse generation, children in whom there is no faithfulness. - Deuteronomy 32:17-20 (NRSV-CE)

Or, as St. Peter reminds us, "the Lord knows how to rescue the godly from trial, and to keep the unrighteous under punishment until the day of judgment..."

God, then, has no problem dividing the godly from the unrighteous. The only question is, on what side of the line do we intend to be?

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To read my favorite version of the Bible, the Douay Rheims, for free online, please click here.

Grace or the Lack of It 

What is a State of Grace

About My Grandmother

My paternal grandmother was a widow before I was born.  And while I didn't realize it when I was a child, I don't think she had a lot of extra money.  I guess that's why instead of visiting often or even calling on the phone she sent me things. Like letters and clippings and eventually a binder.

The binder came with only a couple pages but then she started sending me more pages to fill it.  And so several times a year I'd receive a package of 2 or 3 or 4 photo album pages filled with brightly colored pictures.

Those pictures weren't anything special by ordinary standards.  Most were simply cut from magazines and carefully arranged under the plastic film that covered each page in the album.  But somehow those pages impressed me so much that I still remember the pictures.  A pile of leaves raked up by group of kids.  A little dog in a bright red coat.  A school bus in the rain.

My grandmother came to visit us once or twice a year and when she did she slept in the spare room next to mine.  And I remember how one Christmas Eve we sat together on the bed in that room while she told me the story of the nativity. I will never forget the chills that ran up and down my spine when she told me about the glory of the angels heralding the miracle that was the birth of Jesus.

And I have long thought that the presence that was there with us in the room that night was angelic in nature.

My Grandmother's Gift

The next day, on Christmas, my grandmother gave me a little white Bible.  I don't remember getting it and I suspect it didn't impress me as much as the other presents I received.  But I did read it -  off and on, all through my childhood.

I would like to say that I kept reading that Bible or that it was one of my prized possessions but that would not be accurate. What is accurate is that my life veered off the rails and I returned to the Bible my grandmother had infrequently. and that it spent most of the years between now and then in a succession of dresser drawers and boxes.

And yet, somehow, out of the things that mattered more and all things that have come and gone, that little Bible is one of the few things I've hung on to.

In 2012 I moved into a new (old) house. I was still deeply involved in New Age spirituality.  But when I was unpacking I decided to put the Bible my grandmother gave me into my china cabinet alongside my tarot cards and crystals.

And, in 2017, when I began to make my way back to the Faith those things went the way of other mistakes, great and small, and the little white Bible stayed.

And there were in the same country shepherds watching, and keeping the night watches over their flock.  And behold an angel of the Lord stood by them, and the brightness of God shone round about them; and they feared with a great fear.  And the angel said to them: Fear not; for, behold, I bring you good tidings of great joy... -  St. Luke 2:8-10