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Why Saint Michael Matters More Than Ever | The Feast of the Archangels · The Catholic Couple

0:00
SPEAKER_00: Why are so many Catholics turning to St.
0:02
SPEAKER_00: Michael right now?
0:03
SPEAKER_00: You see the medals, the statues, the tattoos.
0:06
SPEAKER_00: You got men's groups even praying to him.
0:08
SPEAKER_00: And we know that police officers and soldiers have had a long particular devotion to St.
0:13
SPEAKER_00: Michael.
0:14
SPEAKER_00: And we're starting to see again in masses all over the country where people are praying that old St.
0:19
SPEAKER_00: Michael prayer after Mass.
0:20
SPEAKER_00: St.
0:21
SPEAKER_00: Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
0:24
SPEAKER_00: But here's what most people don't know: that that prayer itself has a very fascinating history.
0:29
SPEAKER_00: It is connected back to Pope Leo XIII in the late 1800s.
0:33
SPEAKER_00: There's that famous story of something terrifying happened to him when the prayer was written.
0:37
SPEAKER_00: But something that you probably didn't know was that he was taken to hell and as a response, knew that we needed protection from Satan.
0:46
SPEAKER_00: And I actually think that there is something more interesting than the story just about the prayer.
0:52
SPEAKER_00: But St.
0:53
SPEAKER_00: Michael goes way back further than the 1800s with Pope Leo XIII, because we know that Michael appears in the Bible when there's literally a war going on in heaven.
1:03
SPEAKER_00: You got the angels and a dragon and Satan.
1:06
SPEAKER_00: And then there's Michael standing against the devil.
1:10
SPEAKER_00: And this one is, well, it's pretty personal for me.
1:13
SPEAKER_00: Michael, I took as my confirmation name.
1:15
SPEAKER_00: I say the St.
1:16
SPEAKER_00: Michael prayer every day.
1:17
SPEAKER_00: I even have St.
1:18
SPEAKER_00: Michael tattooed on my arm with a portion of the prayer.
1:22
SPEAKER_00: And I definitely pray it every day at daily mass.
1:24
SPEAKER_00: And it's part of my regular prayers, especially for my family.
1:27
SPEAKER_00: And I think I'm starting to understand at least part of the reason why St.
1:31
SPEAKER_00: Michael resonates so deeply with people right now, especially men.
1:35
SPEAKER_00: Let's look at the imagery.
1:37
SPEAKER_00: We see the armor, we see a sword, sometimes a lance.
1:41
SPEAKER_00: Then you have the dragon, and there's a battle, and St.
1:43
SPEAKER_00: Michael's crushing the head of the serpent.
1:46
SPEAKER_00: Something in a man that responds to being told, you were made to fight for something.
1:52
SPEAKER_00: You were made to protect something.
1:54
SPEAKER_00: And you were made to sacrifice yourself for something bigger than yourself.
1:58
SPEAKER_00: But Christianity has completely transformed what that means.
2:02
SPEAKER_00: Because true Christian masculinity isn't strength used to dominate someone else.
2:07
SPEAKER_00: It is strength placed at the service for others.
2:10
SPEAKER_00: It is sacrifice.
2:11
SPEAKER_00: It is having the ability to act, protect, lead, endure, and even suffer.
2:17
SPEAKER_00: And then using that strength for the good in service of somebody else.
2:22
SPEAKER_00: And once you understand that, Saint Michael holding that sword starts to mean something completely different.
2:28
SPEAKER_00: So today I want to answer a few questions.
2:30
SPEAKER_00: Who exactly is St.
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Michael?
2:32
SPEAKER_00: Why did Catholics begin praying to this saint after Mass?
2:36
SPEAKER_00: What really happened with Pope Leo XIII?
2:39
SPEAKER_00: And why do we celebrate Michael alongside Gabriel and Raphael?
2:43
SPEAKER_00: And why might this ancient devotion be so resonating so strongly again right now?
2:48
SPEAKER_00: Because there is one detail about St.
2:50
SPEAKER_00: Michael that changed how you will understand the entire spiritual warfare and spiritual battles.
2:57
SPEAKER_00: His name is Michael.
2:59
SPEAKER_00: And a lot of people don't know that, but his name actually means who is like God.
3:04
SPEAKER_00: And once you understand why that matters, then you start to begin to understand the battle itself.
3:11
SPEAKER_00: Because the answer is no one.
3:14
SPEAKER_00: No one is like God.
3:16
SPEAKER_00: And there may be one of the most important things our culture needs to hear.
3:20
SPEAKER_00: So let's start there.
