Tough guy: when you need a warrior to combat the darkness, call on St. Mike to kick some butt.

HARRY POTTER AND HIS LESSONS ON "DEFENSE against the dark arts" have nothing on our defender, St. Michael the Archangel. For me, Michael almost got lost in the shuffle when many devotions became religiously passe in the wake of Vatican II. And so it was that St. Michael became simply a childhood memory. He had been retired from active liturgical duty in the church, after all, where once his prayer was recited at the end of Mass.

But in time I found I wanted to call Michael, our warrior archangel and defender of the church, back into active duty. The prayer to St. Michael seeking his "protection against the wickedness and snares of the devil" became relevant against a backdrop of personal struggles and cultural observations.

In the latter category we can certainly place the plague of abuse scandals that have riddled the church. St. Paul does tell us, after all, that we wrestle not against flesh and blood, but "against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in heavenly places." If the widespread scandals are not indicative of sin that seemed to take on a life of its own and be driven by some darkness greater than mere individuals, than I don't know what is.

For myself, I had navigated the darkness of having my marriage fall apart because of addiction--severe enough to cause me to free with my young son. I struggled with the economic hardship that came with single-parenting on an income too modest to support two and no child support to speak of. And like everyone, sooner or later, there were other difficulties that when we reflect upon them seem to qualify as the "present darkness" Paul spoke of--and where I for one, in retrospect, wished I had thought to call on our kick-butt defender as an intercessor, an angel-saint to aid in the fight for family, for wholeness, for justice in various situations.

Forget that it can sometimes be seen as unfashionable to be attracted to an icon like Michael--a warrior--who is too militaristic for the sensibilities of some today. But when the chips are down and our tradition offers centuries of testimony to the intercession of St. Michael, I was willing to trust that wisdom and invoke this mighty warrior. Having done that, I do believe Michael intercedes and offers cosmic defense of the Christian kind against the darkness of our times.

I first reawakened to St. Michael when I went back to school and attended St. Michael's College in Vermont as a "non-traditional" student. But I was dismayed at the frail-looking Michael on the banner in the chapel. Then I learned that a wimpy-looking Michael was a frequent occurrence in art. This launched me on a quest to collect strong images of Michael, which I used to create an electronic video-prayer along with the song "Warrior" by the music group Caedmon's Call. These images are also now my screensaver.

I began to pray the traditional prayer to St. Michael and found it to be very powerful--even a nearly immediate stress-reducer--when feeling overwhelmed. Originated by Pope Leo XIII in the 19th century after he had a traumatic vision of the spiritual battle for the soul of the church, he placed it at the end of every low Mass, and there it remained until the liturgical reforms of Vatican II.

In 1994 Pope John Paul II urged Catholics to remember and recite the prayer regularly for the protection of the church. Given the scandals we have all reeled from, I think the pope was asking a very worthy prayer of all Catholics who love the church. For my own devotion I have added the Litany of St. Michael and a novena prayer that I pray frequently with a friend. These can easily be found online.

HARRY POTTER MAY HAVE NEEDED SPECIAL WIZARDLY lessons to combat the dark arts, but all we need is Christ and the assistance of God's warrior-angel, Michael. And Michael is an interfaith figure. He appears in the Hebrew scriptures and is revered by Jews, Muslims, and Christians alike. Sufficient testimony, indeed, to ask of Michael his protection for us and for the church.

By MARY ELLEN O'BRIEN, a freelance writer in Chicago.