The feast of St. Michael, formerly known as Michaelmas and now the feast of the archangels, was one of the most important feasts throughout history. Falling on September 29th, it’s one of the oldest feast days, dating back to at least the fifth century. Throughout high places across Europe, many shrines to the great protector of the Church stand proudly as signs of vigilant care. Occurring near the fall solstice, Michaelmas provided a festive opportunity to give thanks for the harvest and to ask God’s blessing upon the autumn season.
Great feasts throughout history, however, were preceded by times of prayer and penance. Lent and Advent show us the need for extended preparation for the holiest days. Likewise, Michaelmas was preceded by a penitential time of at least a few days, comprising a mini-Lenten season. We see evidence for this in the laws of King Ethelred of England, enacted in the year 1014:
That every Christian who is of age, fast three days on bread and water, and raw herbs, before the feast of St. Michael, and let every man go to confession and to church barefoot. Let every priest with his people go in procession three days barefoot, and let every one’s commons for three days be prepared without anything of flesh, as if they themselves were to eat it, both in meat and drink, and let all this be distributed to the poor. Let every servant be excused from labour these three days, that he may the better perform his fast.
St. Francis, called an “angelic man,” as we see in The Little Flowers of St. Francis, extended these three days into an entire forty days of prayer and fasting leading up to the feast of St. Michael, who was one of his special patrons.
The angels never turn their attention away from God, being wholly devoted to His service and to their worship before His heavenly throne. Likewise, Francis gave himself over to living the Gospel, praying through the night without ceasing, and fasting beyond ordinary strength. These acts, however, manifested his great joy and love, through which he discovered God’s love in nature and in everyone he met.
Francis would observe St. Michael’s Lent from August 15th through September 28th, the vigil of Michaelmas. During one particularly significant angelic lent in the year 1224, he prayed in seclusion at the top of Mount La Verna, overcoming diabolical attacks through the help of Our Lady and the angels. While meditating on the Passion, he was drawn to a deep level of cruciformity, willingly sharing in the suffering of Christ by receiving the sitgmata. He had a vision of Jesus on the Cross, mediated by a burning seraph, while he received the wounds of Christ onto his own body. He would die two years later, having poured out his life in imitation of Christ. The bishop of Assisi would see his soul ascend to heaven, standing at that moment at St. Michael’s great shrine at Galgano.
Exodus 90, with the help of two Franciscan Friars of the Renewal, triplet brothers Fr. Innocent and Fr. Angelus Montgomery, will lead men in the footsteps of St. Francis during St. Michael’s Lent, beginning tomorrow.
Following a daily reading from the letters of St. Paul, our spiritual guides will lead us in prayer and practical applications for growing in the spiritual life to lead us into a vision of reality rooted in faith. In addition, men will follow disciplines to build a regular routine of prayer, praying thirty minutes each day, and to build order through regular sleep habits, fasting, and abstaining from social media and news to foster our attention and presence to God and others. In addition, men will meet weekly with a fraternity to grow in friendship, helping one another in the pursuit of holiness.
All of these habits imitate St. Francis’s practice of St. Michael’s Lent. He prayed through the night, and on Friday morning at 2 am, we, too, will pray for an hour, together with the angels. Francis meditated on the Passion, and through our prayer and reflections, we seek to put on the mind of Christ and to take up our Cross. Francis fasted to show that the needs of the soul come before that of the body, and we, too, will fast and abstain from meat on Wednesday and Friday, to seek the bread of heaven. Francis, though in solitude, was surrounded by his fellow friars, especially Br. Leo. Even the angels, gathered in their nine choirs, praise God in union with one another. We are made for communion, and our faith life depends upon the support of friendship and brotherhood.
Anyone can honor the period of St. Michael’s Lent, beginning August 15th and ending September 29th. Exodus 90, in particular, provides an easy way for men to follow in the footsteps of St. Francis by honoring the angels, praising God even in the night, embracing asceticism, and growing in fraternity. St. Michael, the great guardian of the Church, is one of the greatest saints, and his feast day deserves proper preparation to walk the angelic way toward God’s heavenly throne.
Image from Wikimedia Commons
