Lent in August? 

Less food, less social media during summertime? 

More than 10,000 men are planning to start a new season of penance this week, according to Exodus, the organization that leads a popular three-month period of fasting and mortification leading up to Easter known as Exodus 90. 

“St. Michael’s Lent,” as the late-summer season is traditionally called, begins with the Solemnity of the Assumption on Aug. 15 and ends with what is now known as the feast of the Archangels (including St. Michael), Sept. 29. 

If it sounds unfamiliar, that’s because, to most Catholics, it’s unknown. But from the fifth century through the Middle Ages, the Church celebrated a liturgical feast honoring the dedication of a basilica in Rome to St. Michael — and to prepare for it, Catholics practiced penance. 

In 2022, Exodus started reviving the practice with an app that offers a series of spiritual readings and prayers along with recommended penitential practices, including fasting from food and unnecessary social media. (Men can sign up by clicking this link to a landing page of the Exodus 90 web site.)

Joseph Carrozza, 36, a financial adviser who lives in Park Ridge, Illinois, is looking forward to what will be his third St. Michael’s Lent after what he called a “summer of feasting.” 

“I think St. Michael’s Lent is an amazing practice for anyone to participate in, especially for those who feel like enjoying their summer has gotten away from them, who may have been enjoying it a little too hard,” Carrozza told the Register. “I think it’s a great practice to get rid of the distractions and get more in tune with their spiritual needs and to kind of purge some of the worldly desires that they may have been indulging in.” 

 

Where Does St. Michael’s Lent Come From? 

According to Scripture, St. Michael the Archangel, whose name means “Who is like God?” is the leader of the angels in heaven. 

The Book of Daniel calls Michael “the great prince” and “guardian of your people” (12:1). The Book of Revelation describes how “Michael and his angels battled against the dragon,” which the text explains is also “called the devil and Satan,” and how the dragon “was thrown down to earth, and its angels were thrown down with it” (12:7-12). 

The 1969 reform of the General Roman Calendar changed Sept. 29 to the feast of the Archangels — St. Michael, St. Gabriel and St. Raphael — each of whom previously had his own feast day. 

But for centuries before that, the late-September feast day was known as Michaelmas — literally, Michael’s Mass. 

“We don’t even have that in our vocabulary anymore. So I think it’s a great witness just to fellow Catholics — let’s celebrate these great feast days,” said Jared Staudt, director of content for Exodus. 

Staudt pointed out that all feast days in medieval Catholicism were preceded by a time of penance to prepare for them. 

Details of the history of St. Michael’s Lent are hard to pin down. But it’s associated with St. Francis of Assisi. 

In his 13th-century Life of St. Francis, St. Bonaventure mentions St. Michael the Archangel six times, noting at one point that St. Francis had “an especial love and devotion” for St. Michael because Michael’s “is the ministry of bringing souls before God.” 

St. Bonaventure also describes the time when St. Francis went to Mount Alverna n order “to keep a Lent in honor of the Archangel Michael.” During the St. Michael’s Lent fast, according to Bonaventure, Francis received the stigmata — “in his hands and feet the marks of the nails” of Jesus and on his right side a ruddy, bleeding scar, “as if it had been pierced by a lance.” 

That image and the historical tie-in with St. Francis are two of the major pillars of St. Michael’s Lent. 

“We’re inviting men to join us, to enter into spiritual warfare and healing in the footsteps of St. Francis,” Staudt said. 

 

Something Hard for God 

That backstory appeals to recent veterans of St. Michael’s Lent, who also find the timing of it helpful. 

“We’re prone to slip. We’re prone to slide. Summer has been great, but it’s also time to get down to business, you could say,” said John Kanel, 25, of Lincoln, Nebraska, who works as operations manager for Unfinished, a nonprofit organization that starts fraternities of young men in parishes with an eye to promoting vocations to the priesthood. 

“I just think St. Michael’s Lent is a great time for guys to get themselves back in the spiritual groove, to really embrace the rigor that comes with it,” Kanel said. “And it’s not just an arbitrary rigor, it’s one that St. Francis put himself through.” 

Carrozza told the Register he finds the discipline of avoiding what he calls “a spiral of scrolling” through entertainment news websites during the day especially helpful.  

“For me, I’m a new father,” said Carrozza, who, with his wife, Maggie, has a seven-week-old son, Michael Joseph. “And being more productive, getting done what I needed to during the workday, is important because when I’m with my family I want to be present with them.” 

Kurt Gibson, 38, of San Diego, who works in sales for a frozen-potato manufacturer, has been practicing Exodus 90 since 2020 and went through St. Michael’s Lent for the first time last year. 

Gibson told the Register that he invited three men he works with to join him in 2023, including two Protestants. One later told him he was able to gain new discipline through fasting and getting to bed on time — and as an added benefit, he lost weight. 

Exodus recommends frequent confession during St. Michael’s Lent. That’s not ordinarily an option for Protestants. But the other Protestant who participated last year instead offered specific acts of repentance for his sins, a spiritual practice he hadn’t considered before. 

“It was really cool to have that kind of experience with some of the Protestant brothers who are in my life,” Gibson said. “I’m certainly hopeful that maybe some seeds were planted about the fullness of the faith.” 

He said the shared experience has brought him closer together with his coworkers, increasing a sense of trust among them. 

Gibson said, “That fraternal aspect really comes to life when you’re doing challenging things with each other — and certainly centering it around Christ.”