by
Thomas A Droleskey
One of the many nefarious influences of naturalism upon otherwise right-thinking Catholics involves the willingness to suspend the applicability of God's eternal laws in areas where it suits them to do so. There are endless examples of this.
Advocates of the unjust and immoral American invasion of Iraq in 2003 had to do all sorts of intellectual contortions to rationalize their support for the "Bush Doctrine" of the pre-emptive war. Some even have been willing to justify the direct, deliberate torture of prisoners by the most vile and unmentionable means possible. The quagmire in Iraq, which has unleashed a deadly civil war among competing Mohammedan factions and opened that country's borders to an influx of foreign-trained infiltrators, has nothing do with the genuine national security interests of the United States of America. It will, however, drag on for years as even the candidates for the Democrat Party's 2008 presidential nomination, eager to do the bidding of their naturalist paymasters, state that it will be "necessary" for there to be an American military and economic presence for years to come in the country that our invasion and occupation destabilized and plunged into an abyss of constant bloodshed. And Catholics still keep trying to justify this madness, placing one failed geopolitical strategy after another above the eternal laws of God, which apply in matters of national security and defense and war just as much as they do at all other times and in all other circumstances.
Another area of "combat" in which Catholics are prone to suspend the applicability of God's laws is in the area of competitive sports. Just as there are some Catholics who seek to justify the deliberate targeting of non-combatants in warfare (see Dresden, Hiroshima, Nagasaki) so are there Catholics who seek to justify--or at least look the other way at--cheating in competitive sports, heedless of the fact that the precepts of the Seventh and Eighth Commandments prohibit cheating. (stealing under the Seventh Commandment, lying under the Eighth Commandment) apply even in games. We live each moment of our lives in the presence of God, Who has ordained laws to govern us that are inscribed on the very flesh of our hearts and has entrusted exclusively to the Catholic Church for their safekeeping and infallible explication.
Mind you, as was noted yesterday in Mutually Irreconcilable: Modern Culture and the Catholic Faith, professional sports have been corrupted by a number of factors, becoming the very purposes for which millions upon millions of people, including a lot of Catholics, live their lives. Sports at the collegiate level are also an obsession, eclipsing academics in many instances as a class of semi-professional athletes are essentially "employed" by colleges in order to generate revenue from national television contracts and commercial sponsors. Believe me, I know about this from my over three decades of teaching at the college level. Some institutions forbade, at least when I taught there, professors to enforce any mandatory attendance of their classes in order to keep its athletes from being "docked" for missing class while "sleeping in" after games or concentrating on practice sessions. And, of course, there is the phenomenon of "Friday night football" (played on that night so as to conflict with the demigod of Saturday afternoon or night college football) at the scholastic (high school) level in many parts of the nation, especially in the Midwest and the South. As happens with everything else in a culture steeped in Protestantism and Judeo-Masonry and the principles of naturalism it propagates, the binding precepts of the Divine positive law and the natural law matter nothing in the "real" world (politics, law, commerce, finance, banking, sports) when one has to assert oneself to "win."
Father Denis Fahey, writing in his The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World, discussed the tendency of Protestantism and naturalism to lead to all forms of dishonesty:
The rending of the Mystical Body by the so-called Reformation movement has resulted in the pendulum swinging from the extreme error of Judaeo-Protestant Capitalism to the opposite extreme error of the Judaeo-Masonic-Communism of Karl Marx.
The uprise of individualism rapidly led to unbridled self-seeking. Law-makers who were arbiters of morality, as heads of the Churches, did not hesitate to favour their own enterprising spirit. The nobles and rich merchants in England, for example, who got possession of the monastery lands, which had maintained the poor, voted the poor laws in order to make the poor a charge on the nation at large. The enclosure of common lands in England and the development of the industrial system are a proof of what private judgment can do when transplanted into the realm of production and distribution. The Luther separation of Church from the Ruler and the Citizen shows the decay in the true idea of membership of our Lord's Mystical Body.
