- Feb 5, 2002
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St. Michael's Lent is a perfect opportunity for a spiritual reorientation during the long time between Lent and Advent.
I felt a yawning gap between the two penitential seasons of the liturgical calendar. Catholics do a lot of spiritual work during Advent to prepare themselves for the birth of Christ, and they do a lot of spiritual work during Lent to prepare for Easter. But then it’s kind of bupkes until the next Advent. Lent is the West Coast. Advent is the East Coast. And that long span of ordinary time is the flyover country between the two. To my sensibilities, it seemed too long a stretch without a rigorous spiritual reorientation.
I was happy to find out I was not the only one who perceived a need for an oasis of atonement in this liturgically ordinary desert. St. Francis of Assisi also felt it, which makes sense. He was known for being very in tune with nature, so it’s not too much of a stretch to assume he would be sensitive to seasonal moods. I, too, am sensitive to seasonal moods, which is part of what drew me to the Catholic Church and its liturgical seasons in the first place.
So, I was happy to find out that St. Francis created a Lent that perfectly filled the gap. It’s called St. Michael’s Lent, and it begins on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, and goes until the Feast of the Archangels, or Michaelmas, on September 29.
Continued below.
crisismagazine.com
I felt a yawning gap between the two penitential seasons of the liturgical calendar. Catholics do a lot of spiritual work during Advent to prepare themselves for the birth of Christ, and they do a lot of spiritual work during Lent to prepare for Easter. But then it’s kind of bupkes until the next Advent. Lent is the West Coast. Advent is the East Coast. And that long span of ordinary time is the flyover country between the two. To my sensibilities, it seemed too long a stretch without a rigorous spiritual reorientation.
I was happy to find out I was not the only one who perceived a need for an oasis of atonement in this liturgically ordinary desert. St. Francis of Assisi also felt it, which makes sense. He was known for being very in tune with nature, so it’s not too much of a stretch to assume he would be sensitive to seasonal moods. I, too, am sensitive to seasonal moods, which is part of what drew me to the Catholic Church and its liturgical seasons in the first place.
So, I was happy to find out that St. Francis created a Lent that perfectly filled the gap. It’s called St. Michael’s Lent, and it begins on the Feast of the Assumption, August 15, and goes until the Feast of the Archangels, or Michaelmas, on September 29.
Continued below.
What is St. Michael’s Lent?
St. Michael’s Lent is a perfect opportunity for a spiritual reorientation during the long time between Lent and Advent.
crisismagazine.com
