Just as the Church has official ritual books for Mass and the sacraments, for blessings and for exorcism, so there is also an official book called the Handbook of Indulgences. We will not take time here to explain Church teaching on indulgences; though it is important and woefully neglected, that would be the subject of another book. The traditional name for this ritual book is the Raccolta, Italian for collection. In the 1910 edition of the Raccolta, there is an indulgence granted for praying the Angelical Crown, also known as the Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel. This is a chaplet or ring of beads on which are prayed one Our Father and Three Hail Marys for each of the Nine Choirs of angels, completed with Our Fathers for St. Michael, St. Gabriel, St. Raphael, and one’s guardian angel. The prayers for each of the Nine Choirs are introduced with the following meditations, which may give insight into their roles.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of the Seraphim, may it please God to make us worthy to receive into our hearts the fire of his perfect charity. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of the Cherubim, may God grant us grace to abandon the ways of sin, and follow the path of Christian perfection. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the sacred choir of the Thrones, may it please God to infuse into our hearts a true and earnest spirit of humility. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of the Dominations, may it please God to grant us grace to have dominion over our senses, and to correct our depraved passions. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of the Powers, may God vouchsafe to keep our souls from the wiles and temptations of the devil. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the choir of the admirable celestial Virtues, may our Lord keep us from falling into temptations and deliver us from evil. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of the Principalities, may it please God to fill our souls with the spirit of true and hearty obedience. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of Archangels, may it please God to grant us the gift of perseverance in the faith and in all good works, that we may thereby be enabled to attain unto the glory of paradise. Amen.
At the intercession of St. Michael and the heavenly choir of Angels, may God vouchsafe to grant that the Holy Angels may protect us during life, and after death may lead us into the everlasting glory of heaven. Amen.
It is important to note the doctrinal value of this chaplet. Its origin is often said to be an apparition of the archangel Michael to Antonia d’Astonac, a Carmelite nun in Portugal. It is believed that the archangel Michael appeared to her in 1751 and told her that he wished to be honored by nine salutations corresponding to the nine choirs of angels; the story may well be true, but it seems impossible to find a primary source. The chaplet itself was approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851: this approval does not state anything about the apparition, but it does verify the teaching on the existence of the nine choirs, and the value of prayers meditating upon them.
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