On October 13, 1884 Leo XIII had just completed a celebration of Mass in one of the Vatican's private chapels. Standing at the foot of the altar, he suddenly turned ashen and collapsed to the floor, apparently the victim of a stroke or heart attack. However, neither malady was the cause of his collapse. For he had just been given a vision of the future of the Church he loved so much. After a few minutes spent in what seemed like a coma, he revived and remarked to those around him, "Oh, what a horrible picture I was permitted to see!"

What Leo XIII apparently saw, as described later by those who talked to him at the time of his vision, was a period of about one hundred years when the power of satan would reach its zenith. That period was to be the twentieth century [January 1, 1901 through December 31, 2000]. Leo was so shaken by the spectre of the destruction of moral and spiritual values both inside and outside the Church, that he composed a prayer which was to be said at the end of each Mass celebrated anywhere in the Catholic Church. This prayer to Michael the Archangel was said continuously until the Mass was restructured in the Second Vatican council.

[my note: ...which convened Oct. 11, 1962 and closed December 1965, precisely when the prayer was needed the most]

While this prayer may now seem quaint and mildly embarassing to the modern reader with its reference to satan and evil spirits, it should be noted that virtually all measures of social pathology and moral decline (things like the crime rate, percentage of unwed mothers, abortion rate, divorce rate, etc.) each started to rise sharply as the 1960's ended...a few years after this prayer had ceased being used in Church liturgies. Regardless, while the precise details of Leo's visions are not known, it would certainly appear that his concern about the coming difficulties in his Church and the world in which it found itself were well founded.

St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil;
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray:
And do thou, O Prince of the heavenly host,
by the power of God,
Cast into hell satan and all evil spirits
who wander through the world seeking the ruin of souls.

Amen.



[and lest anyone dismiss me for this, you must then also dismiss all Islamists, Jews, Buddhists, Hindus and Zoroastrians (like Queen's Freddie Mercury) for also believing in "the devil" and/or "evil spirits."]