Michaelmas - A Holiday We Forgot About | History
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- čas přidán 31. 08. 2022
- In this video, we take a look at a forgotten holiday that was perhaps as important as Christmas or Easter, called "Michaelmas". We explore what it was, and why it may have disappeared.
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Works Cited
[1] Taylor, Rob. "Michaelmas Traditions." Black Country Bugle. October 07, 2010. Archived on Wayback Machine. web.archive.org/web/201509301...
[2] Holweck, Frederick. "St. Michael the Archangel." The Catholic Encyclopedia. Vol. 10. New York: Robert Appleton Company, 1911. www.newadvent.org/cathen/1027...
[3] The Holy Bible, Book of Revelation (12:7-9), New International Version www.biblegateway.com/passage/...
[4] McGarry, Marion. "The Michaelmas Customs Associated With September 29th in Ireland." RTÉ Brainstorm. www.rte.ie/brainstorm/2019/09...
[5] "Michaelmas Bannock." Cook's Info. www.cooksinfo.com/michaelmas-...
[6] "Michaelmas." Encyclopedia Britannica. www.britannica.com/topic/Mich...
[7] Johnson, Ben. "Michaelmas." Historic-UK. 30th August 2021. www.historic-uk.com/CultureUK...
[8] Warwicker, Michelle. "Are we ready to embrace the Michaelmas goose once again?" BBC Food. 29 September 2012. Archived on Wayback Machine. web.archive.org/web/201210030...
[9] Koenig, Chris. "Merry times at the Michaelmas Feast." The Oxford Times. 21st September 2011. Archived on Wayback Machine. web.archive.org/web/201403272...
[10] "Hiring and Mop Fairs." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Hiring_...
[11] Lozowski, Rachel L. "Honoring St. Michael on His Feastday." Catholic Customs, Tradition in Action. www.traditioninaction.org/rel...
[12] Schneck, Marcus. "What's special about Mifflin County on Goose Day, September 29?" Penn Live, Patriot News. Sep. 23, 2018. www.pennlive.com/life/2018/09...
[13] "Michaelmas." Explorethepast.co.uk. www.explorethepast.co.uk/2016...
[14] "Helligdagsreformen af 1770." Wikipedia, the Free Encyclopedia. Article originally in Danish, translated with Google Translate. "The Public Holiday Reform of 1770."
da.wikipedia.org/wiki/Helligd...
[15] [November 1783],” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documen.... [Original source: The Adams Papers, Diary of John Quincy Adams, vol. 1, November 1779 - March 1786, ed. Robert J. Taylor and Marc Friedlaender. Cambridge, MA: Harvard University Press, 1981, pp. 198-206.]
[16] “Memorandum List of Quitrents, 1773,” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documen.... [Original source: The Papers of George Washington, Colonial Series, vol. 9, 8 January 1772 - 18 March 1774, ed. W. W. Abbot and Dorothy Twohig. Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1994, pp. 431-432.]
[17] “Post Office Instructions to James Parker, 22 April 1757,” Founders Online, National Archives, founders.archives.gov/documen.... [Original source: The Papers of Benjamin Franklin, vol. 7, October 1, 1756 through March 31, 1758, ed. Leonard W. Labaree. New Haven: Yale University Press, 1963, pp. 194-198.]
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My mother's grandparents came from Ireland to America around 120 years ago. They all celebrated Michealmas with a huge dinner. I had forgotten the date but I remember we had Michealmas dinner part way between the first day of school and Halloween. We had roast duck stuffed with a dressing that included raspberries and a number of other dishes and deserts. We stopped the tradition when the last of my great grandparents died in the 1960's. I had completely forgotten about it until I happened upon this video. I always wondered what that holiday was about. I recall it was the only day of the year we ever ate duck and raspberry stuffing. It was also the only day my great grandfather every got totally falling down drunk. Normally he could hold his liquor and a lot of it but on that day he had to be carried to bed. This video has given me some insight into my family's past. Thanks for posting.
Duck's ecpensive unless you raise them
Very special that you have those memories
@@christywells2707 or hunt them! I had a workmate in the early 70s, who would in the fall spend his evenings out duck, deer and other forms of hunting, With his wife! They never "bought " meat! Thanks ffor nudging an old memory. Peace and Love from Canada
@@pontiuspilot9301 you go guy
I'm glad you shared that, as I knew that Michaelmas is mentioned by Jane Austen once or twice in her novels, but I couldn't think of a more recent reference than that.
I'm always up for bringing a holiday back. We need to end this puritanical tyranny of fewer holidays so we can work more. I'd love to see a video about it.
We can create "Protestant Work Ethic Holiday". We can celebrate by doing absolutely nothing. 😃
Like Labor Day, where the bankers, accountants, lawyers, and government bureaucrats don't work, spending the day at the cabin bitching about unions.
@@JohnnyAngel8 isn't that basically labor day?
Couldn't agree more. We need them even more today, work has become soul-killing and essence destroying.
It's a reaction against the absurd glut of holy days and their associated public holidays in the Medieval and Early Modern periods. It would be impossible to keep a modern business functioning if the calender was as jam packed as it used to be.
Besides, now we have labor laws, weekends, paid time off, etc. which people didn't used to have. We're not as bad off as during the Industrial Revolution days when they had the worst of both worlds: fewer holidays than before but not yet having what we do today.
We've got it pretty good, historically speaking.
[Edited for spelling]
Growing in the Anglican Church, I have actually celebrated Michaelmas before, though we called it the Feast of St Michael. There was the usually food, merriment and blackberries, but we also set up a wooden board with a picture of the devil on it and threw fruit and hand axes at it. It was fun.