3:22
SPEAKER_00: God is God and you are not.
3:24
SPEAKER_00: And nobody is like him.
3:26
SPEAKER_00: Saint Michael is not a saint in the exact same way we see Saint Francis or Padre Pio or Saint Therese.
3:33
SPEAKER_00: He's not like those saints, right?
3:36
SPEAKER_00: Michael isn't even a human being who lived on the earth and died.
3:40
SPEAKER_00: He is an angel, more specifically, an archangel, a purely spiritual creature created by God.
3:47
SPEAKER_00: Before we go any further, we need to get rid of the image that our culture has created of angels.
3:54
SPEAKER_00: Because when most people hear the word angel, we pick we picture the chubby baby like a cherubim floating on a cloud.
4:01
SPEAKER_00: We know those famous images.
4:03
SPEAKER_00: But that's not exactly what the biblical image is.
4:06
SPEAKER_00: When angels appear in scripture, one of the first things that they regularly have to tell human beings is don't be afraid.
4:13
SPEAKER_00: Well, why would that be?
4:15
SPEAKER_00: Probably because the people were afraid at the sight of the angels.
4:20
SPEAKER_00: These are very powerful spiritual beings.
4:22
SPEAKER_00: They possess intelligence and will.
4:25
SPEAKER_00: They worship God, but they serve God.
4:27
SPEAKER_00: And all throughout salvation history, God sends his angels to accomplish his purpose.
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SPEAKER_00: Angel literally means messenger.
4:35
SPEAKER_00: And among all the angels, scripture actually gives us only a few names.
4:40
SPEAKER_00: We know Michael, we've heard Gabriel give the message to the Blessed Virgin Mary, and Raphael.
4:46
SPEAKER_00: And those are the three archangels that the church celebrates here today on September 29th.
4:52
SPEAKER_00: Even their names teach us something.
4:54
SPEAKER_00: Gabriel means God is my strength.
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SPEAKER_00: Raphael means God heals.
4:59
SPEAKER_00: And Michael, we've already said, is who is like God?
5:02
SPEAKER_00: That isn't even really a question looking for an answer.
5:06
SPEAKER_00: It's a challenge.
5:08
SPEAKER_00: Who is like God?
5:09
SPEAKER_00: Nobody.
5:10
SPEAKER_00: And think about that.
5:11
SPEAKER_00: What does that mean in the context of spiritual warfare?
5:15
SPEAKER_00: Because what is the temptation of the serpent going all the way back to the beginning of Genesis?
5:21
SPEAKER_00: He tells Adam and Eve that you will be like gods.
5:25
SPEAKER_00: And that is a big lie.
5:26
SPEAKER_00: You can determine good and evil for yourself.
5:29
SPEAKER_00: You don't need to be God.
5:30
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to follow his commandments.
5:32
SPEAKER_00: You don't have to obey.
5:33
SPEAKER_00: And you definitely don't need any of his plans or designs.
5:36
SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to listen to him because you don't have to respect his authority, because you can become your own God.
5:42
SPEAKER_00: And standing up against that rebellion is Michael.
5:45
SPEAKER_00: Who is like God?
5:47
SPEAKER_00: Nobody.
5:48
SPEAKER_00: And this is one of the reasons I love having Michael as my own confirmation name.
5:53
SPEAKER_00: Because I constantly need that reminder.
5:55
SPEAKER_00: I need it even tattooed on my arm.
5:58
SPEAKER_00: I need to pray it every single day.
6:00
SPEAKER_00: Because if I'm being truthful, so many of my own sins come down to the same question: Who's God?
6:06
SPEAKER_00: Is it God or is it me?
6:09
SPEAKER_00: Whose will do I want to do?
6:11
SPEAKER_00: God's will or do my own will?
6:13
SPEAKER_00: And if I'm being honest, I can succumb to wanting to do what I want to do, to get my way, especially if that comes in context of marriage or with my kids or at work.
6:23
SPEAKER_00: I want to get my way.
6:24
SPEAKER_00: And that's the original sin of selfishness.
6:28
SPEAKER_00: But we need to ask ourselves: who determines what is good?
6:32
SPEAKER_00: And who determines what is true?
6:35
SPEAKER_00: And who actually gets the final word?
6:37
SPEAKER_00: And every time that my own pride says, I know better, Michael's name answers the question, who is like God?
6:45
SPEAKER_00: And every temptation says, you don't need to obey, who is like God?
6:49
SPEAKER_00: But every time I don't want to carry the cross in front of me, who is like God?
6:54
SPEAKER_00: Every time I want Christianity on my own terms, who is like God?