"Assuredly," said Luther, "a price can be a Christian, but it is not as a Christian that he ought to govern. As a ruler, he is not called a Christian, but a price. The man is Christian, but his function does not concern his religion."
This teaching had its economic repercussion in the current that led to the doctrine laid down in Daniel Defoe's The Complete Tradesman, according to which a man must keep his religious and his business life apart and not allow one to interfere with the other.
"There is some difference," wrote Defoe, "between an honest man and an honest tradesman. . . . There are some latitudes, like poetical licences in other cases, which a tradesman must be and is allowed, and which by the custom and usage of a trade he may give himself a liberty in, which cannot be allowed in other cases to any men, no, nor to the tradesman himself out of the business."
Apply this to competitive sports in a world where the Social Kingship of Our Blessed Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ has been overthrown, ladies and gentlemen, and you will find a perfect rationalization for the use of "performance enhancing steroids," which are controlled substances under Federal law and do untold damage to person's body as they endeavor to break God's Commandments by cheating to "win" games or to break various records, whether at the amateur or professional levels. Apply this to partisan politics, my good readers, and you will find the basis for "tailoring the message" according to the dictates of the latest "focus group" or "tracking poll." Apply this to the efforts of so many Catholics to suspend their Catholicism in order to support candidates for public office who reject the primacy of Christ the King and you have the foundation for ignoring the necessity of restoring the Catholic City in the belief that there is some non-denominational or inter-denominational way to "resolve" social problems that have their remote cause in Original Sin and their proximate causes in our own Actual Sins and can thus be ameliorated only by a submission to the Deposit of Faith that Our Lord entrusted exclusively to the Catholic Church and by an earnest cooperation with Sanctifying Grace. After all, it's the immediate "end" that is being sought that we must concentrate on, not the pursuit of some allegedly ethereal, "unrealistic" goal of seeking to plant seeds for the conversion of the United States of America and everyone in it to the Catholic Faith.
Father Fahey elaborated on the effects of Protestantism, especially the warmed over version of Talmudic Judaism that is Calvinism, in The Mystical Modern of Christ in the Modern World:
It was, however, the Calvinistic doctrine on predestination and the signs by which a man's divine election could be recognized, which specially favored the advent of the unlimited competition, unscrupulous underselling and feverish advertising of the present day. In his able work, from which a passage has already been quoted, Professor O'Brien shows that it was in the peculiarly British variety of Calvinism, known as Puritanism, that all the Calvinist doctrines of succession life as a sign of man's predestination, of the respect and veneration due to wealth, had their fullest development.
"When all is said and done, Calvinism remains the real nursing-father of the civic industrial capitalism of the middle classes. . . . Since the aggressively active ethic inspired by the doctrine of predestination urges the elect to the full development of his God-given powers, and offers him this a sign by which he may assure himself of his election, work becomes rational and systematic. In breaking down the motive of ease and enjoyment, asceticism lays the foundation of the tyranny of work over men . . . production for production's sake is declared to be a commandment of religion."
This has great application in every aspect of contemporary life. Most people work not for the honor and glory of God, thus giving him the fruit of their labors as the consecrated slaves of His Most Blessed Mother's Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart, but for the sake of "success," to gain what is considered to be financial "wealth" and earthly "success" as ends that justify each and every method used to achieve such success. This has been the Puritan "contribution" to the world, so enshrined in the ethos of the "American dream," which eschews the Holy Poverty of the Holy Family of Nazareth and of such great saints as Saint Francis of Assisi and the saint we honor today, Francis's helper and fellow adorer of the Most Blessed Sacrament, Saint Clare of Assisi. Father Fahey quoted Gilbert Keith Chesterton's observation about the insidious influence of that wretched people known as the Puritans (or Pilgrims) in a footnote on page sixteen of The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World:
"The Americans have established a Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the fact that the Pilgrim Fathers reached America. The English might very well establish another Thanksgiving Day to celebrate the happy fact that the Pilgrim Fathers left England."
The Protestants, however, were not alone in helping to usher in the world of amorality in commerce and politics and statecraft and popular culture, including what has become known as competitive sports.
