The Church offers us two main periods of renewal in Advent and Lent when we’re called to deeper prayer and penance in preparation for the greatest feasts of the year. St. Francis of Assisi also practiced St. Michael’s Lent leading up to the feast of one of his main patron saints, St. Michael the Archangel.
St. Francis of Assisi didn’t want his efforts to live out the Gospel to wane in between these seasons and so he established other periods of more intense prayer and fasting. We may find that we also need times of renewal throughout the year. The end of summer season offers the perfect time to refocus and grow in vigilance.
Exodus 90 has embraced an annual tradition of following St. Francis in praying up to St. Michael’s feast day. Our St. Michael’s Lent Challenge begins on August 12th and runs through Michaelmas Day on September 29th. We will be led by Fr. Columba Jordan, CFR, a Franciscan Friar of the Renewal in daily meditations on the Book of Daniel, one of the few books of the Bible featuring St. Michael. We’ll embrace disciplines of daily prayer, weekly fraternity, and pulling back from social media and the news.
St. Francis was known for his practice of making night vigils, contemplating Our Lord’s Passion in the night. During St. Michael’s Lent, we’ll follow his example in this as well, rising at 2am Friday mornings to pray in vigil for one hour, following a guided holy hour that enters into the life and devotion of St. Francis.
St. Francis of Assisi made an enormous impact on the life of the Church because he gathered men from around Europe to follow him in living the life of the Gospel. When men gather in common purpose, guided by the grace of God, lives are changed and the Church is renewed. St. Michael’s Lent offers Catholic men the opportunity to unite in fraternity to fight together the spiritual battles we face in our culture and families.
St. Francis understood the constant presence of the angels around us and sought to imitate their undivided focus on the Lord. St. Michael the Archangel is an important patron for men in the battle against evil. We can imitate him in his stand of fidelity to God, which conquered the enemy by entering into St. Michael’s Lent this year.
Join Fr. Columba Jordan, CFR, and the Exodus 90 Brotherhood for the St. Michael’s Lent Challenge starting August 12th. Download the Exodus 90 app today.
