Former President Donald Trump posted a traditional prayer to St. Michael the Archangel on Sept. 29, provoking a wide range of reactions. Sept. 29 is when Catholics worldwide celebrate the Feast of St. Michael, originally called Michaelmas.
The post on X followed Trump’s Sept. 8 post celebrating the birth of the Virgin Mary.
Catholic priest Father Gerald Murray told The Epoch Times that even though the former president is not Catholic, his message was “most welcome.”
“God bless him, and God bless our country,” he said.
Christian devotion to St. Michael dates back to the 5th century A.D., and Michaelmas was a very popular holiday in the Middle Ages, according to St. Michael’s Abbey in Southern California.
In Christian theology, St. Michael is the angel who kicks the devil out of heaven. This belief is based on a passage from the last book in the Bible, the Apocalypse, more commonly known as the Book of Revelation:
“And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon … And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and satan…” (Rev 12:7-9)
St. Michael is often depicted with his foot on the neck of the devil, wielding the sword of justice in his right hand and in his left holding scales that will weigh the souls of those who are to be judged.
The prayer Trump posted originates from an 1884 event involving Pope Leo XIII.
He was celebrating Mass when bystanders saw the pope suddenly become still, staring off into the distance. He went pale, and a look of terror passed over his face.
His secretary, Rinaldo Angeli, said later that Leo XIII explained that he had seen a vision and heard a conversation between God and the devil over the fate of the church.
When the Mass ended, the pope went into his private office and composed the prayer to St. Michael, ordering it to be said after weekday Masses throughout the Catholic Church. This requirement was removed in 1965, but many churches still observe it.
St. Michael is revered as the patron saint of warriors, policemen, and firemen. He is also the patron saint of several countries, including Portugal, Germany, and both Russia and Ukraine.
The French isle of St. Michel is home to a monastery built to honor the place where the angel is said to have appeared to a bishop three times in the year 708.