September 29th – Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel

[Stone]

September 29 – Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel

Taken from The Liturgical Year by Dom Prosper Guéranger  (1841-1875)

The glorious Archangel appears today at the head of the heavenly army: There was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels. In the sixth century, the dedication of the churches of St. Michael on Monte Gargano and in the Roman Circus increased the celebrity of this day, which had however been long before consecrated by Rome to the memory of all the heavenly Virtues.

The east commemorates on the sixth of September an apparition of the victorious Prince at Chone (ancient Collossæ) in Phrygia; while the eighth of November is the solemnity of the angels, corresponding to our feast of today, and bearing the title: “Synaxis of Saint Michael prince of the heavenly host, and of the other spiritual Powers.” Although the term synaxis is usually applied only to religious assemblies here on earth, we are informed that in this instance it also signifies the gathering of the faithful angels at the cry of their chief, and their union eternally sealed by their victory.

Who, then, are these heavenly Powers, whose mysterious combat heads the first page of history? Their existence is attested by the traditions of all nations as well as by the authority of holy Scripture. If we consult the Church, she teaches us that in the beginning God created simultaneously two natures, the spiritual and the corporal, and afterwards man who is composed of both. The scale of nature descends by gradation from beings made to the likeness of God, to the very confines of nothingness; and by the same degrees the creature mounts upwards to his Creator. God is infinite being, infinite intelligence, infinite love. The creature is forever finite: but man, endowed with a reasoning intellect, and the angel, with an intuitive grasp of truth, are ever, by a continual process of purification, widening the bounds of their imperfect nature, in order to reach, by increase of light, the perfection of greater love.

God alone is simple with that unchangeable productive simplicity, which is absolute perfection excluding the possibility of progress; He is pure Act, in whom substance, power, and operation are one thing. The angel, though entirely independent of matter, is yet subject to the natural weakness necessary to a created being; he is not absolutely simple, for in him action is distinct from power, and power of essence. How much greater is the weakness of man’s composite nature, unable to carry on the operations of the intellect without the aid of the senses!

“Compared with ours,” says one of the most enlightened brethren of the angelic doctor, “how calm and how luminous is the knowledge of pure spirits! They are not doomed to the intricate discoursings of our reason, which runs after the truth, composes and analyzes, and laboriously draws conclusions from premises. They instantaneously apprehend the whole compass of primary truths. Their intuition is so prompt, so lively, so penetrating, that it is impossible for them to be surprised, as we are, into error. If they deceive themselves, it must be of their own will. The perfection of their will is equal to the perfection of their intellect. They know not what it is to be disturbed by the violence of appetites. Their love is without emotion; and their hatred of evil is as calm and as wisely tempered as their love. A will so free can know no perplexity as to its aims, no inconstancy in its resolutions. Whereas with us long and anxious meditation is necessary before we make a decision, it is the property of the angels to determine by a single act the object of their choice. God proposed to them, as He does to us, infinite beatitude in the vision of His own Essence; and to fit them for so great an end, He endowed them with grace at the same time as He gave them being. In one instant they said Yes or No; in one instant they freely and deliberately decided their own fate.”

Let us not be envious. By nature the angel is superior to us; but, to which of the angels hath He said at any time, “Thou art My Son?” (Hebrews 1:5, Psalm 2:7) The only-begotten Son of God did not take to Himself the angelic nature. When on earth, He acknowledged the temporary subordination of humanity to those pure spirits, and deigned to receive from them, even as do His brethren in the flesh, and announcements of the divine will,  (Dionys. Areop. De cælesti hierarchia, 4:4; Matthew 2:13-15) and help and strength. (Luke 22:43) But “God hath not subjected unto angels the world to come,” says the apostle. (Hebrews 2:5) How can we understand this attraction of God towards what is feeblest? We can only worship it in humble, loving faith. It was Lucifer’s stumbling-block on the day of the great battle in heaven. But the faithful angels prostrated themselves in joyous adoration at the feet of the Infant-God foreshown to them enthroned on Mary’s knee, and then rose up to sing: “Glory to God in the highest, an don earth peace to men of good will.”

O Christ, my Christ, as St. Denis calls Thee, (Dionys. De cælesti hierarchia, 2:5) the Church today delightedly proclaims Thee the beauty of the holy angels. (Hymn of Lauds) Then, the God-Man, art the lofty height whence purity, light, and love flow down upon the triple hierarchy of the nine choirs. Thou art the supreme Hierarch, the center of worlds, controller of the deifying mysteries at the eternal feast.

Flaming Seraphim, glittering Cherubim, steadfast Thrones, court of honor to the Most High, and possessed of the noblest inheritance: according to the Areopagite, ye receive your justice, your splendor, and your burning love by direct communication from our Lord: (Dionys. ubi supra, 7:2) and through you, all grace overflows from Him upon the holy city.