I love that so much 😂
Hand... axes? Zamn
There’s something wonderful about teaching kids to throw things at the devil. Love it!
I’ve seen a lot of medieval art that was like, the Virgin Mary hitting a demon with a chain or a saint clubbing a demon over the head. Wrestling and such as will always put fire in the hearts of people. Your feast of St. Michael sounds like a lot of fun. Very cool!
I like that!😊
I had heard that Charles Dickens almost singlehandedly revived Christmas celebrations by writing "A Christmas Carol". I guess Michaelmas didn't receive the same pop culture attention.
It was a very important Holiday back in the day. Many writers of the time included it in their novels
Many people didn’t even get the day off for Christmas it’s elevation as the principal holiday is a more modern and indeed A Christmas Carol was very important along with Queen Victoria for its popularity which was further promoted by the retail industry with the commercialisation of St Nicholas as Santa Claus and the present mania!
@@martiangentian
In England it wasn't 'Santa Clause' (an American 1850's importation) it was 'Father Christmas'.
Yes that was my point!
Fun fact: my town's patron saint is Michael, so around every Michaelmas all work stops and we take three days to celebrate with a street theatre competition: the four wards of the city each creates a play and the floats during the year, then they parade and tell a story based on historical events from the town or nearby places.
Also the school I went to (which weirdly enough wasn't related to my town) also celebrated Michaelmas with so-called "tests of courage" (small games/challenges for the kids to overcome) that were supposed to mimic Michael's story in a way...they were tons of fun!
Augsburg?
@@AVKnecht No. Carmignano, Italy.
That sounds so awesome, things Like that are what's missing in the US
God Bless her!
@@funnelingspace9268I agree fully.
I appreciate the way you approach Christian feast days. I have no idea if you’re a Christian yourself, but it’s refreshing hearing historical accounts of Church history that don’t feel anti-Christian. I also appreciate the recognization of the distinction between veneration and worship, some Protestants have a hard time understanding it. 🤣
Fabulous!
lmao, I was reading "Between Two Fires" last night (great horror book, btw), and the narration mentioned Michaelmas in passing. I made a mental note to investigate what was that, and lo and behold. Thanks man, really.
Wow lol
@@mihailmilev9909 so what day would you celebrate?
what type of horror?
@@greeneking77 religious horror, with the background of the black plague. I really recommend it for both horror fans and history buffs alike 👌
I liked it. But it drags on.
In Eritrea Arch Angel Micheal’s feast day is a major Holliday in which ever village and cities he is the patron saint of, same thing with the Virgin Mary who’s feast day is widely cerebrated. I think the reason why these feast days were treated as national holidays is because they the patron Saint of a lot of churches, cities and villages though anything regarding the Theotokos is always widely celebrated though the church. Another interesting fun fact is that in counties such as Greece someone’s patron saint’s feast day is celebrated in a similar manner of a birthday called their name day
He is a demon 😈
Fascinating, Always a joy to hear about the customs of out African brothers in the old Church. In the Serbian Orthodox church we do not celebrate our individual Name Days but the single biggest holiday- after the Resurrection of our Lord- is each family's Ancestral Baptism: the ancestral/mythic Name Day commemorating first witness of the Lord, the baptizing of the Serbian peoples. This is called the Slava (Glory) and is dedicated to the family's patron saint. Most families celebrate S Michael, S Nicolas, S John or Luke while a few have a more obscure Patron Saint. The customs are many and elaborate; feasting and devotions are intense: the family home becomes a temple.
The Name Day celebration is also held in Chile, probably from a Spanish tradition. I knew someone who was from Chile but came to the US as a child (with his parents, of course). He said they never went to Mass, but they celebrated his Name Day, which he shared with his father, and they also celebrated their individual Baptismal Day as a birthday every year. I tried to introduce the custom to my children, but they rejected it.
Gosh religion is confusing
@@FloopyNupers just order them to do as follows. Call your dead fake God's I am here now get yours now you lovers of convenience you abuse my people with faith God's who are no more judging other's knowing your non existent Fake God's won't be coming to correct you? Shut your evil mouths! Call your dead God's now? Jesus'was the Antichrist Son of Athena not Mary but in her name Mary Queen of Rome Reincarnating Amun Ra and took over by Enlil the Rapist and Anu the Annunaki Criminals who used Larva and Funguses to control our People brought by His Cloned Double Thanos AKA also Birthed by Athena Using the DNA of Enlil to self impregnate then thrown out the window? AKA Anubis rased by Isis from the Hive Collective attacking our Bodies Worm's Viruses Funguses controlling our minds.
Lol, my family went ALL OUT for Michaelmas every year when I was a kid. We had a feast--always the same dishes: whole roasted pumpkin filled with ham, cheese, and cream; scones with blackberry jam (because when Michael threw Satan out of heaven he lit in a blackberry bush;) "archangels on horseback" (scallops wrapped in bacon;) deviled eggs (because, you know, the devil;) and a giant pastry dragon filled with dried fruit and spices. Us girls made the dragon, and sometimes we got really creative--once we actually made it breathe fire. There was always a performance of St. George and the Dragon by the kids, usually humorous. It was a big deal☺
I demand this day to become an international holiday. Just for the name.
Hmmmm-wonder why? 🧐
Hey Michael. I demand this day to become an international multi-ethical multi-religious day as well.
I demand the return of paganism, Roman style
@@BankruptPizza wasn't it? I am kindof in a way named after the Bulgarian/Russian/Slavic name of saint Michael which is Mihail. And in Bulgaria we have "name days" in which we celebrate everyone who shares a certain name usually of some saint, like Michael day, Geaorge day, Yordan day, ect, except all of the Bulgarian/Slavic versions of the names.
