Saint Michael's Lent is a period of
fasting
Fasting is the abstention from eating and sometimes drinking. From a purely physiological context, "fasting" may refer to the metabolic status of a person who has not eaten overnight (see " Breakfast"), or to the metabolic state achieved after ...
observed in the
Catholic Church
The Catholic Church, also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the largest Christian church, with 1.3 billion baptized Catholics worldwide . It is among the world's oldest and largest international institutions, and has played a ...
, from the
Feast of the Assumption
The Assumption of Mary is one of the four Marian dogmas of the Catholic Church. Pope Pius XII defined it in 1950 in his apostolic constitution ''Munificentissimus Deus'' as follows:
We proclaim and define it to be a dogma revealed by Go ...
on August 15 to
Michaelmas
Michaelmas ( ; also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, the Feast of the Archangels, or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September, a ...
(the feast of St Michael) on September 29, excluding Sundays. According to
Bonaventure
Bonaventure ( ; it, Bonaventura ; la, Bonaventura de Balneoregio; 1221 – 15 July 1274), born Giovanni di Fidanza, was an Italian Catholic Franciscan, bishop, cardinal, scholastic theologian and philosopher.
The seventh Minister G ...
, St. Michael's Lent originates in Franciscan tradition. It is also mentioned in ''
Little Flowers of St. Francis
The ''Little Flowers of St. Francis'' ( it, Fioretti di San Francesco) is a florilegium (excerpts of his body of work), divided into 53 short chapters, on the life of Saint Francis of Assisi that was composed at the end of the 14th century. The ...
''.
It was the custom for
Francis of Assisi
Giovanni di Pietro di Bernardone, better known as Saint Francis of Assisi ( it, Francesco d'Assisi; – 3 October 1226), was a mystic Italian Catholic friar, founder of the Franciscans, and one of the most venerated figures in Christianit ...
to fast before Michaelmas to honor the Blessed Virgin and St. Michael.
de Montor, Artaud. ''The Lives and Times of the Roman Pontifs, from St. Peter to Pius IX'', Volume 1, Issue 2, D. & J. Sadlier, 1869, p. 404
/ref>
See also
* Lent
Lent ( la, Quadragesima, 'Fortieth') is a solemn religious observance in the liturgical calendar commemorating the 40 days Jesus spent fasting in the desert and enduring temptation by Satan, according to the Gospels of Matthew, Mark and Luke ...
* Saint Martin's Lent
References
External links
40-Day Devotion to St. Michael The Archangel
Christian fasting
Lent
Franciscan spirituality
August observances
{{catholic-stub