Dominations, Virtues, and Powers; sovereign disposers, prime movers, and rulers of the universe: in whose name do ye govern the world? Doubtless in His whose inheritance it is; in the name of the King of glory, the Man-God, the Lord strong and mighty, the Lord of hosts.

Angels, Archangels, and Principalities; heaven’s messengers, ambassadors, and overseers here below: are ye not also, as the apostle says, ministers of the salvation wrought on earth by Jesus, the heavenly High Priest?

We also, through this same Jesus, O most holy Trinity, glorify Thee, together with the three princely hierarchies, which surround Thy Majesty with their nine immaterial rings as with a man-circled rampart. To tend to Thee, and to draw all things to Thee, is their common law. Purification, illumination, union: by these three ways in succession, or simultaneously, are these noble beings attracted to God, and by the same they attract those who strive to emulate them. Sublime spirits, it is with your gaze ever fixed on high that ye influence those below and around you. Draw plentifully, both for yourselves and for us, from the central fires of the Divinity; purify us from more than the involuntary infirmities of nature; enlighten us; kindle us with your heavenly flames. For the same reason that satan hates us, ye love us: protect the race of the Word made Flesh against the common enemy. So guard us, that we may hereafter be worthy to occupy among you the places left vacant by the victims of pride.

Adam of St. Victor thus sings the fullness of today’s mystery.

Sequence

Laus erumpat ex affectu,
Psallat chorus in conspectu
Supernorum civium:
Laus jocunda, laus decora,
Quando laudi concanora
Puritas est cordium.

Let love break forth into praise; let our choir sing in presence of the heavenly citizens: our praise will be pleasing and beautiful, if the purity of our hearts be in accord therewith.

Michaelem cuncti laudent,
Nec ab hujus se defraudent Diei lætitia:
Felix dies qua sanctorum
Recensetur angelorum
Solemnis victoria.

Let all praise Michael; let none deprive himself of this day’s joy. O happy day! whereon the solemn victory of the holy angels is recorded.


Draco vetus exturbatur
Et draconis effugatur
Inimica legio:
Exturbatus est turbator
Et projectus accusatur
A cœli fastigio.

The old dragon is cast out, and all his hostile legions put to flight: the disturber is himself disturbed, the accuser is hurled down from the height of heaven.


Sub tutela Michaelis
Pax in terra, pax in cœlis,
Laus in jubilatio:
Cum sit potens hic virtute,
Pro communi stans salute,
Triumphant in prælio.

Under Michael’s protection there is peace on earth, peace in heaven, praise and exsultation; for he, mighty and valorous, stands for the safety of all and triumphs in the battle.


Suggestor sceleris,
Pulsus a superia,
Per juhus seris
Oberrat spatia:
Dolis invigilat,
Virus insibilat,
Sed hunc annihilat
Præsens custodia.

Banished from heaven, the originator of sin wanders through the air: he watches to lay his snares, and insinuates his poison; but the guardian band of angels reduces his power to nought.


Træ distinctæ hierarchiæ
Jugi vacant theoriæ
Jugique psallentio:
Nec obsistit theoria
Sive jugis harmonia
Jugi ministerio.

The three distinct hierarchies are ever occupied in contemplation and unending song; nor does their contemplation nor their ceaseless harmony interrupt their continual ministry.


O quam miræ caritatis
Est supernæ civitatis
Ter terna distinctio:
Quæ nos amat et tuetur,
Ut ex nobis restauretur
Ejus diminutio.

Oh! in the heavenly city how wondrous is the charity of the three tripled choirs; they love us and defend us, and hope to see their ranks filled up by thee.


Sicut sunt hominum
Divisæ gratiæ,
Sic erunt ordinum
Distinctæ gloriæ
Justis in præmio:
Solis est alia
Quam lunæ dignitas,
Stellarum varia
Relucit claritas:
Sic resurrectio.

As among men there are divers graces upon earth, so in the heavenly reward the just will receive divers degrees of glory; other is the excellence of the sun, other that of the moon, and various the brightness of the stars; so shall be the resurrection.


Vetus homo novitati,
Se terrenus puritati
Conformet cœlestium:
Coæqualis his futurus,
Licet nondum plene purus,
Spe præsumat præmium.

Let the old man be brought into conformity with the new, the earthly to the purity of the heavenly citizens; he is one day to be equal to them, and though not yet wholly pure, let him in hope look forward to the prize.


Ut ab ipsis adjuvemur,
Hos devote veneremur
Instantes obsequio:
Deo nos conciliat
Angelisque sociat
Sincera devotio.

That we may be assisted by these blessed spirits, let us devoutly venerate them and be untiring in our homage; sincere devotion reconciles to God and unites us with the angels.