@@mihailmilev9909 Interesting fact. Thanks
18:25 Martinmas is actually still celebrated in the Netherlands, but it's been slowly disappearing in favour of Hallowe'en. In my province Martinmas is widely celebrated but I was surprised to learn that around 20 or so years ago it largely disappeared from the Holland region.
You are confusing Michaelmas (29 September) with St. Martin's Day (11 November).
Michaelmas is only celebrated in Waldorf Schools (Vrije Scholen) and by antroposofists. It never was a big thing in The Netherlands.
St. Martin's Day is still very much alive, people are actively protesting the Halloween epidemic.
@@hannekehartkoorn5987 Good for people who protest Halloween. It was almost totally invented by Hollyweird.
@@hannekehartkoorn5987 really!? as a Dutch Waldorf kid (south Holland) i always assumed it was common in the south haha
How do you celebrate Martinmas?
@@richarddavis8863 In Denmark, with roast goose. That's pretty much it. Very few people even know about it any more, but then Denmark has been overwhelmingly Protestant since the Reformation, and saints are generally frowned upon.
Michaelmas is still celebrated in Latvia. It is called Miķeļi and there are big fairs in the cities marketplaces with harvest fills tables and fertility rituals still practiced, especially in the countryside.
In Bavaria we call that day Michaeli. We don't do something special on that day though. Instead Martini (Saint Martin's Day) traditionally is celebrated with children carrying lanterns and singing and families might have a goose for dinner.
We also celebrate Nikolaus (Saint Nicholas Day). Saint Nicholas, dressed as a bishop with a golden book shows up in children's homes together with his servant, who's dressed with fur and has a dark face and is supposed to be some spirit from the woods and who carries a big bag with sweets and fruit. The Saint reads in his golden book about the behaviour of the children throughout the year and good children get something from the bag. Bad children will be stuffed into the bag and taken away from their family. Of course all children are good and nobody gets carried away. The children are supposed to either sing for the Saint or to say a poem for him. After that the family sits together and has biscuits, nuts, fruit and lights candles, singing together songs about Saint Nicholas.
Thank you. I am rereading Jane Austen's Persuasion. In which a spendthrift baronet rents out his estate and decamps to Bath. Where it is cheaper to live an idle and ostentatious life
The tenant took posession on Michaelmas
The novel begins in an autumnal mood as our heroine regrets a lost love as spinsterhood looms. At age 27!
@k maher: Just yesterday I read its mention in Pride & Prejudice.
That is because Michaelmas was also a "Quarter Day," one of the four days in the year in England, Wales and Ireland that rents were due and servants were paid. People started new jobs and tenancies on Michaelmas, as well as on Christmas or more usually the next day, Boxing Day, December 26; Lady Day, March 25; and Midsummer's Day, June 24. Even in "Persuasion," though Anne was aware of it, the rest of the household weren't doing anything particularly special to celebrate the day. Mary just happens to be writing the date and takes notice of it in the evening. Also, can you imagine having to move or change jobs right at Christmas time? What a bother!
I also knew Michelmas from Austen, but never made that autumnal connection to Persuasion!!! Very clever!
In Norway it’s often reffered as St. Mikkels day. It marks the end of the harvest season and the start of the hunting season. Also from 1999 it has been added (again) as a holyday, but is selebrated on the sunday that falls nearest to 29. of september.
I love that "Eat a goose on Michaelmas" saying. It's basically "If you're rich enough to eat a goose, then you're rich enough". You can't argue with that logic.
the rich have nuffa while the poor dem suffah
It's still an expensive dish!
That is so sweet. In Bulgaria we have this, and it used to have its own traditions similar to Allhallowstide, but since Socialism many of the holidays are barely remembered today --- and the ones which are, are mainly celebrated as Names days. It's sad that many of these holidays and other Christian customs are being forgotten, and I hope we can revive them.
Up until their passing, my Swedish and German Great-grandmothers would have a special dinner/party with a roasted goose, and blackberry cobbler as the main dishes. With songs and music I did not understand because they were in the native languages.I remember there was a lot of special table settings and decorations, as well as a special punch all in celebration of St Michael. My English and Irish great grand mothers made sure all the blackberry preserves were used up before September 29. If they were not, they were served to the pigs. I had no understanding of why. Thank you so much for making all the reasons clear.
I am kindof in a way named after the Bulgarian/Russian/Slavic name of saint Michael which is Mihail. And in Bulgaria we have "name days" in which we celebrate everyone who shares a certain name usually of some saint, like Michael day, Geaorge day, Yordan day, ect, except all of the Bulgarian/Slavic versions of the names.
In Germany this also used to be a practice. Nowadays people rather celebrate the birthday instead of the name day
I understand, I am a Traditional Catholic and we usually call that a "feast day" kind of like the feast day of the saint itself.
We have a similar custom in Mexico
Funny how eating lots of food is something all cultures do to celebrate
Sweeden also has namesdays, and birthday.
If Hallmark finds out about this before September 29th of this year, there’ll be a rerelease of the 2022 calendar with bonus “Michaelmas” DLC added.
Oh wow! Several years ago I was in Baden Baden, Germany, and staying at a guesthouse there. After the day of looking around (touristy stuff) I came back and they were roasting goose in these big outdoor woodfired ovens. And when i asked it was explained that it was the first day of tradition of eating roast goose, and people came from all around to have goose at this place. I would have been late September. I must have been Michaelmas. It was great, I had a blast that night. Thanks for giving me a perspective on what was actually going on.
