This was a pretty big day for centuries, and still is contained in
our LCMS calendar. Phillip Melanchthon even wrote a poem for the
day which became a hymn, "Lord God, To Thee We Give All Praise", which is "Dicimus grates tibi summe rerum" in his Latin original -- yes,
Latin -- which is hymn 254 in The Lutheran Hymnal, or, I suppose it
won't hurt to say, 522 in LSB.
Here's why the big deal.
Michael in the Bible.
Michael
is one of the angels, and is mentioned by name in three books of
the Bible, Daniel, Jude and Revelation aka the Apocalypse. His name
means in Hebrew "Who is like God?"
In Daniel,
Gabriel, another leading angel, tells Daniel that Michael is his
helper in defending the Jews, this wrt Daniel's prayer that the
Jews be able to return to Jerusalem (Daniel 10), and later (Daniel
12) Michael is again identified as he who stands up for "the sons
of thy people", the Jews, who will do so in the final battle at the
end of time. This is the only time he is mentioned by name in the
Hebrew Bible.
It is not the only time he appears,
depending on who you listen to. Some say he is the "captain of
the host of the Lord" in the Book of Josue, or Joshua, 5:13-15, but
some say this cannot be since he accepted worship and only God can
do that. So some then say the figure was actually a disguised
appearance of God himself, and some say (like my historical-critical
Scripture profs in college) that that is what "angels" are anyway,
not separate beings but muted references due to piety for God
himself so Man can stand the interaction.
Rabbinic
tradition variously credits him with being the angel who rescued
Abraham from Nimrod's furnace, who protected Sarah from being defiled
as Abraham's sister as Abraham tried to protect her by calling
his sister and not wife, who told Sarah she would have a son, who
brought the ram provided by God for Abraham to substitute for that
son Isaac in sacrifice, who was the angel who wrestled with Jacob,
who was the angel who spoke to Moses in the burning bush and later
taught Moses the Law, on and on, including things in writings not
in the Hebrew Bible such as protecting Adam and Eve after the Fall
and teaching him how to farm.
This role of
protector and defender was passed on to the early Christian church,
among so much else in Judaism, not just in these stories, but he is
mentioned twice in the New Testament.
In the
Letter of Jude, verse 9, he argues with Satan over Moses' body,
also a Jewish theme, keeping Moses' body hidden so reverence would
be directed to God and not misplaced hero worship, something which crept into that church anyway as saint
veneration and relics. In the Book of Revelation, or The Apocalypse, chapter
12, Michael is given a similar role in the last battle at the end
of time as he had in the revolt of the angels in heaven at the
beginning, as military leader of the forces of good.
Michael in Later Stories.
There
are many other legends of Michael's intervention on behalf of
Christians in history, of which we will mention two as particularly
noteworthy. He is said to have worked with the Roman Emperor
Constantine the Great, and a celebration on 8 November became the main
feast of St Michael in the Eastern Church. Also he is said to
have appeared over the mausoleum of Hadrian in Rome to answer the
prayers of Pope St Gregory the Great in 950 that a plague in Rome
stop, after which the mausoleum, destroyed by the Visigoths and
Goths but rebuilt as a papal fort and residence, was called Castel
Sant'Angelo, Church of the Holy Angel, the angel being Michael, and
still is to this day.
It was connected by a
fortified covered passage, the Passeto di Borgo, to St Peter's
Basilica by Pope Nicholas II (pope from 25 November 1277 to 22
August 1280), to provide an escape route for the popes, which turned
out handy for Pope Clement VII.
There's a story.
Clement had allied with French forces to offset the power of the
Holy Roman Emperor, Charles V, he to whom the Augsburg Confession
was presented, and Charles' army had defeated them in Italy.
However, there was no money to pay the soldiers, and it is never
ever a good idea to mess with military payroll then, now, or ever.
In this case, the troops figured well hell, there's all these
riches in Rome, let's go there and take them, which is exactly what
they did, about wiping out the Swiss Guards on 5/6 May 1527, the
"Sack of Rome". Clement made it out to Castel Sant'Angelo but
became a prisoner there and eventually surrendered on 6 June.
Neither
the HRE Charles nor Martin Luther approved of this, but it did
have the practical effect of curbing papal power over the Holy Roman
Empire, with a lot of money and land changing hands. Luther saw
Christ's providence in this, saying that the Emperor who persecuted
the Lutheran Reformation for the Pope ends up himself having to
destroy the Pope. Might just be something to that. To commemorate
the fight put up by the Swiss Guards, new ones have their
swearing-in on 6 May to this day.
The Passeto and
Castel sant'Angelo still exist, the latter now as an Italian
national museum, and has a HUGE statue of St Michael on top of it.
Not surprisingly, so much intrigue having played out in it
historically, it is the headquarters of the "Illuminati" in the
fictional "Angels and Demons", a recent movie by Dan Brown of da
Vinci Code fame.
St Michael has thus become the
patron of guardians of various kinds, from policemen to the sick.
Western church writings speak of his feast from at least the 6th
century, and other observances based on other appearances and legends
arose elsewhere. But 29 September as the Feast of St Michael is
among the oldest observances in the Western calendar.