6:58
SPEAKER_00: Nobody.
6:59
SPEAKER_00: And then the scripture gives us one of the most dramatic scenes in the whole entire Bible.
7:03
SPEAKER_00: Revelation chapter 12.
7:05
SPEAKER_00: It actually says, war broke out in heaven, and Michael and his angels, they battled against the dragon.
7:11
SPEAKER_00: And the dragon and his angels fought back.
7:14
SPEAKER_00: But they did not prevail.
7:16
SPEAKER_00: And scripture doesn't leave us wondering who the dragon is.
7:19
SPEAKER_00: John identifies him as the ancient serpent, the devil, better known as Satan, the one we know as the deceiver.
7:27
SPEAKER_00: Now let's just sit with that scene just for a second.
7:30
SPEAKER_00: Take away 2,000 years of paintings and statues and forget the St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael holy cards that you've seen.
7:36
SPEAKER_00: Listen to the story as if you never heard it before.
7:40
SPEAKER_00: War breaks out in heaven, angels fighting, a dragon, Satan.
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SPEAKER_00: Then there's Michael, and then Satan is thrown down.
7:50
SPEAKER_00: But there is one detail in Revelation 12 that we cannot miss.
7:54
SPEAKER_00: Because if we miss it, Saint Michael's devotion could turn into something that it was never supposed to be.
8:00
SPEAKER_00: How is the enemy ultimately conquered?
8:02
SPEAKER_00: By the blood of the Lamb.
8:04
SPEAKER_00: Now that matters.
8:06
SPEAKER_00: Saint Michael isn't God, Michael isn't Jesus.
8:09
SPEAKER_00: And Michael doesn't independently all of a sudden defeat Satan because Michael is somehow this good equivalent equal to the devil.
8:17
SPEAKER_00: Christianity isn't Star Wars, and God and Satan aren't two equal forces.
8:23
SPEAKER_00: Good and evil are not evenly matched powers, waiting to see which one's going to overpower the other one.
8:29
SPEAKER_00: Satan is a creature, God is the creator, and Jesus Christ is Lord.
8:34
SPEAKER_00: Decisive victory belongs to Christ and to Christ alone.
8:38
SPEAKER_00: And through his cross, through his resurrection, and through his precious blood.
8:43
SPEAKER_00: And that's why St.
8:44
SPEAKER_00: Michael should give us confidence rather than fear.
8:47
SPEAKER_00: Catholic spiritual warfare should never be about obsession with demons.
8:52
SPEAKER_00: And you shouldn't go looking under every rock to see if Satan's hiding there.
8:56
SPEAKER_00: And if your devotion to St.
8:57
SPEAKER_00: Michael makes you think more about Satan than Jesus Christ, then something probably has gone wrong.
9:02
SPEAKER_00: Michael points beyond himself.
9:05
SPEAKER_00: The victory is Christ, the power is God's, and even Michael's name says it.
9:10
SPEAKER_00: Who is like God?
9:12
SPEAKER_00: No one.
9:12
SPEAKER_00: But Michael does appear part of this plan.
9:16
SPEAKER_00: And he's also in another part of Scripture that barely no one ever talks about.
9:19
SPEAKER_00: And that's the book of Daniel.
9:21
SPEAKER_00: And Daniel has been praying and fasting, and scripture begins pulling back the curtain on the spiritual reality that Daniel can't see with his own eyes.
9:29
SPEAKER_00: There is talk of spiritual resistance.
9:32
SPEAKER_00: Then there's a mysterious prince associated with Persia, and Michael comes to assist.
9:37
SPEAKER_00: Later, Michael is described as standing in defense of God's people.
9:41
SPEAKER_00: Now we don't need to be careful about pretending we understand the details of this mysterious passages, but the biblical worldview is unmistakable.
9:50
SPEAKER_00: There is more happening in reality that we can see.
9:54
SPEAKER_00: You know, we see the physical world, but scripture tells us that there is also a spiritual world.
10:00
SPEAKER_00: You see a temptation, you see a conflict, you see lies, you can see a division, you see suffering, you see nations rise and nations fall.
10:11
SPEAKER_00: And the Bible says don't reduce reality to only what your eyes can see.
10:16
SPEAKER_00: St.
10:17
SPEAKER_00: Paul tells us that our ultimate struggle isn't simply against flesh and blood, that there is a spiritual battle.
10:23
SPEAKER_00: Now that doesn't mean that there's a demon behind everywhere you look.
10:27
SPEAKER_00: And it doesn't mean every person who disagrees with you is being controlled by the devil.