Very enjoyable. One can imagine that many traditions and holidays were very local,particular to certain villages originally.
Here, in Brittany,France,St Michael is widely represented in many chapels and religious monuments,not just the famous Mont-St-Michel near Normandy🇬🇧🇲🇫
In Bologna Italy, though Michaelmas is no longer celebrated, the expression 'fare San Michele' or 'do a St Michael', means to move house. As in, "Hey, I'm doing a St Michael this weekend. Can I borrow your pick up truck?" This is because agricultural workers' leases came to an end on this day, and they would leave their houses and acreages if they did not renew them.
This is super awesome! In my parents' hometown in Mexico, they celebrate a festival known as "La Fiesta de San Miguel Arcángel" aka "The Party of Saint Michael the Archangel". It's also celebrated in late September! It's super interesting knowing there is a historical connection.
*Feast
Though, you can call it a 'desfile.'
What did you think? Mexicans made up catholic saints? Are you kidding?
@@joltjolt5060 What are you trying to say?
@@joltjolt5060 that’s not at all what he said. Brush up on reading comprehension skills before being a jerk ok?
He was saying that there was a historical connection to what they celebrated, meaning he learned where it originated….
Cool. But also, not cool because of colonization.
Very enlightening. In many US Catholic parishes a prayer composed by Pope Leo XIII to St Michael and formerly said after every Mass from 1886 to 1964, has been revived, not by official decree, but from request from the laity.
Oh the leonine prayers were revived there? Quite happy to hear it, although too little too late
I am part of that laity. I also say the St. Michael chaplet regularly. God bless you!
True at my parish 🙂
I clicked on this because Michaelmas is mentioned in passing in Jane Austin stories, and I always wondered about it. (There are still many Austin readers, for those unaware.) Also the description here of Christmas waning for a couple of hundred years fits perfectly with what I always thought was Jane Austin's very minimal and lackluster references to the holiday. I feel so fortunate we have made our holidays so fun for everyone.
In Britain, some Universities and School have Michaelmas (Autumn), Hilary (Spring), and Trinity (Summer), terms.
And Cambridge as well, with Michaelmas, Lent and Easter terms.
Was just going to say this which begs the question what’s hilary?
@@great-garden-watch the feast of St. Hilary (who was a very famous bishop and saint of the fourth century), his feast is on January 13th and so the term begins the Sunday closest to the feast.
@@great-garden-watchan academic term at Oxford and Trinity College Dublin
@@renfw yes thanks but I never knew the meaning/origin
Love the idea. These old holidays are rich with joy and family/ neighborly pause in dull workaholic lives. St. Michael should be honored.o
At Cambridge University, fall school term is called Michaelmas. Harkens back to its foundation as a religious based education. Maybe Michaelmas was also a time around final harvest and end of social season so may as well hit the studies. Just saying that lots of parts of society, education and agriculture revolved around this holiday which really started a season of sorts. Thanks for bringing this up.
Wow. Cambridge is 100% atheist now, been Communist outright since the 1960's. God died a long time ago in Europe.
Not just Cambridge, many other 'ancient' universities across Europe also still refer to Michaelmas term/semester. Now just need to find out what Candlemas is all about
In fact all three Cambridge terms are named for religious dates - Michaelmas, Lent, and Easter. My college chapel also did a special service for Candlemas, believe it or not.
At Oxford it’s a bit weirder - the terms there are named Michaelmas, Hilary, and Trinity.
@@TedMackey The Oxford ones are all religious dates too... Hilary is for the feast of St Hilary of Poitiers (14th January) and Trinity is for Trinity Sunday (the first Sunday after Pentecost).
@@Cybonator My mom was born on Candlemas, but she wrinkles her nose at the religious holiday and prefers to be called a "Groundhog's Day Baby," for the silly secular US observance that's held on Candlemas. It's February 2, which is 40 days after Christmas (or close enough). It comes from the Gospel of Luke 2:22-40, and was traditionally celebrated to observe the Presentation of the Holy Infant at the Temple in Jerusalem. It's also called the Feast of the Purification of Mary, because in Jewish Law, a woman who gave birth had to present herself to the Temple bringing a purification sacrifice (in Mary's case it was 2 turtledoves). I think the purification may have been a ritual that followed the usual term of the outflow of blood after giving birth. I don't think it had anything to do with having had sexual relations, since pregnant women were allowed in the Temple, at least in the Women's Court, but women were never permitted to go beyond that area. The Apostolic Churches say that Mary was not guilty of sin, and therefore didn't need to be purified even ritually, but that she was obedient under the Law, and therefore presented herself as required by the Law. (It might have even been a sin of pride to refuse to obey the Law if she knew the state of her own soul was sinless, but that's for the theologians to debate). In the observance of the custom of the Law, the mother would present herself with her sacrificial offering, and then she would present her infant to God through the mediation of the Religious Authorities. Christians believe that Jesus is God the Son, and so, theologically, see the event as God the Son being presented to God the Father through the Virgin Mary, his human Mother. It was on the celebration of this Feast Day that the candles to be used in the Masses of the next year were blessed, and it marks the end of the Christmas Season in the Liturgical Calendar.
Incidentally, the Christmas Season is broken up into segments that mark the end of each part of Christmas: The Octave (8 days) culminates in the Feast of the Circumcision of the Holy Infant. Circumcision is seen as a purification from original sin, or the sin of Adam, the punishment of which (loss of Eden, etc.) is applied by inheritance to all mankind. Jesus was perfectly sunless and didn't need to be circumcized, but submitted to the Law in perfect obedience so as to atone for the sins of all mankind, the first shedding of his holy blood, in anticipation of his death at Calvary. The next segment is the Twelve Days of Christmas, and includes the Octave (so it's not a completely separate segment). The Twelfth Day marks the Feast of the Epiphany, when the pagan nations first worshiped the Christ, God the Son of God. And the final segment is the 40th Day, marking the Feast of the Purification of Mary and the Presentation of Jesus at the Temple.
