Merry Michaelmas, and Happy Birthday to Me!

Today is the Feast of St. Michael the Archangel. It's also the birthday of me, Bryant Gumbel, Lech Walesa, Madeline Kahn, Jerry Lee Lewis, Anita Ekberg, Stanley Kramer, Gene Autry, most notably Miguel de Cervantes, and presumably many other less famous people. I'm hereby reminded to add Cervantes' wonderful Don Quixote to my profile's list of favorite books. In honor of Cervantes and Don Quixote, here's some poignant lines from the end of G.K. Chesterton's poem about the Battle of Lepanto, in which Cervantes fought:

"Cervantes on his galley sets the sword back in the sheath
(Don John of Austria rides homeward with a wreath.)
And he sees across a weary land a straggling road in Spain,
Up which a lean and foolish knight for ever rides in vain"

Speaking of setting swords back in sheaths, one of my favorite stories about St. Michael is of the vision that Pope St. Gregory in the tenth century had of the Archangel doing just that, during a penitential procession the Pope was leading through the streets of Rome for the end of a plague that was devastating the city. The Pope took it as a sign that God's wrath had passed, and indeed the pestilence abated after that day. In honor of the occasion, the Pope re-named the mausoleum of Hadrian over which St. Michael had appeared the Castle of the Holy Angel, which is still known by that name today and over which stands a statue of St. Michael sheathing his sword.

I'll refrain from speculating about the metaphysical and theological implications of this legend, but it certainly provides a different perspective than the one we're used to!

On a lighter note, St. Michael is traditionally seen as a protector against the dark of night and the administrator of cosmic intelligence, making appropriate the occurrence of his Feast Day at the beginning of autumn and the shortening of days. Tune up them snow-blowers with chins up!