History of Michaelmas: Who is St. Michael?

Michael tramples Satan, by Guido Reni, 1636, Rome. Image: Wikipedia

HISTORY OF MICHAELMAS

September 29 is Michaelmas, meaning “Michael’s Mass” or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels.

It’s known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael, Archangels, in the Roman Catholic Church, or as the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels in the Anglican Church.

The Eastern Orthodox Church, instead, celebrates the Feast of the Archangels on November 8.

Americans may not be familiar with it, but you may hear the name in British period costume dramas. Jane Austen mentioned Michaelmas 12 times in five books, almost as much as Christmas and Easter. Indeed, it comes at the beginning of her novel, Pride and Prejudice:

“Netherfield is taken by a young man of large fortune from the north of England . . . he is to take possession before Michaelmas.” –Pride and Prejudice, chapter 1

What does Michaelmas celebrate, and how is it observed?

What is an archangel, who is Saint Michael, and why is he called a Saint?

And why shouldn’t you pick blackberries after Michaelmas?

Origin of the Date

The choice of September 29 as the day to honor St. Michael has been a subject of debate. The origins trace back to the text describing the dedication of a basilica near Rome in the fifth century, originally on September 30, in honor of all archangels.

However, the later 6th-century document, the Leonine Sacramentary, indicates that the dedication was specifically to St. Michael and that it occurred on September 30. The basilica no longer exists, but the later sacramentaries move it to September 29.

The British Legend of St. Michael casting out the Devil

It is said that the Devil was cast out of Heaven on September 29 and fell into a blackberry bush, cursing the fruit as he fell. According to an old legend, blackberries should not be picked or eaten after this date. In Yorkshire, it is said that in rage, the Devil spat on them.

This old legend is well known throughout Britain, even as far north as Orkney. A similar legend prevails in Cornwall, southwest England, but the Devil defiled the blackberries with a different bodily fluid.

Celebration of Michaelmas

The holiday is observed on this day in the Roman Catholic, Lutheran, and Anglican churches worldwide, but is not widely recognized in the US.

Michaelmas, like Groundhog Day in the US, was a predictor of weather:

“If Michaelmas Day be bright and clear
there will be two ‘Winters’ in the year”.

Along with St. George, Michael was considered the patron saint of chivalry during the Middle Ages. Babies born on Michaelmas were called Michael or Micheál in honor of the Saint.

British Isles

St. Michael’s Day, or Lá Fhéile Mhichíl, as it’s known in the Irish language of Ireland and Scotland, honors the patron saint of horses, travel, the sea, and seafarers.

Ireland

An ancient Irish tradition dating back to pre-Christian Celtic times involved baking a Michaelmas pie with a hidden ring inside. It was believed that whoever found the ring in their slice would be married within the year.

Pilgrims in Ireland travel to holy wells associated with St. Michael to take the waters.

In County Waterford, Ireland, during a parade through the town of Tramore, people entered the sea carrying an effigy of St. Michael, symbolizing the end of the fishing and tourism season and their income with it.

Scotland

Linlithgow, Scotland (the birthplace of Mary, Queen of Scots), claims St. Michael as its patron saint.

In the Hebrides Islands off the western coast of Scotland, Michaelmas is celebrated by eating a multi-grain cake called Struan.

Traditionally (though not astronomically), the day marks the end of harvest and the beginning of Autumn, with days growing shorter than nights after the Autumnal Equinox. It is traditional to hear on Michaelmas:

“May Michaelmas féinín on you.”

On the Isle of Skye (in the Hebrides), there is a rhyme about the “Michaelmas daisy,” or Aster, that flourishes between August and October. The daisies were given as a present on Michaelmas.

“The Michaelmas daisies, among dead weeds,
Bloom for St. Michael’s valorous deeds.
And seem the last of flowers that stood,
till the feast of St Simon and St Jude.”

Michaelmas daisy, or Aster amellus. Author’s photo

Michaelmas as a Calendar Term

Michaelmas is one of the four English “quarter days” of the year when servants were hired, school terms began, and rents, debts, and unresolved lawsuits were settled. The others are:

• March 25: Lady Day, or Feast of the Annunciation
• June 24: Midsummer Day: Feast of the Nativity of St. John the Baptist
• September 29: Michaelmas Day, or the Feast of St. Michael and All the Angels
• December 25: Christmas Day, or Feast of the Nativity of Jesus

These dates originate in the Middle Ages and are linked to religious festivals that occur around the solstices and equinoxes. Their significance is now more limited, except in areas of rents and schools.