Imagine if Michaelmas, Halloween, and Christmas decorations were all out at once. And having a michaelmas break
MIchaelmas is also mentioned in Jane Austen's novels, as a time when people move into a new home that they rented. My son went to an English Catholic school (in the US). Every year, they have a Michaelmas race, a fun run around the grounds followed by a back-to-school picnic.
This has been my favorite holiday since I was a child! We had games and cider and an outdoor play about St. George and the dragon, ate bread in the shape of a dragon, etc. It’s the best!
Michaelmas has always been one of my favourite festivals, ever since my childhood when I had a fascination for Michaelmas daisies and try to buy a plant to put in my living room. I also celebrate Michaelmas by going to the Nottingham Goose Fair (I live in Nottingham).
In Finland this is still minor church holiday. It is often called the day angels and children, but we also know it as the day of the Arch Angel Michael. It is one of the two chuch holidays in the autumn together with All Saints.
It was even more important earlier and has been connected to autumn celebrations. The time between Michelmass and All Saints (aka All Hallows aka Hallowmass) is very important in traditional Finnish calendar. It was perioid of Kekri/Köyri and harvest, and the end of the year in traditional calender. There are a lot of similarities with Samhain (like deceased/ghost and other spirits), but they are propably coincidence. The time point was not fixed and the it varied from place to place. In some places it was closer to Michelmass and in other places connected to All Saints. Everywhere it was during this perioid.
I think also there are different harvest times for different crops, yes?
@emppulina, thank you for this wonderful information!
Michaelmas and Lady Day, rpughly around the Autumnal and Vernal Equinoxes were both important holidays in the British Isles and colonies, not just religiously, but they were dates of economic importance, for hiring labor, etc.
Let's bring it back!
It's such a cozy, anticipatory time of the year!!
And perfectly spaced with Halloween!
Let's all start celebrating it, as if it is an actual spirited holiday, and others will follow along over time and join in!
First, we need to invent which activities are associated with our new version of Michaelmas!
Comment below to give your ideas!
Gotta do the roast goose or duck of course. Blackberry desserts. Someone mentioned that they set up a plank with the image of the Devil and throw cornhole bags, rocks, and axes at it so that would be fun. Prayers and songs to St. Michael to be sung with gusto, and drinks all around!
Canada effectively has Michaelmas, we just do it a week late, our thanksgiving weekend is defined by a holiday Monday, the second Monday in October ...
Here's a silly idea: Michael is depicted as a warrior, so martial arts tournaments or something similar could be held on that day.
Bake Michaelmas bannocks, roast geese, and make raspberry treats. Gather entire neighborhoods and have a big feast.
I discovered Michaelmas back in 2018 during my spiritual awakening, and haven't forgotten since. It's tomorrow, and I plan to celebrate it by giving flowers and prayers to St.Michael.
In Australia, Michaelmas has been replaced by a public holiday on the first Monday in October (Labor Day or Queen’s - now King’s - Birthday, depending on the state). It is also the time of the football grand finals (Australian football and rugby league). Rather than occurring at harvest time (which is Easter, in the southern hemisphere), it is mid-spring, and marks the beginning of the warmer months.
I love the class warfare being waged in the very name of that holiday lol
@@chompythebeast Not so much. All the states have Labour Day and Queen’s/King’s Birthday public holidays, but some states celebrate it on different days. In Queensland, Labour Day is held in the traditional month of May (the Northern Hemisphere spring), but the southern states celebrate it in the Southern Hemisphere spring - in October. In the southern states, the Queen’s/King’s Birthday holiday is in June, while Queensland holds it in October (the same day as the southern states’ Labour Day), presumably because it’s too close to the May holiday, which the southern states don’t have.
In Victoria the Friday before the AFL grand final is a public holiday - 29th of September 2023… (but can be as early as the 23rd of September).
The other similar multicultural Victorian religious holiday is the first Tuesday in November.
I’d like to see modern Michaelmas.
Most pagan people celebrate Candlemas on February 2nd, a very similar holiday.
Neo Vikings would have fun
In England & Wales, Michaelmas is still one of the four terms which define the legal year since as far back as the Middle Ages; the other terms being Hiliary, Easter, and Trinity.
These terms are also used to divide up the academic year at some British schools and universities together with Lent and Candlemas terms in a minor few.
Same in Ireland, judiciary and academics are notoriously traditional.
I celebrate Michaelmas every year . Michaelmas was mentioned 12 times in Jane Austen novels.
I'm getting my feast ready for it this year as well although minus the goose as it is very expensive. We will substitute it for a roasted chicken
Yes we eat a large meal this day and it is a very important holiday in my family.
Thank you for making this video! The Catholic calendar used to have a “small Lent” 40 days leading up to Michaelmas. It was less penitential than the real Lent. And Michaelmas was celebrated as an octave (8 days) on the liturgical calendar.
Traditional Catholics need to reclaim this holiday!
It still does, Archangel Michael's Lent is currently going on btw
@@pedrolmlkzk Maybe it's different in other parts of the world, but I'm a US cradle Catholic and I never heard about St Michael's Lent until a few days ago. It's not on the new liturgical calendar, neither is the octave. The Church discarded so many lovely practices when they "upgraded" the calendar.
