St. Michael’s Lent

St. Michael’s Lent is a 40 day period of prayer, fasting, and penance observed each year from August 15, the Feast of the Assumption, to September 29, the Feast of the Archangels.

This devotion traces back to St. Francis of Assisi, who kept it in honor of St. Michael, withdrawing to the mountain of La Verna to prepare himself through prayer and fasting. Near the end of that period, he received the stigmata, the wounds of Christ marked into his own body. Franciscans have carried on the tradition since, treating these weeks as a season of renewed prayer and penance, offered in thanksgiving for St. Michael’s protection and in preparation for the feasts of fall.

To help mark this season, we have put together a compilation of prayer devotions for St. Michael’s Lent.