Holiday Season 2018: Martinmas Eve Part 1 - Michaelmas, A Little Research

Saturday, November 10, 2018

Never before this year had I heard of Michaelmas and Martinmas. I read something about Martinmas a couple weeks ago. I can't remember exactly where I read it or what it was about but it was enough for the name to stick in my head. Last week at church the pastor was speaking about something in regard to the time between Michaelmas and Martinmas. The two days also were referenced in a book I'm currently reading and my curiosity was piqued. I turned immediately to Google. 

Here's what I found out: 

"Michaelmas (also known as the Feast of Saints Michael, Gabriel, and Raphael,) is a Christian festival observed in some Western liturgical calendars on 29 September."

"In Christian angelology, the Archangel Michael is the greatest of all the Archangels and is honored for defeating Satan in the war in Heaven. He is one of the principal angelic warriors, seen as a protector against the dark of night, and the administrator of cosmic intelligence. Michaelmas has also delineated time and seasons for secular purposes as well, particularly in Britain and Ireland as one of the quarter days."

"The name Michaelmas comes from a shortening of 'Michael's Mass,' in the same style as Christmas (Christ's Mass) and Candlemas (Candle Mass, the Mass where traditionally candles used throught the year would be blessed."

"Because it falls near the equinox, it is associated in the northern hemisphere with the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days. It was also one of the English, Welsh and Irish quarter days when accounts had to be settled. On manors, it was the day when a reeve was elected from the peasants. Michaelmas hiring fairs were held at the end of September or beginning of October."

"A traditional meal for the day includes goose." A traditional bread "made from equal parts of barley, oats, and rye without using any metal implements."

"Folklore in the British Isles suggests that Michaelmas day is the last day that blackberries can be picked. It is said that when St Michael expelled Lucifer, the devil, from heaven, he fell from the skies and landed in a prickly blackberry bush. Satan cursed the fruit, scorched them with his fiery breath, stamped, spat and urinated on them, so that they would be unfit for eating. As it is considered ill-advised to eat them after 29 September, a Michaelmas pie is made from the last of the season."