The learned writer, Werner Sombart, in his great work, Die Juden and das Wirtschafsleben ("The Jews in Economic Life"), attributes the great, if not the deciding, role in the formation of the modern economic outlook or mentality to the Jewish race, for to them he attributes the introduction of the ideas of "free commerce" and "unchecked competition" into a society with quite different ideas. He points out the contrast between this Jewish mentality and the ordered outlook of the Middle Ages in phrases that are worthy of citation:--
"When we examine matters more closely . . . we shall immediately see that the struggle between Jewish and Christian merchants is a struggle between two views of the world, or, at least, between two economic mentalities imbued with principles that are different or even opposed. In order to understand this statement we must represent to ourselves the spirit which inspired that economic life into which, since the sixteenth century, Jewish elements have forced their way in ever increasing volume. To this spirit they openly showed themselves so rudely opposed that they were everywhere felt to be interfering with the livelihood and subsistence of the people. During the whole time which I have designated as the period of incipient capitalism . . . the same fundamental outlook on economic relations prevailed as had been accepted during the Middle Ages . . . The unrestrained, unbridled striving after gain was considered by most people during this whole period as unlawful, as unchristian, because the spirit of the old Thomistic economic philosophy as yet swayed men's minds, at least officially."
The Jewish mentality was opposed to the outlook on life impressed on society by the Catholic Church, for (:)
"the Jew stands out as the business man pure and simple, as the man who, in business, takes account only of business, and who in conformity with the spirit of true capitalist economy, proclaims, in the presence of all natural ends, the supremacy of gain and profit."
Has not the "supremacy of gain and profit" come to define almost every aspect of contemporary life, taking into account not at all the eternal good of our immortal souls? This "supremacy of gain and profit" results in the corruption of daily living, contributing to the naturalistic belief, which itself is founded in pantheism, as Father Fahey notes, that is, the man is "divine" and is above all. The achievement of our earthly goals is what defines us as human beings, and no "external" authority, such as the Catholic Church, had better get in our way of this achievement.
A final passage from Father Fahey will underscore this point:
The Jew it was, according to Sombart, who broke down the mentality of the Middle Ages and commercialized the relations of men.
Professor O'Brien dissents from Werner Sombart's thesis that the growth of the capitalistic spirit, the spirit of subordination of all other considerations to that of profit, was due to the Jews. He admits, however, that Sombart's contention would be quite correct, if for the "Jews" we substituted "Judaism," and he points out the importance of Calvin's justification of usury in preparing the way for modern developments. The Puritans adopted Old Testament ideas: the Old Testament idea of the reward of virtue in this world fitted in with the Puritan teaching about the fulfillment of one's vocation.
It is unnecessary for the purpose of this work to apportion responsibility for the triumph of what we may call the does it pay? mentality in the world, between Jews and Puritans. At any rate, if the Puritans subordinated men to production, the Jews completed the process, by subordinating production itself to money. The right order, of money as a means for production and production subservient to man, is now, as we now, reversed.
Professor George O'Brien, cited in Father Fahey's The Mystical Body of Christ in the Modern World, summarized his judgment about the effects of Protestantism upon the contemporary world in An Essay on the Economic Effects of the Reformation (IHS Press, Norfolk, Virginia, 2003):
The thesis we have endeavoured to present in this essay is, that the two great dominating schools of modern economic thought have a common origin. The capitalist school, which, basing its position on the unfettered right of the individual to do what he will with his own, demands the restriction of government interference in economic and social affairs within the narrowest possible limits, and the socialist school, which, basing its position on the complete subordination of the individual to society, demands the socialization of all the means of production, if not all of wealth, face each other today as the only two solutions of the social question; they are bitterly hostile towards each other, and mutually intolerant and each is at the same weakened and provoked by the other. In one respect, and in one respect only, are they identical--they can both be shown to be the result of the Protestant Reformation.