De secretis reticentes
Interim cœlestibus,
Erigamus puras mentes
In cœlum cum manibus:

Meanwhile let us be silent as to the secrets of heaven, and lift up pure minds and spotless hands on high:


Ut superna nos dignetur
Cohæredes curia,
Et divina collaudetur
Ab utrisque gratia.

Thus may the most high senate recognize us as coheirs: and may the divine grace be praised alike by angels and men.


Capiti sit gloria
Membrisque concordia. Amen.

To our divine Head be glory and among his members union. Amen.

[Stone]

St. Michael the Archangel

Taken from the 1911 Catholic Encyclopedia

St. Michael is one of the principal angels; his name was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers. Four times his name is recorded in Scripture:

(1) Daniel 10:13 sqq., Gabriel says to Daniel, when he asks God to permit the Jews to return to Jerusalem: "The Angel [D.V. prince] of the kingdom of the Persians resisted me . . . and, behold Michael, one of the chief princes, came to help me . . . and none is my helper in all these things, but Michael your prince."

(2) Daniel 12, the Angel speaking of the end of the world and the Antichrist says: "At that time shall Michael rise up, the great prince, who standeth for the children of thy people."

(3) In the Catholic Epistle of St. Jude: "When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses", etc. St. Jude alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of a dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, an account of which is also found in the apocryphal book on the assumption of Moses (Origen, De Principiis III.2.2). St. Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan, however, by disclosing it, tried to seduce the Jewish people to the sin of hero-worship. St. Michael also guards the body of Eve, according to the "Revelation of Moses" ("Apocryphal Gospels", etc., ed. A. Walker, Edinburgh, p. 647).

(4) Apocalypse 12:7, "And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon." St. John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time. According to the Fathers there is often question of St. Michael in Scripture where his name is not mentioned. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, "to keep the way of the tree of life" (Genesis 3:24), the angel through whom God published the Decalogue to his chosen people, the angel who stood in the way against Balaam (Numbers 22:22 sqq.), the angel who routed the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35).

Following these Scriptural passages, Christian tradition gives to St. Michael four offices:

• To fight against Satan.
  

• To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
  

• To be the champion of God's people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages.
  

• To call away from earth and bring men's souls to judgment ("signifer S. Michael repraesentet eas in lucam sanctam", Offert. Miss Defunct. "Constituit eum principem super animas suscipiendas", Antiph. off. Cf. The Shepherd of Hermas, Book III, Similitude 8, Chapter 3).
  

Regarding his rank in the celestial hierarchy opinions vary; St. Basil (Hom. de angelis) and other Greek Fathers, also Salmeron, Bellarmine, etc., place St. Michael over all the angels; they say he is called "archangel" because he is the prince of the other angels; others (cf. P. Bonaventura, op. cit.) believe that he is the prince of the seraphim, the first of the nine angelic orders. But, according to St. Thomas (Summa Ia.113.3) he is the prince of the last and lowest choir, the angels. The Roman Liturgy seems to follow the Greek Fathers; it calls him "Princeps militiae coelestis quem honorificant angelorum cives". The hymn of the Mozarabic Breviary places St. Michael even above the Twenty-four Elders. The Greek Liturgy styles him Archistrategos, "highest general" (cf. Menaea, 8 Nov. and 6 Sept.).


Veneration

It would have been natural to St. Michael, the champion of the Jewish people, to be the champion also of Christians, giving victory in war to his clients. The early Christians, however, regarded some of the martyrs as their military patrons: St. George, St. Theodore, St. Demetrius, St. Sergius, St. Procopius, St. Mercurius, etc.; but to St. Michael they gave the care of their sick. At the place where he was first venerated, in Phrygia, his prestige as angelic healer obscured his interposition in military affairs. It was from early times the centre of the true cult of the holy angels, particularly of St. Michael. Tradition relates that St. Michael in the earliest ages caused a medicinal spring to spout at Chairotopa near Colossae, where all the sick who bathed there, invoking the Blessed Trinity and St. Michael, were cured.

Still more famous are the springs which St. Michael is said to have drawn from the rock at Colossae (Chonae, the present Khonas, on the Lycus). The pagans directed a stream against the sanctuary of St. Michael to destroy it, but the archangel split the rock by lightning to give a new bed to the stream, and sanctified forever the waters which came from the gorge. The Greeks claim that this apparition took place about the middle of the first century and celebrate a feast in commemoration of it on 6 September (Analecta Bolland., VIII, 285-328). Also at Pythia in Bithynia and elsewhere in Asia the hot springs were dedicated to St. Michael.

