the phrase ' may god rebuke him' should not be left out imho. Its is an important part of that prayer.

I'm wondering if someone more clever than I could set the text of this prayer to the tune MICHAEL.

I meant writing an entire new hymn based on the prayer.

I think it needs 2 stanzas as well, as it is of course very abbreviated. Or a longer tune

It works to ST. THEODULPH

Much better!

In that case, I will mention that I would be honored if anyone attempts to contribute their own tune to my text. Anyone is free to use or alter this text however they see fit. I am also open to anyone submitting improved versions.

Here's a go, reduced from a more grandiose edition I attempted a few years ago.

Think T. Tertius Noble or Ralph Vaughn Williams for tempo and (necessary) organ accompaniment

Wendi? - pretty please?

Luke, I'll plan on using this text this coming Monday, thanks!

Here's a feeble attempt to meet Meloche's challenge (set the prayer to MICHAEL) composed over a few beers at the local saloon after five Masses:

O Saint Michael, Great Archangel,
Strong Protector in the fight,
From all Satan's snares defend us,
Let our Judge set evil right.
Prowl they may, day by day,
Demons with thy dagger slay.

Great suggestion, let me try this, thanks!

Posted!

I'm so sorry I didn't see this before. Here is a link to the chant.

http://thewayofbeauty.org/files/2012/11/STMichael.pdf

I introduce this to every choir I sing with. Heaven knows we need the prayer right now. Two churches in the area sing this after the "High Mass" every Sunday. I know the OF doesn't really HAVE a high Mass per se, which is why that's in quotes.

The link above no longer works, so attached is the pdf file...also a link to a recording our choir director just uploaded so you can hear what it sounds like....https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LVbPmP7p5OM

I’m not sure about the second syllable in power, at least to AURELIA.

Actually, when singing english it is better to reduce those kinds of words to a single syllable, 'pow'r'. Another examples is the word heav'n,

Some shortenings (shortnings):
glorious - gloryus
power - powr
shower - showr
spirit - sprit or speert
seven - sevn
heaven - heavn
you all - yall
particularly - particurly
syllable - slabble

I’ll admit that my stretching of glorious to 3 syllables is not perfect but I’m used to it now

The use of this tone that I am familiar with is for a particular chant from Ruthenian Byzantine Matins, "Having beheld the Resurrection", in a hand-written realization that our head cantor had picked up somewhere, and had us sing for Easter Matins. I haven't done any pottering around to find original sources, but my understanding is that the Ruthenians have borrowed the tone from a different tradition. The modern Matins book which the MCI website provides for provisional use cites it as "Kievan chant, Tone 6 Samohlas", but their arrangement is inartistic.

Observations:

Kind of cheeky to modify Jernberg's work. I think as a whole his arrangement is balanced, coherent, and tastefully done. There is something to be said for using a composition as is.

The original arrangement by Jernberg has no bar lines. He in fact carries over the final note of each of the the first two phrases into pickups of the next phrase. To me, that creates a judgement problem, in that now you have to decide with each phrase whether to do that. Jernberg's solution, which has a kind of symmetry, is that he does it twice, and then leaves it out of the rest of the piece.

I think he takes this approach also with some of the cadences: "angel" and "battle" are treated the same way and balance nicely; and then later "devil" (which to me is odd) is made to work by doing the same thing with "spirits".

One aspect of the harmony that I have always disagreed with is the way the lower voices continue with D's while the top voices do G-with-E. The version that I have sung simply put an Emin chord here, the same as under the other G's. This has the advantage that it can support emphasis, which I think the original tone does give it. I am curious as to whether this is an innovation of Jernberg's, or whether he had some source that did that.

I have no clear idea of how the end phrase typically goes, as I have only seen one or two examples of it. I wonder whether it ought to have multiple notes on the Gmaj chord, but I don't really have enough data to critique this. The syllabification of the descending notes fits with his other cadences, which is a plus.

The further adaptation by @ServiamScores has its own coherency, but makes the blurring of the cadences of the original tone much more prevalent. The first two phrases may to some ears respect the text better, but on the other hand they have eliminated two of the few solid one-syllable-per-note instances that are probably the most desirable form of cadence. The Gmaj on "Host" takes the cake: that is in fact the first note of the next phrase, the notes on "heavenly" are normally the cadence. So it is quite an elision, whether that was intentional or not. To me, overall this takes a couple of the little things Jernberg did, and makes them the new norm, for a very fluid result.