@@tobaccodave it's a personal tradition of Saint Francis of Assissi
*I agree!*
FACT: Actress Fátima Ptacek was born in August 20th, 2000.
In the Brazilian pampas some people still remember as called “Tempo de São Miguel” (time or season of saint michael) as a period from some time in august till September as for us is the end of the winter, when winds coming from up in Brazil fights the cold Patagonian winds. It’s a season full of storms and rain -and also bad luck in some sense.
Michaelmas is also mentioned in Jane Austin's 'Pride and Prejudice' and I looked it up then - thanks for the research on this holiday.
A very interesting text and the most beautiful pictures. Thank you very much! Eager to listen about other festivities.
Thanks for posting this! I live in Lewistown Pennsylvania, and knew a bit of the history behind the holiday, but nothing this comprehensive. We call Michaelmas Goose Day here, and the idea has become part of the town's identity; so much so that we have numerous painted ceramic geese statues peppered around the town.
My boy Michael needs proper recognition for going Doomslayer on Lucifer and his demons
Fancy seeing you here my lord. How did you come back to life?
Coming back to this video because St. Michael’s Lent starts tomorrow, the 15th. I’ll be having a proper Michaelmas celebration this year, thanks to learning about it from this channel. Many thanks, and keep up the good work of spreading our traditions.
I would love to see your ideas for celebration. Sounds like an awesome holiday.
Thank you for posting this video. VERY well balanced. A breath of fresh air from a lot of the more politically overheated content these days. I look forward to seeing more videos from you : )
Look up a Waldorf school in your area. They celebrate Michaelmas in conjunction with a harvest fest. Oftentimes there is the recreation of taming the dragon and flying kites. This is followed shortly after by martinmass which includes a lantern walk.
One person in the comments threw axes and ate blackberries. I could get into that.
In my house we roast chicken and have carrots potatoes stuffing and for dessert blackberries and cake. Very simple but nice meal. We pray the long version of the St Michael prayer and we light St Michael candles. It makes for a nice evening and no throwing vegetables or fruit at each other.
Thanks for sharing this interesting information. Happy Michaelmas to everyone. ❤️🍁🍃🍂
Happy Michaelmass! I am partly named after saint Michael
I knew Mikemas was was real. This is why I celebrate it every birthday.
I just want to say I would love for you to do a video of how you'd celebrate a modern Michaelmas. Cook a goose and make some blackberry dishes? Maybe try your hand at weaving a few corn dollies? For decorations you could have a small statuette of Archangel Gabriel on a blue and white cloth and toss some of those purple daisies about. Heck I might do this too, I love holidays. Hope to see the video!
We celebrate this at my perish. We usually cook turkey and have medieval themes and sword fighting, arm wrestling etc after mass.
@@tommygunjonney that sounds like a ton of fun!
Yeah, it's a long time between Labor Day and Thanksgiving, and that would make a good filler.
Thank you! So good. I’ve been learning to celebrate Michaelmas for about 15 years with very little to go on, but what stood out was mentions in “Pride & Prejudice” and focus of this holiday on the show “Colonial House”. As a result goose is the only whole bird I have ever roasted. (In recent years, since 2020, we ended up getting duck from a local restaurant for simplicity and also being waterfowl.) Goose is difficult to track down where we are in any case.
Good on the comparison with Michaelmas and Thanksgiving. That was what I was seeing, too. Looking at the story of St. Michael I came up with the idea that, rather than listing what we are thankful for, we could go over the previous year and discuss our accomplishments. This includes demons conquered or dragons we’ve made friends with, which may be an inner-struggle dealt with in the same way one makes the proverbial lemons into the proverbial lemonade. More complicated than a gratitude list and very insightful too!
This was so nice to watch with my fellow. We giggled at the part where the blackberries aren’t worth picking anyway, that Publick Notice against Christmas (wild!) and the short list of odd connections of whys to Santa Claus becoming Odin, etc. I came up with some simple stuff for Christmas traditions: “Well, it’s dark, let’s celebrate with lights.” And “Gosh, it’s cold! We should all huddle closer and celebrate warmth and friendship!” ^_^
I am old (73), that is why I remember my Danish immigrant father and 1st gen Swedish mother always had roast goose for Michaelmas dinner, or there about. Actually, closest weekend, because we had a lot of friends over. Motly crew, our Southern neighbors brought the best cornbread and Finnish couple came with red cabbage, Germans - speitzel. Always amused me that - geese render so much grease and in Florida were hard to find, all the wives went home with small bowls of goose fat that had been chilled in fridge while we feasted ! They used it for cooking "special" dishes.
I had heard of Michaelmas on the strength of reading everything which passes my eyes. I appreciate this interesting run down on the holiday. I need to share the video with my best friend who is a convert to Catholicism. He calls me his non Catholic friend who knows more about it than he does.
Hey, this is great! September sucks as it is. It's just a time where summer is over, school is back in, 9/11 is remembered, and you kick rocks while you wait for Halloween. We could really use a day to look forward to this month, so I say this is the year we #BringBackMichaelmas!
Who's with me?
Defitnetly me.
I am with you! :) Sign me up!
I'm with you!! 👍👍👍
Thank you for posting this. We never eat blackberries after Michaelmas for the reasons stated, though we say that Old Nick pissed on them in his anger ! This leaves plenty for wildlife before the frosts come. We bring in a bunch of Michaelmas daisies too.
Just yesterday, while reading Jane Austen, I noticed a mention of Michaelmas as time point reference, and I explained to a friend of mine what it was about. Thank you for the very infromative and visually rich clip, and please do share your ideas as to celebration.