At Constantinople likewise, St. Michael was the great heavenly physician. His principal sanctuary, the Michaelion, was at Sosthenion, some fifty miles south of Constantinople; there the archangel is said to have appeared to the Emperor Constantine. The sick slept in this church at night to wait for a manifestation of St. Michael; his feast was kept there 9 June. Another famous church was within the walls of the city, at the thermal baths of the Emperor Arcadius; there the synaxis of the archangel was celebrated 8 November. This feast spread over the entire Greek Church, and the Syrian, Armenian, and Coptic Churches adopted it also; it is now the principal feast of St. Michael in the Orient. It may have originated in Phrygia, but its station at Constantinople was the Thermae of Arcadius (Martinow, "Annus Graeco-slavicus", 8 Nov.). Other feasts of St. Michael at Constantinople were: 27 October, in the "Promotu" church; 18 June, in the Church of St. Julian at the Forum; and 10 December, at Athaea.

The Christians of Egypt placed their life-giving river, the Nile, under the protection of St. Michael; they adopted the Greek feast and kept it 12 November; on the twelfth of every month they celebrate a special commemoration of the archangel, but 12 June, when the river commences to rise, they keep as a holiday of obligation the feast of St. Michael "for the rising of the Nile", euche eis ten symmetron anabasin ton potamion hydaton.

At Rome the Leonine Sacramentary (sixth century) has the "Natale Basilicae Angeli via Salaria", 30 September; of the five Masses for the feast three mention St. Michael. The Gelasian Sacramentary (seventh century) gives the feast "S. Michaelis Archangeli", and the Gregorian Sacramentary (eighth century), "Dedicatio Basilionis S. Angeli Michaelis", 29 Sept. A manuscript also here adds "via Salaria" (Ebner, "Miss. Rom. Iter Italicum", 127). This church of the Via Salaria was six miles to the north of the city; in the ninth century it was called Basilica Archangeli in Septimo (Armellini, "Chiese di Roma", p. 85). It disappeared a thousand years ago. At Rome also the part of heavenly physician was given to St. Michael. According to an (apocryphal?) legend of the tenth century he appeared over the Moles Hadriani (Castel di S. Angelo), in 950, during the procession which St. Gregory held against the pestilence, putting an end to the plague. Boniface IV (608-15) built on the Moles Hadriani in honour of him, a church, which was styled St. Michaelis inter nubes (in summitate circi).

Well known is the apparition of St. Michael (a. 494 or 530-40), as related in the Roman Breviary, 8 May, at his renowned sanctuary on Monte Gargano, where his original glory as patron in war was restored to him. To his intercession the Lombards of Sipontum (Manfredonia) attributed their victory over the Greek Neapolitans, 8 May, 663. In commemoration of this victory the church of Sipontum instituted a special feast in honour of the archangel, on 8 May, which has spread over the entire Latin Church and is now called (since the time of Pius V) "Apparitio S. Michaelis", although it originally did not commemorate the apparition, but the victory.

In Normandy St. Michael is the patron of mariners in his famous sanctuary at Mont-Saint-Michel in the Diocese of Coutances. He is said to have appeared there, in 708, to St. Aubert, Bishop of Avranches. In Normandy his feast "S. Michaelis in periculo maris" or "in Monte Tumba" was universally celebrated on 18 Oct., the anniversary of the dedication of the first church, 16 Oct., 710; the feast is now confined to the Diocese of Coutances. In Germany, after its evangelization, St. Michael replaced for the Christians the pagan god Wotan, to whom many mountains were sacred, hence the numerous mountain chapels of St. Michael all over Germany.

The hymns of the Roman Office are said to have been composed by St. Rabanus Maurus of Fulda (d. 856). In art St. Michael is represented as an angelic warrior, fully armed with helmet, sword, and shield (often the shield bears the Latin inscription: Quis ut Deus), standing over the dragon, whom he sometimes pierces with a lance. He also holds a pair of scales in which he weighs the souls of the departed (cf. Rock, "The Church of Our Fathers", III, 160), or the book of life, to show that he takes part in the judgment. His feast (29 September) in the Middle Ages was celebrated as a holy day of obligation, but along with several other feasts it was gradually abolished since the eighteenth century (see FEASTS). Michaelmas Day, in England and other countries, is one of the regular quarter-days for settling rents and accounts; but it is no longer remarkable for the hospitality with which it was formerly celebrated. Stubble-geese being esteemed in perfection about this time, most families had one dressed on Michaelmas Day. In some parishes (Isle of Skye) they had a procession on this day and baked a cake, called St. Michael's bannock.

[Stone]

In Holy Scripture, from the book of the Apocalypse Chapter 12: 1-10:

[1] And a great sign appeared in heaven: A woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and on her head a crown of twelve stars: [2] And being with child, she cried travailing in birth, and was in pain to be delivered. [3] And there was seen another sign in heaven: and behold a great red dragon, having seven heads, and ten horns: and on his heads seven diadems: [4] And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth: and the dragon stood before the woman who was ready to be delivered; that, when she should be delivered, he might devour her son. [5] And she brought forth a man child, who was to rule all nations with an iron rod: and her son was taken up to God, and to his throne. [6] And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place prepared by God, that there they should feed her a thousand two hundred sixty days.