We have seen the direct connection which exists between these modern schools of economic thought and their common ancestor. Capitalism found its roots in the intensely individualistic spirit of Protestantism, in the spread of anti-authoritative ideas from the realm of religion into the realm of political and social thought, and, above all, in the distinctive Calvinist doctrine of a successful and prosperous career being the outward and visible sign by which the regenerated might be known. Socialism, on the other hand, derived encouragement from the violations of established and prescriptive rights of which the Reformation afforded so many examples, from the growth of heretical sects tainted with Communism, and from the overthrow of the orthodox doctrine on original sin, which opened the way to the idea of the perfectibility of man through institutions. But, apart from these direct influences, there were others, indirect, but equally important. Both these great schools of economic thought are characterized by exaggerations and excesses; the one lays too great stress on the importance of the individual, and other on the importance of the community; they are both departures, in opposite directions, from the correct mean of reconciliation and of individual liberty with social solidarity. These excesses and exaggerations are the result of the free play of private judgment unguided by authority, and could not have occurred if Europe had continued to recognize an infallible central authority in ethical affairs.
The science of economics is the science of men's relations with one another in the domain of acquiring and disposing of wealth, and is, therefore, like political science in another sphere, a branch of the science of ethics. In the Middle Ages, man's ethical conduct, like his religious conduct, was under the supervision and guidance of a single authority, which claimed at the same time the right to define and to enforce its teaching. The machinery for enforcing the observance of medieval ethical teaching was of a singularly effective kind; pressure was brought to bear upon the conscience of the individual through the medium of compulsory periodical consultations with a trained moral adviser, who was empowered to enforce obedience to his advice by the most potent spiritual sanctions. In this way, the whole conduct of man in relation to his neighbours was placed under the immediate guidance of the universally received ethical preceptor, and a common standard of action was ensured throughout the Christian world in the all the affairs of life. All economic transactions in particular were subject to the jealous scrutiny of the individual's spiritual director; and such matters as sales, loans, and so on, were considered reprehensible and punishable if not conducted in accordance with the Christian standards of commutative justice.
The whole of this elaborate system for the preservation of justice in the affairs of everyday life was shattered by the Reformation. The right of private judgment, which had first been asserted in matters of faith, rapidly spread into moral matters, and the attack on the dogmatic infallibility of the Church left Europe without an authority to which it could appeal on moral questions. The new Protestant churches were utterly unable to supply this want. The principle of private judgment on which they rested deprived them of any right to be listened to whenever they attempted to dictate moral precepts to their members, and henceforth the moral behaviour of the individual became a matter to be regulated by the promptings of his own conscience, or by such philosophical systems of ethics as he happened to approve. The secular state endeavoured to ensure that dishonesty amounting to actual theft or fraud should be kept in check, but this was a poor and ineffective substitute for the powerful weapon of the confessional. Authority having once broken down, it was but a single step from Protestantism to rationalism; and the way was opened to the development of all sorts of erroneous systems of morality.
As Father Fahey pointed out, there is no real conflict between Werner Sombart and George O'Brien. There are a multiplicity of proximate causes that have produced the world in which we live, noting, as always, that fallen human nature is the remote cause of all human problems. That having been noted, however, it is important to examine the proximate causes as they help to explain the simple fact that so many billions of people over the past five centuries have lived their entire lives without knowing the true purpose of human existence, which is to know, to love and to serve God as He has revealed Himself exclusively through the Catholic Church so that they can be happy with Him for all eternity in the glory of His Beatific Vision in Heaven. Billions upon billions of people have sought their "happiness" in the things of this passing world, living relativistic and naturalistic lives while either giving no thought to the things of Heaven or believing, falsely, that their salvation was absolutely assured, if not "proved' by their material success and worldly honors and esteem.
It is with all of this in mind that short work can be made of seeking to justify the use of "performance enhancing steroids" in competitive sports at any level, amateur or professional. No human being has any moral right to cheat. And even though no one has yet "proved" that the muscle mass in a human body developed as a result of the ingestion of various combinations of anabolic steroids contributes to the actual enhancement of one's performance, those who take these substances believe this, which is why they are willing to take the risks with the health of their own bodies associated with these substances (see Caminiti, Ken, deceased).
