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What is St. Michael’s Lent? The Powerful Little-Known Tradition We Need for Our Times
By Jacqueline Burkepile – Aug 15, 2022
Have you ever heard of St. Michael’s Lent?
St. Michael’s Lent dates back to the 13th century when St. Francis of Assisi received the stigmata on the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross (Sept. 14).
The tradition, described in The Little Flowers of St. Francis by St. Bonaventure, honors Our Lady and St. Michael.
Much like a ‘mini-Lent,’ the devotion lasts 40 days (excluding Sundays). This period of prayer, fasting, and penance begins on the Solemnity of the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin Mary (Aug. 15) and ends on the feast of St. Michael (Sept. 29.)
St. Francis had a great devotion to St. Michael, and practiced this 40-day period himself.
“[H]e wished along with the most faithful Brothers…to celebrate the Assumption of the Blessed Virgin (August 15) and then prepare himself by a forty days’ fast for the Feast of St. Michael (September 29).
“In common with the rest of the people of the Middle Ages, Francis nourished a special devotion to this Archangel, signifer sanctus Michaelis, the standard-bearer of the Heavenly Host, and the one who with his trumpet was to wake the dead in their graves on the last day…” (St. Francis of Assisi by Johannes Jorgensen)
Fr. Eric Anderson of St. Stephen Catholic Church in Portland, Ore. began a video series leading this year’s devotion. He explains St. Michael’s Lent in a great introduction.
Here’s the video below:
St. Michael’s Lent is a powerful way to increase devotion to and call upon the archangel for help and assistance, especially during these unprecedented times.
There are not any specific requirements, but here’s a handy meditation bookletfor guidance. This document contains 31 meditation days, followed by a nine-day novena. It also includes multiple prayers to St. Michael, including a consecration and the powerful Chaplet of St. Michael.
With prayer, fasting, and penance, we can call upon heaven’s army of angels to cast the evil out of our country and world. Let us pray with fervor, through the intercession of St. Michael, for Christ’s help as we battle the forces of darkness.