The modern world values individuality. Self-sufficiency is considered a great virtue, priding ourselves on being able to handle and accomplish things on our own. It’s a tendency, however, that takes us right back to the Garden when satan tempted our first parents to trust their own judgment above God’s command. They listened to the voice of a fallen angel, being drawn into his rebellion.
Ever since, life has become an arduous journey. God has given us a faithful companion in our guardian angel, who, though unseen, can guide us ever more if we open our minds and hearts to the movements of God’s grace. We take the presence of the angels for granted, but, through faith, we are confident in their presence and should turn to them daily for help.
St. Francis of Assisi can be a model here through his dedication to the angels. He was even called an angelic man for his dedicated focus on following the will of God and engaging in unceasing prayer. He honored Our Lady under the title St. Mary of the Angels, the name of the basilica built over his Portiuncula chapel, and also at the top of Mount La Verna, which he frequented for prayer. This angelic man demonstrates the confidence we should have in the unseen world that surrounds us, basing our lives on the things that matter most, even if they do not seem pressing.
St. Michael’s Lent
St. Michael’s Lent, a period of prayer and fasting from the Assumption to the feast of the Archangels, grew out of St. Francis’s devotion to the angels and to St. Michael in particular. He would withdraw into a time of solitude, praying intensely, even during the night, and meditating on the Passion. In fact, it was during one particularly powerful St. Michael’s Lent in the year 1124 that he received the stigmata through the mediation of a seraph. Listening to the guidance of holy angels led Francis to overcome the attacks of the devil and embrace a particular call of cruciformity, taking on the marks of Christ on his body. This is the focus of spiritual warfare as the devils seek to bog us down with attachments to the flesh, while the good angels accompany us in the daily struggle of taking up our cross to follow Christ.
Exodus 90 has been reviving the practice of St. Michael’s Lent for Catholic men throughout the world. These forty days of prayer and penance invite everyone to attend to the presence of the angels, turning to them for guidance and protection. To do this, the men of Exodus 90 are giving up news and media as well to practice angelic focus on God, while praying for thirty minutes each day. To take up our cross, we will keep Wednesday and Fridays as days of penance through fasting, abstinence from meat, and taking a cold shower. We also seek to create order by waking up at the same time each day without hitting the snooze button, seeking to honor God by creating space to honor him and be present to others.
The Help Of Angels
We can overcome the problem of excessive individualism by following the example of the holy angels. They praise God in unison within the nine choirs, never turning their face from him. We, too, need the support of others, as it’s too easy to fall or give in to distractions on our own. This is why it’s important to build fraternity during St. Michael’s Lent, imitating both the angelic choirs and the band of brothers that formed around St. Francis. The friars often sought to imitate Francis’s prayer through the night, surrounded as he was by angelic light, and so, during St. Michael’s Lent, Exodus 90 will practice an hour-long night vigil at 2 am on Friday mornings. This is our attempt to sign with the angels, coming before the throne of God without any other distractions.
In this time, we need the help of the angels more than ever. The devil’s motto, non serviam (“I will not serve,” Jeremiah 2:20), has shaped our world deeply. This is why angelic obedience is so important, for it overthrows the demonic rebellion through its great cry of Serviam! Led by St. Michael, the angelic hosts overcome evil through their purity that allows God’s life to permeate them and reach us through them. They are his faithful messengers who daily surround us and guide us, the more we look toward God together with them.
It’s worth taking some time to focus on the angels during St. Michael’s Lent. Taking this time of prayer and penance in imitation of St. Francis directs us to their constant protection as we seek to take up our cross each day. God wants us to be free, not in the reckless way sought by our first parents, but free to live and love as he does, finding our happiness in him and sharing it with others.
Image: https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/9/97/Saint_Michael_the_Archangel.png
