Bring Back the Saint Michael Prayer

From The Irish Catholic:

When I spoke about my book Freedom from Evil Spirits on the Late Late Show in February, I said to Ryan Tubridy that there are reasons in contemporary Ireland to think that a tsunami of evil is threatening to overwhelm us.

Aware that this is so, it is not surprising that recent Popes have encouraged Catholics to recite the prayer to St Michael in private. In 1994 St John Paul II said: “May prayer to St Michael strengthen us for the spiritual battle that the Letter to the Ephesians speaks of: ‘be strong in the Lord and in the strength of his might’.” (Eph. 6:10)

Leo XIII certainly had this picture in mind when, at the end of the last century, he brought in throughout the Church a special prayer to St Michael. Although this prayer is no longer recited at the end of Mass, I ask everyone not to forget it and to recite it to obtain help in the battle against the forces of darkness and against the spirit of this world. (Read more.)

Monsieur Vincent et Mère Mectilde

From Vultus Christi:

When they returned to Saint-Mihiel, it was obvious to all who saw Mother Mectilde and her two companions that they had received extraordinary graces; they seemed transfigured. Much later, Mother Mectilde let slip a few words that intimated that, in the sanctuary of Benoîte-Vaux, Our Lady revealed to her God’s designs on her life. A few days later, a commissary of Monsieur Vincent, named Mathieu Renard, asked to see the prioress and, with no preliminaries, said, “I have come, Mother, to take two of your religious to Montmartre, I have orders to do this, and Madame the Duchess of Aiguillon has provided me with money for the journey.” What happened at Montmartre that caused the Abbess to have so complete a change of heart? On the very night that Mother Mectilde and her companions were praying at the sanctuary of Benoîte-Vaux, the Lady Abbess of Montmartre woke up all of a sudden and summoned the two religious who slept in her bedchamber to look after her in illness. The Abbess was in a dreadful state of fright. She said that it seemed to her that she saw the Most Holy Virgin and her Divine Son reproaching her for her lack of hospitality to the poor homeless Benedictines in the Lorraine; they threatened her with a rigourous judgment should they, through her fault, perish in their misery and need. The next day the Abbess convened her senior religious; all agreed that they had to execute the manifest will of God. (Read more.)

Always Wear Your Scapular

From Aleteia:

One day a French priest on pilgrimage was walking to the local church to celebrate Mass. As he was near the church the priest realized he forgot something. While putting on his clothes in the morning, the priest had forgotten his Brown Scapular that typically went underneath his clothing.
This disturbed him and he couldn’t think of offering Mass without honoring the Blessed Virgin Mary with the Brown Scapular. However, he would be late for Mass if he went back to his lodging. The priest decided to run back and put on his scapular, preferring to celebrate Mass with his scapular.

The booklet, Garment of Grace, narrates what happens next.

Later, as he was offering the Holy Sacrifice, a young man approached the altar, pulled out a gun, and shot the priest in the back. To the amazement of all, the priest continued to say the prayers of the Mass as though nothing had occurred. It was at first presumed that the bullet had miraculously missed its target. However, upon examination, the bullet was found ADHERING TO THE LITTLE BROWN SCAPULAR which the priest had so obstinately refused to be without. 

The story does not have any other details, such as the name of the priest, date or location, but it is not the first time that someone was saved from a bullet by a holy item they were wearing (such as a World War I soldier who was saved by his Bible). It highlights the faith of the individual and how their faith literally saved them from danger. While these stories do not guarantee someone will be saved if they wear something holy, it does reinforce the need to have an authentic faith in God, trusting that he will protect them during their time of need. If we have an authentic trust in God, anything is possible. (Read more.)