The Feast of St Michael the Archangel, and All Angels.
Why
is that? Not to mention, how is that? The custom in the church is
to take the date of a saint's death, that being the day he was born
to eternity as it were, as his feast day, or if that is unknown, the
date of something else he did or is associated with him. Now Michael
being an angel and all, didn't die, so it can't be his date of
death, so what is that something else?
Here's what.
The feast isn't actually the Feast of St Michael, but the Feast of
the Dedication of the Basilica of St Michael. The Leonine
Sacramentary, from the Sixth Century (the 500s) gives a feast Of the
Birth of the Basilica of the Angel on the way to Salaria; the The
Gelesian Sacramentary, from the Seventh Century, gives a Feast of St
Michael the Archangel, but both of these were on 30 September. Then
in the Eighth Century, the Gregorian Sacramentary gives a Feast of
the Dedication of the Basilica of St Michael the Archangel, but puts
it on 29 September.
That's just as well -- gonna need
30 September for the Feast of St Jerome, who died on that day in
420. So we have a feast on 29 September of the dedication of a
church to St Michael, howdya like that? Two things about that. For
one thing, church, didn't it say basilica, what the hell is that? A
basilica originally was not a church at all, but a meeting place for
merchants and mercantile justice, but as they were pretty nice big
buildings, they got taken over as churches, with the state church and
all, and later such churches were called basilica from the get-go.
For
another, the specific basilica whose dedication established the
feast on 29 September hasn't existed for over a thousand years! One
thing's for sure though. 29 September sure in the hell ain't what
Vatican II made of it in the novus ordo, where it's now the Feast of
Michael, Gabriel and Rafael. Utter revisionist bullroar. 29
September has been about Michael, and the whole company of angels by
extension, since it started, and even if the basilica disappeared a
thousand years ago, why in the hell a thousand years later does the
Whore of Babylon mess with it?
Because that's what
the Whore of Babylon does, mess with things. Gabe has his own feast
day, which is 24 March, and in the Eastern church his day is 8
November in the Julian Calendar, which is 21 November in the Gregorian
Calendar, and two other days as well (26 March and 13 July if you
wanna know, the first for his role in the Annunciation and the other
for all his other stuff). Rafe has his own feast day too, which is
24 October.
It's interesting the both these feasts
were only put in the General Roman Calendar in 1921, however, in the
sanctoral calendars at lexorandi.org, the 1731 Lutheran Almanac, on
the 200th Anniversary of the Presentation of the Augsburg Confession,
has Gabe's but not Rafe's, and "The Calendar", which I believe is
Loehe's, has Rafe's but not Gabe's, and my "Manual of Prayers",
ordered prepared by the Third Plenary Council of Baltimore with
Imprimatur 17 May 1889 by James Cardinal Gibbons no less (it was my
dad's), has Rafe on 24 October and Gabe but on 18 March, so 1921
didn't start anything but standardised it for Rome.
To
its credit, among the many things to its credit, The Lutheran Hymnal
-- you know, THE Lutheran Hymnal -- doesn't jack around with any of
that, but simply retains The Feast of St Michael and All Angels, and
to its credit, Lutheran Service Book, while it does often follow the
novus ordo model of jacking around with stuff, doesn't jack around
with this one. And given that the dedication thing has kind of lost
its significance, the basilica being dedicated being gone a
millennium now, it's still worth mentioning since originally that is
why 29 September.
And yes, it's kind of like an All
Angels Day too. Which is just fine. St Michael being the commander
of the angelic forces, like any good commander, he doesn't forget his
men.
Various Michaelmas Observances.
We
ain't done! Michaelmas has all sorts of stuff attached to it.
For centuries, it was a holy day of obligation -- you gotta go to
Mass. As the Germans were Christianised, St Michael took the place
of Wotan, and you will find St Michael chapels in the mountains,
previously sacred to Wotan, there to this day. Michaelmas is also
one of the four Quarter Days in Mother England: Lady Day 25 March,
Midsummer Day 24 June, Michaelmas 29 September, Christmas 25
December.
What the hell is a Quarter Day? These are
four days roughly equivalent to the two equinoxes and two
solstices, when business and legal dealings need to be settled --
rents and bills are due (the rent thing is still often followed in
England), judges had to visit outlying areas to make sure no
matters go on unresolved, servants and labourers are hired so
employment isn't up in the air, stuff like that. This is big stuff,
coming from the Magna Carta itself of 1215, when the barons secured
against the king, John at the time, the principle that no-one's
right to justice will be sold, denied, or delayed.
Ever
gone to a job fair resume in hand to meet prospective employers?
You're right in the tradition of Michaelmas! At harvest's end, on
the day after Michaelmas labourers would assemble in the towns for
just that purpose with a sign of the work they do in their hands to
get employment for the next year. Such events came to be called
Mop Fairs, from those seeking employment as maids showing up with a
broom in hand, like a resume to show the prospective employer what
work they could do.
Pay your taxes due in April?
You're right in the tradition of the Quarter Days! Hell, Lady Day
was the first day of the calendar year until the change from the
Julian to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, and when taxes were due.