10:33
SPEAKER_00: And it definitely doesn't give Christians permission to be paranoid or to lose hope.
10:39
SPEAKER_00: But it does mean we shouldn't be naive and we shouldn't pretend that there isn't evil and that this universe is only material.
10:46
SPEAKER_00: Which brings me back to men.
10:48
SPEAKER_00: Because there's something about Saint Michael that men seem to immediately understand.
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SPEAKER_00: The sword, the lance, the armor, the battle, the protection, the shield, obviously, mission and the duty and sacrifice and all those things.
11:05
SPEAKER_00: St.
11:06
SPEAKER_00: Michael has become particularly beloved among police officers, soldiers, first responders, and people whose vocation involves running towards danger instead of running away from it.
11:16
SPEAKER_00: And I understand why that imagery resonates.
11:20
SPEAKER_00: There is something deeply masculine about protection, but Christianity transforms our understanding of this strength.
11:27
SPEAKER_00: Christian masculinity is not strength for the sake of power, it is strength placed at the service of others.
11:32
SPEAKER_00: It is sacrifice.
11:34
SPEAKER_00: The world's version of strength says, use your power to get people to serve you.
11:39
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus says that the Son of Man came not to be served, but to serve.
11:44
SPEAKER_00: And the world says power means protecting yourself, while Jesus pours himself out.
11:50
SPEAKER_00: The world says winning means avoiding suffering.
11:54
SPEAKER_00: And Jesus points us to the cross.
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SPEAKER_00: Now that is Christian masculinity, strength in the service of others.
12:01
SPEAKER_00: Authority expressed through ultimate sacrifice and power ordered towards love.
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SPEAKER_00: It's the willingness to stand between evil and the people God has entrusted to you.
12:11
SPEAKER_00: The sword isn't about aggression, it's about protection.
12:15
SPEAKER_00: And the armor isn't about being intimidating, it's about willing to stand in the breach.
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SPEAKER_00: So when Catholic men look to St.
12:23
SPEAKER_00: Michael holding a sword, the message isn't become aggressive.
12:27
SPEAKER_00: It's become strong enough to serve and to protect.
12:31
SPEAKER_00: Become disciplined enough to be willing to sacrifice and be courageous enough to protect.
12:37
SPEAKER_00: And definitely be humble enough to kneel before your creator.
12:41
SPEAKER_00: Become dangerous to evil because your strength, well, that belongs to God.
12:46
SPEAKER_00: And what does that actually look like?
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SPEAKER_00: A man who can control his anger, he's very dangerous to evil.
12:52
SPEAKER_00: And a man who refuses pornography, he's also very dangerous to evil.
12:57
SPEAKER_00: And a husband who stays faithful to his wife is dangerous to evil.
13:01
SPEAKER_00: And a father who gets on his knees and prays with his children is dangerous to evil.
13:07
SPEAKER_00: And a man who goes to confession instead of hiding his sins, he is also dangerous to evil.
13:13
SPEAKER_00: And a man who refuses to abandon his family when things get difficult is dangerous to evil.
13:19
SPEAKER_00: And a man who protects somebody weaker than himself, instead of exploiting them, he's also dangerous to evil.
13:26
SPEAKER_00: And a man who can forgive when his pride wants revenge and to take back and to get back, he's also dangerous to evil.
13:34
SPEAKER_00: Now that is spiritual warfare.
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SPEAKER_00: And obviously, this isn't only for men.
13:39
SPEAKER_00: Women are in this same battle too.
13:41
SPEAKER_00: We have mothers every day fighting for their children, wives praying for their husbands, women fighting temptation and discouragement and fear and anxiety and all the things that men deal with.
13:52
SPEAKER_00: Religious sisters are out there pouring themselves out for Christ in their own way.
13:56
SPEAKER_00: Young women trying to live holiness in a culture that's constantly telling them that their values come from somewhere other than God.
14:03
SPEAKER_00: And this battle belongs to every Christian.
14:06
SPEAKER_00: But here's something I think men especially need to hear.
14:10
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes we want the dragon because the dragon looks dramatic.
14:14
SPEAKER_00: Give me something big to fight.
14:16
SPEAKER_00: Give me that big enemy.
14:18
SPEAKER_00: I'm so strong and I'm so tough.
14:20
SPEAKER_00: Give me any kind of enemy.
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SPEAKER_00: Give me the sword.
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SPEAKER_00: And God says, okay, I understand that.
14:26
SPEAKER_00: But let's start first with your own pride.
14:29
SPEAKER_00: Let's start with battling your own anger, your own lust.