Michaelmas is used to refer to the Autumn term at universities in the UK and Ireland. You can see this at Oxford and Cambridge in England, as well as at Trinity College Dublin, Ireland.

The US Supreme Court employs a calendar that roughly follows the English court tradition of beginning on the first Monday in October, following Michaelmas.

Calendar Trivia:

The cross-quarter days are four holidays falling in between the solstices and equinoxes:

• Candlemas on February 2
• May Day on May 1
• Lammas on August 1
• All Hallows on November 1

Michaelmas Throughout History

St. Michael is the patron saint of police officers, paramedics, American and French paratroopers, and the military. Warriors, the sick, and the suffering consider him their patron.

Germany

He was the patron saint of the Holy Roman Empire and remains the patron saint of modern Germany and other German-speaking areas that were part of the Holy Roman Empire. Martin Luther’s friend and colleague, Philip Melanchthon, wrote the Latin text that Paul Eber set to music as a hymn in Germany for Michaelmas in the 16th century, which Lutherans sing to this day: “Lord God, We All to Thee Give Praise.”

England

The Lord Mayor of London is elected on Michaelmas.

“Armada Portrait” commemorates the defeat of the Spanish Armada, depicted in the background. Image: Wikimedia

There is a popular legend concerning Queen Elizabeth I, who was said to be eating goose on Michaelmas in 1588 when she received news that her Royal Navy had defeated the Spanish Armada. She decreed that goose should be eaten on Michaelmas Day from then on.

“He who eats goose on Michaelmas day
shan’t money lack for debts to pay.”

Italy

Travelers to modern-day Rome may stop by the Castel Sant’Angelo (Castle of the Holy Angel) on their way to St. Peter’s Basilica down the street in the Vatican.

Castel Sant’Angelo, Rome. Author’s photo

The castle was so named, according to Roman legends, following a devastating plague in Rome when Pope Gregory I (the Great) (pontificate c. 590–604) prayed that the plague should cease. When Archangel Michael appeared, sheathing his sword over the “Mausoleum of Hadrian” in apparent answer to Gregory’s prayers, the plague ended. The fortress became Castel Sant’Angelo in his honor. Note the statue of St. Michael atop the castle.

Bronze statue of Michael the Archangel, standing atop Castel Sant’Angelo, modeled in 1753 by Peter Anton von Verschaffelt. Image: Wikipedia

Traveler’s Tip:

Pope Nicholas III (1225 – 1280) built a secret passageway to it from St. Peter’s, the famed Passetto di Borgo, which can still be walked today. It was built between the basilica and the fortress as a refuge for the popes during attacks on St. Peter’s. Pope Clement VII fled through it during the 1527 Sack of Rome.
You may remember Nicholas, known for his nepotism, from Dante‘s Inferno (part of The Divine Comedy), where there is a brief encounter with him. Nicholas is condemned to spend eternity in the Eighth Circle of Hell, reserved for those guilty of simony, the ecclesiastical crime of buying or selling church offices or positions.

Pennsylvanian Michaelmas Goose

Q: Whence came the American Michaelmas Goose?

In Pennsylvania’s Susquehanna River Valley, the celebration of Michaelmas began with Andrew Pontius hiring Archibald Hunter, an English tenant farmer in Harrisburg, under a specific contract stipulating that all accounts would be settled on September 29.

Hunter brought his accounts and a goose on that day, following the English custom to symbolize good luck. The celebration has spread to Lewistown, Pennsylvania, where it is still commemorated with goose dinners, local festivals, and even painted fiberglass goose statues throughout the county.

Angels and Archangels

Finally, we come to the questions:

Q: What is an archangel, who is Saint Michael, and why is he called a Saint?

Buckle your seatbelt; we’re heading into biblical theology, specifically angelology and soteriology.

Within the Abrahamic religious traditions of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam, angels are heavenly spiritual beings created by God to serve him. Most often in the Bible, they are “messengers” of God.

The Greek word ἄγγελος is translated as “messenger.” The double gamma “gg” in Greek is usually pronounced as “ng”; hence, aggelos is angelos.

In the Old and New Testaments of the Bible, only three angels are named:

Gabriel

Gabriel from the Annunciation by Leonardo da Vinci (1470s). Image: Wikipedia

Gabriel is God’s messenger in the Gospel of Luke, and he tells Mary that she is to bear Jesus, the Son of God. Gabriel’s name means “man of God” or “power of God.”