[7] And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon, and the dragon fought and his angels: [8] And they prevailed not, neither was their place found any more in heaven. [9] And that great dragon was cast out, that old serpent, who is called the devil and Satan, who seduceth the whole world; and he was cast unto the earth, and his angels were thrown down with him. [10] And I heard a loud voice in heaven, saying: Now is come salvation, and strength, and the kingdom of our God, and the power of his Christ: because the accuser of our brethren is cast forth, who accused them before our God day and night.

[Stone]

A reminder ...

[Stone]

To St. Michael in Time of Peace
by GK Chesterton

Michael, Michael: Michael of the Morning,
Michael of the Army of the Lord,
Stiffen thou the hand upon the still sword, Michael,
Folded and shut upon the sheathed sword, Michael,
Under the fullness of the white robes falling,
Gird us with the secret of the sword.

When the world cracked because of a sneer in heaven,
Leaving out for all time a scar upon the sky,
Thou didst rise up against the Horror in the highest,
Dragging down the highest that looked down on the Most High:
Rending from the seventh heaven the hell of exaltation
Down the seven heavens till the dark seas burn:
Thou that in thunder threwest down the Dragon
Knowest in what silence the Serpent can return.

Down through the universe the vast night falling
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the Morning!)
Far down the universe the deep calms calling
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the Sword!)
Bid us not forget in the baths of all forgetfulness,
In the sigh long drawn from the frenzy and the fretfulness
In the huge holy sempiternal silence
In the beginning was the Word.

When from the deeps of dying God astounded
Angels and devils who do all but die
Seeing Him fallen where thou couldst not follow,
Seeing Him mounted where thou couldst not fly,
Hand on the hilt, thou hast halted all thy legions
Waiting the Tetelestai and the acclaim,
Swords that salute Him dead and everlasting
God beyond God and greater than His Name.

Round us and over us the cold thoughts creeping
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the battle-cry!)
Round us and under us the thronged world sleeping
(Michael, Michael: Michael of the Charge!)
Guard us the Word; the trysting and the trusting
Edge upon the honour and the blade unrusting
Fine as the hair and tauter than the harpstring
Ready as when it rang upon the targe.

He that giveth peace unto us; not as the world giveth:
He that giveth law unto us; not as the scribes:
Shall he be softened for the softening of the cities
Patient in usury; delicate in bribes?
They that come to quiet us, saying the sword is broken,
Break man with famine, fetter them with gold,
Sell them as sheep; and He shall know the selling
For He was more than murdered. He was sold.

Michael, Michael: Michael of the Mustering,
Michael of the marching on the mountains of the Lord,
Marshal the world and purge of rot and riot
Rule through the world till all the world be quiet:
Only establish when the world is broken
What is unbroken is the word.

GK Chesterton (1929)

[Stone]

A reminder ...

[Stone]

Forgotten Customs of Michaelmas

1P5 | September 29, 2025

Angels are pure, created spirits. The name angel means servant or messenger of God. They are celestial or heavenly beings, on a higher order than human beings. An angel has no body and does not depend on matter for his existence or activity. They are distinct from saints, which men can become. Angels have intellect and will and are immortal.


St. Michael – More Than An Archangel

Archangels are one of the nine choirs of angels listed in the Holy Bible. In ascending order, the choirs or classes are 1) Angels, 2) Archangels, 3) Principalities, 4) Powers, 5) Virtues, 6) Dominations, 7) Thrones, 8) Cherubim, and 9) Seraphim. [...]

St. Michael is regarded as the special Guardian Angel of Saint Joseph and the Guardian Angel of each one of the Popes and one of the seven great angels who stand before the throne of God. As a result, it is taught that while we refer to St. Michael, St. Gabriel, and St. Raphael as “Archangels” we are not referring to their rank but rather denoting that they are a higher level than ordinary angels. It is believed that all three of them are actually seraphim – the higher-ranking angels.


The Liturgical Calendar Enriched by Angels in Recent Centuries

While the Novus Ordo Calendar combined their feast on September 29, the Traditional Calendar in place for 1962 (and prior) kept St. Michael on September 29th, St. Gabriel on March 24th, and St. Raphael on October 24th. The feast day of St. Raphael was included by Pope Benedict XV for the first time in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, for celebration on October 24. By a decree of the Congregation of Sacred Rites dated October 26, 1921, issued by command of Pope Benedict XV, it was directed that the feast of St. Gabriel the Archangel should also be added and kept – this one on March 24th in connection with the Annunciation on March 25th. In addition to these three Archangels, the Eastern Catholic Churches also venerate the Angels Uriel, Selaphiel, Jegudiel, Barachiel and Jerahmeel. The Synaxis of the Holy Archangels is on November 8th in the Byzantine Rite.