14:33
SPEAKER_00: Let's start with first attacking and taking a sword to your selfishness.
14:37
SPEAKER_00: Start with your phone.
14:38
SPEAKER_00: Start with whatever's causing you to put things off and to be lazy.
14:42
SPEAKER_00: Let's start with the person that you've been holding anger towards and refuse to forgive.
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SPEAKER_00: That's the dragon that's sitting in front of most of us.
14:50
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes the bravest thing a Catholic man can do is kneel.
14:55
SPEAKER_00: Or maybe go to confession or ask his wife to forgive him, praying with his children, or when you lose your voice or lose your temper with your kids to ask for their forgiveness, to go to them and say, I'm sorry.
15:07
SPEAKER_00: That's that's it's tough.
15:08
SPEAKER_00: Strength is actually being able to admit when we are wrong.
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SPEAKER_00: And forgiveness is a sign of strength.
15:15
SPEAKER_00: But this is warfare too, which brings us to the prayer.
15:19
SPEAKER_00: Saint Michael, the archangel, defend us in battle.
15:22
SPEAKER_00: I say this every single day, usually after daily mass, and again with my regular prayers and with the kids.
15:29
SPEAKER_00: And there's a danger that when you see a prayer too many times, if you say it a hundred or even a thousand times, you can literally stop hearing it.
15:39
SPEAKER_00: So listen to that first line: defend us in battle.
15:43
SPEAKER_00: That assumes first and foremost that a battle exists.
15:47
SPEAKER_00: Then be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
15:52
SPEAKER_00: Snares.
15:53
SPEAKER_00: Well, that's an interesting word because a snare is a trap.
15:57
SPEAKER_00: And a good trap works precisely because you don't recognize it as a trap.
16:03
SPEAKER_00: Isn't that usually how temptation works?
16:05
SPEAKER_00: I know that's how it works in my life.
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SPEAKER_00: And most people don't wake up one morning and say, you know what?
16:11
SPEAKER_00: Today I think I'm gonna try to destroy my marriage, or I'm gonna tell my boss off, or I'm gonna get super mad in traffic, or I'm just gonna all of a sudden I'm gonna start getting addicted to alcohol and drugs today.
16:20
SPEAKER_00: Or today, you know what, I'm just gonna abandon my faith and slowly start to drift away.
16:24
SPEAKER_00: Usually it begins a lot smaller.
16:27
SPEAKER_00: Usually it's one compromise, or it's one click on a site you shouldn't be going to, or it's one little white lie that progressives, and then it's resentment, and then you keep feeding it, then it's another conversation that you know you probably should be having, and then you stop praying, then you miss a Sunday, then you start deciding, well, that's a compromise, and then you find another reason, like, well, I already did that, so then there's another one.
16:51
SPEAKER_00: Now that is the snare.
16:53
SPEAKER_00: That's why spiritual warfare requires vigilance.
16:56
SPEAKER_00: But where did this prayer actually come from?
16:59
SPEAKER_00: And this is where the Pope Leo XIII story enters in.
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SPEAKER_00: In the late 19th century, prayers said after Low Mass became associated with Leo XIII, including the prayer to St.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: Michael.
17:10
SPEAKER_00: In 1986, the St.
17:12
SPEAKER_00: Michael prayer became part of the prayers of the church, and a generation of Catholics became accustomed to hearing it right after Mass.
17:18
SPEAKER_00: Now think of the symbolism of that.
17:20
SPEAKER_00: You have just been to Calvary sacramentally, you have just heard the word of God, you just received Jesus in the Eucharist, and then before walking back out into the world, Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.
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SPEAKER_00: I love that because the Mass is not an escape from the battle.
17:39
SPEAKER_00: The Mass is what equips you to return to it.
17:42
SPEAKER_00: You receive Jesus, and then you're sent back to your marriage, back to being a father and mother to your kids, back to your workplace, back to all the temptations in the world, the suffering, the internet, and this culture that's constantly attacking us and competing for your attention and your soul.
18:00
SPEAKER_00: And then the church prayed, Defend us in battle.
18:04
SPEAKER_00: Now, here's where things get interesting.
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SPEAKER_00: You may have heard the famous story about Pope Leo XIII, and there are versions of that story that say after Mass, he suddenly had this terrifying vision.
18:15
SPEAKER_00: Some accounts say he heard a conversation involving Satan asking God for greater freedom to attack the church.
18:21
SPEAKER_00: Other versions say that he saw demonic forces gathering, and then, according to the story, that he was so shaken that he went away and then composed the St.
18:31
SPEAKER_00: Michael prayer.
