O glorious prince St. Michael,
chief and commander of the heavenly hosts,
guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits,
servant in the house of the Divine King
and our admirable conductor,
you who shine with excellence
and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil
, who turn to you with confidence
and enable us by your gracious protection
to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
chief and commander of the heavenly hosts,
guardian of souls, vanquisher of rebel spirits,
servant in the house of the Divine King
and our admirable conductor,
you who shine with excellence
and superhuman virtue deliver us from all evil
, who turn to you with confidence
and enable us by your gracious protection
to serve God more and more faithfully every day.
I've seen some directors take weird liberties with Shakespeare (for example, right now at the Trinity Rep in Providence, Julius Caesar is being played by a woman). But there's one rather outrageous interpolation by Orson Welles that I don't mind. In his 1948 film, "Macbeth", Welles adds a new character, "a holy father". This priest chases away the Weird Sisters at the beginning and later in the play says the "St Michael Prayer". While Welles keeps the play in 11th century Scotland, he obviously had no qualms about adding this prayer that Pope Leo XIII wrote circa 1886. He used the prayer to underscore the battle between good and evil and between paganism and Christianity.
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