The English tax year still starts on "Old" Lady Day, 6 April.
Oh
btw, the lady in Lady Day is Jesus' mother Mary, and the day is
more widely known as the Feast of the Annunciation, commemorating
the announcement by Gabriel to Mary that if she consented she would
bear Jesus, nine months before his birth 25 December. And re
calendars, Julian refers to Julius Caesar who set the old calendar,
and Gregorian refers to Pope St Gregory who modified it into what we
use to-day.
In England, the modified more accurate
Gregorian calendar was adopted in 1752, and on 3 September in the
old Julian Calendar it became 14 September in the new Gregorian
calendar. Many were confused by this, thinking they had lost 11
days of their lives, leading to protests in the streets.
Michaelmas was the first big deal to happen after the change,
leading some to say that since we lost 11 days, Michaelmas is really
10 October in the new calendar, which is then "Old" Michaelmas
Day.
A lot of the resistance to the Gregorian
calendar came from it being done by a pope. It was actually the
work of Aloysius Lilius, and Gregory made it official 24 February
1582 in the papal bull "inter gravissimas". It's named as is the
custom in many places from its first couple of words, which here
mean "among the most serious", and changing to the new calendar was
taken in many Protestant countries as a deference to papal power.
Michaelmas
was also the start of winter curfew, which lasts until Shrove
Tuesday, with bells being rung at 2100 hours (that's 9pm) to signal
the curfew, which is literally lights out, "curfew" meaning "cover
the fire", put out the household fires and lamps.
Michaelmas
is also called Goose Day, because goose is eaten for the meal,
coming from the practice of those who couldn't pay their rent or
bills on the Quarter Day offering a goose instead to the landlord.
There's an old rhyme -- He who eats goose on Michaelmas Day,
shan't money lack his debts to pay.
It also started the new term, Michaelmas term, at Oxford and Cambridge. Still does!
It
is also the day when peasants on manors elected their new reeve.
What the hell is a reeve? A serf elected by the other serfs to
manage the land for the landowner nobleman, the lord. A reeve of an
entire shire was a shire-reeve. What the hell is a shire? That's
what counties were called in Mother England before the Norman
Conquest, county being the name of the land controlled by a count in
continental Europe where the damn Normans came from. Bunch of old
stuff lost in history? Got a sheriff in your county? It's
exactly why the chief law enforcement officer of your county is
called a sheriff, a contraction over time of shire reeve, and why
your county isn't called a shire.
Now.
So
there's stuff from this all around our modern life. And now,
maybe, one more. Back to the legends about St Michael, one of them
is, when he kicked Satan out of heaven, which was on 29 September
story goes, Satan fell to earth and landed in a bunch of blackberry
thorns, which totally ticked him off so he cursed the fruit of the
bush, stomped on them, breathed fire on them, spat on them and just
generally went nuts. This curse renews every Michaelmas Day, so,
what ever you do, DO NOT pick or eat blackberries after Michaelmas!
Which in our digital age opens a whole new question -- if you have a Blackberry phone, can you use it after Michaelmas Day?
Aren't
saint's days just a riot? A little bit of something real -- there
really is a St Michael the Archangel and he really is the military
commander of God's forces, stands ready with all the faithful
angels to help and protect you, and will function as such on the
End Time -- and a whole lot of legend, leading to some pretty amazing
history, both of which have left common elements large and small
on life to-day.
Happy Michaelmas! And have some
goose, but before 2100. And touch up that resume, if you're looking
for a job. Been there and it's tough. Put your trust in God, in
this and in all things; I mean who is like God, just like Michael's
name means. And, you got people -- and angels.
VDMA
Verbum domini manet in aeternum. The word of the Lord endures forever.
1 Peter 1:24-25, quoting Isaiah 40:6,8. Motto of the Lutheran Reformation.
Fayth onely justifieth before God. Robert Barnes, DD The Supplication, fourth essay. London: Daye, 1572.
Lord if Thou straightly mark our iniquity, who is able to abide Thy judgement? Wherefore I trust in no work that I ever did, but only in the death of Jesus Christ. I do not doubt, but through Him to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Robert Barnes, DD, before he was burnt alive for "heresy", 30 July 1540.
What is Luther? The doctrine is not mine, nor have I been crucified for anyone. Martin Luther, Dr. theol. (1522)
1 Peter 1:24-25, quoting Isaiah 40:6,8. Motto of the Lutheran Reformation.
Fayth onely justifieth before God. Robert Barnes, DD The Supplication, fourth essay. London: Daye, 1572.
Lord if Thou straightly mark our iniquity, who is able to abide Thy judgement? Wherefore I trust in no work that I ever did, but only in the death of Jesus Christ. I do not doubt, but through Him to inherit the kingdom of heaven. Robert Barnes, DD, before he was burnt alive for "heresy", 30 July 1540.
What is Luther? The doctrine is not mine, nor have I been crucified for anyone. Martin Luther, Dr. theol. (1522)
For the basics of our faith right here online, or for offline short daily prayer or devotion or study, scroll down to "A Beggar's Daily Portion" on the sidebar.
24 September 2012
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