Michael

Saint Michael in The Fall of the Rebel Angels by Luca Giordano. Image: Wikipedia

Michael holds the rank of “archangel,” meaning chief or head. Michael means “[he] who [is] like God.” He is the guardian of Israel. 

• In the Old Testament book of Daniel, he’s mentioned as “one of the chief princes” battling the “prince of Persia.”

• The word “archangel” in the New Testament appears in 1 Thessalonians 4:16: “with the voice of an archangel.”

• The Epistle of Jude 1:9 contrasts the archangel Michael’s lack of presumption with that of the heretics of that day.

• In Revelation 12:7-12, he is explicitly named as victorious in battle against “the dragon” (Satan) and his angels. The Great Dragon is thrown out of heaven along with his angels. 

Lucifer

Lucifer, by Guillaume Geefs, in Liège Cathedral. Image: Wikipedia

Lucifer is the fallen angel. In Latin, the word means “bearer of light” and refers to the morning star — the planet Venus. In Hebrew, it means “the shining one.” If you’re keeping track, the Greek Septuagint word is heosphorus, or “light bringer,” which is also the Greek name of the planet Venus.

We are culturally familiar with the name Lucifer from the King James Version of Isaiah 14:12, which is the rendering of the Latin Vulgate Bible. His Hebrew name is Helel (“Shining one”). He is a spiritual being in the Bible referred to as the serpent, the dragon, the accuser, the Devil, and Satan.

He is mentioned in various ways in the Old and New Testaments.

• Genesis talks about “the serpent” in the Garden of Eden, whom the New Testament identifies as the Devil and Satan.

• Isaiah 14:12 discusses the fall from heaven of the day star, or son of dawn, following his sin of pride, in which he arrogantly sought to elevate himself above all and make himself “like the Most High.”

• Other places in the Old Testament have him whispering in the ear of King David and accusing the saintly Job before God; Satan means “accuser.”

• The New Testament refers to him as the “tempter” of Jesus in the wilderness, a liar, and the “father of lies.” The Gospel of Luke 10:18 recounts Jesus saying:

“I saw Satan fall like lightning from heaven.”

Parenthetically, in the Bible, there is another name. The Hebrew name Abaddon and the Greek Apollyon mean the “Destroyer.” It may be another name for Lucifer, or at least his works or realm. Job 26:6, describing God’s power, says:

“Sheol is naked before God,
and Abaddon has no covering.”

He is mentioned in Revelation 9:11 as the “angel of the Abyss.”

“They have as king over them the angel of the bottomless pit. His name in Hebrew is Abaddon, and in Greek he is called Apollyon.”

…leading an army of locusts, like horses prepared for battle.

Any other angel names come from outside the Biblical canon. For example:

• The Roman Catholic deuterocanonical Apocrypha Book of Tobit mentions Raphael as an archangel.

• The pseudepigraphical Book of Enoch lists Michael among the seven archangels, including Uriel, Raguel, Raphael, Sariel, Gabriel, and Remiel.

Who are the Saints?

Now, the soteriology part. The New Testament describes God’s saints as believers in the Gospel of Jesus who go on to do good works. They’re also mentioned as the faithful who have died, gone to heaven, and are among the “cloud of witnesses” in Hebrews 12:1.

But can an angel be called saint? Can Michael?

To answer that, we must look at the original Biblical word for “saint.” The original Greek New Testament word ἅγιος, hagios, means “holy.” The late antique Latin translation of the Bible, the Vulgate, provides us with the word sanctus.

The Latin word sanctus predated the New Testament and was used in ancient Roman religion to refer to someone “worthy of veneration for their holiness or sanctity.” We use the word this way when we say, “She was a saint,” remembering someone for their exemplary moral life, lack of materialism, and faithfulness in following God. (In the Eastern Orthodox and Roman Catholic churches, a person goes through a canonization process to be called “Saint.”)

The words holy and sacred are similar in meaning and are often used interchangeably, but they carry subtle differences. Holy has the connotation of being “separated for a purpose” or consecrated.

More to the point, Jesus speaks of a day when he will return as judge with holy angels:

“Son of Man … when he comes in his glory and the glory of the Father and of the holy angels.” Luke 9:26

Angels are called hagioi, the same word rendered “saints,” which supports calling Michael “Saint.”

May Michaelmas féinín on you.

Bill Petro, your friendly neighborhood historian
billpetro.com