The St. Michael Prayer in Latin and English

St Michael Prayer In Latin  

Sancte Michael Archangele, defende nos in proelio, contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium. Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur: tuque, princeps militiae caelestis, in virtute Dei, in infernum detrude satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo. Amen.

Saint Michael Prayer in English 

Saint 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 the evil spirits who prowl about the world seeking the ruin of souls. Amen. 

Learning Latin Prayers

For me, it's much easier to learn a prayer in Latin when I can match up the Latin word or phrase with the English. This is why I always work on learning a new prayer using a side by side or line by line translation like the one below. 

While it's possible to guess the English meaning of some of the Latin when reading the prayers side by side, other lines and phrases can be confusing. If you use Chrome, you can translate the Latin by highlighting a given word or phrase with the Google Translate add-on (here). If you don't use Chrome just google Google Translate and copy and paste.

Side By Side / Line By Line Version (Latin and English)

Sancte Michael Archangele,	Saint Michael the Archangel,
defende nos in proelio,	defend us in battle,
contra nequitiam et insidias diaboli esto praesidium.	be our protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil.
Imperet illi Deus, supplices deprecamur:	May God rebuke him, we humbly pray;
tuque, princeps militiae caelestis,	and do thou, O prince of the heavenly host,
Satanam aliosque spiritus malignos, qui ad perditionem animarum pervagantur in mundo, divina virtute,	by the power of God, cast into hell, Satan and all the evil spirits who prowl about the earth,
in infernum detrude. Amen.	seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

Why Pray in Latin?

And Pilate wrote a title also, and he put it upon the cross. And the writing was: JESUS OF NAZARETH, THE KING OF THE JEWS.  This title therefore many of the Jews did read: because the place where Jesus was crucified was nigh to the city: and it was written in Hebrew, in Greek, and in Latin. - John 19:19,20 (Douay Rheims Bible)

It commonly said that the devil hates Latin and, in my own experience with prayer, this is absolutely true. Latin (along with Greek and Hebrew) is a sacred language by virtue of its use upon the cross. It is also the language of the Mass.

The angels love the Mass. For me, attending the traditional Latin Mass with an awareness of the presence of the angels is beyond beautiful. When I drop to my knees for the Sanctus, I can almost feel them hovering, gentle and pure, all around us.

At every Holy Mass, heaven is opened for us and we join in the praise and adoration of the Angels who stand night and day before the Throne of God singing unceasingly, “Holy, holy, holy is the Lord God Almighty..." Through the perfection of their praise, the Holy Angels can lead us more deeply into this praise of God and loving communion with Him and His divine Son in the Sacred Liturgy. - The Holy Mass as Communio (Opus Angelorum Circular: Advent 2021)

Holy Communion by Angelo Graf von Courten, 1848-1925.

Printable St. Michael Prayer Card

If you'd like a printable St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card (as pictured below), please check out the new listing in my Etsy shop here. This is folding prayer card to allow for the English and Latin versions of the prayer (85¢).

Front of the St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card

Inside of St. Michael English - Latin Prayer Card

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You can use Google Translate offline as well. More info here.