Wonderful! Just wonderful.
I agree
Fantastic! This helped me understand the reference in a Jane Austin novel I've recently listened to
Bartolome Bermejo's painting "Saint Michael Triumphs Over the Devil" is so magnificent. I get chills just thinking about his red cape
I have a recipe book called "A Thyme and Place: Medieval Feasts and Recipes for the Modern Table". It organizes the recipes according to the medieval calendar, and for Michaelmas it gives recipes for roast goose, fritters, and scones with blackberry butter. If you can find the book maybe it would be helpful for your modern celebration.
And how do you prepare blackberry butter? Sounds intriguing
@@carpathiangirl8460 I'm copying this out of the book:
Ingredients:
1 pound softened unsalted butter
6 ounces blackberries
1/2 cup honey
1/2 tsp cinnamon
1/4 tsp salt
Directions:
In a standing mixer, beat the butter until it is light. Add the remaining ingredients and mix the blackberries slightly. You want the butter to change to a beautiful light purple, but you want to prevent the blackberries from being completely mashed. The butter mixture fits into three jam jars.
Hope you like it. Happy cooking!
I'd love to hear how you plan to celebrate your modern Michaelmas!
I would like to see your ideas about celebrating a modern Michaelmas. Thank you.
FABULOUS visuals…the best!
I would love to see how you'd do a modernized Michaelmas.
As far as I can see noone has mentioned this by now, so I just wanted to add that in Waldorf education Michaelmas is celebrated. I'm friends with some waldorf families and we celebrated it with our little kids with baking dragon bread, reading and telling dragon and/or knight stories, and making a harvest soup. I know some kindergartens also dye playsilks with goldenrod (I think?) so the kids have their Michael Coat and stuff like that
My daughter attended Waldorf school from kindergarten through high school. I also remember making dragon bread. We sang a song asking St. Michael to give us courage and strength to slay our own dragons since the story of St. George and the Dragon was also connected to this holiday.
Around 14:00 or so was an amazing point in what I think is historiography? That’s at least the phrase I understand to refer to the study of how modern interpretation effects the lens we view history. Either way like you said foundational to the understanding of history and why you’ve been my favorite history content creator for years and years now. Keep up the fantastic work!
I'd love to hear about your Michaelmas celebrations! Keep us posted!
Yes I would love to hear your ideas on how to celebrate Michaelmas! I came across this term whilst researching my ancestry. I asked my English mum what it was and she was familiar with the holiday but not more. Thank you for this video it was very enjoyable to watch.
Yes, I would like to see a video on how you celebrated Michaelmas. I am thinking of celebrating it this year, as I have a devotion to Michael, Raphael, and Gabriel and can add Uriel, as well. Not sure about making bannocks. Did you celebrate on Sep 29 or on Oct 11?
Second Michael to post! (2 minutes after the video is released).
What I really like about fall and winter holidays is the coziness and the excuse to cook up and share good food, get a little tipsy, watch holiday films, and listen to or play good music. Halloween and Thanksgiving, I suppose, have taken over Michaelmas nicely, with their harvest themes and colors.
Excellent video and Information. Happy Michaelmas 😊
Here in spain is still one of the biggest holidays
I've come across references in (American) colonial writing, typically in a context like the Shakespeare quote where it was used to confer to the reader a time or time period that they would be familiar with much the way we might say "let's see where we are with [project] once school is started again, maybe around Labor Day or so", though obviously substituting the appropriate terms/language for their need in the 17th century.
I had to look it up the first time I came across it, had no idea what it was. I am fascinated that we kept "Monday, Wash Day" all this time, but not a whole damn holiday.
Found this video today
Turns out today is Michaelmas
Merry Michaelmas!
The bizarre W.C. Fields short "The Fatal Glass of Beer", set in the frozen north, has him declaring of his prodigal son, "He'll be gone a year now this Michaelmas!"
I wonder if the joke was well understood or if it came across as a non-sequiter.
Happy Michaelmas!
Wrong: Archangels are second lowest rank. Saint Michael is merely the most honor and revered for calling out Lucifer's treason.
Yes, I would love to hear about your version of Michaelmas. Thank you for this video as I was wondering why this day lost popularity. Looking forward to your next video..
We SORTA celebrate this (the November one) in Romania, not as a big feast day (not that we treat Christmas as a feast either, we just do the tree and the gift giving), but it's a big "name day", where people named Michael, Gabriel, or any variation (including female variations) are celebrated.
Since my elderly roommate passed away in 2017 (April) and especially after my mom died later that year, 4 months to the exact date in 2017 (August), I haven't celebrated Thanksgiving, Christmas or New Years. I haven't really even celebrated my birthday either. All of these days are "just another day" in how I treat them. This has been especially true for this past year (coming up on 1 year since developing symptoms of adrenal insufficiency and almost 9 months since diagnosis of Adrenal Insufficiency). I have to pretty much treat every day as the same in order to not need to use stress doses of my steroids. This is because whether the stress is "happy" or "bad", I can end up with the same symptoms- abdominal pain, nausea, extreme fatigue and low blood pressure (I run "high" so my low blood pressure reads as normal numbers for those who have "normal" blood pressure- yes, I have dysautonomia so stress whether good or bad, stress of any sort is particularly bad for me).
I understand your feelings very well. It's hard to be happy when friends and one's mother are gone. There's no getting over it. I have a nasty autoimmune disease and have to eat the same stuff all the time, too. I used to be a social person, too, so people begrudge my withdrawal from them. We all need to try and understand each other's sadness. Blessings to you.