18:32
SPEAKER_00: It's an incredible story, but we need to distinguish documented history from later accounts.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: The St.
18:38
SPEAKER_00: Michael Prayer is genuinely connected to Pope Leo XIII.
18:42
SPEAKER_00: And it uses the prayers after Mass.
18:44
SPEAKER_00: That's pretty historical.
18:46
SPEAKER_00: But some of the incredibly specific details about exactly what Pope Leo saw or heard appear in later retellings and are harder to establish with certainty.
18:55
SPEAKER_00: And I don't think Catholics need to be afraid of saying that.
18:58
SPEAKER_00: Our faith doesn't become less interesting when we tell the truth.
19:02
SPEAKER_00: We don't need to make the story bigger than we can document because the prayer itself is already extraordinary.
19:08
SPEAKER_00: And here's something else the prayer isn't universally required after Mass today.
19:13
SPEAKER_00: So if your parish doesn't say it, it doesn't mean that somebody is doing the Mass wrong.
19:18
SPEAKER_00: But now we are seeing many parishes have voluntarily started bringing it back.
19:21
SPEAKER_00: I hear it every single day after daily mass at my church.
19:25
SPEAKER_00: And personally, I love praying it.
19:27
SPEAKER_00: Pope Francis even asked Catholics in 2018 to conclude the rosary during October with the St.
19:33
SPEAKER_00: Michael's Prayer, calling the faithful to say this prayer amid spiritual struggle.
19:37
SPEAKER_00: So this isn't some kind of abandoned relic of the old church.
19:40
SPEAKER_00: Catholics continue turning to this prayer because its words speak to something real.
19:45
SPEAKER_00: But here's the warning: if you pray the St.
19:48
SPEAKER_00: Michael's prayer every day and then give yourself over to anger, pornography, or gossip, or unforgiveness, or hatred, or any of those things that really can pollute your soul, then you've misunderstand spiritual warfare.
20:03
SPEAKER_00: You can't ask Saint Michael to fight evil while making peace with evil in your own heart.
20:08
SPEAKER_00: And sometimes spiritual warfare looks incredibly ordinary.
20:11
SPEAKER_00: Like I said, forgiving somebody or closing your laptop or putting your phone down or running to confession.
20:17
SPEAKER_00: Sometimes that even looks like just praying when you don't feel like it, on vacation and getting to mass, or keeping your regular marriage vows, or learning how to control your tongue, or choosing humility when pride is really telling you to say something mean.
20:30
SPEAKER_00: Stay under the weight of the cross that God has allowed you to carry.
20:34
SPEAKER_00: That is the battle.
20:35
SPEAKER_00: But September 29th isn't only about Saint Michael.
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SPEAKER_00: The church gives us three archangels, Michael, Gabriel, and of course Raphael.
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SPEAKER_00: And I think that there is something beautiful to be heard here.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael fights, Gabriel announces, and Raphael accompanies and heals.
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SPEAKER_00: Listen and heal.
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SPEAKER_00: Three very powerful words.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael teaches us how to stand, Gabriel is teaching us how to receive God's word, and Raphael teaches us to trust God's providence on this journey.
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SPEAKER_00: And Gabriel appears in one of the most important moments in human history.
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SPEAKER_00: We know the story.
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SPEAKER_00: He appeared to a young woman in Nazareth, Mary, and he brings the message that she will conceive and bear a son, Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And Mary responds, let it be done to me according to your word.
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SPEAKER_00: Think about the contrast.
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SPEAKER_00: The rebellion of Satan is my will.
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SPEAKER_00: Peter Crave says that in hell everybody will be singing the song from Frank Sinatra, I did it my way.
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SPEAKER_00: Mary says, Your will be done.
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SPEAKER_00: The temptation of the serpent is very simple.
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SPEAKER_00: He tells us that you can become like God.
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SPEAKER_00: While Mary says, I am the handmaiden of the Lord.
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SPEAKER_00: Gabriel stands there at this very incredible moment in history.
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SPEAKER_00: He's there for This surrender.
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SPEAKER_00: Somebody listening to this right now may need Gabriel's lesson more than Michael.
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SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you've been asking God to reveal the entire plan before you'll actually say yes to him.
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SPEAKER_00: Show me what happens next year.
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SPEAKER_00: Show me how this works out exactly.
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SPEAKER_00: I need to know more details.
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SPEAKER_00: Show me that I won't have to go through anything that tough.
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SPEAKER_00: It's not going to be that easy.
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SPEAKER_00: Show me that everything's going to work out or I'm going to be successful.
