St Michael's Lent
St. Michael's Lent is a lesser-known fast kept by Franciscans each year from the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) to Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (September 29). St. Francis of Assisi began the practice, retreating to Mount La Verna to prepare for Michaelmas with prayer and fasting; it was there, near the end of this fast, that he is said to have received the stigmata.
Unlike the more familiar Lent before Easter, St. Michael's Lent falls in late summer and early autumn, and it carries its own themes — spiritual warfare, humility, and drawing closer to God through voluntary hardship rather than through obligation. This page gathers original prayers for keeping St. Michael's Lent, the Scripture behind its themes, and answers to common questions about the practice.
A Prayer to Begin St. Michael's Lent
Lord, as St. Francis withdrew to the mountain to fast and pray, let me withdraw from my own noise and distraction for these forty days. I don't have his holiness, but I have his same invitation — to meet You in a quieter, harder place than my ordinary life. Amen.
A Prayer for Strength During the Fast
God, this fast is unfamiliar and my body resists it. Give me the discipline Francis had, not for its own sake, but so that fasting clears space for You to speak. Where I am tempted to quit early, remind me why I began. Amen.
A Prayer Invoking St. Michael's Protection
St. Michael the Archangel, as Francis kept this fast in your honor, I ask your intercession now — defend me against discouragement, distraction, and every voice that would talk me out of drawing nearer to God this season. Amen.
A Prayer of Humility on Mount La Verna
Lord, Francis climbed a mountain to become smaller, not greater, in Your presence — and it was there he was marked most deeply by Your love. Teach me that same trade: let my forty days shrink my pride and enlarge my trust. Amen.
A Longer Prayer for the Whole Forty Days
Lord, from the Feast of the Assumption to Michaelmas, the Church remembers a man who chose hunger and solitude on a mountain rather than comfort in the valley — and who was changed there in ways no comfortable season could have produced. I begin these forty days aware that I would rather skip the mountain and keep the comfort, and I ask You to work against that instinct in me. Give me enough hunger, in whatever form this fast takes, to notice how much I lean on things that are not You. Give me enough solitude to hear what the noise of my ordinary days usually drowns out. St. Francis asked for two graces on that mountain — to feel Your suffering as your own, and to feel Your love for the world as his own — and I ask for a smaller version of the same: let me feel, even briefly, what You feel toward the people and struggles in my own life. Michael the Archangel, who defends what is weak against what is strong, stand with me when my will to keep this fast grows weak. And Lord, whatever mark this season leaves on me, let it be a mark of nearness to You, however small, and not just a fast survived and forgotten. Amen.
Scripture to pray
But he would withdraw to desolate places and pray.— Luke 5:16 (ESV)
Then Jesus was led up by the Spirit into the wilderness to be tempted by the devil. And after fasting forty days and forty nights, he was hungry.— Matthew 4:1-2 (ESV)
Now war arose in heaven, Michael and his angels fighting against the dragon.— Revelation 12:7 (ESV)
From now on let no one cause me trouble, for I bear on my body the marks of Jesus.— Galatians 6:17 (ESV)
Frequently asked questions
What is St. Michael's Lent?
St. Michael's Lent is a traditional fast in the Franciscan tradition, kept from the Feast of the Assumption (August 15) to Michaelmas, the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (September 29). St. Francis of Assisi began the practice, retreating to Mount La Verna in prayer and fasting to prepare for that feast.
Why is it called St. Michael's Lent if it's about St. Francis?
The fast is named for its original purpose — preparing spiritually for the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel (Michaelmas) on September 29 — even though it's St. Francis's own 40-day retreat that established the tradition among Franciscans.
How is St. Michael's Lent different from regular Lent?
Regular Lent runs 40 days before Easter and is observed church-wide as a season of repentance tied to Christ's Passion. St. Michael's Lent is a late-summer/early-autumn devotional fast rooted specifically in Franciscan spirituality and is not a universal Church obligation — it's a voluntary practice, most closely kept by Franciscans and those drawn to that tradition.
What happened to St. Francis during this fast?
Tradition holds that near the end of his 40-day fast on Mount La Verna in 1224, St. Francis received the stigmata — the wounds of Christ's crucifixion appearing on his own body — after a vision described as a seraph bearing the image of the crucified Christ.
How do people keep St. Michael's Lent today?
Practices vary, but commonly include increased fasting or simplified eating, extra time in prayer or Scripture, and intentional withdrawal from noise and distraction — echoing Francis's own retreat to the mountain, adapted to ordinary life and obligations.