Negotiating a Post-Election Path Forward
If you value articles like this, sign up for our daily email newsletter and support us with a donation.
In the wake of Donald Trump's re-election last week, Dr. Ben Carson had a message of praise for Americans – and a warning.
The renowned neurosurgeon, who served as US Secretary of Housing and Urban Development during Trump's first administration, commended patriots for showing up en masse at the ballot box and delivering victory to the MAGA campaign. But, he cautioned, we still "have a long way to go ... a lot of hard work ahead" to "make America faithful again."
The battle for the soul of our country isn't over, Carson noted; rather, it's just beginning. Therefore, patriots cannot allow themselves to succumb to a "one and done" (or "won and done," as one online commenter phrased it) mindset.
Indeed, it's naive to believe the Communist Left will simply hand over their power out of some sudden respect for the will of the people. "Don't let the Left lull you into a false sense of security," one social media user posted on X. "They haven't done what they've done for the last 60 years to just roll over now."
SAINT MICHAEL THE ARCHANGEL – INTERCESSOR AND PROTECTOR
Carson's warning reinforces the need for Americans of faith to keep God at the helm of our lives. As part of this, now, more than ever, US Catholics must put on their spiritual armor and invoke the help of the Heavenly hosts in the ongoing battle for the soul of the nation.
Father Chris Alar, MIC – a great evangelizer of Catholics and non-Catholics alike – points to St. Michael the Archangel, among all the angels, as a tremendously powerful protector, and urges the faithful to enlist his aid to avoid the spiritual landmines that are all around us today.
Indeed, St. Michael is an ideal intercessor for the United States at this particular moment in time. Long before earth's creation, he led the charge against Lucifer and his minions, casting the mutinous rogues out of Heaven after they revolted against God. With enough prayer, God could direct St. Michael to do the same here in the United States – to cleanse our country by expelling the diabolical agents who control so much of its spiritual terrain, at present.
"God is telling us that if we pray to St. Michael, we can change the fate of the world." – Fr. Chris Alar
SUMMER OF ST. MICHAEL
The archangel's protective capacity was reinforced earlier this year at the fateful MAGA campaign rally in Butler, Pennsylvania. On July 13, multiple rally-goers attested to seeing an angelic image – wings and all – in the tangled flag above the podium where Trump was standing when an assassin's bullet tore through the air, missing his head by one miraculous millimeter.
"[T]here was something in the air," one observer later testified. "[T]here was something different about that day ... there was something going on. It was surreal ... something spiritual. I don't know [but] it looked like an angel."
Others attested to seeing in the flag, tangled by the wind, the shape of the powerful wings of an angel; some claimed it was St. Michael – as though the archangel himself were being called on that day to protect the president.
Others also claimed they felt the presence of St. Michael a few days later at the Republican National Convention (RNC) in Milwaukee.
In a historic first, the fourth night of the RNC convention was gaveled in with a recitation of the Prayer to St. Michael – a petition faithful Catholics know by heart:
St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil.
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray,
and do thou,
O Prince of the heavenly hosts, by the power of God,
thrust into hell Satan,
and all the evil spirits,
who prowl about the world
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.
In response, countless Americans of faith took to social media to voice their astonishment at the display. When, they asked, has St. Michael been implored publicly at a US political convention? Some even dubbed devotional act "a sort of mini-miracle."
It's interesting to note that this powerful prayer was composed by Pope Leo XIII in 1884, at a time when the demonic ideas of Karl Marx were taking root across Europe.
According to the pontiff, after offering Holy Mass, he had a frightening, nightmarish vision. In it, he saw legions of evil spirits attacking the Church and heard Satan boasting to destroy it with just "a little more time – within the next 75 to 100 years."
Following the astounding revelation, the pope headed to his private office, where he forthwith penned the prayer to St. Michael.
In a testament to the intense effect the vision had on him, and reflecting on the severity of the spiritual battle being waged against the Church – and the world – Pope Leo decreed the prayer must be recited throughout the world after the end of every low Mass.
ANGELIC JUSTICE – NOT SOCIAL JUSTICE
Saint Michael, of course, is a great protector. But beyond that, he is regarded by many to be the patron saint of Justice with a capital "J."
He is often depicted not just wielding his mighty sword, defending the right and true, but holding a pair of scales in his left hand, weighing the good and bad.
Saint Michael's fight for heavenly justice can help us negotiate our way through the confusing, and sometimes paralyzing, world of political correctness and so-called social justice.
We can pray to him to help discern the distinction, while loving our neighbors as ourselves and wishing all well.
He can help us negotiate the muck of fake news as we mine for the Good News of Christ, and share it with others as the apostles did 2,000 years ago.
Saint Thomas Aquinas (c. 1225-1274) described Saint Michael as "the breath of the Redeemer's spirit who will, at the end of the world, combat and destroy the Anti-Christ as he did Lucifer in the beginning."
The spirit of the Anti-Christ is evident in our own world – in the slaughter of innocents, the prostitution of children, the lascivious love of money and power – in the litany of evil that surrounds and lives in each of us sinners.
We can ask St. Michael to fortify us while we resist the anti-Christian onslaughts of Marxist ideology in our person, and in the world, and work with him to tip the scales in favor of justice.