The Seventh Commandment prohibits cheating. The Eighth Commandment prohibits lying about cheating. The Fifth Commandment forbids one to do anything to deform one's own body and to take substances that can cause its death. It is thus wrong, and patently so, for anyone to minimize the bad example given by those who are willing to deform their own bodies in order to cheat to "win" at a game, of all things!
Consider, for example, the list of "designer steroids," that is, combinations of chemicals produced "on demand" in a laboratory without any regulatory supervision, that Mark
Fainaru-Wada and Lance Williams list in their Game of Shadows as having been pumped into the body of one Barry Bonds:
The authors also allege that at other times he used:
- Clomid, a drug normally prescribed for infertility used to mask the effects of steroid use
- Deca-Durabolin, a common steroid used by bodybuilders
- Norbolethone, a steroid developed for the meat industry in the 1960s but never marketed because of doubts about its safety. This drug was the foundation of "the clear," which was reformulated at least twice. (Source: Wikipedia summary of Game of Shadows.)
What father or mother out there wants his child to use these substances? Then why heroize one who has used them?
Please spare me the "innocent until proven guilty" line. Even the management of the San Francisco Giants, the traitorous former New York team for whom Bonds has played since 1993, saw the change in Bonds' physique and chose not to confront him about it. Bonds was--and remains--their cash cow, especially so since he has broken Henry Aaron's all-time Major League Baseball home run record. Profit matters more than anything else, right? Well, it does in a world where Our Lord is not recognized as King and Our Lady is not honored publicly as our Immaculate Queen.
No, Bonds was far from alone. This does not mitigate his bad example, does it? It matters not that some of the pitchers who threw to him may have been "juiced up." It matters not that Mark McGwire, whose Congressional testimony in March of 2005 was a tacit admission of his prodigious home runs being tainted by the use of steroids (which is why he, who appeared following his retirement in 2001 to be a sure first ballot Hall of Famer, will never be admitted to the Hall of Game), used steroids. It matters not that Sammy Sosa, who used another form of "cheating," corked bats, may have done so. To minimize or to overlook a cheater's use of substances that pollute the body and send a horrific signal to the young, some of whom have already died in football practices as a result of the use of steroids, is completely irresponsible and beyond the pale of Catholicism.
Some might want to point out that George Herman "Babe" Ruth and other baseball players broke the law during the Prohibition Era when drinking alcohol. They certainly did. Alcoholic drinks (to which I have never been in the least attracted; can't stand the taste!), when consumed in moderation, is useful to the human body. Saint Paul wrote about this in his First Epistle to Saint Timothy:
I charge thee before God, and Christ Jesus, and the elect angels, that thou observe these things without prejudice, doing nothing by declining to either side. Impose not hands lightly upon any man, neither be partaker of other men's sins. Keep thyself chaste. Do not still drink water, but use a little wine for thy stomach's sake, and thy frequent infirmities. Some men's sins are manifest, going before to judgment: and some men they follow after. In like manner also good deeds are manifest: and they that are otherwise, cannot be hid. (1 Tim. 21-25)
The prohibition of the manufacture and sale of alcoholic beverages by means of the Eighteenth Amendment to the Constitution of the United States of America, which was repealed by the Twenty-first Amendment in 1933, was unjust. The regulation of anabolic steroids, which can have severe effects on the human body, by means of Federal legislation is not unjust. No comparison thus can be made between Babe Ruth's breaking the law during Prohibition and those who obtained anabolic steroids in violation of Federal laws in order to "enhance" their performances in competitive sports.