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SPEAKER_00: And then I'll say yes.
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SPEAKER_00: Mary didn't receive a five-year strategic plan.
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SPEAKER_00: She didn't get the whole map.
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SPEAKER_00: She just said yes.
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SPEAKER_00: She received enough light for the next yes.
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SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's all you have right now.
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SPEAKER_00: Just say yes.
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SPEAKER_00: And then there is Raphael.
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SPEAKER_00: If you never heard about the Book of Tobit, well, you should read it.
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SPEAKER_00: Raphael accompanies Tobias on a journey.
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SPEAKER_00: He guides him, he protects him, and becomes intimately connected with God's healing.
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SPEAKER_00: And I love that image because most of our lives aren't spent arriving.
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SPEAKER_00: They're spent traveling on the road, somewhere we're going, between the actual prayer and then the answer that we're looking for, between the wound and the healing, between where we used to be and where God is taking us.
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SPEAKER_00: And sometimes God is already working beside us before we even recognize that he's there.
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SPEAKER_00: And Raphael reminds us that God heals, that he guides us, that he is walking with us, that he accompanies us.
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SPEAKER_00: So look at what the church gave us on this feast.
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SPEAKER_00: We have Michael telling us to stand and fight.
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SPEAKER_00: We have Gabriel, who says, hear God's word and respond by saying yes.
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SPEAKER_00: And Raphael saying, trust God on this journey.
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SPEAKER_00: But all three of them point to things beyond themselves.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's the key.
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SPEAKER_00: The angels aren't the destination.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ is.
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SPEAKER_00: And maybe that's why St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael is resonating so much right now.
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SPEAKER_00: I mean, just look around.
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SPEAKER_00: People can actually feel the battle.
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SPEAKER_00: I know families are feeling it.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm feeling it.
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SPEAKER_00: People I'm talking to are feeling it, especially young people are feeling it.
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SPEAKER_00: We're seeing it stressed out marriages.
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SPEAKER_00: Priests are having a hard time.
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SPEAKER_00: Men are feeling it.
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SPEAKER_00: Women are feeling it.
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SPEAKER_00: And we're more connected, supposedly through social media and technology than any other time in history.
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SPEAKER_00: But we are somehow more incredibly isolated and lonely.
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SPEAKER_00: We have more information than any generation in human history.
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SPEAKER_00: And we're confused at the same time about some of the most basic questions of our existence, like who am I?
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SPEAKER_00: And what am I made for?
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SPEAKER_00: What is true?
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SPEAKER_00: What is good?
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SPEAKER_00: What is worth actually sacrificing for?
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SPEAKER_00: And into all that noise comes Michael's name.
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SPEAKER_00: Who is like God?
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SPEAKER_00: Nobody.
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SPEAKER_00: That's the answer.
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SPEAKER_00: Not the culture, not some kind of influencer, not a political party, not your desires, not your feelings either.
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SPEAKER_00: Because your feelings, well, they could be liars.
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SPEAKER_00: And it's definitely not going to be your career, your job, or how much money you have in your bank account, or your reputation.
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SPEAKER_00: It's not you.
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SPEAKER_00: It's definitely not me.
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SPEAKER_00: So who is like God?
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SPEAKER_00: Nobody.
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SPEAKER_00: And strangely enough, surrendering to that truth doesn't make you weaker.
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SPEAKER_00: It actually sets you free because you don't have to be God.
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SPEAKER_00: You don't have to control everything.
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SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to know everything either.
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SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to be the person who's going to go and fix everybody or fix all their problems.
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SPEAKER_00: And you don't have to go around trying to win every argument and you don't have to determine what's good and evil for your own self.
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SPEAKER_00: Because you have a Father, you have a Savior, and you have the Holy Spirit.
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SPEAKER_00: And God has given us the entire heavenly family to intercede for us.
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SPEAKER_00: That's ultimately why I keep praying this prayer.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's why Michael's my confirmation name.
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SPEAKER_00: That's why I have that prayer tattooed on my arm.
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SPEAKER_00: Not because I'm fascinated with Satan.
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SPEAKER_00: I'm fascinated by the victory that Jesus Christ won.
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SPEAKER_00: And that's a huge difference.
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SPEAKER_00: The goal of spiritual warfare isn't to spend your life thinking about demons.
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SPEAKER_00: The goal is holiness.
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SPEAKER_00: The goal is Jesus.
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SPEAKER_00: And our goal is to be with him in heaven forever.
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SPEAKER_00: The goal is trying to become a man or woman that God has created us to become, whether that's a husband, a wife, a father, a mother, a boss, a priest, a religious sister, any part of vocation, whether that's being just a son or a daughter or being a good friend, ultimately to be a disciple.