Dr. Michael Foley in a piece published on the website of New Liturgical Movement in March 2022 provides a concise history of this gradual addition of angels to the Liturgical Life of the Church:

Angels were added to the Church calendar gradually. In A.D. 530, Pope Boniface II consecrated a basilica in Michael’s honor on the Salarian Way about seven miles from Rome, with the ceremonies beginning on the evening of September 29 and ending the following day. Subsequent celebrations of this dedication were held first on September 30 and later on September 29. In the traditional calendar, “Michaelmas,” as it is also called, maintains the official title “The Dedication of Saint Michael the Archangel,” even though the basilica it commemorates disappeared over a thousand years ago.

Michaelmas also commemorates all the heavenly hosts (including Gabriel and Raphael by name in the Divine Office), but the primary focus is on St. Michael. Over time, the Church began to see the wisdom of singling out particular angels for liturgical veneration. In 1670, Pope Clement X included the Feast of the Guardian Angels on October 2 of the universal calendar, the first available day after Michaelmas.

The Catholic Encyclopedia provides an overview of St. Michael:

St. Michael is one of the principal angels; his name was the war-cry of the good angels in the battle fought in heaven against the enemy and his followers. Four times his name is recorded in Scripture: Daniel 10:13… Daniel 12… In the Catholic Epistle of St. Jude: ‘When Michael the Archangel, disputing with the devil, contended about the body of Moses’, etc. St. Jude alludes to an ancient Jewish tradition of a dispute between Michael and Satan over the body of Moses, an account of which is also found in the apocryphal book on the assumption of Moses (Origen, De Principiis III.2.2).

St. Michael concealed the tomb of Moses; Satan, however, by disclosing it, tried to seduce the Jewish people to the sin of hero-worship. St. Michael also guards the body of Eve, according to the ‘Revelation of Moses’… Apocalypse 12:7, ‘And there was a great battle in heaven, Michael and his angels fought with the dragon.’ St. John speaks of the great conflict at the end of time, which reflects also the battle in heaven at the beginning of time. According to the Fathers there is often a question of St. Michael in Scripture where his name is not mentioned. They say he was the cherub who stood at the gate of paradise, ‘to keep the way of the tree of life’ (Genesis 3:24), the angel through whom God published the Decalogue to his chosen people, the angel who stood in the way against Balaam (Numbers 22:22), the angel who routed the army of Sennacherib (2 Kings 19:35)…

Consequently, the Church attributes four offices to St. Michael as the Catholic Encyclopedia next summarizes:

• To fight against Satan.
  
• To rescue the souls of the faithful from the power of the enemy, especially at the hour of death.
  
• To be the champion of God’s people, the Jews in the Old Law, the Christians in the New Testament; therefore, he was the patron of the Church, and of the orders of knights during the Middle Ages.
  
• To call away from earth and bring men’s souls to judgment
  

Why Have A Devotion to St. Michael?

The Benedictine Sisters of Perpetual Adoration in a 2006 book published by TAN Books answered this question well:

According to the great St. Alphonsus Liguori, veneration of the holy Angels, and particularly of St. Michael, is an outstanding sign of predestination. St. Lawrence Justinian says: ‘Although we must honor all the Angels, we ought to invoke in a very special manner the glorious St. Michael, as the Prince of all the heavenly spirits, because of his sublime dignity, his pre-eminent office and his invincible power, which he proved in his conflict with Satan, as well as against the combined forces of Hell.’ Again, the same Saint says: ‘Let all acknowledge St. Michael as their protector, and be devoted to him, for he cannot despise those who pray to him . . . But he guards them through life, directs them on their way and conducts them to their eternal home.’

The Two Feasts in Honor of St. Michael

Traditionally in the Liturgy of the Church prior to the year 1960, there were two feasts in honor of St. Michael. Those familiar with the Litany of Saints will also recall that his name is mentioned by name in the Litany. And those who attend the Traditional Latin Mass will be familiar with several references to St. Michael in the course of the Liturgy.

In the 6th century, the angelic St. Michael appeared in southern Italy on a mountain named Gargano. In this apparition, St. Michael asked that the cave in which he appeared would become a shrine to the True God in order to make amends for the pagan worship that once occurred there. The Sanctuary of Monte Sant’Angelo sul Gargano still remains to this day.

St. Michael later appeared with a flaming sword atop the mountain during a storm on the eve of battle for the Lombards. The Lombards attributed their victory in battle on that day, May 8, 663, to St. Michael. And the Church then established a Feast in honor of the Apparition of St. Michael on May 8th, the anniversary of the battle.