Just to add to the chaos and confusion, I am attaching a possible realization which I did, which illustrates a couple of my thoughts. NB: I am not proposing this for use. I am not sure if I like it (especially doubtful about the ending), but I had to get it out of my system. Clear cut phrases.

Kind of cheeky to modify Jernberg's work. I think as a whole his arrangement is balanced, coherent, and tastefully done.

I agree the original was tastefully done, and so is your version. And as I acknowledged above, it was possible (probable) that I bent some rules which someone who lives in a Byzantine chant world would recognize immediately, but someone with my Roman ears would not.

As for adapting Jernberg's work, it was shared publicly on a forum and it is the application of formulaic chant tones, not some original thru-composed work. The latter would perhaps be cheeky, however an adjustment of how a psalm tone is applied seems hardly egregious to me.

I also often disagree with how some people apply anglican chant tones (and don't get me started on gregorian tones with english text... talk about needing to bend some rules!). I don't feel that I'm somehow harming the work by shifting emphases to places that feel more natural to me. I've discovered that if I do not do this for my choir, they will often sing it wrong anyway, because sometimes it just feels very natural to sing certain phrases certain ways based on the natural pattern of speech—formulas be damned.

As for the cadences, yours are indeed interesting observations and I marvel at how three of us have now applied the same tone differently. I suppose this merely proves my point that chant tones aren't as cut and dry as we'd often like to think. They are launching points more than anything.

I wonder if launching directly to the next chord after a cadence, rather than reiterating it and shifting on the next strong syllable (as you and Jernberg both did) is a hallmark of this style of chant. I would love to know. Again, I'm no expert, and to someone who lives in that world, my version could sound very wrong, while to my English-first ear the other way seems jarring to me. I honestly don't think either one are "wrong" per se although one is probably more "authentic" than the other, whichever it may be. I suppose I also have some Russian chant in my ear. I looooooove Tchesnokov and, while I don't speak or read Russian, some of his works seem to follow the pattern that I've used.

For anyone who is an expert, I'd love to pointed (no pun intended) to some resources in this area.

Here is my attempt on this general theme, in 87.87.D (try TON-Y-BOTEL, a truly fearsome tune).

1. Hail Thee, Michael, fierce Archangel,
Mighty warrior, come defend;
Satan’s armies march to battle;
Countless deathly foes descend.
Christ is for us, Christ is with us,
All our lives to Him belong;
Hail Thee, Michael, fierce Archangel,
Lead us in the battle song!

2. Who may slay the souls of demons?
Who may see the face of God?
Thou, Archangel, in Thy radiance
Knowest paths no mortal trod.
As Thou goest forth in glory,
Fleet Thy wings and keen Thy sword---
Hail Thee, Michael, fierce Archangel,
Soldier for our Sov’reign Lord!

3. Through this tide of evil rising,
Through this world of stones and strife,
Jesus Christ, the Lord of Heaven,
Bids us bear the Cross of life.
Christ is for us, Christ is with us,
All our lives to Him belong;
Hail Thee, Michael, fierce Archangel,
Lead us in the battle song!

(c) 2020 Anna Bendiksen (1969-)

[Edited]

There is this setting to fall back on if anyone needs it: https://www.ccwatershed.org/2019/04/06/saint-michael-prayer-gregorian-pdf/

This year the 29th September falls on a Sunday.

I've been looking around for versions of St Michael's prayer that could be used as a recessional, and LMassery's text is the best metrical paraphrase I've found. (Also, as an aside, Anna's hymn is brilliant.)

I've set it to the tune "ANGEL'S STORY". However, I found that I wanted to rearrange the second verse so the sense of the words fit the sense of the music better. I've made some edits to LMassery's version, but I'm no poet, and I had to make some concessions with the meter. Here's my version:

O Glorious St Michael,
archangel of the Lord,
Be our defense in battle;
in the final hour, our sword.
Protect us from the evil one,
from Satan and his snares!
May God rebuke and banish him,
O hear our humble prayers!

O Glorious St Michael,
great Prince of heav'nly hosts
O vanquisher of demons
and guardian of souls,
Seize all the fallen angels
seeking souls to ensnare!
By God's power cast them down to hell!
St Michael, hear our prayer!