GUARDIAN ANGELS: PERSONAL AND NATIONAL
According to Catholic tradition, every human being – everyone, regardless of faith or country of origin – has a guardian angel who is standing by to provide strength and protection.
The important proviso is that we must ask the angels for help. As one writer puts it,
"angels delight in serving humanity ... such spiritual service is a natural expression of their highly evolved nature, but – because they are so highly evolved – they will never interfere in our lives without our express consent and desire for them to do so."
"Asking – as a spiritual practice – is commended to us even by Jesus, who said, 'Ask, and it will be given you; search, and you will find; knock, and the door will be opened for you. For everyone who asks receives, and everyone who searches finds, and for everyone who knocks, the door will be opened' (Matthew 7:7-8). Granted, Jesus here is speaking about the importance of asking God for what we need, but the principle – ask for what you need – surely applies to our angelic relationships as well," he continues.
"How consoling it is to know that we have a spirit who from womb to tomb never leaves us, even for an instant, not even when we dare to sin. And this heavenly spirit guides and protects us like a friend, a brother." – Padre Pio on Guardian Angels
Another fascinating detail of angelic praxis is that we can ask our guardian angel to help our loved ones.
Saint Therese of Lisieux (1873-1897), a contemporary of Pope Leo XIII, underscores this point in a poem written to her guardian angel:
O thou who speedest through all space
More swiftly than the lightnings fly!
Go very often, in my place,
To those I love most tenderly.
Just as every human being has a guardian angel, so too is every nation appointed an angel for physical and spiritual protection.
This pious belief is derived from the Old Testament. The book of Daniel presents St. Michael as the leader of the angelic hosts and Israel's guardian, keeping the nation's people safe from enemies. The Catechism of the Catholic Church also refers to a "state of division into many nations, each entrusted by divine providence to the guardianship of angels" (57).
A powerful contemporary attestation to the Guardian Angel of the United States comes from Vince Sigala, a mystic who lives in California. His testimonial is recorded in a book, published by The Mary Foundation, titled The Warning.
Sigala, who claims to have experienced visions since his youth, writes that in 2015 he was frightfully awakened in the middle of the night by the sight of "an enormous man."
So frightened was Sigala at first that his first impulse was to attack the figure. But he heard the words, "Please don't do that," at which time, the alleged mystic said, "a great calm came over me."
"[The figure] was praying on both knees with his head lowered and his hands pressed together under his chin," Sigala narrated.
"I could plainly see a cut or bruise on his upper left cheek, and while his garment was beautiful, it was soiled and discolored from what appeared to be wounds underneath the fabric," he added.
He gave a message reminiscent of the one received by St. Faustina almost a century earlier in Poland: "Tell the people to pray the Chaplet of Divine Mercy, every day, and to offer it in reparation for the sins committed by the United States."
In the days that followed, Sigala said, he was eventually able to discern, through contemplation and prayer, that the figure he encountered was the Guardian Angel of the United States and that the angel's wounds came from battling Satan and his demons for the soul of our nation.
The mystic also said he learned that the prayers of the faithful, specifically the one his heavenly visitor requested, "strengthen not only him, but also all the angels who fight with him."
"I came to understand that we empower angels through our prayers, just as we empower demons with our sin." – Vince Sigala
In keeping with the spirit of Dr. Carson's warning, Sigala said: "We are in grave need of prayer and penance, and sacrifices for love of God that give way to waterfalls of grace. May we surrender all that we are and all that we have to Jesus before the Day of Justice arrives."
"Woe to those who would take this period of mercy for granted and put off their conversions, thinking that they can wait until the last hour. To grow in holiness can only come by way of God's grace and mercy. To grow in holiness takes time. And that time for grace and mercy is now." – Vince Sigala
Sigala said he considers this vision – one of his last – as the "most pivotal" because "the instruction was not just for me, but for anyone who will listen."
Indeed, to persist in the spiritual battle at hand, US Catholics must continue – more fervently than ever – to invoke the help of the Heavenly hosts, including the Guardian Angel of the United States and, especially, St. Michael the Archangel. We need to enlist their aid for the protection for our country – to safeguard us from enemies both foreign and domestic, as both will be trying to undermine Trump and his team, moving forward. After all, the Deep State doesn't want to be unseated, and they'll do anything to remain entrenched in power.
Granted, there are those who will say we don't need the angels – "God protects us."
Indeed, as St. Teresa of Avila reminds us, "God alone suffices." But God created the angels as real as He created us humans ... to know, love and serve Him – and to help our neighbors.
Would we deny our own existence or ability to help others? Of course not. Likewise, how could we deny God's Heavenly creatures' existence and abilities to do the same.
Thanking God that in 2024, the tide has started to turn, judging by the miraculous election victory; let us also invoke our heavenly helpers, St. Michael and the Guardian Angel of the United States, so that the pendulum will continue swinging in a faithful direction.
Dr. Barbara Toth has a doctorate in rhetoric and composition from Bowling Green State University. She has taught at universities in the US, China and Saudi Arabia. Her work in setting up a writing center at Princess Nourah bint Abdulrahmen University, an all-women's university in Riyadh, has been cited in American journals. Toth has published academic and non-academic articles and poems internationally.
Comments