Honoring St. Michael on His Feastday
In the Middle Ages, the feast of St. Michael (also known as Michaelmas) on September 29 was a holy day of obligation and an important day that marked a turning point in the year. Michaelmas, one of the four quarter days in Germanic nations indicating the end of a three month season, was a common day for men to enact laws and hold court.
All over Europe, Michaelmas marks the end of harvesting, fishing, fruit picking and other summer activities. Catholic peasants especially invoked St. Michael during these autumn months for protection in the dark months of winter that were approaching. From this day forth, peasants in northern countries would begin lighting candles in their homes in the evenings.
Michaelmas comes at the time of the year when the wheat harvest is complete and the cattle and fowl are fattened. For this reason, the feast day was a perfect time for harvest festivals, with tables abounding with with plump geese and harvest grain bread. The abundance of harvest food led to the good custom of sharing the harvest feast with the poor.
In Ireland and throughout the British Isles, Michaelmas celebrations had three characteristic symbols: "glofe, gees, and gyngeuer" (gloves, geese and ginger). "The glove represented the open-handedness and generosity of the lord of the village, eating goose brought good luck in the coming year, and ginger provided protection against infection."
Some Michaelmas customs regarding the magistrates show well the glove's symbolism. In nations observing quarter days, the election of magistrates took place on this feast. The medieval man saw the connection between their earthly rulers and the celestial protectors. What better way to acknowledge St. Michael than to choose the men who would protect and guide the inhabitants of their town or city on the Archangel's feast day?
In England, the town streets would fill with people in a pompous procession celebrating the new officials, ending at a hall where a large Michaelmas banquet was enjoyed by the magistrates and their guests…
Carrots, blackberries & bread
In Scotland, the Sunday preceding Michaelmas was known as Domhnach Curran (Carrot Sunday). The women of the Hebrides would dig carrots the Sunday before Michaelmas in a special ceremony. The women used a three-pronged mattock (symbolizing St. Michael's trident) to dig triangular holes (symbolizing Michael's shield); as they dug they honored St. Michael reciting verses or poems.
The carrots were tied into bundles with red three-plied thread and buried in sand to be used throughout the year. Any guest who entered a house on Michaelmas was given one of these bundles. Everyone in a Scotch house, visitor and guest, stranger and servant, had to eat a piece of St. Michael's Bannock (Straun Micheil), which earned them some title to the friendship and protection of Michael. Michael's Bannock was made of equal portions of each of the various grains harvested that year, moistened with sheep's milk and often marked by a cross…
Michaelmas fairs & the shepherds return
All over Europe this day brought St. Michael's parades, Michael's fairs, and Michaels plays. At the fairs, the peasants and shepherds would celebrate the Archangel as they traded crops, animals, clothing, firewood and other items necessary for the cold months that were approaching.
For shepherds, Michaelmas was the day they returned from the high pastures and assisted at Mass where they received a special blessing after a long summer tending their flocks and herds in the mountains and hills.
In Hungary and Poland, the shepherds would be welcomed by the owners of the sheep and receive their wages. After the Mass, the villagers, especially the sheep farmers, would host a large feast with dancing and music to celebrate the return of the shepherds…
Since 1526 in Augsburg, Germany, an autumn fair known as the Turamichele Fest (Michael Tower Market) is held which attracts peasants from near and far. The festivity highlight is the appearance of a figure of the warrior Angel St. Michael slaying the ignomious serpent Satan on the Perlach Tower at every hour. The arm of St. Michael moves, striking Satan with a lance as many time as the bell tolls…
https://traditioninaction.org/religious/d044_Michel.htm