Celebrating Michaelmas...

Saturday, September 29th was Michaelmas, the traditional Catholic feast of St. Michael the Archangel. Technically, we celebrate SS. Gabriel and Raphael, too, but St. Michael is special to our family as he is Tate's patron saint. We celebrated by making Croustilles Saint-Michel (sounds fancy in French; in English that translates to "fish sandwich") and Blackberry Fool. Legend has it that when St. Michael expelled Lucifer from heaven, the devil fell into a prickly blackberry bush; thus St. Michael's association with blackberries.

As Gemma examined the above St. Michael statue, she observed, "St. Michael fights the devil with a spear." Tate quickly refuted this, insisting, "St. Michael doesn't fight with a spear or  a sword, he fights with prayer."

St. Michael the Archangel, 
defend us in battle. 
Be our defense against the wickedness and snares of the Devil. 
May God rebuke him, we humbly pray, 
and do thou, 
O Prince of the heavenly hosts, 
by the power of God, 
thrust into hell Satan, 
and all the evil spirits, 
who prowl about the world 
seeking the ruin of souls. Amen.

St. Michael, pray for us (especially Tate)!