This feast is still kept by priests who offer the pre-1955 Liturgy. It’s quite unfortunate that a decree was issued on July 26, 1960, that dropped this feast from the Universal Calendar. While the feastday is not kept even in the 1962 Missal, priests who offer the 1962 Missal may (and arguably should) say a Votive Mass on that day for St. Michael. Since in the 1962 Missal May 8th is a feria, a Votive Mass may be offered on that date (unless May 8th falls on a Sunday or another high-ranking day in the sanctoral cycle like Ascension Thursday).

On September 29th the Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael occurs, allowing us for the second time in the year to honor the Glorious St. Michael. The Feast of the Dedication of St. Michael the Archangel on September 29th is often just called: The Feast of St. Michael the Archangel.


St. Michael’s Day as A Holy Day of Obligation

The first catalog of Holy Days of Obligation comes from the Decretals of Pope Gregory IX in 1234, which listed 45 Holy Days. In 1642, His Holiness Pope Urban VIII issued the papal bull “Universa Per Orbem” which altered the required Holy Days of Obligation for the Universal Church to consist of 35 such days as well as the principal patrons of one’s locality. St. Michael’s September 29th Feastday is present in both lists. While there was a divergence of holy days with no locality keeping all of them, his feast remained a day of obligation in Rome. His feast ceased being a universal day of obligation in the 18th century. It ceased being a Holy Day in Ireland in 1778.


Fasting in Preparation for Michaelmas

The Wednesday, Friday, and Saturday after the Feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross are the Autumnal Ember Days which are also known as the Michaelmas Embertide, since they come near the time of Michaelmas. Those Ember Days were covered in our installment dedicated to the Customs of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross.

However, in addition to the Ember Days which were established as part of Church Law, there is an informal fasting period known as St. Michael’s Lent which is a Franciscan Tradition. The Little Flowers of St. Francis, a collection of stories about St. Francis of Assisi that was compiled during the 13th century, relates these words of St. Francis to his brothers in reference to St. Michael’s Lent:

My sons, we are drawing nigh to our forty days’ fast of St. Michael the Archangel; and I firmly believe that it is the will of God that we keep this fast in the mountain of Alvernia, the which by Divine dispensation hath been made ready for us, to the end that we may, through penance, merit from Christ the consolation of consecrating that blessed mountain to the honor and glory of God and of His glorious mother, the Virgin Mary, and of the holy angels.

This fasting period begins on the Assumption (August 15) and ends on the feast of St. Michael (September 29). It excludes Assumption Day itself and all Sundays, which are never days of fasting although they may be days of abstinence if one so chooses to keep them as such. For those interested in reviving this forgotten period of penance in preparation for Michaelmas, there are several resources available on A Catholic Life.


Michaelmas as an English Quarter Day

Also forgotten is how Michaelmas served as an important milestone in the English legal system. Michaelmas is one of the four English “Quarter Days,” days which fall around the Equinoxes or Solstices and mark the beginnings of new natural seasons (i.e., Spring, Summer, Winter, Fall) and which were used in medieval times to mark “quarters” for legal purposes, such as settling debts. The other days like this are Lady Day (the Feast of the Annunciation) on March 25, the Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist on June 24, and Christmas on December 25. Debt collection was forbidden certain times of the year such as during the Octave of Christmas. We would do well to ensure all of our debts are paid to all rightful parties at this time.


The Foods of Michaelmas

Like at Martinmas, Michaelmas would often feature goose as one of the dinner’s key meals (assuming Michaelmas did not fall on a day of abstinence). Roast goose with apples, St. Michael’s Bannock, and Blackberry crumble were all eaten in various places for Michaelmas. In Mifflin County, Pennsylvania, Michaelmas has been observed since 1786 as Goose Day. Recipes for these may be found at Fish Eaters.

Dr. Foley describes these customs in more detail in the aforementioned piece:

Michaelmas was also known as ‘Devil’s Spit Day.’ When Lucifer was cast out of Heaven, he is said to have fallen on a blackberry bush and angrily spat on it. Consequently, one can eat blackberries on but not after either Michaelmas Day (September 29) or Old Michaelmas Day (October 4 or 11 in those parts of England that unofficially held on to the Julian calendar).

Of course, Michaelmas revelers need something to wash down all that food. Michelsminne or ‘Michael’s Love’ was the name given in parts of northern Europe to any wine consumed on Michaelmas. The custom was especially popular in Denmark.

Customs Celebrating the Victory of St. Michael over the Devil

Dorothy Gladys Spicer describes a Bavarian custom in The Festivals of Western Europe published in 1958:

On September 29, Saint Michael’s Day, the city of Augsburg holds an annual autumn fair to which hundreds of peasants from far and near come for trade and pleasure. Chief among the day’s attractions is the hourly appearance of figures representing the Archangel and the Devil. The figures are built in the foundation of Perlach Turm, or Tower, called Tura in local dialect. This slender structure, which rises to a height of two-hundred-and-twenty-five-feet and stands next to the Peter’s Kirche, north of the Rathaus, originally was a watch tower. In 1615 the watch tower was heightened and converted into a belfry.

