Michaelmas Day

Greetings on Michaelmas Day! - when we celebrate the feast of the Archangels Saints Michael, Gabriel and Raphael. The prayer asking for St Michael's assistance in the struggle to live the Christian life is a particularly powerful one. Pope Leo XIII added it to the Leonine prayers to be said after Mass:

Sancte Míchael Archángele,
defénde nos in proelio,
contra nequítiam et insídias diáboli
esto praesídium.
Imperet illi Deus,
súpplices deprecámur:
tuque,
Princeps milítiae coeléstis,
Sátanam aliósque
spíritus malígnos,
qui ad perditiónem animárum
pervagántur in mundo,
divína virtúte,
in inférnum detrúde. Amen

St. Michael the Archangel,
defend us in the day of battle;
be our safeguard
against the wickedness
and snares of the devil.
May God rebuke him,
we humbly pray:
and do thou,
Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
thrust down to hell
Satan and all
wicked spirits,
who wander through the world
for the ruin of souls. Amen.

This is the shorter version of a prayer that Leo XIII composed following a vision on October 13th 1884.

John Paul II urged us to carry on saying this prayer:

"Possa la preghiera fortificarci per quella battaglia spirituale di cui parla la Lettera agli Efesini - May prayer strengthen us for the spiritual battle of which the Letter to the Ephesians speaks: 'Attingete forza nel Signore e nel vigore della sua potenza' - 'Draw strength from the Lord and from the vigour of His power' (Eph 6:10). E’ a questa stessa battaglia che si riferisce il Libro dell'Apocalisse, richiamando davanti ai nostri occhi l'immagine di san Michele Arcangelo. - It is this same battle to which The Book of Apocalypse refers, recalling before our eyes the image of Saint Michael the Archangel (cf. Ap 12:7). Aveva di sicuro ben presente questa scena il Papa Leone XIII, quando, alla fine del secolo scorso, introdusse in tutta la Chiesa una speciale preghiera a San Michele - Pope Leo XIII certainly had this scene very much in mind when, at the end of the last century, he introduced a special prayer to Saint Michael throughout the Church: San Michele Arcangelo difendici nella battaglia contro i mali e le insidie del maligno; sii nostro riparo . . . - St Michael the Archangel, defend us in the day of battle; be our safeguard against the wickednesses and snares of the devil...

Anche se oggi questa preghiera non viene più recitata al termine della celebrazione eucaristica, invito tutti a non dimenticarla, ma a recitarla per ottenere di essere aiutati nella battaglia contro le forze delle tenebre e contro lo spirito di questo mondo - Even if this prayer is no longer recited at the end of every Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it, but to recite it so as to obtain help in the battle against forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world." [From John Paul II's address during the Regina Coeli, 24.04.1994]

The Smoke of Satan

"From some fissure, the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God." There seems to be quite a little confusion over this quote of Pope Paul VI, indeed, doubt is currently being cast as to whether he ever actually said anything of the kind. He did say exactly that on 29th June 1972. Here is a paragraph from his homily that day - SS Peter and Paul - as presented on the Vatican website [it seems itself to be a commentary on the homily and not the pure text itself] with a line by line translation:

Riferendosi alla situazione della Chiesa di oggi, il Santo Padre afferma di avere la sensazione che «da qualche fessura sia entrato il fumo di Satana nel tempio di Dio». Regarding the present day situation of the Church, the Holy Father affirms the feeling that, "from some fissure the smoke of Satan has entered the temple of God."
C’è il dubbio, l’incertezza, la problematica, l’inquietudine, l’insoddisfazione, il confronto. There is doubt, uncertainty, problems, uneasiness, dissatisfaction, confrontation.
Non ci si fida più della Chiesa; ci si fida del primo profeta profano che viene a parlarci da qualche giornale o da qualche moto sociale per rincorrerlo e chiedere a lui se ha la formula della vera vita. There is not trust in the Church any more; there is trust in the first profane prophet that speaks to us from some newspaper or from some social movement, to run after him and ask him if he has some formula of true life.
E non avvertiamo di esserne invece già noi padroni e maestri. And instead we are unaware that we are already masters and teachers of it.
È entrato il dubbio nelle nostre coscienze, ed è entrato per finestre che invece dovevano essere aperte alla luce. Doubt has entered our consciences, and it has entered via the windows which instead should have been open to the light.
Dalla scienza, che è fatta per darci delle verità che non distaccano da Dio ma ce lo fanno cercare ancora di più e celebrare con maggiore intensità, è venuta invece la critica, è venuto il dubbio. From science, pursued [literally, which is done] in order to give us truths which do not detach us from God but make us search for him even more and acknowledge him with greater intensity, [from this] has come, instead, criticism, [from this] has come doubt.
Gli scienziati sono coloro che più pensosamente e più dolorosamente curvano la fronte. Scientists are those who most thoughtfully and most sorrowfully frown...
E finiscono per insegnare: «Non so, non sappiamo, non possiamo sapere». ...and they end up teaching, “I don’t know, we don’t know, we cannot know.”
La scuola diventa palestra di confusione e di contraddizioni talvolta assurde. School becomes the training ground of confusion and often absurd contradictions.
Si celebra il progresso per poterlo poi demolire con le rivoluzioni più strane e più radicali, per negare tutto ciò che si è conquistato, per ritornare primitivi dopo aver tanto esaltato i progressi del mondo moderno. Progress is celebrated in order that it might then be demolished with ever more strange and radical revolutions, to negate everything that has been won, in order to return as primitives after having exalted the progresses of the modern world.

This certainly leaves some food for thought. Notable is the opening sentence in which Paul VI admits that this applies to the Church, not just the world. This was just seven years after the end of Vatican II. Paul VI was at the centre of the storm, he saw the "doubt, uncertainty, problems, uneasiness, dissatisfaction, confrontation" as they presented themselves. For me, this chimes very strongly with the present Holy Father's comments about two hermeneutics: one of rupture and one of continuity. Out of these doubts, problems, etc. emerged two interpretations of the last Council. Only one is valid: that which is in continuity with the past. The smoke of Satan obscures the past and confuses the present and makes for a hermeneutic of rupture. There can only ever be one response to this: to reject it.