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Spiritual Protection

Catholic Prayers for Protection

For the night, the road and the spiritual battle: Catholic prayers for protection, for yourself and everyone in your care.

Pray Psalm 91 ›

A Catholic prayer for protection asks God to keep body and soul from harm and from the Evil One. Catholics reach first for the Our Father (“deliver us from evil”), Psalm 91, the St. Michael prayer and the Guardian Angel prayer. Pray them morning and night, and stay close to Confession and the Mass.

A short prayer for protection and guidance

Lord God, keep me today.

Guard my body from harm and my soul from sin.

Guide my steps and my choices,

and keep me from every danger I cannot see.

Where I am afraid, be my refuge;

where I am unsure, be my light.

My guardian angel, stay beside me.

Amen.

Shorter still: the Sign of the Cross, or “Jesus, I trust in you.”

Protection prayers to start with

Psalm 91: Under his wingsThe protection psalm: God's shelter, his angels, and no fear by night St. Michael prayerSt. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle: Pope Leo XIII's prayer Guardian Angel prayerAngel of God, my guardian dear: the prayer every child learns A prayer for strengthFor tired parents, caregivers, and anyone whose trial is not over yet Armor of God prayerEphesians 6 piece by piece, from the belt of truth to the sword of the Spirit Prayer for protection from evilDeliver us from evil: the Our Father's last line, prayed with St. Michael's help St. Benedict medalWhat every letter on the front and back means St. Patrick's Breastplate“I arise today”: the old Irish morning prayer that puts on Christ like armor Precious Blood of Jesus prayerSix petitions to the blood Christ shed for you, from the scourging to the lance A prayer for safe travelBefore a flight, a long drive, or a child leaving home

For the people you love

Prayer for family protectionPlace every member of your household in God's hands A prayer for my daughterFor her safety, and to know her worth in God's eyes, at school and online A prayer for my husbandA wife's prayers for him at work, on the road and wherever he goes A prayer for my sonFor his faith and his friends, through the years he stops listening A prayer for my childrenWhere you can't go with them, God can: a parent's prayer for their innocence A prayer for my wifeFor her rest when she is tired and her peace when she is anxious House blessing prayerBless your home room by room, with holy water if you have it

Watch and pray

Spiritual warfare prayersFor the unseen battle, and why lay Catholics ask God instead of commanding demons Night prayer for protectionEntrust your home and your sleep to God tonight Morning prayer for protectionSeal the day under God's care before it begins St. Michael's LentThe fast St. Francis kept from August 15 to St. Michael's feast, September 29 Book of PsalmsThe prayer book Jesus prayed, and a psalm for each day of the week

“Christ with me, Christ before me, Christ behind me, Christ in me, Christ beneath me, Christ above me…”

St. Patrick's Breastplate (“The Deer's Cry”, Old Irish, attributed to St. Patrick), translated by Kuno Meyer after Stokes and Strachan, Selections from Ancient Irish Poetry (London: Constable, 1911)

How Catholics pray against evil

Every prayer here is spoken to God, or asks Our Lady, the angels and the saints for their help. None of them speaks to the devil or commands a spirit: that belongs to the Church’s rite of exorcism, which only a priest may pray, with his bishop’s permission (canon 1172).

No prayer works by itself either; the Catechism calls that idea superstition (CCC 2111). If something frightens you that prayer does not settle, go to Confession, and talk to your parish priest.

Questions about praying for protection

What is the most powerful prayer for protection?

No prayer works by itself: the power is God’s, and trusting the words alone is superstition (CCC 2111). Catholics reach first for the Our Father, Psalm 91, the St. Michael prayer and the Guardian Angel prayer.

What is the prayer that covers everything?

The Our Father, “truly the summary of the whole gospel” (CCC 2761). Its last petition, “deliver us from evil”, asks to be freed from the Evil One and from every evil he is the author of (CCC 2854).

How do Catholics pray for protection from evil?

By asking God, never by commanding a spirit: “deliver us from evil” (Matthew 6:13). We ask the angels too, for God has given them charge over us (Psalm 91:11). A blessed medal or holy water is a sacramental, not a charm (CCC 1670, 2117).

For a longer devotion to the archangel than Leo XIII’s prayer: the Chaplet of St. Michael — nine salutations, one for each choir of angels, in about fifteen minutes.

Or nine days of it: the St. Michael novena begins on September 20 and closes on September 28, the eve of his feast, Michaelmas.

Praying with Spanish-speaking family? Leo XIII’s prayer in Spanish: Oración a San Miguel Arcángel — the full text, as it is prayed in Spanish.

Holy water belongs with all of these. For the prayers to say as you bless yourself, your home and your children with it: the holy water prayer with who may bless the water, and how to keep it.

All the protection prayers

27 protection prayers in full, each with a free prayer card.

Show all 27 protection prayers

Psalm 91 Prayer for Protection
“He who dwells in the secret place of the Most High will rest in the shadow of the Almighty” (Psalm 91:1).
The St. Michael Prayer
Saint Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle.
The Armor of God Prayer
Put on the whole armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil.
House Blessing Prayer
Bless and protect your home — the Catholic way, room by room.
Night Prayer for Protection
Place your household under God’s watch before you sleep.
Night Prayer for Family
The Church’s own night prayers, in an order a family can pray together.
The St. Michael Novena
Nine days of prayer with the Archangel who defends the Church.
Prayer for Family Protection
Place a hedge of protection around every member of your household.
The Guardian Angel Prayer
Angel of God, my guardian dear — the prayer every Catholic child learns first.
Morning Prayer for Protection
Seal the day before the day begins.
Prayer Against Spiritual Attack
What the Church actually does when the pressure is spiritual.
St. Michael's Lent
The forty days of prayer and fasting from the Assumption to Michaelmas.
A Prayer for My Children
Placing your sons and daughters — their innocence, their faith, their future — under God’s protection.
A Prayer for My Son
For his safety, his faith and his future — a parent’s prayers for a son at every age.
A Prayer for My Daughter
For her safety, her heart, her faith and her future — a parent’s prayers for a daughter at every age.
A Prayer for My Marriage
Asking God to guard, heal, and renew the bond of husband and wife.
A Prayer for My Husband
For his safety, his work, his health and his faith — a wife’s prayers for the man she married.
A Prayer for My Wife
For her safety, her health, her heart and her faith — a husband’s prayers for the woman he married.
A Prayer for Safe Travel
Asking God and His angels to go before you on every road, flight, and journey.
A Prayer for Strength
When you have nothing left, asking God for the strength that is made perfect in weakness.
A Prayer for Protection at Work
Asking God to guard your body, your integrity, and your peace through the working day
Catholic Spiritual Warfare Prayers
The prayers the Church actually gives her people for the unseen battle — and the way she means them to be prayed.
Catholic Deliverance Prayer, and How It Differs from Exorcism
There is a Catholic answer to the longing behind "deliverance" — and it is safer and older than the version the internet sells.
Prayer for Protection from Evil
When you want to be protected from evil, the Church hands you something older than any internet ritual: prayer addressed to God, who has already won.
St. Patrick’s Breastplate
I arise today through a mighty strength, the invocation of the Trinity — the ancient prayer-armor of the saints, prayed for protection on every road.
A Hedge of Protection Prayer
Asking God to set the same wall of protection around you and your household that He once set around Job — over your body, your mind, your heart, and your home.
A Prayer Against Nightmares and Bad Dreams
For peaceful sleep under God’s protection — when the night brings fear, disturbing dreams, or a child who is afraid of the dark.

Also for the night: Psalm 23 · Psalm 121

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