Almost a hundred years earlier the group depicting the saint and the devil had been installed in the tower’s understructure. Annually on his feast day the archangel’s armor-clad figure, holding a pointed spear, appeared whenever the tower bell struck, and stabbed at the devil writhing at his feet.

During World War II the historic figures—the delight of generations of fair-goers—were destroyed. Since then a new group has been made and installed. Today, as for over four centuries, spectators continue to gather about the Tura and to watch breathlessly the symbolic drama of Michael, head of the Church Triumphant, dealing death blows to the dragon which brings evil and destruction to the world of men.

The Blue Mass

St. Michael remains the heavenly patron of police officers in addition to knights, soldiers, paramedics, ambulance drivers, and anyone at danger at sea, amongst others. His connection with police officers is the basis for the Blue Mass custom that originated in the early 20th century.

The Blue Mass dates to September 29, 1934, when Father Thomas Dade started the service as part of his duties with the Catholic Police and Fireman’s Society. The first Mass was held at St. Patrick’s Catholic Church in Washington, D.C. and has grown to a nationwide celebration on September 29th.


Chaplet of St. Michael the Archangel

In 1751 AD, the Archangel Michael appeared to the Portuguese Carmelite nun, Servant of God Antónia d’Astónaco. In this apparition, St. Michael said that God wished to be glorified through a series of nine invocations in honor of the nine choirs of angels. Thus, the Chaplet of St. Michael was born.  It was approved by Pope Pius IX in 1851 and was granted indulgences. See here to learn more and see the prayers.


The Leonine Prayers & the Prayer of St. Michael the Archangel

Anyone who has assisted at a Tridentine Low Mass will be familiar with the Leonine prayers which are said immediately after the Last Gospel and the conclusion of Mass. The Leonine Prayers are so named as they were mandated by Pope Leo XIII in 1884.

Previously in 1859, Pope Pius IX ordered that all Masses offered in the Papal States were to be concluded with three Hail Marys, the Hail Holy Queen, and a Collect for the temporal sovereignty of the Church. But it was not until January 6, 1884, that Pope Leo XIII ordered the prayers to be recited throughout the world after the anti-clerical Kingdom of Italy was created, which absorbed the sovereignty of the Papal States. Two years later, in 1886, he added to them the St. Michael the Archangel prayer, after the extraordinary vision God permitted him to see. The Leonine Prayers were modified by Pope St. Pius X, who inserted at the end of these series of prayers the three-fold recitation of “Most Sacred Heart of Jesus, have mercy on us.”[1]


The Forgotten Full Length St. Michael Prayer

The story of the vision is as follows. One day after Mass and in a Conference with the Cardinals in 1866, Pope Leo XIII fell down and received a vision of hell. Physicians ran to him to find no pulse; they feared that he had died. Yet, he opened his eyes only a few minutes later and screamed, “Oh what a horrible picture I was permitted to see!” In his visions, legions of devils flew from the depths of hell to cause destruction to the Church and damn souls. Suddenly St. Michael the Archangel appeared and fought the devils back into the abyss of hell. Following this, Pope Leo XIII created a prayer in honor of St. Michael. In addition to the short prayer which Catholics are most familiar, there is a full-length version which was listed in the Raccolta. That full length version can be found here.

Concerning who may say the full length prayer, the Angelus Press Daily Missal notes:

The Holy Father (Pope Leo XIII) exhorts priests to say this prayer as often as possible, as a simple exorcism to curb the power of the devil and prevent him from doing harm. The faithful (laity) also may say it in their own name, for the same purpose, as any approved prayer. Its use is recommended whenever action of the devil is suspected, causing malice in men, violent temptations and even storms and various calamities. It could be used as a solemn exorcism (an official and public ceremony in Latin) to expel the devil. It would then be said by a priest, in the name of the Church and only with a Bishop’s permission.

Conclusion
In heaven, St. Michael led the good angels against Lucifer and his rebel angels. The fallen angels pursue on earth that same war against the Man-God Christ which they began in heaven. Therefore, holy St. Michael continues to direct the battle against them here on earth.

The presence of St. Michael at the Holy Sacrifice of the Mass is particularly made clear to those at the Tridentine Mass, as St. Michael is at several times called out by name: As the standard-bearer of the Church, he introduces the departed souls of her children into God’s holy light (Offertory Hymn of Requiem Mass). He also presents our prayers to God (Incensation of the Altar at High Mass), he conquers demons (Prayers after Low Mass), and he pleads for us sinners (Confiteor).

May we worthily invoke his patronage! St. Michael the Archangel, defend us in battle!