The devil and the blackberry bush belief WAS created due to the fact that berries actually normally don’t taste good after sept :) it’s a superstition but it was created because of an actual phaenomenon, not created and then the berries being less sweet after sept anyway 🌞 I hope I could transmit what I was trying to say, English is not my best language 👍 congratulations for your videos, you’re great
FIRST language omg 🙄
In Canada, we celebrate Thanksgiving on the second Monday of October, which according this video is pretty close to the current date for Michaelmas of October 11th. No sure it we selected this date for Thanksgiving as a way to incorporate this previous holiday or not. Interesting video !
My fall break for college starts on the 29th, I will hereby be referring to it as Michaelmas break
Wait... Michaelmas... Wasn't the same thing as Christmas?!?.. I have most definitely been reading some historical fiction all wrong... Oops.
Nope. Michaelmas is celebrated in Waldorf Schools all around the World. We celebrate it with a Festival and sing songs in english and spanish.
Anyone thinking of celebrating Michaelmas this year? I definitely will. Tag along if you wish
Love this one. Great job!
That was a most interesting account of the forgotten holiday. Definitely subscribed for more.
Thank you for the video! I've been hoping to celebrate it this year too. What are your intentions for celebrating it?
Maybe Michaelmas was forgotten because it's not as easy to turn into a lay, consumerist celebration. For example Thanksgiving has survived but it lost its meaning of thanking God to something about sales and turkeys, Easter is about bunnies laying chocolate eggs while Christmas is about Santa and evergreens.
I imagine they'd be selling angel plushies. Go pitch it to the local capitalist and see how quickly they find ways to make money out of it, like how they practically invented Mother's Day.
@Bla Bla: It would be hard to maintain a spending spree for 2 holidays of similar meaning in close sequence: both Michaelmas and Thanksgiving are mostly about harvest. In Canada, BTW Thanksgiving is the second weekend of October.
"Due by Michaelmas" sounds a lot like "before the next fiscal year."
Excellent work!
While March 25 was regarded as the beginning of the new year in England when the Julian calendar was in use, some seemed to give recognition to January 1 as well. 17th century diarist Samuel Pepys kept his annual diaries from Jan.1 to Jan. 1, referring to that date as new years day. Dates between Jan. 1 and Mar. 25 were often written acknowledging both dating systems: for example, Feb.22, 1732 by the Gregorian calendar was written as Feb. 11, 1731/2 in the Julian calendar.
I would like a video about the months' being out of phase by two months eg. September means seventh month, October 8th month.
@@felicetanka Simply put, there were originally only ten months in the Roman calendar; two more were added at the start of the year to make the day count right during the Kingdom period. However, although the calendar year started beginning in January either at that point or in the early Republic, the consular year (used for most administrative processes) still started in March. The Roman Senate changed the consular year in 153BC so that it lined up with the calendar year, but they didn't change the names of the months. Until they were renamed for Julius Caesar and Augustus Caesar, July and August were Quintilis and Sextilis respectively.
I'm pagan, we celebrate Candlemas on February 2nd. It's a very similar celebration.
Yah, there was a period of at least a couple centuries back then, when March 25 was still "Legal New Year" in England and Wales* but January 1 had already made a resurgence as the commonly observed and celebrated New Year.
And even after Britain switched to the Gregorian calendar in 1752, things like quarter day payments and some fairs and festivals were shifted 11 days from their old dates, to compensate for the 11 days dropped from the calendar. Even today, the UK tax year still counts from April 5 (instead of Dec 31/Jan 1) -- 11 days after March 25 -- for many taxes.
* Scotland had already switched its legal New Year to Jan 1 in 1600.
@@AaronOfMpls Nearly. Tax year starts from April 6th. The reason the difference is 12 days now when it was originally 11 days is that 1800 was not a leap year under the Gregorian calendar (not divisible by 400) but was treated as a leap year for tax purposes, so the date moved by one day. By 1900 they had realised that was stupid, so they didn't do it again and the tax year continues to start on April 6th.
This must be why the name of the first term at Oxford university is ‘Michealmas term’. Presumably this was a use of Michealmas as a date for the beginning of the educational year, very interesting!
Thank you so much for this excellent video. I love St Michael and I love your content. Please do more like this.
Very interesting, I so enjoyed this video! Happy Michaelmass!
When I started studying at university in England, Autumn term was still known as Michaelmas. Not being a native English speaker, I always thought that it meant the time between saint MICHAEL's feast and ChristMAS! 🤯 Thank you for clearing that up for us!
I grew up catholic and we celebrated this every year. Me and my dad, being named Michael, loved this. It felt like OUR holiday.
And to this day, I love to eat goose. It's so hard to find though
I didn't know about this holiday but Saint Michael is the patron saint of Valsequillo, a town on the island of Gran Canaria. The tradition says that on Saint Michael's Eve, Satan walks free among us until Saint Michael locks him up again the next day. So on that night, we celebrate "La suelta del perro maldito", which I can roughly translate as "The Liberation of the Evil Dog". At midnight, the lights of the town are turned off and there is a theater thingy thing and a parade where Satan and his minions do mischevious things to the people assisting to the parade. There are dancers, acrobats, and other artists... All dressed as witches, devils, and so on.
In the Canary Islands, Satan is associated with a dog because the aboriginal inhabitants of the islands believed in an evil god and/or evil spirits (depending on the island) that took the shape of giant black dogs with fire red eyes. They were called Guayota, Iruene, or Tibicenas, depending of the island. You can find videos about it on CZcams by searching "Suelta del perro maldito" or "San Miguel Valsequillo" 😊✌️
Edit: English.
This was so interesting, thankyou!