It should be pointed out furthermore that Babe Ruth and Hack Wilson and Mickey Mantle and dozens of other ball players depressed their career statistics by their abuse of alcohol. Unlike the performance enhancing effects attributed to anabolic steroids, the abuse of alcoholic beverages depresses an athlete's performance. According to Jim Bouton, a former pitcher with the New York Yankees and other teams in the 1960s, in his book Ball Four, Mantle was hit a home run as a pinch-hitter in 1964 when he was hung-over from the night before. Bouton asked Mantle how he was able to hit a home run while drunk. Mantle responded: "I saw three balls. I hit the one in the middle." Imagine what more Babe Ruth and Hack Wilson and Mickey Mantle, among others, could have done in their careers if they didn't sabotage themselves by means of their drinking habits. Barry Bonds crafted a strategy to enhance his already God-given abilities by the pollution of his body. No comparison, I am afraid. No comparison at all.
Some might retort by saying, "Well, you can't expect athletes to be saints." Oh, no? Why not?
Each of us is called to pursue sanctity at all times in our lives. Do we succeed? Certainly not. We must make the effort to do so, however, conscious of how just one scandalous action or thoughtless word of ours might keep someone from converting to the true Faith before he dies.
This is why we seek out the ineffable Mercy of the Divine Redeemer in the Sacred Tribunal of Penance and seek to live penitentially by offering our acts of mortification and self-daily in the daily fulfillment of the duties of our freely chosen states-in-life to the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus through the Sorrowful and Immaculate Heart of Mary. This is what we are called to do at all times without any exceptions. Indeed, those of us who have sinned much have that much more of an obligation to do more and more penance in cooperating with the graces won for us by the shedding of every single drop of Our Lord's Most Precious Blood on the wood of the Holy Cross and that flow into our hearts and souls through the loving hands of Our Lady, the Mediatrix of All Graces, to repair the damage we have done to our own souls, seeking also to undo the harm that our sins have caused others to suffer. Behold, ladies and gentlemen, a sinner who hopes that he can live long enough to make reparation for his sins.
The world in which we live is distorted and perverted by the fact that a multiplicity of inter-related, allied forces, including but not limited to naturalism and relativism and Protestantism and Judeo-Masonry, each of which has its inspiration from the devil himself, have sought to make warfare upon the absolute necessity of believing in the Deposit of Faith that Our Lord has entrusted solely to the Catholic Church and of striving to be citizens of Heaven by cooperating with Sanctifying Grace as members of the Catholic Church who are consecrated totally to the Immaculate heart of Mary.
Professional sports, much like partisan politics and political ideologies and the pursuit of financial success as the ultimate end of human existence, have become substitutes for the true Faith. Perhaps it is time for those who have had an attraction or interest in what was once a legitimate diversion to do a bit penance by giving up the following of the "game," recognizing that almost everything associated with it represents a near occasion of sin (the music, the advertising, the suggestive talk on the radio programs that blather all day about these circuses, the coarseness of the lives of many of the athletes, admitting that there are decent, honest athletes in the midst of the corruption) and should not occupy our time in the slightest.
Although MSNBC host Bill Press told me during my appearance on Buchanan and Press in August of 2002 that I would be back in the park before too long after walking out of Shea Stadium to protest the advertising of a certain pharmaceutical product, I knew then that he was wrong, that I would be firm in my resolve not to return to the active support of the game. I knew that my little protest was not going to change anything about Major League Baseball's advertising policies. However, I hoped and prayed the voluntary withdrawal from a source of recreation over the course of four decades might change me a little bit, that it might show God that, despite my sins, I truly do love Him more than I love the passing pleasures of this passing world. I only want to have a "season seat" in Heaven, thank you.
God's laws really do apply at all times and in all circumstances. Perhaps just a bit of voluntary penance on our part might help to plant a few seeds for the conversion of more and more souls--and thus of entire nations--to the Catholic Faith and the Social Reign of Christ the King as the triumph of the Immaculate Heart of Mary. Let us be earnest, therefore, in praying as many Rosaries as we can each day of our lives so that Our Lady will indeed pray for us sinners, nunc et in hora mortis nostrae. Amen.
Immaculate Heart of Mary, pray for us now and the hour of our death Amen
Vivat Christus Rex!
Our Lady of Fatima, pray for us
Saint Joseph, pray for us
Saints Peter and Paul, pray for us
Saint John the Baptist, pray for us
Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us
Saint Gabriel the Archangel, pray for us
Saint Raphael the Archangel, pray for us
Saint Philomena, pray for us.
