From Ghoulies and Ghosties,
And Long-Leggedy Beasties,
And things that go Bump in the Night,
Good Lord, Deliver us.
The earth doesn’t spin perfectly around the sun; it wobbles. Sometimes the Northern Hemisphere is pointed toward the sun, sometimes the Southern. Our seasons of spring, summer, fall and winter are the direct result of this cosmic hokey pokey that our planet does on its annual dance around the sun. The September equinox marks a transition and for those of us in the Northern hemisphere, it means that our days will be getting increasingly shorter for the next few months. As much as I love the fall with its cooler temperatures and beautiful color, I must admit that I find the decreasing daylight to be a bit of a bummer. In the ancient and medieval world, losing daylight was far a far more threatening reality than it is to us. With electricity and artificial light we are able to control our environment in ways that people a few generations ago could never have imagined, but without such conveniences the fall can appear much more sinister indeed: Increasing cold, increasing disease, and increasing crime as the long, dark night provides cover for all manner of illicit activity. We often fear things that lurk in the shadows: the unseen and unexpected creatures and villains that leap out at us unexpectedly. It is no accident that a festival like Halloween comes at such a time in the year when it seems like the darkness has the upper hand; when the night is longer and we can see less of what is going on around us. But while we spend so much time worrying about things that we cannot see, faith is there to remind us that not every invisible force is a foe: in fact, we are told that in the realm of the unseen there are more powerful creatures fighting for us than against us.
A few days after the official transition from summer to fall (the autumnal equinox or September 23) comes a feast that at one time was of great importance and a holy day of obligation: the Feast of Saint Michael the Archangel. This festival is sometimes referred to as Michaelmass or the Feast of Saint Michael and All Angels, and it celebrates a figure that is referred to in the Hebrew, Christian and Islamic Scriptures. Michael’s image is easily recognizable as he is traditionally depicted much differently than any other angel: we usually see Michael armored for battle with a sword in one hand and a serpent under his foot. This is no blushing cherub with a halo; this is a soldier and it’s for this reason that Michael is the patron of police officers and members of the armed services, but Michael is meant to be more than just a medal worn around the neck for good luck. Michael should remind us that in the midst of our daily anxieties, when we are worried about all the things lurking in shadows that seem bent of destroying us, that there are also forces working to protect us as well and often they are equally unseen. While in art we often see angels depicted as being bright, glorious and a bit showy, making dramatic announcements or blowing a trumpet; the reality seems to be that more often than not angels work behind the scenes with little or no credit.
Perhaps the Feast of Saint Michael comes at a very opportune time for those of us in this part of the world. As the night gets longer we can choose to become increasingly afraid of every bump in the night; terrified of the dangers that are hiding just beyond our sight; or we can go to sleep and rest easy, believing that regardless of what may be trying to get us, there is a force far more powerful that is determined to save us.
Blessings,
Fr. Kevin