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SPEAKER_00: God wants us to be saints, to be with him for eternity.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe the message of St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael isn't be afraid because there's a battle.
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SPEAKER_00: Maybe it's stop being afraid because you know who wins in the end.
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SPEAKER_00: Revelation doesn't end with Satan being victorious.
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SPEAKER_00: The cross didn't end at Good Friday.
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SPEAKER_00: The tomb is empty.
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SPEAKER_00: Jesus Christ defeated death and sin.
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SPEAKER_00: And revelation tells us that they were conquered by the blood of the Lamb.
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SPEAKER_00: That's the story.
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SPEAKER_00: Not, oh, look how powerful the dragon or Satan or the devil is.
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SPEAKER_00: It's look how powerful the Lamb is.
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SPEAKER_00: So tomorrow or today, whenever you're watching this, September 29th, do something simple.
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SPEAKER_00: Go to Mass if you're able, or maybe just read Revelation chapter 12, or read about Gabriel and Mary in Luke chapter 1, or open up Tobit if you've never read it and read all about Raphael's role in that story and pray the St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael's prayer.
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SPEAKER_00: And don't just rattle through the words that you have memorized it.
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SPEAKER_00: That's what rote prayers have the risk of doing, that we just say the words and we're not thinking about what we're actually praying.
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SPEAKER_00: So maybe try to say it, but slow down and think about every word that you're actually saying.
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SPEAKER_00: Say to yourself, what is it trying to say to me right now?
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SPEAKER_00: And maybe identify the battle that you're actually fighting in your own life, whether that's lust or anger, or trying to have patience, or some kind of thing going on in your marriage, or some kind of problem with your kids, or something that you're worried about for your family.
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SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're outside the church and you've been struggling to come back to mass.
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SPEAKER_00: Or maybe you're carrying suffering that no one even knows about.
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SPEAKER_00: And I understand many of us were very tired and you could be easily discouraged.
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SPEAKER_00: And maybe many of you have been fighting the same sin over and over again for years, wondering if it's ever going to change.
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SPEAKER_00: My advice is don't quit, run to confession, receive the Eucharist, but ultimately get on your knees and ask for help and pray.
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SPEAKER_00: Saint Michael, the Archangel, defend us in battle.
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SPEAKER_00: Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
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SPEAKER_00: May God rebuke him.
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SPEAKER_00: We humbly pray.
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SPEAKER_00: 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.
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SPEAKER_00: Amen.
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SPEAKER_00: And remember this the battle is real.
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SPEAKER_00: Satan, the enemy, is real, but so is grace.
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SPEAKER_00: So is the Eucharist, and so is the grace that comes from confession.
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SPEAKER_00: And so are the angels and our guardian angels and all the archangels and the church and the cross and ultimately the empty tomb.
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SPEAKER_00: And so that is the victory.
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SPEAKER_00: You're not made to surrender to evil.
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SPEAKER_00: You were made to stand out.
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SPEAKER_00: You were made to become a saint.
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SPEAKER_00: And Saint Michael reminds us to fight.
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SPEAKER_00: Gabriel reminds us to say yes.
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SPEAKER_00: And Raphael reminds us that God is with us on this journey.
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SPEAKER_00: And all three remind us that Jesus is Lord, who is like God?
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SPEAKER_00: No one.
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SPEAKER_00: Saint Michael the Archangel, pray for us.
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SPEAKER_00: Saint Gabriel, pray for us.
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SPEAKER_00: Saint Raphael, pray for us.
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SPEAKER_00: And if you're watching this and St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael has played a role in your life, I want to hear about it.
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SPEAKER_00: Is Michael your confirmation name?
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SPEAKER_00: Do you even say the St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael prayer?
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SPEAKER_00: Does your church say the St.
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SPEAKER_00: Michael prayer after Mass?
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SPEAKER_00: If you do, I'd love to hear from you.
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SPEAKER_00: And if you found this helpful, I would appreciate it if you hit that like, share, and subscribe button.
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SPEAKER_00: It really does help us get us out.
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SPEAKER_00: But ultimately, I'd respond to your comments.
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SPEAKER_00: So I'd love to hear from you.
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SPEAKER_00: And maybe send this video to somebody who may be battling something silently.
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SPEAKER_00: This could be a great reminder that they're not alone and that the angels and the archangels are great intercessors for us and they are with us when we call upon them, just like your guardian angel.
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SPEAKER_00: So God bless you and have a beautiful night.