Saints Tiburtius and Susanna, pray for us.
Saint Clare of Assisi, pray for us.
Saint Lawrence the Deacon, pray for us.
Saint Cajetan, pray for us.
Saint Donatus, pray for us.
Saint Dominic de Guzman, pray for us
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, pray for us
Pope Saint Stephen I, pray for us
Saint Stephen the Protomartyr, pray for us
Saint Christopher, pray for us
Saint James the Greater, pray for us
Simon Stock, pray for us
Saint John of the Cross, pray for us
Saint Teresa of Avila, pray for us
Saint Therese Lisieux, pray for us
Saint Bonaventure, pray for us
Saint Athanasius, pray for us
Saint Irenaeus, pray for us
Saints Monica, pray for us
Saint Jude, pray for us
Saint John the Beloved, pray for us
Saint Francis Solano, pray for us
Saint John Bosco, pray for us
Saint Dominic Savio, pray for us
Saint Scholastica, pray for us
Saint Benedict, pray for us
Saint Joan of Arc, pray for us
Saint Antony of the Desert, pray for us
Saint Francis of Assisi, pray for us
Saint Thomas Aquinas, pray for us
Saint Bonaventure, pray for us
Saint Augustine, pray for us
Saint Bernard of Clairvaux, pray for us
Saint Francis Xavier, pray for us
Saint Peter Damian, pray for us
Saint Frances Xavier Cabrini, pray for us
Saint Lucy, pray for us
Saint Monica, pray for us
Saint Agatha, pray for us
Saint Anthony of Padua, pray for us
Saint Basil the Great, pray for us
Saint Philomena, pray for us
Saint Cecilia, pray for us
Saint John Mary Vianney, pray for us
Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us
Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us
Saint Athanasius, pray for us
Saint Margaret Mary Alacoque, pray for us
Saint Isaac Jogues, pray for us
Saint Rene Goupil, pray for us
Saint John Lalonde, pray for us
Saint Gabriel Lalemont, pray for us
Saint Noel Chabanel, pray for us
Saint Charles Garnier, pray for us
Saint Anthony Daniel, pray for us
Saint John DeBrebeuf, pray for us
Saint Alphonsus de Liguori, pray for us
Saint Hyacinth, pray for us
Saint Basil, pray for us
Saint Vincent Ferrer, pray for us
Saint Sebastian, pray for us
Saint Tarcisius, pray for us
Saint Bridget of Sweden, pray for us
Saint Gerard Majella, pray for us
Saint Bernadette Soubirous, pray for us
Saint Genevieve, pray for us
Saint Vincent de Paul, pray for us
Pope Saint Pius X, pray for us
Pope Saint Pius V, pray for us
Saint Rita of Cascia, pray for us
Saint Louis de Montfort, pray for us
Venerable Anne Catherine Emmerich, pray for us
Venerable Pauline Jaricot, pray for us
Father Miguel Augustin Pro, pray for us
Francisco Marto, pray for us
Jacinta Marto, pray for us
Juan Diego, pray for us
Sister Teresa Benedicta, pray for us
The Longer Version of the Saint Michael the Archangel Prayer, composed by Pope Leo XIII, 1888
O glorious Archangel Saint 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 our 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 That 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 powers 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
Verse: Behold the Cross of the Lord; be scattered ye hostile powers
Response: The Lion of the Tribe of Juda has conquered the root of David
Verse: Let Thy mercies be upon us, O Lord
Response: As we have hoped in Thee
Verse: O Lord hear my prayer
Response: And let my cry come unto Thee
Verse: Let us pray O God, the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, we call upon Thy holy Name, and as suppliants, we implore Thy clemency, that by the intercession of Mary, ever Virgin, immaculate and our Mother, and of the glorious Archangel Saint Michael, Thou wouldst deign to help us against Satan and all other unclean spirits, who wander about the world for the injury of the human race and the ruin of our souls
Response: Amen
